Chude Jideonwo: The extraordinary factors that make the impossible possible

At RED, we are keenly aware about the central nature of finding, hiring, and keeping, and maximising the potential of all our team members. We are constantly experimenting with ways to improve their capacity on the job and their well being in general, as well as constantly measuring the impact of these efforts on morale.

Because, people are your first clients, and even better these Generation Y kids coming out of school now, they have so many options! They know what they want, and they expect and demand companies that fulfill they desires. They are marrying later than at any time before so they don’t have families to worry about yet. People (alongside Speed and Brand Persona) are increasingly the competitive advantage of companies. The talent wars are here. If you want to succeed, make them stay, help them grow, keep them optimal.

It’s not a just an urgency for today. Think of it: No one who has succeeded in this country, or in the world, has done so without a core group of people, of soldiers who believe in them like no man’s business, who will go to war for them. You see people who have been with Tony O. Elumelu for decades, from Standard Chartered, through the United Bank for Africa to Heirs Holdings. You see people who have been with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for almost 10 years since when she was first Finance Minister. Whenever she returns, they go back to her.

These icons have created movements, with true believers. And you need true believers, now more than ever.

The second lesson is to focus on the outcome.

When we began work on Buhari account in December, I told my team at StateCraft, no one cares if Buhari has all the integrity in the world, if he lives a humble, Spartan life and he has never stoken a kobo – they don’t share. They care about – how is he going to change my life? How is he going to make my business thrive in this economy, how is he going to stop Boko Haram from stealing my family and my life? And that’s the story we focused on telling. But I find in this market that many of us try to do things without understanding or regarding what exactly the audience wants. Does the audience really want to watch a movie about bankers having an affair or do they want to watch a simple story about staff at a run down hotel who are struggling to survive? Does our audience really the Nigerian eBay, or is it still dealing with the realities of finding good water and getting ‘light’ to iron their clothes for work? When we build campaigns for our clients, from Guinness to the British Council, EbonyLife TV to Access Bank – the first question we ask ourselves is, what does the audience need?