Youthful and upbeat Lagos agency, X3M Ideas has emerged the “Best creative agency and Agency of the Year” in the country as the agency Saturday night clinched the most coveted “Grand Prix” award at the 2019 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival which held at Landmark, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The 14th LAIF which coincided with the agency’s 7th anniversary of the X3M Ideas’ presence in the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) fold, equally shows the agency’s steady rise to the pinnacle of the creative industry in Nigeria as an undisputable creative powerhouse in record time of less than eight years of existence.
The star-studded event which parades the crème-de-la-crème of the industry and crop of the best agencies and clients in the country displayed exciting creative works as entries in the award designed to recognize and reward excellence in the Nigerian advertising industry. The edition featured Gbemi Sagay as the head of the Jury panel.
Apart from its most desirable Grand Prix, dubbed as the “mother of all awards” of the night, which the agency won courtesy of its work for DStv Multichoice “DStv step up and boost” in the Film craft – Best use of tv animation” category; X3M Ideas also won 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and 4 Bronze carting home a total of 10 medals including the almighty Grand Prix to emerge the Number 1 creative agency in Nigeria.
The Gold medals were delivered courtesy the agency’s following entries – Multichoice DStv Film craft category – “Best use of tv animation – Dstv step up and boost; FrieslandCampina WAMCO Peak Milk’s “Peak independence” in the Press – food and consumables category; and Kwikmoney – “Mom not ATM” in the Digital and mobile – banking and investment category.
The Silver medals were courtesy entries for Betking virtual in the Film craft – best use of tv animation category and Absolut women’s day Press – “Ad that never ran” category.
In the same vein, the Bronze medals came courtesy the agency’s following works – DStv compact “Iwobi” won two medals in the Film craft – best use of film editing category and travel, terrorism and entertainment categories; World terrorism day won the “Best use of art direction” Print craft category while the agency’s corporate campaign “Shape Shifters” also picked a Bronze in the Digital and mobile – corporate image category.
X3M Ideas has demonstrated exemplary consistency as the agency has always maintained its enviable position as one the most valuable creative and steady agency in the country emerging the Numero Uno at its 7th back-to-back appearance on the LAIF scene, said Sunday Ogunniyi, an industry watcher and keen follower of the agency.
It will be recalled that the agency was one of the best three at the 2018 edition of the award where it carted home 5 Gold; 7 Silver and 8 Bronze, making a total of 20 medals to place an enviable 3rd in the industry last year, capping it with the first position in 2019 is remarkable and tells a lot on the characters of the agency and its people -“future-forward and very proactive”, declared Ogunniyi claiming that he has always known this when he visited the agency as member of a University of Ibadan Post Graduate team of Communications students in 2014.
Speaking on the current landmark achievement by the X3M Ideas, the agency’s CEO, Steve Babaeko shortly after the awards, disclosed winning the most coveted award of the night, the “Grand Prix” took him by surprise. I knew it will come but maybe I didn’t have my mind on it this year but the fact is that “We’ve always wanted to be number 1 and we consistently work towards it without losing focus at any time. After 7 years of chasing this dream, last Saturday we nailed it! X3M Ideas won the Grand Prix at Laif awards and thus emerged the agency of the year in Nigeria”
Ikechi Odigbo, President, AAAN; Mrs. Bola Thomas, Chairperson, AAAN BOT, presenting the Grand Prix of the 2019 LAIF awards to Banke Alaka-Coker of X3M Ideas; Tope Jemirigbe, Vice Chair, LAIF Management board and Steve Babaeko, CEO, X3M Ideas at the presentation of the Grand Prix award to X3M Ideas at the Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival Awards in Lagos on Saturday.
Over the years, working up the ladder, the X3M Ideas’ CEO has consistently maintained “we are not set up or founded to play second fiddle”. Hence, the agency has always had its nose to the grindstone resulting in consistent growth over the years which sets the agency apart in the industry thanks to exemplary drive, uncommon proficiency at pushing the frontiers on behalf of its discerning clients, cutting through the clutter to give the clients’ brands vantage positioning in the markets and in the consumer’s mind as these are the hallmarks of the agency, Steve explained.
“I am really proud of the team since we started participating in LAIF in 2013, we’ve consistently been in the top 3 or 4 brackets. I am super grateful to the universe and the team while I also feel so proud of the clients we work with, for giving us opportunities to push for something new, exceptional and beyond the norm, the overall “Grand Prix” of the LAIF award is a good testament for a partnership that set the take the industry to its pinnacle”, he declared.
Ikechi Odigbo, President, AAAN; Mrs. Bola Thomas, Chairperson, AAAN BOT, presenting the Grand Prix of the 2019 LAIF awards to Banke Alaka-Coker of X3M Ideas; Tope Jemirigbe, Vice Chair, LAIF management board at the presentation of the Grand Prix award to X3M Ideas at the Lagos Advertising & Ideas Festival Awards in Lagos on Saturday.
