Chief Executive Officer of Mediacraft Associates, John Ehiguese, does public relations for companies like Google, Mobil and Nigeria Breweries. He took time out recently to speak with Hazeez Balogun of Daily Independent about his company, practice and winning edge.
What are the challenges of owning and running one of the biggest PR firms in the country?
Owning a PR firm is like owning any other entrepreneurial endeavour. It is however more of a consultancy or service business, so the most important factor is how to deliver to the satisfaction of the client. There is nothing unusual in running a PR firm. I am sure you are familiar with the general issues that affect businesses in this country. We have the challenges of infrastructure which are general. We also have the challenges of capacity which is a very key issue. There are also not enough training opportunities in this area.
On the operational level, we also have problems with the general environment. The regulatory environment is not as firm as it should be, and as a consequence to that, there is a low barriers of entry. Anybody can claim to be a PR consultant. So, most of the challenges we face are ethical, environmental and infrastructural issues. Overall, we are coping here at Mediacraft and we are looking at better days ahead.
With no capital, how did you manage the first account you won?
The first capital I was able to raise was N100,000 which I borrowed from my wife. I used that to arrange a couple of tables and chairs. I already had a computer so I just bought a printer. I employed two people and we hit the streets. So you could see that we started at zero level. I was confident I was good at what I was doing and it would not take long for the company to kick off. In every step we took, we focused on our vision. See where we are now nine years later.
When will you describe as the turning point or breakthrough?
I don’t want to describe it as a turning point. I want to call it a journey of ups and downs. We have our high and low moments. We got our first major project three months after setting up the company. It was a change of name for a major company in Nigeria. They wanted to rebrand and change their name. Winning it was not easy. It was a competitive pitch, but we won at the end. As a start-up company, that propelled us somewhat. We won the Starcomms account a few months after that. It was a competitive pitch as well. Winning it was a big boost. It was a retainer job. We have been coasting from that point on.
With no capital, how did you manage the first account you won?
The first capital I was able to raise was N100,000 which I borrowed from my wife. I used that to arrange a couple of tables and chairs. I already had a computer so I just bought a printer. I employed two people and we hit the streets. So you could see that we started at zero level. I was confident I was good at what I was doing and it would not take long for the company to kick off. In every step we took, we focused on our vision. See where we are now nine years later.
When will you describe as the turning point or breakthrough?
I don’t want to describe it as a turning point. I want to call it a journey of ups and downs. We have our high and low moments. We got our first major project three months after setting up the company. It was a change of name for a major company in Nigeria. They wanted to rebrand and change their name. Winning it was not easy. It was a competitive pitch, but we won at the end. As a start-up company, that propelled us somewhat. We won the Starcomms account a few months after that. It was a competitive pitch as well. Winning it was a big boost. It was a retainer job. We have been coasting from that point on.
There were low moments too. At some point we lost some accounts. But that is not uncommon. On the whole, if you plot a graph of our progress, we have been steadily growing. For me, success is not a destination; it is a journey. There is never a point at which you are successful. Success in my view is work in progress. Success is something you work on from the day you are born to the day you die. For every milestone that you achieve there are always new frontiers to conquer. That is what I call the ‘next level mentality’. That is why I do not celebrate milestones. I see milestones and stepping stones. At every point of my life, I always have the next frontier to cover. I cannot stand before you and say I have arrived. There is no last bus stop. It is always a work in progress. That has been the journey for me.
What do you think of the emerging media especially the online social media?
Social media has completely redefined the communication paradigm. Traditionally, what you had was the editor who was the gatekeeper, who would send out his reporters to go and get information and would decide what to publish or broadcast. That has changed with the advent of the internet. Now, the audience can actually determine what news is. We have citizen journalist or anyone can actually record news as it unfolds through your phone or camera and actually uplink it real-time. So, anybody can be a journalist now.
What do you think of the emerging media especially the online social media?
Social media has completely redefined the communication paradigm. Traditionally, what you had was the editor who was the gatekeeper, who would send out his reporters to go and get information and would decide what to publish or broadcast. That has changed with the advent of the internet. Now, the audience can actually determine what news is. We have citizen journalist or anyone can actually record news as it unfolds through your phone or camera and actually uplink it real-time. So, anybody can be a journalist now.
You can also set the agenda or start a conversation under the sun and begin to generate comments. The whole paradigm is changing. There is also the advantage of spontaneity in the internet. Things can go viral in a number of minutes. That has changed the whole paradigm of how we live, work and play. Any serious brand manager must take cognizance of the impact the internet is having in our lives, especially in the youth population. Brands that have the huge appeal for the young population would do well to pay attention to what the internet is doing. There are some drawbacks of not having control over it but that’s the reality of life, so it is important now for very brand manager to begin to look at strategic ways of engaging people or young ones on the internet.
Even we as PR practitioners are rapidly growing capacity in that area of managing online PR, engagement, managing, reporting and evaluation.
Is that why you set up your own online PR firm?
Yes. It is called Digital Media Agency. We deal with online marketing, PR and all sorts of specialist media services but this time online. It is doing fantastically well.
Is that why you set up your own online PR firm?
Yes. It is called Digital Media Agency. We deal with online marketing, PR and all sorts of specialist media services but this time online. It is doing fantastically well.
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