By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Foremost Public Relations agency based in Lagos, Mediacraft Associates, has been appointed as the new PR agency of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group and Nigeria’s leading end-to-end financial services group.
Mediacraft Associates was picked as the preferred firm to handle the PR and reputation management for all the 11 subsidiaries of the Stanbic IBTC Group after a very competitive pitch process that featured some of Nigeria’s leading PR agencies.
According to a statement, the appointment of Mediacraft Associates as the Group’s new PR agency took effect from August 5, 2019.
According to the Head of Marketing and Communications at Stanbic IBTC, Ms Bridget Oyefeso-Odusami, “The PR pitch process was very thorough, transparent and competitive and we are happy to finally announce Mediacraft Associates as our new PR agency.”
She explained that, “In arriving at this choice, we considered not just their level of competence and professionalism, but also their experience and track record, especially in the financial services sector where we play. We believe that we made the right choice.”
On his part, Founder/CEO of Mediacraft Associates, Mr John Ehiguese, expressed excitement and pleasure on winning the Stanbic IBTC business, saying, “The Stanbic IBTC business means a great deal to us for two major reasons.”
“First, is the transparency and integrity of the entire pitch process [and] the second reason is that Stanbic IBTC is a brand that I have personally always admired from a distance.
“Both our organisations share a common set of core values, especially with regards to very high professional and ethical standards,” he said.
“We are happy to finally have Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc on our client list. There is of course the challenge of having to service all the subsidiaries in the group, but then we did not get to where we are today by running away from challenges.
“We have every intention of giving the Stanbic IBTC business our very best support and contributing our quota to making it the most admired and successful financial services group in Nigeria,” Mr Ehiguese added.
In a related development, Stanbic IBTC also confirmed the re-appointment of Playhouse Communication as their digital agency. Playhouse has handled digital services for the Group since 2014.
According to the Managing Director of Playhouse Communication, Tolu Onile-Ere, “On the back of being named Digital Agency of the Year 2019 by Marketing Edge, Playhouse is thrilled to be re-appointed to continue to work with Stanbic IBTC on their journey towards leveraging the digital space to service their customers, staff and the brand in general.”
