A media group turned its internal expertise into an agency of its own.
Jeune Afrique, a landmark media outlet covering the African continent, diversified years ago into a group: Jeune Afrique Media Group, spanning media and events. We worked with them to build a creative agency inside the group and finally monetize expertise it already had in-house: strategic planning, copywriting, art direction, audiovisual production.
The engagement
Scope
Strategic audit, competitive benchmark, agency positioning, value proposition, service offer, business development roadmap, naming, identity, sales deck
Duration
Three phases: audit, positioning, identity
The stakes
The expertise was already inside. It had never been sold as an offer.
Strategic planning, copywriting, art direction, audiovisual production: a media group this old has accumulated all of it and sells none of it as an agency. The engagement covered positioning, the service offer, the business development roadmap and the first commercial materials: identity, naming, sales deck.
4
key expertises already present internally
3
offer pillars built for the agency
1
panafrican creative network to activate
Where the value was stuck
A newsroom’s knowledge of a continent is a moat. Nobody had packaged it.
The agency’s legitimacy rested on something no competitor could buy: a rare command of the economic, political, social and cultural stakes across the continent, and offices already on the ground. The positioning builds on exactly that: helping companies build stronger ties with their audiences through a pan-African creative network that assembles the right strategic and creative talent for each brief.
Legitimate
A positioning built on expertise the group already had, not on a market gap.
Differentiating
Deep continental knowledge no international agency can replicate from outside.
Integrated
An agency offer that sits inside the group portfolio instead of competing with it.
The build · three phases
Audit the ground, build the offer, then give it a name.
01
Strategic audit
The goal: understand what was pushing the executive committee toward an agency offer now, what had stalled the idea before, and which pillars of expertise were legitimate enough to build a competitive offer on.
Interviews
A round of interviews with the executive committee: CEO, deputy CEO, communications director, and with the head of the in-house creative studio.
Benchmark
Analysis of the positioning, value propositions and service offers of other media groups.
Strategic note
Every step of the current process taken apart, from collection to distribution, with the friction named.
02
Positioning and offer
The goal: set the positioning of the agency offer and the frame for selling it: value proposition and service offer. Three pillars, each built on expertise the group already had.
A pan-African creative network that assembles a bespoke strategic and creative team for every brief.
Brand advocacy
Strategy and positioning: brand platforms and communications strategies turned into plans teams can act on.
Creative advocacy
Content and messaging: distinctive brand content, targeted digital campaigns, social that earns attention.
Leader advocacy
Influence and conviction: media training, personal branding and visibility for the leadership team.
03
Identity
The goal: design the new agency’s identity and place it inside the Jeune Afrique Media Group portfolio. Naming, art direction and portfolio fit were treated as one question, not three.
Results
1
agency created inside the group
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offer pillars, built on internal expertise
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internal expertises finally monetized
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naming and identity, integrated into the group portfolio
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business development roadmap and sales deck
What they now own
The assets
A new revenue line
An agency offer sold to advertisers, built on expertise the group was already paying for.
A defensible positioning
Continental knowledge and offices on the ground, which no competitor replicates from Paris or London.
A panafrican creative network
The group’s offices turned into a resource that can be mobilized project by project.
An agency brand in the portfolio
Naming, identity and sales materials that sit naturally alongside Jeune Afrique and Africa Business+.
What we would do again
Start from what the group already knows better than anyone.
Interview the executive committee first
Understanding why the launch had been held back mattered more than any market study.
Surface the expertise the group undervalues
Much of what JAMG can sell to advertisers already existed inside the group, unnamed and unpriced. Naming it was the first step to selling it.
Name it last
Naming and identity land fast once the positioning and the three pillars are settled.
Marketing is your most defensible asset.
