WildFlower PR, Author at WildFlower PR and Company - Pan African Brand Communications

MEET THE RECRUITER| ORANGE GROUP KICKS OFF 2022 NATIONAL RECRUITMENT INITIATIVE

Members of staff or Orange Group at a recent company event

Leading FMCG company Orange group, is back with the third edition of their national recruitment initiative, Meet the Recruiter (MTR), which will kick off in Aba, Abia State, on the 22nd and 23rd of March 2022. The initiative is open to the general public and directed towards recent graduates, employment seekers, and undergraduates committed to building a career in Nigeria’s corporate space.

Media Relations Director Uchenna Ezenna-Gboneme stated, “We are very pleased to see the evolution of the Orange Meet the Recruiter Initiative. This program has brought us face to face with some of the brightest minds in the country. This year, we are kicking off with the city of Aba, and we are excited with the feedback and responses from applicants there.” Participants can look forward to learning more about the recruitment processes, job prep skills, interview etiquette, and so much more.” She added

The ‘Meet the Recruiter’ initiative is a program where prospective employees from different backgrounds and parts of the country meet with the Orange Group Recruitment Team. The initiative equips job seekers with knowledge and skills relating to job applications and presents them with the opportunity to apply and land their dream job at Orange Group; some of the past attendees have been known to get a highly coveted job offer on the spot.

To launch the 2022 drive, Orange Group held a few digital activations to engage young job seekers online to prepare them for the MTR drive. These activities included a highly engaging LinkedIn live session with Orange Group and corporate trainer Nkem Offonabo, where hundreds of job seekers took part in a Q and A session. This was followed by a Twitter space conversation hosted by digital marketing influencer Paul Ezeudoh.

‘Meet The Recruiter’ 2022 will kick off in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria, on the 22nd and 23rd of March, 2022, and extend to other cities across Nigeria to be announced by Orange Group.

To register, participants can visit www.orangegroups.com/careers/ and take the aptitude test.

Anthony Joshua again demonstrates resilience of Nigerians – Glo

Leading telecommunications operator, Globacom, says Nigerian–born British boxer, Anthony Joshua, has again demonstrated the resilient spirit of Nigerians through the successful defence of his world boxing titles on Saturday.
Reacting to Joshua’s defeat of Bulgarian challenger, Kubrat Pulev, in the 9th round of the fight held at SSE Arena in London, Globacom praised the boxer for his focus, tenacity and boxing prowess which earned him the victory.
“We are indeed very proud to have him as one of our brand ambassadors,” Globacom said in a statement.
By knocking out Pulev, Joshua, who became a Glo brand ambassador last year, retained his four world heavyweight titles, International Boxing Federation (IBF),World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Organisation (WBO), and International Boxing Organisation (IBO).
Globacom said that Joshua’s win underscored the message, “Champions go the distance and they go further”, in its advert, “Heart of a Champion“, which it released a few days before the fight.
“Like you stated in the television commercial, ‘I was born hungry for success, it’s the Nigerian way’, you clearly demonstrated, right from the start of the fight, the determination to excel, the resilience and the ‘can-do’ spirit which Nigerians are known for, thus achieving the remarkable victory”, the company said.
With this victory, Anthony Joshua’s professional boxing record has now moved to 24 fights, 23 victories, with 22 knock outs and one loss.
His next fight is expected to be a heavyweight unification bout against World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, which will determine who becomes the undisputed Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world.

7 Effective Strategies for Marketing to a Nigerian Female Audience

“Pleasing a woman should be as easy as making her your top priority.” ~ Anonymous

There’s nowhere this quote should come alive than in marketing to women. In this case women in Nigeria.

A look at majority of Nigerian TV adverts of the 70s, 80s and some from the 90s gives a glimpse into the marketing considerations of brands in those eras. – An unprecedented level of patriarchal patronage.

This may not be unconnected with the then positioning of women. Coupled with the expected gender roles, majority of Nigerian women at the time were less educated, poor and politically non-existent.

Now, the wheels are gradually turning for good. There are more educated Nigerian women. Majority of women entrepreneurs. Many more politically active women now trot our sphere, and the enlightenment quotient of the Nigerian woman is on a major rise, making it an error for any brand to try the marketing tactics of the past now and expect to win.

Why give consideration to female audience in marketing?

The Nigerian woman has perceptual and behavioural modes different from that of their male-counterpart, therefore marketing to her in the same mode as her male counterpart may not result in the same favourable outcome.

Secondly, Nigerian women are more advanced in knowledge, education and financial status. They possess a broader knowledge and view of the world now unlike it was in the past.

Therefore, any marketing effort that fails to take cognizance of these changes will fail to win them over.

How then can you market to the Nigerian female audience?

#1. Understand your women

We cannot say this enough. Learn about the exact demographics of your target female audience. Everything about them. Their age, life stage and all you require to totally understand them.

Understanding those helps you in designing strategies that would effectively market and convince them to make purchasing decisions favourable to you.

#2. Balance out equations

When you have a mixed target audience comprising of males and females, even things out by incorporating contents that communicates to both genders.

If it’s possible, use a mono marketing content that speaks to all target audience at once. If not, create marketing contents that specifically speaks to your varied audience, male and female.

#3. Don’t gender-generalize

Marketing to women does not mean you should lump all women together and shoot your contents at them. Hell no!

Just like in other audience types, women come in segments by status, interest, age, and other differences that separate each one of them from the other.

So, targeting them in a lump would be an error that will yield negative marketing results.

#4. Dig their likes, use them

Freebies, kids, cute men are just some strong magnets for the Nigerian female. When appropriate, use these audience attractions in your contents while marketing to them.

One word of caution, use them in an intelligent manner.

#5. Freebies are bae

According to a study conducted at the King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, female consumers are more likely to respond to freebies regardless of their income levels. Same can be said of the Nigerian woman.

The average Nigerian female consumer, regardless of her economic status likes and looks out to maximize opportunities to purchase goods that comes with a promise of freebies.

In order to make your marketing attractive to a Nigerian female audience, dangle freebies around your offers when necessary.

#6. Beautiful colours are the new pink

It is a marketing error to presume that women love a constricted number of colours and go ahead to use them for ads and other marketing content.

Just like the men, women are attracted to a variety of colours and would react to marketing contents that speaks to their emotion no matter the colour.

Just make it beautiful and attractive.

#7. Tap into their emotions

Women are emotional beings, they’re prone to expressing their emotions and falling for emotions than the men.

All a savvy business person needs is a deliberate tap into this and win them over.

One of the best ways of doing this is by infusing storytelling and fun into your marketing content, then watch them get stuck to your brand as ants to sugar.

Mercy Johnson Okojie Becomes Spokesperson For Mr. Chef Salt

Nollywood star Mercy Johnson Okojie has just signed an endorsement deal with Mr Chef Iodized salt as she becomes it’s brand ambassador. The event took place hours ago in Lagos.

Mercy Johnson Okojie took to her Instagram page to make the announcement.

“I’ve been teasing you for a few days I know…Say hello to the new brand ambassador for Mr Chef iodised salt!

We will be cooking up a storm very soon and I’ll be sharing all the delicious and healthy details!

I’m very excited about this new relationship with Mr Chef iodised salt and I can’t wait to tell you how using iodised salt has literally changed my life!”

This endorsement is the actress’ first for 2018.

How to Leverage Trends for Brand Awareness on Social Media

Every business person wants their business to generate more income and grow beyond the teething stage.

They exploit every opportunity that lean towards this end and make the best of gains out of them.

Savvy business people do more. They go the extra mile to ensure things happen, including spending on marketing using social media. And adequately maintaining a successful social media account for a business comes with some handsome budgeting, but leveraging trends for your social media marketing efforts can get your business an organic viralty that can compete with its paid counterparts.

The good news is, the Nigerian society and its political arena presents on the steady, tons of trends that can be leveraged by businesses to drive massive social media awareness for their brands and save social media marketing costs.

An example is the story of the snake that swallowed 36 million naira which many businesses latched on to create conversations around their brands.

A good example leveraging a trend for social media content

Here’s how you too can do same.

#1. Understand your audience

We know that you already know your target audience, but when a trend surfaces and you wish to jump on it, there’s the need to remind yourself of those basics again.

Ask yourself, who’s my audience? Will this flow with them? How are they going to perceive this? Before you proceed.

#2. Be hyper sure it’s a trend

Trends are ongoing conversations and opinions about an issue of massive common interest. Not every noise is qualified to be a brand.

You need to be able to decipher which conversation deserves the trend crown before integrating them into your brand conversation.

The easiest way to do this is to pay attention to the trend section on Twitter, and check out for real time conversations on Twitter surrounding the identified trend.

#3. Play by audience location

Consider the location of your audience before jumping on trends.

The trend should match with your audience location. This is because trends in countries foreign to your audience will only generate snubs and no engagements. Engagement is needed to be able to drive awareness using trends.

#4. Twist narrative to suit your brand offer

When you notice a trend that suits your brand and fits in with your audience, the next thing to do is to create and weave a message that is in tandem with your brand’s offer around the trend before sharing them with your audience.

#5. Be creative, make it fun

One basic truth about marketing on social media is this, the audience wants to be either educated or entertained.

For this reason, any message with a touch of fun easily gels with online audience and sparks them into engaging with them.

So, make it fun.

Good intentions gone sour: A social media post weaved around a trend that triggered a customer’s ire.

#6. Scrutinize for offensiveness

Even when they have checked out on all the other criteria, social media content meant to leverage a trend for brand awareness still needs to be cross-checked for offensiveness.

Share the post with a friend or colleague who shares similarities with your target audience how they feel about the content before you post.

#7. Share with appropriate hashtags

This caps it all.

When you’re done with every other thing, share your post with industry hashtags that match with the topic of the content you wish to share. Then post.

Bonus

Of all the other social media platforms, trends go more viral on twitter. Consider using Twitter for posts weaved around trends.

Posting on the social media when your audience is offline may limit the performance of your post, so note when your audience is online and make your post to meet them at the point of their visit to your social media handle.

How to Use Emotional Intelligence in Customer Communications

Earlier this year, world’s second largest global clothing retailer, Hennes & Mauritz ran into troubling waters with its customers globally over an advert that it ran on its UK e-commerce site where it used five-year-old “Black boy” Liam Mango to model a hooded sweatshirt with the inscription, “Coolest monkey in the hood”.

Advert of controversy: The coolest monkey in the jungle advert.

The social media was awash with rage. Angry customers burgled the company’s South African store. Search engine results still return “Brand image killer” articles and comments about the company. Celebrities lashed out at the company, while the others with running contracts with H&M severed association with the brand among other occurrences.

Generally, H&M lost global goodwill over the avoidable racially insensitive advert. A classic case of an outright brand emotional intelligence aloofness.

What is emotional intelligence?

It is the ability to recognize one’s own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings, label them appropriately and use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.

Customers are humans driven by emotions and their purchase decisions are based on same. This makes emotional intelligence a critical aspect of customer communications.

How then can emotional intelligence be incorporated into your brand’s customer communications?

#1. Know your customers

To be able to effectively communicate with your customers without raising red flags, you should be able to thoroughly know your customers. Their age, location, annual income, parental status and every necessary information that fully helps you to get to know whom your customers are.

A thorough knowledge of your customers smoothens communication between both ends and makes it mutually benefiting.

#2. Respect and value your customers’ culture

Culture is a people’s way of living. If any company is desirous of remaining in business, then respect and value for the culture of its customers should be paramount in its communications strategy.

Learning about your customers’ culture helps you understand the norms and guides you in crafting communication strategies that effectively speaks to them without a trigger of bad blood.

If you don’t like your customers’ culture, respect it!

#3. Avoid keywords that evoke negative emotions

In your out-bound communication whether verbal or written, avoid keywords that are capable of triggering negative emotions among your customers.

Keywords about the race, religion, culture and history of your customers.

#4. Hire the right communications team

No business person is supposed to hate on its customers in any form. If dislike for your customers’ culture is consuming you, sooner or later it’ll manifest in your communications. And nothing ruins a business like bad communication.

To avoid the H&M kind of drama, hire a communications team with a culture of respect for diversity like Wildflower PR to handle your communications.

Wildflower PR manages some of Africa’s biggest brands. See some of them here.

Your turn

How do you feel about cultures that are completely different from yours? Have you ever had a case of a customer reacting badly during communication? How did you resolve the matter?

We would love to read your comments. Share them with us in the comments section.

5 Politicians Who Won Elections Using Digital Media Public Relations

Until a few years ago, the ascension of politicians into power relied heavily on TV, Radio and of course print. Then the worldwide web came and websites became a platform to know the candidates more. All this was until the unexpected ascent of social media.

A lot of this is attributed to the bold move by then candidate Barack Obama to announce his candidacy via social media, hitherto overlooked as a platform where young people gathered to discuss the trivialities of their lives.

What social media brings to the table is an opportunity for everyone to have a say in global conversation. It has done this by demystifying the role of the traditional media as the gateway for information. With social media, the user has control of the medium and can readily give and receive information. The social media user by contributing can decide what conversations are important enough and make them trend.

Today, we will review some politicians who we believe have used social media to build a relevant and responsive following to their own ends.

One of the Buhari – Osibanjo 2015 online campaign posters

Changing narratives: A picture to cleanse Mr. Buhari’s public image

#1. Muhammed Buhari – Rebranding change

The 2015 election campaigns marked a shift in the history of electioneering campaigns in Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria.

More historical was the win by Muhammed Buhari, a retired military general who had failed to in his bid to clinch the top seat in the land in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

A win that is attributable to the role of digital media PR which was coming to play for the first time in Nigeria’s political history.

For Mr. Buhari, whose first sojourn on the thrown was unpalatable to the people, digital media PR cleansed his battered public image and gave him a new garb of sainthood and messiahship that swayed voters into dropping their votes to his favour.

In the end Mr. Buhari beat the incumbent and unprecedentedly won the election to become Nigeria’s president.

“Make America great again.” Trump’s facebook page during the campaigns.

#2. Donald Trump – The unifier of the divisive

Trump is believed to be the first to successfully galvanize a strong force of Americans dissatisfied with America’s status quo a la’ Obama. With a simplistic messaging as easy and as powerful as social media chatter is, Trump turned ‘Make America great again’ into a movement. Stirring up his following with Twitter reports proven and unproven, Trump appeared to appeal to a demographic wallowing who felt they were losing a grip on power.

Leading to the 2017 US presidential elections nearly half of US citizens and people of other nations supported Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s opponent.

But then, the digital media came to the rescue.

In the words of Brad Parscale Trump’s director of digital during the electioneering campaigns, “Facebook campaign enabled us to raise up to $280 million from grassroots supporters . But, in turn, a lot of money had been spent on advertising on the social media platform, allowing the Trump campaign to compete with Hillary Clinton’s Democratic campaign.

“When Donald Trump became the (Republican) candidate we didn’t have any money other than Mr. Trump’s money and I don’t think he wanted to write that check all himself… We needed to create a grassroots campaign and we needed to go out and find millions of people to be our supporters and Facebook allowed us to do that in alarming numbers, very fast,”

In the other news, ongoing investigations on the 2016 US presidential elections suggests Russia meddled in US elections using the digital media to swing votes in favour of Mr. Trump who won the elections.

Obama’s facebook page during the campaigns

#3. Barack Obama- The gatherer

Many call him the pioneer of social media in politicking. If there were any elections where the digital media came to play in full force, then the American presidential elections of 2008 that saw Barack Obama become president was it.

The Dragonflyeffect.com described Obama’s 2008 campaign as, “The first political campaign in history to truly harness the power of social media to spread the word, garner support and get people engaged.”

How did he do it?

Mr. Obama hired industry experts like Facebook’s co-founder, Chris Hughes, Joe Rospars founder of Blue State Digital a digital strategy and technology firm and Kevin Malover, founder of Orbitz.

Together with their team these three built a strong online presence for Mr. Obama’s campaign activities.

2.5 million followers on Facebook, 112,000 on Twitter and 18 million YouTube channel views which was many times higher than that of his then competitor.

With his online activities Mr. Obama was able to raise $500million for his campaigns. He went ahead to win the 2008 elections and also got re-elected for a second term in 2012.

A Nana Akufo Addo 2016 online campaign poster

#4. Nana Akufo Addo – In the people’s voice

The now Ghanaian president is famous for being the first individual in Ghanaian political history to defeat an incumbent in a democratic presidential election.

Haven unsuccessfully ran for the Ghanaian presidency twice in 2008 and 2012, Mr. Addo engaged the services of Nigeria’s State craft, who had previously helped bring President Buhari into power.

As aptly covered by Christoper Opara, digital media PR played a major role in Ghana’s 2016 elections and Nana Addo was the biggest gainer winning 94.35% of total votes cast.

#5. Ben Murray Bruce – An activist at the table

Known in social media circles as the #Commonsense senator, Nigerian media mogul Ben Murray Bruce is another politician helped to a political throne by digital media PR.

Prior to Nigeria’s 2015 elections where he was elected a senator, Mr. Bruce massively deployed the social media for his campaigns.

Majorly sharing his common sense themed messages that attacked the ills inherent in Nigeria’s political system and society, and also shared his plans of how to tackle them.

With his style of digital PR, Mr. Bruce quickly won the goodwill of majority of Nigerians and the electorate in his home state Bayelsa which earned him a seat at the Nigerian senate.

5 Most Creative Valentine Season Campaigns of Recent Times

Every February presents communications departments in many organizations an opportunity to creatively weave love discussions around their brands.

When their meals are done we get some good, some bad, some ugly and some really dope campaigns serenading the airwaves.

Every February presents communications departments in many organizations an opportunity to creatively weave love discussions around their brands.

When their meals are done we get some good, some bad, some ugly and some really dope campaigns serenading the airwaves.

Well, we’re focusing on the dope side of the campaigns today.

Our article here chronicles five of the campaigns that brought the wow factor to the valentine’s season celebration in recent times.

#1. Cocacola’s couples’ happiness machine 2012

In a tweaked version of its first “Happiness strikes” campaign which was hosted in a New York University in 2010, Cocacola treated couples to a valentine’s day surprise by installing a remote-controlled vending machine specially made for couples in a busy New York shopping mall on the valentine’s day of 2015.

People had to do only one thing to have access to drinks from the vending machine.

And that was to prove that they were actually a couple, viola! they’ll be rewarded with cans of Cocacola drinks from the vending machine.

Awesome creativity, isn’t it?

#2. Flower Council of Holland’s #Cupidrone Love in the air 2015

In 2015, Funnyhowflowersdothat.co.uk, an initiative of the Flower Council of Holland an organization in the Netherlands which promotes the use and selling of flowers.

In order to make people aware of the importance of flower to the celebration of valentine’s day, the organization organized the Love in the air campaign, in which #Cupidrone a real drone stealthily dropped red roses to couples.

When the drone spots his target, he drops them a red rose.

The campaign was set in Verona, the Italian city made famous by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

#3. Coca Cola’s #LoveIsInTheAir 2013

The Cocacola brand never ceases to amaze with awe inspiring creativity for its valentine’s season campaigns and this one was not different either.

Seeking ideas for its 2013 valentine’s day campaign, Cocacola threw open a contest challenging filmmakers around the world to come up with a creative advert to celebrate the day.

At last then 23-year-old Hugh Mitton’s idea was chosen.

The ad was simple but intriguing. Really intriguing.

The idea entailed dropping cans of Cocacola from a height to unsuspecting couples hanging out in a busy cityscape.

Aw! Such a lovely sight to behold.

See the video below.

#4. Swatch’s #ThisIsLove 2015

For its 2015 valentine’s day campaign, Swiss watch making giant Swatch wanted to generate a buzz and sales for its brands and that was how the #ThisIsLove campaign emerged.

For the campaign, Swatch positioned remote controlled display boards in select busy malls at Paris, Zurich, and Madrid.

To get to participate to win a 2,000 euros worth of travel voucher, fans had to find a key hidden in a heap of love themed pictures on the display board; by repeatedly moving their bodies in front of the board while the pictures are picked out to finally unravel the key.

When the key is unraveled, the fan gets an online access to pictures of themselves snapped by the display board when they log in to a portal.

They were expected to send the pictures to their val. When this is done, they get an access to enter for the promo proper.

Not a bad idea at all.

Check out the video below to see the campaign.

#5. Dominos Pizza on Tinder 2014

In 2014 Dominos Pizza decided to do something different from normal for the valentine’s season. Guess what they did? They registered on the dating site Tinder!

Registering a presence on Tinder, Dominos promoted its valentine’s day campaign offering Tinder users an opportunity to swipe right and win delicious meal deals.

This is how they did it.

First, they registered and next they kept swipping right and liked many individuals on the app. At last they got matched to hundreds of Tinder users whom they engaged in chats and made meal deals that finally got delivered to each of the individuals at their doorsteps.

What other thing could be more beautiful than that?

Now you have our five most creative valentine campaigns of recent times. Which other valentine season campaigns do you think is creative enough to grace this list?

Send us your comments.

7 Reasons to Use the Social Media as a Public Relations Tool For Your Brand

Before now, the traditional media via TV, newspapers, magazines and radio, played the role of public relations tools for brands. They were regarded the real deal till the appearance of the social media to the Nigerian business scene.

Now we are all hooked and it seems the craze for this communication medium will never cease.

Even though they are part of the new craze in town, majority of Nigerian brands still do not understand why (and how) the social media could be used as a PR tool for their brands.

We’ll show you why in this article.

#1. Everybody is on social

That sounds fallacious right? We agree too, but I am sure you’ll change your mind when you read the next lines.

According to United States Census Bureau, the human population in the world is over 7 billion.

Now let’s count.

Facebook has over 2 billion active users worldwide. Twitter has over 310 million users. Pinterest has over 360 million active users. Whatsapp has over 1 billion daily users.

Over 2 billion are active on Youtube. Over 5 million on Google plus and more.

Now you see why we said everybody is on social?

Everybody being on the social media means both your customers and prospective customers are there.

Time to shoot your shot somebody?

#2. No bottlenecks

Before the coming of the social media, you’ll need to go through middle men and bottlenecks which makes it hard to get your message to the right audience quickly.

Social media makes it easy to deliver your message to your target audience without having to go through any individual.

No bottlenecks.

#3. Gather real time data

Compared to the traditional public relations media, using the social media for PR grants you access to the real time data and behavior of your audience. You get to know what is working and what isn’t. You also get a chance to tweek your PR efforts and re-launch them for greater profitability.

#4. Targeting the right Audience

Doing PR on traditional media is like, a soldier at war shooting sporadically into the air without any major target. He will waste his bullets and also kill the innocent.

Even though doing your brand’s PR on traditional media sounds “sexy”, the attendant target audience mis-firings and the financial waste cannot be overlooked.

The traditional media is good, but for this reason, social media serves you better.

#5. Affordability

Doing adverts on traditional media requires that a brand sets aside a handsome amount of money unlike running same adverts on the social media.

Running ads on social media can cost as less as NGN300 depending on what you plan to achieve for your brand.

#6. Speed of light customer communication

Social media helps you interact with your target audience in the speed of light.

You get immediate feedback from your customers about your brand, and a seamless customer to brand communications.

#7. Fast reach

Whatever content is on the social media takes miliseconds to get to the target audience anywhere around the world.

This is not same with the traditional media which can get limited by location.

We believe you now know why you should take the social media seriously for your brand’s PR efforts.

Need help with running your social media and digital assets efficiently? You can talk to us.

5 TIPS TO THRIVE IN YOUR CAREER AS A PR PRACTITIONER

Very few people can explain what people in public relations really do. A lot of people might think that Public relations is just a cute name for people who organize fancy campaigns for brands. These “PR experts” most times have no idea what Public Relations actually is about.

To succeed in the PR space, you have to be willing to ‘put your all’ into it. You must have a ‘proper understanding of the brand(s) you are managing’ and should always ‘think’ before you talk.

Public Relations is a “strategic communication process” that builds ‘mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics’

To survive in PR, please note that “PR is a Persuasion Business”. It involves convincing an audience; inside your building or town and outside your usual sphere of influence, to promote your idea, purchase your product, support your position, or recognize your accomplishments.

Most people start out and eventually get sunk in the industry. But we have 5 unique tips to keep you thriving in the PR business;

RESEARCH: This is the most important part of PR. You must perform a brand survey and audience survey to gauge the awareness and perceptions of your client and public attitudes towards it. It’s extremely important to conduct a research before launching a PR program. This will determine the strategies and tactics that will be used to run the PR campaign.

UNDERSTAND THE AUDIENCE IS IN CHARGE OF CURRENT LANDSCAPE: Whatever campaign you want to push, understand that the target audience decides if the message is worth it or not. Understand who you are talking to, to enable the message to be sent out via the right medium.

If you understand this, you will always achieve PR Goals, therefore making clients happy.

THE FOUNDATION OF PR IS MULTITASKING: The beauty and challenge of public relations is found in its broad nature of expectancies. One minute you may be designing a runway show, the next you might be media pitching to local news stations. You should Have the determination and tenacity to complete any task promptly, effectively and with a smile.

PS: Learn the skill of doing more than one thing at the same time and doing it efficiently, this will keep you in the PR business for a very long time.

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX: The only difference between you and the other PR guy is the idea you come up with for your clients. Do not limit your thoughts, always think out of the norm and think of breaking bounds. Try not to channel your thought towards some idea that has already been executed. Be unique and creative!

THINK ON YOUR FEET: Multitasking is a huge part of PR. You should always think on your feet. Think out of the box, save the word with your thoughts, BUT do it as fast as you can. Think on your feet. Come up with the smartest ideas without delays. Because Time is very important in PR and cannot be wasted.

To survive and thrive in public relations, it takes Effort, Persistence and a Huge Drive.

ASCEND’S OLU JACOBS, JOKE SILVA, OC UKEJE AND LALA AKINDOJU STAR IN ROMANTIC COMEDY ‘THE ROYAL HIBISCUS HOTEL’

The iconic Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva, our favourite leading man, OC Ukeje and the versatile Lala Akindoju co-star in soon to be released Romcom “The Royal Hibiscus Hotel”

Art imitates life as Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva play a couple; Richard and Augustina who enjoy a passionate love story after 40 years of marriage.

OC Ukeje takes on the role of the dapper Felix who’s in love with ‘Ope’ (Zainab Balogun) who is unable to reciprocate his love. Lala Akindoju is hilarious as Chika, a carefree receptionist whose career goals appear to be getting Deji (Kenneth Okojie) Ope’s boyfriend to fall in love with her.

The Royal Hibiscus hotel is the story of Segun and Rose Adeniyi, who run a hotel in a little town in Lagos, Nigeria. Their daughter, Ope, is living in London, working a dead-end job while trying to open her own restaurant. When Ope decides to return to Nigeria, she meets Deji, a charming young businessman with a secret that threatens her plans to restore the hotel’s fortunes.

The Royal Hibiscus Hotel is a production of Ebonylife Film. It was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF)and will be in cinemas from February 9 2018.

TOPE OSHIN’S ‘NEW MONEY’ SET TO HIT CINEMAS SOON

After successfully directing the third and fourth season of MTV Base’s ‘Shuga’ and Ebony Life TV’s first legal drama series ‘Castle and castle,’ Ascend’s Tope Oshin is ready to release her latest project; ‘New Money’

New Money is a comedy about a poor girl who unexpectedly stumbles into an inheritance that changes her life forever. The movie was written by Naz Onuzo and features Jemima Osunde, Kate Henshaw, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Osas Ighodaro and Falz amongst others.

Tope Oshin is known and celebrated for her exceptional body of work as a director, with ‘New Money’ she is expected to deliver one of Nollywood’s biggest movies of 2018.

New Money will be in cinemas on the 23^rd of March 2018.

Dazzlr Collaborates with Ascend Talent Management | Brings International Artists to India

In its commitment to bring the best of the talent to the fore, Dazzlr has crossed yet another milestone. Dazzlr, a talent discovery platform that brings together actors, casting professionals, directors and producers, has announced its tie up with an ace African talent management company, Ascend Talent Management.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vivek Bohra, Producer and Co-Founder, Dazzlr said, “Our aim is to promote talent from across the world. We are not restricted to any geographical boundaries, in fact the power and growth of box office of films that indulge in global talent is clearly evident even in top notch Hollywood films. There is tremendous scope for newer talent in our country as well as for our talent in different cinemas across the world. Ascend Talent Management is one of the biggest talent management company in Africa and we are glad to be associated with them.”

Adding on, Inya Lawal founder and Head Talent Management at Ascend Talent Management said, “We are always on the lookout for innovative ways to expand our entertainment network globally and the collaboration with Dazzlr is an exceptional illustration of that vision. It is good to see that Bollywood is more inclusive in taking on talent globally, as there are an incredible number of talented artistes across Africa. We are excited to be a crucial part of this move.”

The Indian entertainment industry is one of the largest in the world and international artists are keen to be a part of the same. The African entertainment industry is growing exponentially and encourages artists to pursue their field of interest. This collaboration will provide a quick and easy access to stimulate the industry without having to worry about distances, costs, etc.

“The Indian Film industry shoots around the world and we are always looking forward to cast talented actors in different locales so this step only adds to our resolution of making the casting eco-system of the world more accessible for actors and casting directors alike.” says Aadore, Mukherjee, Co-Founder, Dazzlr. Aadore has also been responsible for casting Big Ticket Bollywood Films such as Happy New Year and BaarBaarDekho in countries such as the UAE and UK.

The app can be easily downloaded from the PlayStore on Android and the App Store on Apple.

11 Surefire Ways to Schedule Interviews

Scheduling media slots for your client can be an arduous task. this is because there are lot of other people vying to get that same interview for their own clients. You may be unfortunate to call when an editor is having a bad day which may drown your hopes of getting it for your client. But here are 11 surefire tips that will make sure you carry on a conversation from the beginning till you schedule even the highly contested interviews.

Do Research:

The kind of research needed here is not deep and could be done within minutes. You need to be sure of the kind of media outlet it is. Study their patterns and the kinds of guests the handle on their shows.

Will my client be of interest to them?

What kinds of questions are they likely to ask and how will I craft them without hurting any party?

Will this interview achieve the bottom line for my client?

Is the timing perfect?

Will it give my client the required exposure needed?

Focus on Priorities:

While scheduling interviews, make sure you focus on the main reason you’re calling or sending out an email. The name of your client, a brief description of who he/she is, reasons he/she should be featured in their media outlet.

Sound Convincing and confident:

Part of what makes you sound convincing is preparation. You have to be prepared to make the call and know exactly what you wish to ask for. So you do not falter while making the call. Being well equipped with all the information needed makes you sound confident and make demands.

Find Shortcuts:

You might hear the word “shortcut” and assume that means shoddy work. But, that’s not what this strategy is about at all. Successful people are always concerned with producing top-notch results—however; they also find little ways to save time in the process. You need to do other things aside scheduling that interview. So find a way to get off the phone as quickly as possible and send a lengthy mail instead.

Be Specific:

Make your request clear. Remember that without guests there would be no shows. As much as you need them, they need you too. So do not be subjected to being pushed around while trying to schedule. Most times it is better to reject their options at first to make them know that you know what you really a want. All these without sounding haughty to those you’re talking to.

Timing is important:

Know the perfect time to call offices and business places. Try not to call just before closing time because all they are thinking of is to clear their desk and go home. Give them some time in the morning to settle in before calling except it is in an emergency.

Space calls:

Just in case you call and you do not get through, always wait minutes before calling. They might be in a meeting and your calls might be disturbing them.

Achieve a Consensus:

Make sure you reach a conclusion. Never leave any conversation hanging. This shows thoroughness in execution. You may reach a conclusion on when to call back for more information or details of the interview

Request for feedback:

Always request for a response or feedback whenever you send a mail. This will prompt the contact person that you are actually waiting to hear from them and will keep the conversation going till you reach a consensus.

Always look for other options:

Just in case you do not get the slot or show for your client, always look for other options. Do they have another show that can go with your clients wants? You can also reschedule to another time suitable for both your client and the media outlet. Do not let the contact slide by. Always fix another time dependent on the needs of your client.

Remember to show gratitude:

Show gratitude in terms of tone of voice and in writing too. When the interview is conducted or the publication is released, always show gratitude. It doesn’t cost a thing and it created good relationship and an air of friendship between you and the contact person. In case you need to call in quick favors you may have an advantage.

Photos: #Bezlive Abuja 2017! Bez Takes Abuja by Storm In Best Ever Live Music Concert In Nigeria

#Bezlive Abuja 2017! Bez Takes Abuja by Storm In Best Ever Live Music Concert In Nigeria

The Bez Live Concert Abuja finally took place on Saturday 18^th of feburary, 2017 at the Sheraton hotel. Music was fed to the fans in the best, undiluted form ever as Bez live Abuja can be practically said to be the best live music concert in the history of this country.

Some Fellow alternative music acts were also present as they stunned the whole city of Abuja with some excellent vocals and instrument skill. Bez who is a singer and Multi Instrumentalist decided to show off his guitar skill, till the fans roared in ecstasy.

Bez is one of our clients at WildFlowerPR

Here are pictures from the event.