By Darren Gilbert

Congrats on being appointed as the lead creative agency for Pepkor Africa. I understand it was a 5-way pitch process. Can you take me through the pitch process and what that entailed?

Thank you, we are delighted.

The process actually began in July 2015 when agencies were briefed on the brand and revert requirements. We pitched a month later. Three agencies were then given a debrief and invited to come to the second round.

After that, the pitch was put on hold for a few months, for a number of very good reasons, including the appointment of a new marketing director.

The agencies then had a number of meetings with the client team and shared thoughts on various challenges specific to certain markets. The process was managed by Yardstick and adhered to the ACA pitches and tenders guidelines.

What excites you about working on the Pepkor Africa account?

It’s always very interesting to work in new markets in a new category. Whilst we have built up a wealth of knowledge and experience in certain countries, we hadn’t worked in Uganda, for example. We also have had previous retail experience, but the Pepkor Africa business has a completely different set of challenges to a brand such as Totalsports in SA.

Understanding different people’s needs, wants and drivers is a key deliverable on this account as it will help inform all elements of the mix from product selection to communication messaging and channels – this is one of the things we will be doing along with development of the communication (TV, radio, leaflets, in-store, on-the-ground activations and digital/social media).

What opportunities does Africa provide for an agency like MullenLowe South Africa?

We’re really quite nerdy and so have a true desire to understand a client’s business – challenges and opportunities. Once we are immersed in a brand, our channel’s agnotsic, hyperbundled approach is leveraged to find the best solutions. Africa really provides the perfect backdrop to making it happen as brand custodians seem to be more open and entrepreneurial in their approach.

We also love to learn new things and you can never, ever know enough about the countries and the people on this continent.

How does Africa then fit into MullenLowe South Africa’s overall strategy?

We have been growing our knowledge and experience of the continent for some time but the addition of the Knorr Africa and Pepkor Africa brands to our portfolio this year have given us additional momentum – we are very keen to make the most of this opportunity.

Helping brands to grow in Africa offers a fantastic challenge to our team and is a key focus for us.

What are the different challenges MullenLowe SA faces in doing business in Africa?

Navigating your way through a plethora of different cultures with brands in different life stages and economies under strain from various forces is never going to be easy – but that’s what makes it so exciting. Each brief sends the team on a steep learning curve and opens our minds a little more each time.

Some of the challenges of African business are related to ease of movement between the countries. We believe in immersing ourselves on the ground, with real consumers – in the flesh. But, visas take time, flights are expensive, and safety precautions are a must in certain places.

You often can’t overcome the challenges so we prefer rather to embrace them.

Is this the beginning of MullenLowe SA’s push to win more business across Africa?

We’ve always been keen to get involved in regional business and will continue to pursue it – building on our learnings with each brief … after all, the people we are trying to communicate with are often the same “target” so it would be remiss not to leverage our knowledge.

Plus, the work is generally more interesting and rewarding than simply running global communication.

For more information, visit southafrica.mullenlowe.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.