I was the executive creative director on the campaign responsible for guiding the creative team that worked directly on it.

There was one big problem. Airtel Nigeria, the third biggest player in the market, did not have the 4G LTE technology and was not planning to deploy the technology till a year later. However it had remained one of the most reliable mobile networks, and had consistently outperformed all competing brands on the grounds of its unparalleled customer service.

Stuck with 3.5G, the task was to build brand love for Airtel’s data sub-brand, smartSPEEDOO. The brief was clear. Make Nigerians love the smartSPEEDO brand, and use communication to solve a business problem of not having superior technology.

Contrary to what we normally encounter, selling the concept to client was pretty easy as they were the ones who demanded something entirely different from what the market was used to.

We spoke to digital natives and one of the first real insights that jumped out was the confirmation of our assertion that Wi-Fi seemed to have been added to the base of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Probing further on this, we began to iterate the discussion guide towards the importance of data to their lives, and how they felt when they were without data.

The insights generated were in form of metaphors, "it's like being in a desert", "it's like being lost" etc. Thus, a clear path for the spot emerged.

Believe it or not, location was a huge challenge. But the Director, Bruce Paynter was untiring. He must've checked the entire coastline of Lagos before he found where we shot at Ibeju Lekki.

During filming, the drone ran into a tree and dropped. Being the closest, I ran to assist the operator and offer words of encouragement as he cried over the mangled propellers. I said, "I'm sorry about this". Not having a clue who I was on set, he replied "you better be sorry!!!".

Oh, a whole lot.

Nigerians are smarter than marketers believe. We don't have to water down a good idea out fear of connecting. We don't have to shoot out of the country to get good production values. Award winning work delivers the highest ROI.

I think they are not as cynical as a creative jury, who might dismiss a brilliant idea that works well for a region, based on familiarity of the trope. Oh, I've seen the concept of the lost man before, from Robinson Crusoe, to Castaway, to even Gulliver's travels. And just like that, they would dismiss it.

Speaking with a few of them at the award night in Berlin, they mentioned liking the humour a lot. And even though it was a little long the fun kept them glued, and nothing was lost on them.