A new agency has just been launched in Senegal: the WALLACE agency, created last March by Aymeric Austry and Benoit Dorsemaine.
With over 30 years of combined experience in advertising and communications, working with major clients in the food, automotive, and telecommunications industries, Aymeric Austry and Benoit Dorsemaine have acquired extensive knowledge of the continent through their work in agencies and as freelancers in Dakar, Abidjan, and Cameroon.
Since 2008, they have held all key positions in the field of advertising creation: copywriter, creative director, art director in major international or African agencies, or as freelancers.
Aymeric Austry also co-founded Voice Africa in 2014, where he served as CEO and Creative Director until 2020.
Adweknow: You both have creative profiles and backgrounds. How does that give you an edge over your competitors?
AA: We define ourselves as a deeply creative agency, with all that this entails in terms of guarantees that our campaigns will be unique, designed and produced to exacting standards, and will deliver value to our clients.
BD: For us, as creative professionals, it is important to have a direct link with the decision-maker. Information is often lost in traditional agency structures. It is a strength to be able to understand and communicate directly with clients.
AWK: Beyond the creative aspect, how are you organized?
BD: We noticed that advertisers had a real need to work with talent who were truly committed to their project full-time, rather than an account manager who divided their time between several clients.
In addition, many talented individuals prefer to work freelance rather than in an agency. We have therefore rethought our organization so that we can provide our clients with the best talent by putting together a tailor-made team for each project entrusted to us, one that is motivated and committed throughout the entire project.
This organization enables us to respond to the growing need for responsiveness and rapid implementation.
AA: That's another feature of our agency: we put together teams tailored to each project. We create creative campaigns, we build high-quality teams, and we create value for our clients.
AWK: To be able to work this way, you need a sufficiently rich talent database…
DD We have many years of experience in Senegal and have built up a dense network of former employees and freelancers, enabling us to respond to needs without delay…
AA …and we are constantly expanding our database. We are also reaching out to all self-employed professionals in the communications and advertising sectors. Contact us at contact@team-wallace.com or visit our website at www.team-wallace.com.
AWK: You are a communications agency, but you don't reject the term "advertising agency." What distinction do you make between the two?
AA: We define ourselves as an integrated communications agency that covers the entire spectrum necessary to meet our clients' needs: communications strategy, digital and social media strategy, audiovisual production, media strategy, etc.
DD: Nevertheless, we accept the fact that we deliver campaigns on digital and traditional media that have proven their effectiveness, that we create films, posters, radio spots… in short, that we do advertising… and we do it well.
AWK: After six months of operation, who are your main customers and how do you see your development?
AA: The quality of our creations and the relationships we have built over time allow us to work with both large international groups and Senegalese advertisers.
We created the "Piment" campaign for the CANAL+ group, which won multiple awards at the 2023 Pitcher Festival, and we regularly assist them with their promotional activities.
We created the GIM UEMOA institutional campaign, a campaign for the Port Autonome de Dakar, and we support the Dolima brand from Laiterie du Berger in the creation of advertising and digital content. We also work with DKT International, an NGO present throughout Africa, for whom we developed a pan-African TV and print campaign in July.
DD: We have noticed that many advertisers, after abandoning pan-African campaigns in favor of campaigns tailored to each country, are now returning to globally designed campaigns for reasons of economies of scale. We want to focus our development on these global campaigns, which require strong local roots and knowledge of different cultures and their specific characteristics.
And of course, we are based in Dakar and available to Senegalese advertisers who would like to design creative campaigns rooted in the country's mentality and customs.
AWK: You have unparalleled experience in telecom budgets. Do you think it's possible to be selected, despite your youth, by these highly structured and highly sought-after advertisers?
AA DD: (Laughs) …that's funny…
The answer is yes, it is possible.
We're working on it.
AWK: We will be happy to share this on Adweknow…