The Topdog journey started in 2003 as Topdog Communications. The big idea was to provide in-depth research and “off the wall” solutions to our clients’ challenges. In 2013, the business was rebranded Topdog Africa Limited, symbolizing the next epoch of the journey, a foray into Africa bringing our expertise in marketing communications and MICE spaces in Ghana to a continental audience. The quest remains: the most trusted indigenous marketing communications company in Africa. To mark this 10th anniversary milestone, we have chosen to do something rather different: we are celebrating the brands and businesses that have journeyed with us and reminisce some of the projects we have been privileged to work on:
Our first big deal was the Nescafe Crème 3-in-1. A campaign idea that grew into a monstrous campaign that spanned a 4 million cup sampling of Nescafe, pan-Ghana through experiential events, the Nescafe African Revelations (NAR) to a TV show, the NESCAFE HALF-HOUR. Over a 2-year period, not only did we move Nescafe Creme 3-in-1 to become a household item, but we also broke a lot of coffee myths and won the CIMG New Product of the year 2004.
NIDO Mothers’ Day campaign was another exciting experience for the Topdog Team. We created experiences for children across the country by managing a creative competition process from entry to prize presentation ceremonies. We eventually turned this into a full-blown children’s experiential roadshow that encouraged reading and play across Ghana. Benny-the-Bookworm, a reading mascot we created, toured classrooms across Ghana to read with children and encouraged them to enter the competition.
The Omo Play & Learn caravan saw the continuation of our kids marketing undertakings. Designing outdoor engagements for children, pushing the play envelopes and showing the gatekeepers that they can rest easy because the ever-faithful Omo will get rid of every stain.
We got in touch with our patriotic side with the Ghana@50 celebrations where we successfully pitched our idea of organizing simultaneous street caravans in all the 100 districts in Ghana. This was such an exhilarating feat we pulled given the 1-week notice given by the Ghana@50 Secretariat. Especially since real-time tools like Whatsapp, Telegram et al did not exist at the time.
Would you believe if we told you we were the experiential face behind Coca Cola’s Global “Share A Coke” campaign? The affinity built with consumers through the customization of Coca Cola bottles with consumers’ names was one of the deepest engagements we have had the privilege of being a part of. In fact, I still have my customized Coca-Cola bottle.
When a brand slogan is “So Cool. So Good”, and it launches a line extension called FUNKY BANANA, then you know your work is cut out for you. The consumer experience needs to be COOL, GOOD and FUNKY all in one breath! For this brand we took on the challenge and built a 6x6x6ft square ice installation with products buried in it. The joy of seeing consumers dig with ice picks to free up and win pouches of products on a sunny day in Accra was worth all the sweat, tears and blood (literally) it took to make the magic happen.
Truth is, we have done a lot! From creating the largest pot of jollof for Tasty Tom’s Jollof mix launch to organizing the launch of the first locally produced ambient product, we have worked across every industry you can imagine. From corporate clients to beverages, dairy, culinary, home care, body care, telcos, automotive, pharmaceuticals and NGOs, we have been there. Overall, we have produced over thousands of activations and crossed the consumer threshold of over a million consumers and customers.
Thank you to all our clients, partners and collaborators who have stuck with us. We appreciate you.
