Media and public relations firm, Black House Media (BHM), has been awarded the ‘PR Agency of the Year’, at the Brandcom Festival.
Organised by Brand Communicator, a brand and marketing communications firm, the festival was established to recognise and celebrate excellence in Nigeria’s rapidly-growing Marketing Communications industry.
The award was in recognition of BHM’s effort in providing the best possible corporate and marketing communications to brands through it innovative strategies.
The event, which held at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, was the maiden edition of the festival and had in attendance some of the best and brightest minds in marketing communications in the country, cutting across advertising, digital, media and also some of the biggest brands today.
BHM founder/CEO Ayeni Adekunle acknowledged that the company still had a long journey ahead of it, adding that BHM was on the right path.
He congratulated the staff at BHM, its clients, friends, media partners and advisers.
“Everyone who’s in our corner, those about to cross over, and to everyone working day and night, making huge sacrifices and strides to help us build a great company.
In 2017, BHM won the The PR Agency of the Year and Best Agency to Work by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Lagos Chapter.
In a bid to keep innovating and maintain its leadership position in the marketing communications industry in Nigeria, leading media and public relations company, BHM has announced the adoption of the world’s leading cloud based enterprise resource planning software, SAP, to improve its overall business operations.
This announcement comes as BHM celebrates its 12th anniversary, effectively putting the Lagos based agency in an elite list of other global companies leveraging cutting edge technology to deliver top-of-the-rack consulting services to clients.
According to BHM founder and CEO, Ayeni Adekunle Samuel, the adoption of the SAP platform after months of integration and work is in line with the organisation’s mission to provide the best possible corporate and marketing communications to the best brands on earth using strategies no one can beat.
“The BHM vision is to become Africa’s leading media and public relations organisation. We believe the only way to do this is by deploying the most advanced technology solutions, extraordinary human talent and creative thinking which will deliver unbeatable results for our clients and consumers, while also building a far reaching reputation for the business and profit for our investors,” he said.
With the strategic adoption of SAP technology, BHM’s leadership hopes to see significant advancements across the group in the efficiency of day-to-day management processes and overall business performance.
Notable operational improvements are also expected in BHM’s finance, talent and material management, project management and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on the strength of features such as SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Business ByDesign, a cloud based enterprise resource planning and business management software product.
Other firsts for BHM include the first and only mobile application in Nigeria’s PR market, and a resource centre for the entire media and marketing industries, launched in 2014 and the Nigeria PR Report, which contains insights across key areas in the Nigeria PR industry, first released in 2016.
Global communications and public relations organisation, BHM has unveiled important findings on the Nigerian PR industry in its newly released 2018 PR Report.
Now in its third year, the Report, which contains insights across key areas in the Nigeria PR industry, is compiled by BHM’s research arm – BHM Research & Intelligence (BRI) in collaboration with Brentt Consulting, a leading market research organisation, and Africa’s first Content Trading Marketplace, Plaqad Incorporated.
The Nigeria PR Report includes comprehensive data analysis on subject matters such as size of agency, years of operation, annual PR revenue, annual PR spend, agency client portfolio, top sectors serviced, skills for entry into the industry, state of the Nigeria PR industry and perspectives of the industry according to various industry professionals. It also features the code of ethics of the Nigerian Public relations industry.
This edition of the report reveals useful information, while offering a strategic approach to put Nigeria on the global PR map by encouraging the documentation of reliable data and insights about the industry.
According to Lola Talabi Oni, Managing Director, Brentt Consulting, “There is the need to document the growth and development of the Nigerian PR industry using data and insights from practitioners. We’ve noted that there is a gap in the marketplace that only the provision of data like those compiled in the Nigeria PR report can bridge.”
Speaking on the release of 2018 Nigeria PR Report, Founder and CEO of BHM, Ayeni Adekunle noted that, “Nigeria PR Report brings something we desperately need to save our businesses: Data. We need to know what’s happened, what’s happening, how it happened, why it happened. This information will enable us make informed decisions around our individual businesses and the industry in general.”
Nigeri PR Report is the country’s first-ever annual report on Public Relations, dedicated to gathering, chronicling and analyzing data on trends, perceptions, challenges and prospects within the industry.
Nigerian media and public relations consultancy, BHM has been named Agency of the Year and the Best Agency to Work in 2017 by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Lagos Chapter.
The award presentation took place at the annual Lagos PR Industry Gala and Awards (LaPRIGA) night, which held at Four Point by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday December 21, 2017.
According to the Chairman, NIPR Lagos State Chapter, Olusegun McMedal, the selection was based on the result of a survey of agency employees which scored BHM high on a wide range of parameters, ranging from integrity of senior management, quality of professional development, creativity, empowerment and risk-taking, staff welfare, mobility, retention and emolument.
In his words, McDMedals said“…agencies that win this honour are considered the ultimate benchmark of PR firms, culture and workplace performance in an industry whose primary asset remains its people.”
Known for innovative Public Relations and creative communication campaigns, BHM has since inception consistently raised the bar, challenging the status quo in a bid to do things better and differently.
COO ID AFRICA, FEMI FALODUN, PRESIDENT APRA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE CMC CONNECT, YOMI BADEJO-OKUSANYA AND COO BHM, DURING THE NIPR AWARD CEREMONY IN LAGOS RECENTLY.
Receiving the award on behalf of BHM, General Manager/COO, Moruff Adenekan said, “It’s an honour to receive this award on behalf of the entire team. At BHM, we’re all about keeping our people happy and doing great work. For us, creating better models for the Nigerian PR industry to reach greater heights, reach its fullest potential and attain global recognition is a task we’re committed to. This award is dedicated to our people and clients, both of whom are the reason for what we have achieved so far.”
In 2015, the agency launched a nationwide campaign themed ‘PR is Dead’ which was designed to draw attention of the public and marketing communications practitioners to the fact that communication has evolved beyond textbook practices and the good old traditional ways. The ‘PR is Dead’ campaign was designed to stir up in the minds of communicators, the urgent need to evolve with the times, learn new skills and embrace new ideas in order to remain relevant.
The agency has championed several other ecosystem shaping ideas like the launch of Nigeria PR Report: the first and only annual report chronicling development, collating data, monitoring trends, perceptions, challenges and prospects in Public Relations industry in Africa’s biggest market.
Also, in November 2017, BHM in partnership with ID Africa and Plaqad, trained over 70 journalists and bloggers at Social4Media Masterclass, a free training event facilitated by content and marketing experts such as Ali Baba, M.I Abaga, Frank Donga, Tosin Ajibade of Olorisupergal, Osagie Alonge of Pulse, Yemi Adamolekun of EIE Nigeria, Tomiwa Aladekomo of Ventra Media, Femi Falodun of ID Africa, Ized Uanikhehi of CNN Africa, and John Adewusi of Funny Africa.
In 11 years of existence, the company has gone from being a one-man shop to one of Africa’s leading PR consultancies. It has created a culture of placing people before profit, integrity before image and unlimited possibilities before general platitudes. The firm has also created an environment that allows staff think and work outside the conventional four walls of an office with introduction of a dedicated Lounge, nap rooms, provision of free lunch, games centre among other facilities all in the same building.
The agency prides itself on the maintenance of global best practice, championing innovation with its team of young professionals that have access to influential persons and platforms in Africa and beyond.
The new agency, headquarted in Lagos, is a social and digital marketing agency, according to founder Ayeni Adekunle.
BHM is a major advocate of social PR – a practice that prioritises the use of C2C conversations in driving advocacy and telling brand stories. The agency is a digital PR leader in Nigeria, in an industry that’s just slowly waking up to the opportunities technology and trends provide.
ID Africa is a creative, social and digital marketing agency specialising in the customisation of brand communication to specific target markets, and the use of stories and conversations to engage audiences.
The company is part of the BHM Group, which is home to Nigerian Entertainment Today and BlackHouse Media.
Last year, BHM introduced Nigeria’s first mobile application in the media and PR industry, and, according to data from its digital department, the company recorded over one billion (1bn) social impressions from different campaigns during the year.
Ayeni said: “Brands should not only tell their stories, they must have a passionate community of consumers who are believers and evangelists, happy to share their experience and convert even the worst skeptic. The combination of great social technology and cool content are the sine qua non to achieving this.”
ID Africa aims to fill the gap left by digital marketing firms across Africa who currently offers only the most generic of marketing and digital ad services. This it hopes to achieve by leveraging on the often-overlooked Internet business community in Nigeria reported to be growing by up to 50 per cent yearly.
The Nigeria PR Report includes comprehensive data analysis on subject matters such as size of agency, years of operation, annual PR revenue, annual PR spend, agency client portfolio, top sectors serviced, skills for entry into the industry, state of the Nigeria PR industry and perspectives of the industry according to various industry professionals. It also features the code of ethics of the Nigerian Public relations industry.
