When you see the name of his advertising agency for the very first time, it will tickle your fancy. The question that is likely to come to mind is: What does X3M mean? It will immediately set you thinking. You will also begin to wonder those behind this new generation company that chose to call itself extreme ideas.
And when you meet the Chief visioner, you will also be taken aback by his unique style and creative approach to the running of his agency which is a company 100% built on Ideas. Even his name, Steve Babaeko also conjures several images as to the kind of person the MD can be or from what part of Nigeria he is from. Many people often, erroneously, think he must be an old man, perhaps a veteran. Only very few guess correctly that this creative mind behind the agency is a young man blessed with a lot of ideas.
We can tell you that Steve is that smooth and urbane guy who came into the advertising industry just a few years back and did a lot of things differently, from the aesthetics of his company premises, to his recruitment of young minds as staff.
He is one man whose reputation as a creative mind precedes him. So within the Advertising industry many see him as creatively different because of his unusual way of doing things.
He is one of those young guys who dare to be different. That is Steve Baba Eko for you. That is why when you meet him for the very first time you will instantly know you are in the presence of a creative mind. This is because whenever he sits down to talk to you, ideas flow. He is forever reeling out ideas on how you can do things differently to achieve a different result, which some have described as thinking outside the box.
The walls of his Ikeja office mirrors the adverts the agency has done. The abience of the office is lovely. And don’t be surprised when you mee the MD and he is casually dressed. He likes to look sporty and trendy, most times in jeans. And he can be playful to with his staff, many of whom are young like him.
Last week, City People spent an afternoon with Steve and we found him to be truly creative in a lot of ways. He is a deep thinker. And he runs a different kind of agency. He is in tune with the new trends in Advertising and perhaps that is why he is able to keep attracting a lot of the big accounts to X3M ideas.
As X3M Ideas’ Chief Executive Officer/Chief Creativity Officer, Steve brings to the agency his significant experience in building brands across industries. Steve’s passion for creativity matches his love for challenges. He is a writer, consumer behaviour analyst, brand development expert and motivational speaker. Steve nurtures youths to be self-reliant that is why individuals and groups always invite him to speak to young Nigerians at many seminars and workshops.
He started his advertising career at MC&A Saatchi & Saatchi in 1995, before he later joined Prima Garnet Ogilvy and 141 Worldwide where he worked till early 2012, bringing his experience in the industry to a cumulative 20 years. In 2012, he took the bold step and left 141 worldwide to start his own advertising agency X3M Ideas Limited.
Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. He is an Associate member ofthe Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). Steve is currently the Vice-Chairman for Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) LAIF Board, and also the current Chairman, Public Relations Committee of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce.
He has attended several international Leadership trainings namely; 2016 – Executive Program for Growing Companies, Stanford Graduate Business School, USA. 2015 – Authentic Leadership Development, Harvard Business School.
2014 – Digital Marketing Strategy I & II, Columbia University Business School, USA.
2013- Integrated Executive Leadership & Performance Management, Howard University School of Business Washington DC, USA.
Steve is also the founder of X3M Music, a music record label company that is focused primarily on developing young talents. We can tell you authoritatively that X3M Ideas is the marketing communication arm of the X3M group. It started operations in 2012 with one goal in mind-to redefine advertising in Nigeria. X3M Ideas is a non-stop-shop, marketing communications company. And in the 4 years of its existebce it has achieved a lot. It has become the fastest growing agency in Nigeria in the last 4 years. And it has acquied a wide variety of clients across various businesses. It is 3rd on the LAIF 2013 and 201 Award medal table. Since inception it has received close to 8 major awards. It won the Fastest Growing Agency (Creative) at BRAN Awards, Emerging Agency of the Year Award in 2013 at the Marketing World Awards and in 2014 won the Creative Agency of the Year award from the same Marketing world Awards. The list is long. In just 4 years, X3M has handled brands like OANDO, Dangote Cement, Etisalat, Multichoice, DSTV, Peak Milk, Glaxo Smithkline and so on. X3M currently offers media planning and buying services to DSTV, Supersport, and AIICO Pension Managers.
The Strength of X3M Ideas is in its team, It has a young, vibrant, resourceful, driven and ambitious team.
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