“You can’t just use Beyoncé to sell products in Nigeria....

“You can’t just use Beyoncé to sell products in Nigeria.  Well, maybe Beyoncé is a bad example.  Beyoncé can sell anywhere.  But most of the time you need to adapt your advertising to local tastes.  So I help international companies create marketing campaigns for Nigeria.  A few years ago I started my own company.  I’d gotten tired of working for someone else.  I was doing all the work on some projects, and I’d only walk away with peanuts.  So I took the leap.  My goal was to win a single bid that first year.  I just needed one big name to risk a little money on me.  Because a little money to them was a lot of money to me.  I knew I had the technical experience.  I had the ‘know how.’  I just didn’t have an office, or a staff, or a big name.  But that became my pitch.  I argued that bigger agencies take their clients for granted.  I told companies: ‘I’m not relaxed like that.  I’m hungry.  I’m going to give you more juice.’  My first client ended up being Coca Cola.   Maybe I didn’t have things quite as figured out as I allowed them to believe.  But hey, that’s advertising.  And I delivered.”
(Lagos, Nigeria)