Advertising boosts economic growth - CEO of MMRS Ogilvy

Mr. Reginald Laryea, ‘Gaddy’ as he is best known by most clients, is the founder of MMRS Ogilvy and the team-leader of our local Ogilvy family. He has been the Managing Director of the Agency since its formation in 1987. Mr. Laryea descends from a particularly rich and varied pedigree in the communication industry, having worked with British American Tobacco from 1976 to 1988 as Marketing, Advertising & Merchandising Manager. Sheer passion for the job drives him to be involved in virtually every single project undertaken by the Agency. Gaddy was elected President of the Advertisers Association of Ghana in December 2005. He is a member of the Board of the National Media Commission and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana. He is also the Chairman of Media Whizz Kids, a subsidiary company of MMRS which specializes in Event Management.

What will you say is the role of Advertising in Ghana’s economic development?

"I do not think that Advertising’s role in Ghana is any different from what Advertising contributes to economies elsewhere in the world. Basically, what Advertising does in our market is to connect the producer to the consumer. If this connection runs well, we get many more consumers to identify with the product. In time, a brand emerges out of the product; a certain level of demand is generated, leading naturally to an increase in production which in itself leads to expansion and increased employment. Bigger profits will be made which will justify bigger taxes; hypothetically, this progression should bring greater prosperity for the community or society through shared wealth and the development of social and economic infrastructure."

Is that how significant advertising in Ghana is?

"Such is how significant advertising is as a catalyst for development... so that in considering the role of advertising, it will be inadequate, if not rather too myopic to limit one’s self to the Agencies engaged in the industry. We take account of the activities of the Agencies and the impact of what they churn out. Naturally, if Ad Agencies and their work are properly looked after in any economy, the rule of thumb is that the country should prosper."

What are the advertising trends for 2011 and beyond in Ghana – Where is it all going?
"By world standards, the Advertising industry here is still a developing one and we will continue to have a steady expansion in the marketplace. Many more Agencies will evolve some of which will be specialized and who, only a few years ago may not have found this market exciting or tempting enough for business. I personally foresee a lot of multi-media activity in our market and a major shift towards developing digital advertising technology, where here in Ghana we appear to be quite some steps below global standards. Soon, every Advertiser will demand much more scientific basis for the media choices made for him, a trend which will compel Ghana to subscribe more to scientific and internationally acknowledged systems of generating accurate data for media operations. The good thing is that, in more recent times, the industry happens to be attracting more and more trained professionals, unlike some years ago and local companies are grasping the intricacies of the advertising business better when only a few years ago, it had to be one multi-national Ad Agency or the other doing something impressive. All these developments will help the industry and businesses to grow progressively."

A lot of Advertising in Africa is Outdoor. What about TV, Radio, Print and the Internet?
"That assertion cannot be entirely true. If African Adverts were indeed mostly outdoor what would be the basis that? A necessary basis ought to be established for media preferences at least in terms of budgetary opportunities and constraints. What I do know for a fact is that, most budgets will be absorbed by Television because it is relatively more expensive compared to the other media; Radio on the other hand, has the widest reach and therefore the deepest penetration. At the end of the day, if a proper analysis was carried out, you would realise that Radio, rather than Outdoor, is the most frequently used medium here in Africa. Depending on the volume of your business and the available budget, your choice of media will be determined by what is most critically likely to reach your target audiences – especially if you had the uncomfortable option of choosing only one medium out of the lot."

And how about Newspapers?
"Well, if you had ice creams or lollipops for instance, to sell, Newspapers for example might not be the best medium to use especially if you have access to Radio and Television. But if you dealt in say, tractors and other earth moving machines, it surely will be useful to invest in Press Ads than to go for Radio. For the tractor dealer, it might even yield better results to invest in brochures targeted directly at specific audiences like the construction companies rather than to everybody else through Radio. The real concern for us is the Internet where we believe that the level of general accessibility in Ghana and, as I understand, in most parts of Africa as well, leaves much to be desired. Because accessibility is currently so awfully low - less than ten percent of the population – mass penetration via the internet is hardly viable except in cases where the choice is essentially tactical and audience is exclusive. But of course, it will be only a matter of time when the prohibitive cost of the hardware for online communication and the cost of internet bandwidth and services will come down and make them more accessible to large sections of the population."

When Does Advertising Stop being Innovative and starts Irritating?
"When creativity dies! Fancy that one Agency comes up with something exciting which catches on well with the public; then suddenly every other agency on the market decides to go that way.....virtually copying it to the last letter. They then cease to be adventurous and can no longer explore the realms of creativity. Advertising strikes its best chords when it is original and is based on practical insights, proper research and the total emersion in the interests of the relevant target audiences. Advertising is the most irritating when the subject matter is untrue, when it insults the intelligence of the audience, when it is latently or blatantly offensive and when it IS NOT fun. Advertising can also be irritating when media is poorly planned. Media can be so haphazardly intrusively planned that it smashes at the face of its audience at every turn, forcing the target to seek openings for escape."

What about Return on Investment? In Ghana even complete villages are painted yellow (MTN) and Red (Vodafone)
"Any serious-minded company must be concerned about Return on Investment. This pervasive trend of painting houses was originally borne out of a strategic creative concept, the genesis of which was dictated not by the aggressive quest for visibility of brand colours but rather involved the careful selection of certain spectacular solus objects (including buildings), whose location or positioning might be exceptionally spectacular – such as a solitary landmark or building in a bend or on a hill top. Exclusivity and visual prominence were the hallmarks. Today however, the widespread, almost indiscriminate painting of building, some of which even need repair, can only offer the advertiser little more than exasperating visibility. It could indeed be very irritating."

What do advertisers get back for their investment?
"Brand equity. There certainly must be a reason why Kwesi would insist on his Club Beer instead of any other beverage; and Kofi would not opt for a Samsung and reject all other brands if he was not in tune with a definite value proposition made by his preferred brand over the other brands. Brand equity is the sum total of that which compels or persuades the consumer to make an informed choice of one product or service over the others. Advertising not only plays a major role in developing brand equity, it actually provides the stimuli for informed decision-making in an open and non-monopolistic market place."

When do we reach the point when we stop painting houses?
"This will be dictated by the level of sophistication of the market place, the availability of diverse multi-media opportunities, location, the companies in the market, the budget at their disposal etc etc. A painted cottage house might have great impact and perhaps serve a much greater purpose in a remote village than it would in a metropolitan centre. The time is approaching when companies which are given to regular wholesale painting will understand that there are different degrees of results to be expected from painting a couple of houses in the hinterland, in say, Abora Dunkwa, and doing practically the same in the more cosmopolitan city of Tema."