Starting An Advertising Agency In Nigeria

 i suggest the best way for your friend to get statrted is to intern at an already exsisting agency in naija
for a while.  to get to understand the nature of biz in this clime .i work in one of nigeria's top agencies and i ve seen people start off with real beautful ideas but fizzled out because they didint do their home work right.
cheers

your European ideas will be fun in europe! Things are quite different its not always the way it seems. I've worked for an agency too. We used to hate the boss when he comes thinking naija is like america where he came from. He suffered a lot in the early years. before he understood

seun
diff could be in the concept not production
look at the intial celtel advert- they werent communicating directly. it was just there & a loss if they were newly made!

Advertising is about talking to people in their language culture and level of understanding.
Most of the advert concept stolen and reproduce direct wont make same impact

But i think what it takes would be talking about the business sense and ethics
that would be diff as we don't have the same as developed countries.
Best way is to do a proper market research on the industry currently. (the dos & don't and ways)
textbook advertising don't workas much has pratical how far!

you're welcome

You see u have some thing to fear in taking and advert to companies *esp big once.Losing your concept to their agency or marketing dept.
-because you are a one man firm !
- you are a treat -sadly but logically reason is that -if you are being paid to do a job and a stranger walks in and deliver what u were hired to do it means, you are  incompetent or not required.-that why the kill such



Aside that, lets get positive:

- You can find out how the company work through agency or do they have a marketing dept that control their advertising.

- Package your concept and to the and keep it to yourself

- Find the contact person * the main man* then liaise with them

Another way is to do samples you can give away to them ^{(agency or coY)} to show you skills, try to build a relationship with them then hope for future jobs

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nuff said diyobdw, u couldnt have bin more to the point.i needed that info more than anyother living thing!, c, eh, i was hoping to buzz u privately but couldnt find your addy. i guess am not the only one around with a creative mind n bla bla bla, but am kind of feeling cold feeted(please don't use that phrase in public) bout starting up something, am having migraines wid all the ideas in my head n i don't wanta go to the grave wid 'em, am into IT but am really bored there, Advertising (n branding) is just it for me, so please mammy, whats the way forward?, i fit the profile of a copywritter n have alota sketchy work on paper, i don't know how to build up a portfolio, what i actually mean is that, i am confused on what kind of spec ad i should have.in-that,  should they be sample print ads since i think("think" is stressed here) it would be ridiculuos approaching a prospective client with sample tv or radio adscripts.he or she mite not be able to visualize the concept u have on paper! So *if* portfolios are built solely on concepts for print ads, i guess i would need to explain my ideas to a graffics guy n have him translate that visually for me yes? then working in an ad agency, (drums rolling)am a school drop out (university level) but presently running a degree online with a foreign uni.so what r the chances for somebody with such a charming profile?, because i thot the idea was to be creative enough. i would really love a direct correspondence wid u since i really don't have knowledgable people to seek advice from on the subject , i would really appreciate any suggestions from u n any other person who can help, thanx everybody

I am always touched with the level of enthusiasm and courage of Nigerians to make things work.
In relation to Advertising,the concept and ethics can only be understood and translated in a realisable idea either through experience or qualification.You could be conceptual but to translate this concept into reality you need the understanding of your market and the possible audience.In a nut shell Marketing as a qualification is desired to understand the holistic market environment/philosophy.You have to understand-
-Market competition
-Target market and segmentation
-Buying behaviour
-Innovation
ETC

Because Advertising does not only create awareness but to influence/change your market/audience/public perception to make a purchase.Psychologically you can only do this ONLY if you understand them(market)