Advertising agencies in Africa are changing as more Western PR and ad agencies join them on the ground in Africa rather than flying by remote control to help international companies become known on the continent.

From VoiceofAmerica. Story by Anne Ball.

Keri-Ann Stanton is managing director of South Africa-based Engage Joe Public, a public relations agency. She says global communication companies have bought or partnered with many African agencies over the last two years.

The growing number of mobile devices has helped the growth of locally-owned digital agencies in sub-Saharan Africa, countries south of the equator. Stanton says these agencies are creating their own niche, or specialized market, and winning plenty of praise.

“We are an emerging market so we know that a lot of people are trying to get into Africa and a lot of people have failed terribly. So, it’s very much like there’s a shift – the first world is watching Africa for innovation.”

The American public relations agency Grey opened an office in Johannesburg. From there, the company will work with clients in Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and Botswana. These are fast-growing markets, says Paul Jackson, managing director at Grey South Africa.

“We have seen a lot of multinationals not getting the returns in first world economies and looking to the third world markets and emerging markets for additional returns. Obviously it is lot riskier…obviously these are markets that they don’t understand. But they know that Africa is the place they have got to be.”

“So it’s really important any client and/or agency understands the various markets that they are targeting, those various nuances, the different cultures, the key insights that is going to make a product move in a very tough landscape. You have got to have on-the-ground representation; you can’t fly by remote control.”

In October, a London-based company, Weber Shandwick, announced it was combining with its South African sister agency, McCann PR. This will give the company a big increase in South African business clients.

Fraser Lamb is CEO and Africa chairman of McCann Worldgroup. He says poorly informed advertising campaigns can be costly. 

Read more at VoiceofAmerica.