Diamond Bank appoints TPT International

Lagos, Nigeria, 30 November, 2012: Diamond Bank Plc, a leading financial institution in Nigeria has appointed TPT international as its PR agency.

The agency emerged from a highly competitive pitch process that involved four of top leading PR agencies selected for the pitch. Other companies include The Quadrant Company Nigeria, Mediacraft Associates, and C&F Portal Novelli.

TPT emerged the preferred based on its creative direction during the pitch and its clear interpretation of the brief. Indeed it was a very keen contest according to our sources as all the agencies gave a good account of themselves.

Industry analysts have commended the management of the bank for engaging consultants in various aspects of the bank which shows that the bank is very futuristic in a country where some banks find it difficult to understand the importance of hiring professionals and this will influence its going forward as a futuristic bank.

 According to Modupe Adetokunbo, the founder and chief consultant of TPT International, this appointment offers his team the opportunity to once again partner with a futuristic and innovative bank in delivering a desirable corporate perception. The bank will definitely benefit from our rich experience in PR practice as well as our creative approach to perception management.

Diamond Bank is a commercial bank, offering a full range of banking products and services in retail, corporate and investment banking. The business is based on strong, enduring relationships and is driven by innovation and leading edge technology.

The marketing/business development function of the bank is organised in a way that enables it service its clients in the various market segments optimally.

The appointment of TPT International came on the heels of the recent transformation in the Nigerian banking industry as an aftermath of the global financial crisis which made the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in the management of about eight banks as well as the promulgation of     policies measures to strengthen the industry.

TPT International Limited is a full-service public relations firm maintaining practice areas in media relations, crisis management, brand PR, corporate communications, lobbying, lifestyle, fashion, strategic counselling, Information communications technology, social media and entertainment among others.

The agency is known for conceptualizing and implementing innovative and bespoke public relations programmes designed to generate desirable media interest and exposure and thereby impact a clients' specific business goals and objectives.

TPT understands that an effective way of grabbing the attention of the media and ensuring multi-angled reportage is by engaging them in a captive environment spiced with informal interactions and constructive networking.

TPT started business in February 1998 with only one client, Rothmans of Pall Mall and has since grown into the leading public relations solutions provider to top brands that spread across various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

In recognition of its performance, it has won the PR Company of the year award six times in the last ten years.

It also pride itself  on the diversity of its client roster, with experience including the Federal Government of Nigeria, Cross Rivers State, BAT, Pfizer, FinBank, Lagos Lotto, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Procter & Gamble West Africa, British Council, MTN Foundation, Starcomms, Mastercard, IBM,  Promasidor Nigeria Limited and many others.

Loya milk picks Don Jazzy as brand ambassador as it kicks off new promo

 Lagos, Nigeria 01 December, 2012: Promasidor Nigeria, makers of quality food products, has chosen Michael Collins Ajereh also known as Don Jazzy as the face of its Loya Milk brand.
At the unveiling ceremony, the company also commenced an online based promo to give consumers an opportunity to feature in a Loya TV commercial with Don Jazzy.
The Commercial Director, Promasidor Nigeria, Mr. Kachi Onubogu while disclosing reasons for selecting Don Jazzy as brand ambassador for Loya Milk, said a brand ambassador will help the brand further reach its target audience.

“Our choice of Don Jazzy as brand ambassador is driven by the essence of the brand and its proposition to its target audience.  Loya Premium Milk is a brand with class and taste; it is a brand with distinction and excellence, a brand that constantly rewards its loyal consumers. ”

Speaking on the promo mechanics, Onubogu made known that Loya milk will begin an online promo new that will run from December 1st till December 31st.

“From today, December 1st till 31st December Loya milk will start a new promo. It is going to be an online promo. All consumer needs to do is to like us on www.facebook.com/loyamilk or log on to the promo site www.tasteyourdream.com where they will enter their details name, phone number and e-mail address. Each winner will walk away with a Samsung Galaxy S3 Smartphone, a night in an hotel and also an opportunity to be in a Loya TV commercial with Don Jazzy.”

He further made known that the brand Loya Milk is one that stands out as best in the industry and is loved by consumers.

“Loya Milk is a brand that is loved and well respected by consumers. It is known to be a brand that never hesitates to give back to its consumers. It is to be recalled that in 2011, the brand rewarded its consumers with a total of N50m in a promo that lasted for about 90 days.

Known for being charitable, Don Jazzy, the new brand ambassador is a multi award-winning Nigerian record producer, singer/songwriter, and current CEO of the Mavin Records label.

Recently rated as the 36th ‘Most powerful celebrity in Africa’ by Forbes, he is an avid user of social networking sites with Twitter being his top. Don Jazzy has over 200, 000 followers and noted for giving birthday shout-outs to fans, airtime recharge cards, and even money via Twitter.

Loya is a premium milk brand on the stable of  Promasidor. It's brand promise is to deliver consistent, premium quality milk powder that assists in keeping the family strong and healthy and contains calcium, proteins and Vitamins A and D, essential for the growth of a healthy body.

The high calcium milk was re-launched in October 2010 to reposition it as a premium offering in the Nigerian milk market, It is targeted at stylish and sophisticated women who seek the best in quality.

Diamond Bank Launches Mobile Banking Truck, Diamond–in–Motion

Diamond Bank Plc, one of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria has launched a first of its kind mobile banking truck in the country in a bid to bring banking services to the door step of its existing and potential customers.

The new service tagged Diamond–in–Motion was launched yesterday at its corporate headquarters in Lagos by the Group Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Alex Otti. Under the service, customers can open new accounts, pay bills, save money, use ATM as well as make cash/cheque deposits and withdrawals.  Dr. Otti describes the mobile truck as “a full-fledged bank in motion.”

Mr. Olumide Akindele, Head Proposition and Liabilities of Diamond Bank Diamond–in–Motion is part of the bank’s strategy to take banking to the customers, adding that it will afford them the convenience and opportunity to do transactions with ease.

He said the bank planned to acquire about 250 additional units of the truck for nationwide rollout as part of strategy to serve the unbanked population

Also speaking on the new service, Mr. Steve Obiago, Head Information Technology Operations described it as a moving branch fortified with the latest technology.

Obiago who said the initiative was part of the bank’s strategy to drive the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) cashless policy, added that it could be moved anywhere and customers would be able to utilise it in any location.

He said the service was done in collaboration with service providers and it could be moved to streets, remote villages and it is fully secured for both those working in it as well as the money in transit.


Diamond Bank is a commercial bank, offering a full range of banking products and services in retail, corporate and investment banking. The business is based on strong, enduring relationships and is driven by innovation and leading edge technology.

The marketing/business development function of the bank is organised in a way that enables it service its clients in the various market segments optimally.

Also, the bank has changed its signage design to conform to its newly refreshed identity. The new signage prototype was also unveiled yesterday,

The bank had recently launched a new logo with multiple colours of red, green, blue and orange encrypted on the diamond logo different from the ash coloured logo used before, to make it more visible and brighter.

Dr. Alex Otti, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer had noted then, “What we have done with our corporate identity is to refresh elements of our brand look and feel to identify with our growing customer base and usher in a period of renewed focus and commitment to our business.”

He said, “Our colours reflect the bright optimistic colours of the Diamond spectrum using green as a base colour with complimentary colours of red, orange and blue. For us, the green symbolizes growth, red stands for vibrancy, orange illustrates ‘passion’ of our people and the blue symbolizes our commitment to innovation in our products and services.”

Telecoms recorded highest ad spend in 2011

Lagos, Nigeria, 06 November 2012: Telecommunications product category recorded the highest spend of N20.118 billion out of a total of N102.755 billion spent in Above- The- Line in 2011, followed by Personal Paid announcement with N8.654 while Entertainment, Leisure & Tourism was third in the product category with N5.976 billion.

Mediafacts, an annual publication of MediaReach OMD, Nigeria’s most influential media independent agency disclosed this in its 2011 edition which was released today.

It said in the telecommunications product category, MTN topped the list with N6.381 billion followed by Globacom which spent N5.704 billion while Etisalat and Airtel spent N4.255 billion and N3.439 billion respectively, adding that all the four brands topped the list of the top 20 brands in terms of ad spend last year.
The publication also noted that television advertising amounted to N46.076 billion as against the N39.656 billion recorded in 2010, radio recorded N13.142 billion as against N12.807 billion spent in 2010, the print media had N15.395 billion lesser than the N16.524 spent in 2010 while outdoor expenditure was N28.142 billion, lesser than N28.562 spent in 2010.

The report also noted that, Nigeria has the potential to build a prosperous economy with its large reserves of human and natural resources, adding that Nigeria witness major changes in the economic sector in 2011 some of which were the Federal Government amnesty programme that resulted in higher oil production, growth in the insurance sector and consistent growth in the telecommunication sector amongst others.

Mediafacts 2011, published in one volume in English and French contains media trend information on nine West African countries and three central African countries. This covers some of the countries where Media Reach OMD operates.

Media Reach OMD is a specialist media company that provides a host of media-related services to advertisers and or their representatives. Its services include communications and media planning, media strategy developments and implementation buying and control services among others and its business offices are located in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon.

Since March 1999, MediaReach OMD has steadily grown to become a highly reputed firm within the marketing communications’ services industry and a respected member of the OMD global network
The company believes in powerful ideas, driven by meaningful insight to deliver compelling results.

Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MediaReach OMD said, “We understand that creativity is the sustainable source of differentiation and competitive advantage for ourselves and our clients. We pride ourselves on delivering innovative media solutions to our clients’ marketing challenges at the keenest possible prices.”

OMD, the parent company of MediaReach OMD is one of the largest and most influential media communications specialists in the world.

THE KANGAROO STORY

Today, things happen at a faster pace, with quick successions, than we could hardly imagine. New technologies evolve almost every day; event and news happen at breathtaking pace that one could ever hardly keep up with. The fast changing environment affects virtually every area of our lives; the way we think and relate with others. The effect is reflected on areas such as relationships, career, parenting, to mention just a few. Nowadays, it is surprising to see the rate at which children grow rapidly – mentally and physically, that one is left to wonder if they are being grown with fertilizer or some sort of genetic mutation. As if that is not wonder enough, their level of reasoning is dazzling, and their mental capacity is amazing, especially when they asked certain above-their-age questions.

For instance, I came home from work one night and my four-year old son asked, “Daddy, please tell me a story about donkey”. I wondered what could have prompted the question.  In my childhood days, all I ever heard were stories centered on tortoise, monkey and the likes and none on donkey. My mind raced through my childhood days while I was pacing my thought on what good and interesting story is associated with donkey. At the same time, I was being careful of the type of lessons that could be derived from it because they won’t stop at the story but they will also go as far as asking for the lesson learnt. Children are like women, interested in building relationship and sustaining it. But often times, such yearnings are met with tiredness, busy schedule and lack of patience to cement the bond. And over time, such affection is shifted to their teachers in school, house help or whoever responds to their quest and aspirations. 

They express eagerness to share the day’s experience in an awesome and admirable manner. Their persistent search for answers is almost unparalleled; begging for detailed answer on every issue. Response to some of these issues needs sincere and comprehensive answer because of the keen, unputdownable interest they repose in it. More so, it is the beginning of formative and learning year of their lives, particularly the belief system.

So as I was saying, in order to avoid telling the kangaroo story at least for that night, I made endless and extravagant promises which took me a couple of days to fulfill. I claimed, night after night, that it was too late to start a story. I kept making promises to save face. “I will tell you the Kangaroo story,” I said wryly. Little did I know that he who fights and runs away, live to fight another day. Kids these days could double as personal assistance and wonderful ally. They rarely forget things so easily. They can re-cap as many storylines as you told them. These new breeds are really intellectually overwhelming. And that was how I sailed through that night.

The next day, I woke up to discover that a search for daddy has been declared and when he finally found me, I lost my regular ‘daddy good morning’ to ‘daddy tell me Kangaroo story’. “Hey boy, it’s too early to tell a story,” I responded calmly.  “When I return, please,” I promised. I could not but wonder until the office work for that day temporarily wiped off the memory. Before returning home that day, I paused to search out Kangaro on the internet, to see if I could get some features that could be developed into story.  

And yes, I did get something. To my surprise, most kangaroo species have big ears and small heads, covered with fur and use their big hind legs and thick tail for hopping. Some kangaroos can leap really far. The kangaroo uses its tail for balancing when it hops. It uses the tail for support when it sits. At least, I have some new information to say about Kangaroo. At home, it was the same welcome address, daddy you said you would tell me story about Kangaroo. After the story, he said, daddy I like Kangaroo, yes it is good to like it. At least to have some rest for a while. 

It was a sigh of relief, before another “Kangaroo knocking” question. Children are interesting to stay around with, but with a big listening ear and patience, one will definitely fit in and enjoy their world.

Research Institute Backs FG on Cassava Bread

The Federal Institute of Industrial Research has said that the cassava bread initiative introduced by the Federal Government for baking of composite bread in commercial quantity will enhance quality bread production in the country. Besides, the institute stated that cassava industry has the capacity to generate over 3 million jobs and reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.

Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos yesterday, the Director- General of the institute, Dr Gloria Elemo, said that the institute has perfected the technology of 10 per cent high quality cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour and has transferred the technology to numerous flour millers and bakers in the country.

She said, “Indeed, the institute baking laboratory produces composite (cassava/wheat) bread which it sells to staff on a daily basis, as a demonstration of the technical feasibility and economic viability of the technology.

“The composite bread produced is adjudged by all those who eat it to be of very high quality this is in tandem with the Institute’s sensory evaluation reports on cassava bread consumption.”

According to her, apart from baking bread with the 10 per cent and 20 per cent composite cassava, the institute has also successfully baked various acceptable confectionery products with over 20 per cent cassava flour inclusion in wheat flour.

Elemo, however, allayed the fear of Nigerians concerning the health implications of consumption of cassava bread, saying that cassava bread consumption is safe and do not cause or aggravate diabetes as confirmed by glycemic indices study carried out on 10 and 20 per cent cassava bread at the institute.

She said in consideration of the country’s status as the largest producer of cassava in the whole world, the inherent advantages and health benefits of cassava in flour for bread making and other confectioneries, Nigerians should embrace the policy to unleash the country dependence on imported wheat flour.

“Due to economic factors which have made it impossible for the common man to have convenient food on his table at the right-time, price, quality and quantity, bread has remained the only staple food affordable to Nigerians,” she added.

Economic climate has not affected views on global warming – poll

A new Guardian/ICM poll reveals the public view of man-made climate change has remained consistent in the last three years, despite a change in Conservative party priorities in the financial climate. Photograph: Antonio Lacerda/EPA Photograph: Graphic

 

The cold financial climate of the last three years has made little impact on public attitudes towards global warming, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll.

As the world assembled for the Rio+20 UN sustainable development conference at the end of last week, the survey found that most British voters (57%) accept that man-made climate change is happening. That is one point more than the 56% who took the same view when ICM posed a near-identical question just before the Copenhagen climate conference of 2009.

The poll identified a hardcore of 7% of respondents who deny the planet is getting warmer, two points more than the 5% who said the same at the time of Copenhagen. The proportion who accept the planet is warming but insist this is not principally due to human factors has dwindled slightly, from 33% in December 2009 to 30% today.

The results suggest a remarkable pattern of stability in acceptance of climate change as established fact, a finding which may surprise politicians who have been lowering their environmental ambitions for fear of appearing out of step with hard times. The leaders who went to Rio were so resigned to an insubstantial outcome that they allowed their sherpas to agree the basic communique before they had even arrived.

A follow-up question on impressions of the summit also revealed more continuity than change. Only 17% of voters dismissed the Rio summit as a panic about an exaggerated threat – exactly the same proportion who said the same of Copenhagen.

But if the voters have not moved much, the same cannot be said of politicians. Whereas David Cameron had hailed Copenhagen's "historic importance" as opposition leader, in the months running up to Rio, he licensed his chancellor to argue that "we're not going to save the planet by putting our country out of business".

One thing that may help understand this shifting political positioning is a sense that – among that majority of voters who do acknowledge a climate change problem – the subject has slipped a little down the list of priorities. After three years of squeezed living standards, more of the people who accept carbon emissions need curbing warn leaders not to "lose sight of the need to maintain human prosperity". The number taking this view has edged up from 45% to 50% since Copenhagen. Meanwhile, the most committed environmentalists – those who describe the climate as "the most serious threat facing mankind" – have dwindled somewhat. Before Copenhagen, 30% were in that camp; today its strength has fallen back to 27%.

The modest swing towards putting economics before the environment is somewhat more marked among Tory supporters and backers of minor parties, and it could be that Conservative high command fear that excessively green positions could see the party surrendering some rightwing voters to Ukip. On the basic facts, however, a plurality of the supporters of all three parties are in agreement: 49% of Conservatives, 61% of Labour supporters and 67% of Lib Dems believe in man-made climate change. Even if some differences in the rhetoric between different political leaders is emerging, most voters appear to accept climate science, regardless of their own party affiliation.

ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,002 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 22-24 June 2012. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.