Sam Ochonma: Creating Impact through H&T Partnership 

An executive cohort of the Cambridge Judge Business School, United Kingdom  and with a Bsc degree in Computer Science from Benson Idahosa University, Edo State, Sam Ochonma currently leads one of the fastest growing independent ad agencies in Nigeria, The Hook Creative Agency where he is responsible for driving its ongoing growth and expansion efforts into other emerging markets in Africa, including the United Kingdom with three other partners. The impact of his team’s works goes beyond creating election-winning campaigns but also driving growth for private sectors through impactful solution driven communications. Prior to The Hook, Ochonma served as Head, Corporate Communications at ENYO Retail and Supply where he was instrumental in establishing the company’s brand presence as the fastest growing player in the downstream oil and gas sector, spearheading the implementation of over 45 retail outlets in its first two years of operations. Also at Oando Plc, he thrived for five years as creative lead, corporate communications. As a creative, who currently serves on the board of directors of Cydene Energy as a Non-Executive Director and Partner, Dud seeden Hill Foundation, he recently partnered Temple Production Company, alongside other co-founders, to form H & T, an end-to-end creative solution powerhouse that encapsulates all a brand needs from creative works to production. In this brief encounter with CHIEMELIE EZEOBI, he shared the vision behind the new partnership 

What do you do at The Hook? 

We call ourselves the creators of impacts. What we do is create solutions for clients. We always ensure that we create an impact. We have whatever your brand problems need us to be.

How far along has this journey been? 

It’s been four years of constantly trying to ensure that our partners, which are our clients, are satisfied end to end. We registered this business in 2017 but we kicked off in 2018. Since then, we have worked with multiple clients in private and public sectors. We have created positive impressions among the stakeholders.

So what is the unique selling point of your company? 

Our unique selling point is our ability to tell stories. For you to be able to create the right impact, you need to tell a story. And everyone, every brand has a unique story. The world is full of beautiful stories so why don’t you use those stories to create the solutions that you seek. Whatever we do, we go from deep insights to creative story telling and we are able to solve brands’ problems that way. 

But did you start off in the creative sector? 

I started my career as an animator. I used to do motion graphics at the time. I travelled abroad to go deeper into video editing. Something interesting happened, rather than pursue that when I returned, I found myself in advertising agency as an art director and that was the beginning of everything I am today. 

I was pushed to work for Oando PLC which is the client side. I was moved from advertising to the client’s side. I worked under Oando PLc for five years. I was in the corporate communications department. I left Oando for Enyo Retail and Supply. I was the Head of Corporate Communications at Enyo Retail and Supply. I left Oando to set up pretty much to set up The Hook. But I worked with Enyo for about two years before settling down at The Hook.

How did the passion for storytelling start?

My passion for storytelling has always been there. One of my partners, Toheeb Balogun, was my copywriter when I was in the agency. Every time we saw ads, we would go back to our corners and try to redo ours. We would freestyle and don’t ourselves. We tried to do it in a more impacting way. 

The whole storytelling thing was part of our niche when we formed the company. We decided to create impact because of our vast wealth of experience within the team. We decided to do things differently for us to stand out. We arrived at the passion of storytelling and decided, let’s tell the stories of brands, of humans and 

let’s see how it turns out. That carved our niche today.

So what is the partnership with Temple Production Company all about?

The partnership with the Temple production company is one interesting story. The CEO of the Temple Production was looking for an impactful advertising agency, something away from the norm. He had gone round, trying to get agencies and we were recommended. Immediately he spoke to us he said this was where he needed to be. He reached out to the team. We had the first four meetings and it was a done deal. Because what he saw was what he had always dreamt of. What he saw was that he had seen this group of young talents, young guys ready to take the world by storm. We signed the partnership agreement. That was the basis of forming the new name H&T. 

What H&T is going to do is serve as an end-to-end creative solution powerhouse. That is why we have called it a creative solution power company. Everything you need as a brand or as a product or an entity, you will get under one roof. There will be no need to go to an agency or a production house. 

Like Idris would always say, the power of one is lesser than the power of two. Now you brought two forced together, the best you can get is a superpower. We came together to form one company to provide solutions for you. There is nothing short of greatness that will come out of that. We want to touch anything and transform it into something else. Whatever it is, government or country and make an impact.