X3M Ideas: Making Africa proud

Within 72 hours last week, a Nigerian creative agency, X3M Ideas won the ‘African Agency of the Year’ at the yearly African Cristal Awards in Morocco and emerged the only African agency to clinch two laurels at the Lisbon Advertising Festival in Portugal.

Nigeria is fast becoming the creative destination of Africa, with a few advertising firms slugging it out with global networks to make a clear statement of excellence. The beat has been on for years with DDB, Noah’s Ark and X3M Ideas leading the pack and challenging the status quo.

Last year, X3M Ideas took it up a notch when it broke broke a 70-year old jinx to become the first-ever Nigerian and  West African agency to win at the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity.  Last week, the global feat was consolidated when the same agency emerged the ‘African Agency of the Year’ at the annual African Cristal Award in Casablanca. 72 hours later and in far away Portugal, the agency emerged the only agency from this part of the world to win two awards at the 2024 Lisbon Advertising Festival.

The recent breakthrough is no doubt in line with the determination of the founder of the agency, Steve Babaeko to make Africa proud in the global creative landscape.

While speaking about the changes and achievements his creative firm had witnessed within over a decade of being in operation recently, Babaeko made reference to the effort being made by X3M Ideas and a few agencies to put the Nigerian flag all over the continent and even across the world. In particular, he pointed out that his mission for X3M Ideas from the beginning was to be able to make a mark not just in Nigeria, but in other places in Africa.

After winning the Cannes Award in 2023, the same agency had shone brightly at the 8th African Cristal Awards, where it won again; this time as African Agency of the Year’. The two feats were not seen as victories for the agency but remarkable achievements for an industry that had long carved for global relevance and by extension Nigeria and the entire African continent.

Last week, at the 9th edition of the same African Cristal Awards in Morocco, X3M Ideas again clinched six trophies in various categories, thereby, consolidating its continental and global relevance. With the remarkable feat, the Babaeko-led agency was also pronounced ‘African Agency of the Year’.

At the event, X3M Ideas didn’t only reaffirm its position as a leader in the African advertising industry but also proved its mettle as a leading agency in digital application, storytelling technique, and creativity. The agency’s campaigns that won in various categories are Digital Craft Outstanding Illustration Mortein, Digital Online Display Advertising Mortein, Digital Online Video ADS Lyrics of Innocence, and Brand Storytelling Campaign Entry DSTV. Others are;  Social & Influencer Social Campaign DSTV and Healthcare Public Awareness Tobacco Advocacy.

The African Cristal Awards, now in its 9th edition, has continued to celebrate the innovation and creativity driving Africa’s communication and media sectors. Since its inception, the Awards have been dedicated to honouring the best talents across the African continent in communication and media. This edition saw over 527 entries from 22 African countries, with 70 campaigns ultimately recognised for their excellence in creativity and strategic innovation.

At the Lisbon Advertising Festivals, X3M Ideas, won two Bronzes, with its ‘Don’t Burn their Future’ health campaign for its strong message on Awareness Fundraising & Advocacy and Wellness.

The Lisbon Ad Festival is a global advertising festival created in Lisbon, capital of Portugal, in 2015 and its already one of the main internationally recognized festivals in the creative industry. The mission for its establishment was to find the best work worldwide and what is best done in Advertising, Health and PR. Among other unique attributes, the award is recognized for its prestigious jury members and for gathering in Lisbon some of the biggest names of advertising in the world.

In his reaction to the latest achievements, the CEO of X3M Ideas, Steve Babaeko,  said the beauty of it all is the fact that the agency consolidated on the victory recorded at the 2023 editions of both competitions. He described the development as another wake-up call to his team to continue giving their best to any brief that comes their way.

“For me, the excitement is the fact that our team has continuously fixed their eyes on the ball. We won at the 8th edition of Crystal and we won at the 2023 edition of Lisbon Festival, this year again we are singing same victory songs at both events.  Having said this, let me add that the creative industry is a living discipline that requires total commitment. At X3M Ideas, we approach every brief like the only brief with all it requires to make it impact the bottom line of our client’s business as well as position us as the best.

“Our achievements at the African Cristal Awards, Lisbon and others before them, both locally and on the global stage, are testimonials of our resilience and dedication. While thanking God for His insightful grace, we also appreciate our clients who have consistently trusted our creative judgment. Succinctly speaking, this is humbling, to say the least,” Babaeko said.

Also, last year, X3M Ideas emerged as the 2023 Agency of the Year at the Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards, where it led the medal table with 15 Gold, 20 Silver, and 7 Bronze.

Every year, X3M keeps proving that it’s one of the strongest agencies in the country and on the continent with all the quality campaigns it keeps bringing forth.

Recall that the nation’s integrated marketing communication ecosystem shone brightest early this year at the 2024 ACT Good Report, where the same creative firm earned another global recognition which further affirmed Nigeria’s creative industry.

In the ACT Good Report ranking released in April, “Motherhood Sentence” a campaign from the stable of Steve Babaeko-led X3M Ideas secured the 38th place in the best 40 ranked campaigns selected from over 1,250 campaigns reviewed by the editorial team of the ranking institution.

The report also indicated that X3M Ideas achieved the 12th place among the best 25 agencies in the world. The ACT Good Report also reviewed and ranked the 20 most successful networks, and the 10 most successful brands promoting Sustainability in the world.

The ACT Good Report is a unique ranking showcasing the world’s most impactful use of creative communications to promote sustainability and social responsibility and raise awareness of significant social and environmental issues. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the report.