Africa’s artists are finally ready to make a lasting impression on the world, says Jason Xenopoulos, CEO of Native VML advertising and brand communications agency.
After years of trying to copy western styles, he says Africans now have the confidence to express themselves in their own way.
He says the "Coca-Cola-nisation" of Africa, in which western messages "drowned out and demotivated" local styles, is coming to an end. "The creativity has always been here," he says. "Now the voice is becoming more authentic."
VML won four awards, including gold, at the recent Cannes international advertising festival for an African music campaign on behalf of Absolut Vodka.
Besides traditional adverts, the campaign, featuring South African rapper Khuli Chana, included a music album, documentary, video and live performances. Much of the filming took place in Ghana and featured back-up artists and technicians from across Africa.
The "One Source" campaign is based on Swedish-based Absolut’s marketing message and Africa’s status as the birthplace of humanity.
VML executive creative director Ryan McManus says: "Our message is that we all come from one place, Africa, and that the things that connect us are far more powerful than those that divide us."
A second campaign is being filmed now, for release in September or October. Xenopoulos says it, like the first, will be aimed mainly at pan-African audiences but the long-term plan is to take the campaign to other continents.
Melanie Campbell, portfolio manager for Pernod Ricard SA, whose brands include Absolut, says: "When we embarked on this project, we wanted to create knowledge of the African creative revolution. We were creating an international war cry about that revolution."
Of course, it would be naive to think the brand did not also have its own interests at heart. Sales of Absolut doubled over the course of the campaign.
Xenopoulos says the timing is right for spreading the continental message, as African artists across all disciplines are making their mark globally.
"In Nigeria, Afro-futurist photos tackle social issues like rhino poaching and gender identity," he says. "From SA, a knitwear range inspired by traditional Xhosa beadwork is taking the catwalks of London and Milan by storm."
Influences ranging "from the tribal to the psychedelic" are cross-fertilising "in a way that forces people to reconsider their perspective on Africa", says Xenopoulos.
"There is a renaissance of fashion, music, design and art. The rest of the world is beginning to take notice. With African artists appearing at film festivals and fashion weeks, African culture is starting to have an influence on international art."
He believes a new museum of contemporary African art, due to open at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront in September, will accelerate the impetus by opening the eyes of tourists.
Of course, there is a danger when referring to African art of falling into the old colonial habit of lumping more than 50 countries into a single basket when in reality, most have their unique styles.
"I was aware of the risk of perpetuating the myth that Africa is one culture, but I tried to get across the truth that stuff from Nigeria is different to what you find in Kenya, which is different to SA, which is different to Ghana, which is different to Cameroon," says Xenopoulos, who chaired a Cannes seminar on the African artistic renaissance.
"There are big differences in style and influence but, in a way, that is a unifying thread — the richness and diversity that exists everywhere in Africa."
He concedes that African advertising creativity lags the rest of the world. "We’re still pretty good in SA, but the rest of the continent is quite far behind. The talent is there, it has just not been developed."
That doesn’t mean global advertising is any better, at least from a local perspective.
"African consumers are tired of having global brands shoved down their throats," he says.
"They are tired of being targeted with irrelevant global insights. They want to be acknowledged for who they are, where they come from and the things they hope to do."
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