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How shapeshifting helps businesses, agencies adapt to modern trends

By Anote Ajeluorou (Assistant Editor, Media & Marketing)
21 August 2018   |   4:15 am
Adapt or Die, that is the single most important rule in business. Regardless of the industry, businesses must evolve to remain relevant. This is even more important in the new media industry where technology is ever evolving. The way content is being consumed now is not how it was consumed a few months or a year ago.

Creative Director, X3M Ideas, Mr. Adesola Kosoko (left) and CEO, X3M Ideas, Mr. Steve Babaeko standing beside a Dinosaur fossil… in Lagos

Adapt or Die, that is the single most important rule in business. Regardless of the industry, businesses must evolve to remain relevant. This is even more important in the new media industry where technology is ever evolving. The way content is being consumed now is not how it was consumed a few months or a year ago.

Adapt or die is the new philosophy 3XM Ideas is advocating for brand communicators and across all spectrum of life. To drive home its innovative message, the creative agnecy is using the dinossaur as its model of a creature that failed to adapt and ultimately became extinct.

In promoting this idea among media professionals in Lagos, X3M Ideas’ boss, Mr. Steve Babaeko stated that although the idea of evolving or adapting has been with humanity since the dawn of civilization, it application has become even more urgent, adding, “The only thing open to us now is to shapeshift as a means of survival. Humanity is going through a period not seen before. Humanity is at a quantum leap.

“Self-driving cars will soon roll out of the assembly line. What happens to all the drivers? Tech-driving cars will eliminate human errors. So, today is the day to start shapeshifting. Xtreme Ideas has been using new tools to shape old idea. We encourage industries to change ways of doing things.”He noted that any individual or brand that fails to heed this advice would ultimately die.

When explaining the reasoning behind the massive PR stunt, Babaeko spoke of the lessons to be learnt from the prehistoric times, “We like to believe there is a lot to learn from the dinosaurs. How could a creature so powerful become extinct? While the reasons why these dinosaurs erased off the face of the earth is open to interpretation, we are of the school of thought that they got devoured by bigger, better equipped creatures – Dragons. These creature, which also were dinosaurs, evolved and took over and the dinosaurs which couldn’t, or rather, didn’t evolve became prey. Hence the mantra, Adapt or Die.”

He said the Dinosaurs represent most businesses, agencies and media houses, which are still stuck in old ways and refuse to embrace technology, social media, or the changing tides in media, either out of ignorance or doggedness.

According to him, “This is the most ideal depiction of modern business landscape and we have come to spread the message – Adapt or die. The success or failure of Nigerian businesses is hinged on their ability to evolve.

“When we started six years ago, we knew what we wanted to do but we always kept an open mind of how we could evolve with the ever changing business landscape. Both from a business and creative standpoint, we always give room to adapt, room to evolve.”Babaeko also said a country like Nigeria needs to shapeshift to overcome its current challenges, noting, “Nigeria is going through a tough period. Are we going to keep doing the usual or change our narration? We don’t have all the answers, but we want to throw the question to the public space and see the responses it engenders. Shapeshifting is beyond advertising; it touches on individuals, industries, nations and their willingness to adapt to the changing times and trends and the survival strategies they adopt to adapt to such changes.”

X3M Ideas, Group Head, Human Resources and Administration, Mr. Olasunkanmi Atolagbe, echoed X3M’s shapeshifting strategy, when he said, “We know the business we’re in but sometimes we forget to continually learn. We get caught up trying to run a business that we forget to study the industry. Steve has been doing this for a long time; he has seen it all, from the era of Print, to TV, to social media. He knows how the industry has evolved and how its consumers have adjusted accordingly. An ad that would have been brilliant five years ago may strike a wrong cord now. This keen eye for observing trends and adjusting accordingly is what has set X3M apart.”

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