Dedicates the offering to its founder David Ogilvy on his 109th birth anniversary
Ogilvy Africa announced the rollout of the region’s first real-time marketing product that offers social intelligence and analytics, community management and content innovations; in a unified offering.
Christened FEED, the product aims to connect brands to popular culture to keep pace with rapidly changing audience interest. FEED is being rolled out across Africa in a phased manner. The agency chose June 23rd as the launch date to commemorate the 109th birth anniversary of its global founder, David Ogilvy.
“With FEED, we are delighted to see real-time marketing become a reality in this region. Brands have recognized the importance of having their finger on the consumer’s pulse for decades now, and there are several offerings in the market to serve different aspects of that opportunity. The agility and compatibility of these offerings however, remains a challenge. FEED has been developed to evolve the disparate offerings into one complete solution.”, said Vikas Mehta, CEO – Ogilvy Africa.
The first phase starts in Kenya with command centres and physical infrastructure set up in Nairobi. Having completed over three months of beta testing with some of existing clients of Ogilvy Africa, FEED will be rolled out in its next phase in Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. By the end of the year, the offering will be available to clients throughout the continent. Besides, every deployment has the capacity to serve the entire continent from any location and is expandable to unlimited users.
The FEED ecosystem combines three components, or the three Ps – Platform-People-Process. Every deployment starts with an audit of the technology environment and a customized solution-stack is deployed that complements the existing assets, instead of replacing them. FEED can go-live in 6-12 weeks of audit, depending on the scale and complexity of the operation.
Upon deployment, clients have an option to get an on-site team placed in their premises running a command-centre supported by off-site teams stationed in Ogilvy Africa’s offices. The working process is designed to provide width and depth of skills while being agile enough to work in 24-hour sprints.
“While technology is available to all, technology alone seldom solves a problem. The added layer of our talent, combined with FEED’s proprietary process are key. We’ve designed the process to put agility at the heart of the setup that delivers real-time, consistently” Said Mehta.
FEED is available in light, standard and plus packages; allowing a wide spectrum of organisations to benefit from it.
It’s worth noting that a significant part of the testing period for FEED coincided with the physical restrictions around the region due to COVID 19. The accelerated digital-adoption of the past three months has allowed FEED to be stress-tested on several occasions, helping make its process more robust.
![Canon (www.Canon-CNA.com) today announces the Colorado XL-series, a new platform of 3.4m printers that extends the proven advantages of Canon's UVgel technology to the 3.2m graphics market. Available in hybrid and roll-to-roll configurations, the modular, field upgradable platform powered by UVgel technology delivers great versatility and exceptional productivity for both flexible and rigid media applications from signage and décor to point of sale and packaging. The Colorado XL-series comprises two easy-to-operate models: the Colorado XL7 roll-to-roll printer and Colorado XL7 hybrid printer. The new series brings the benefits of UVgel to a new market segment with exceptional application versatility across a comprehensive range of media – from banner, paper, vinyl and films to soft signage, heat-sensitive materials, foam board, fluted polypropylene, acrylic, aluminium composite boards and cardboard – providing the flexibility to tackle diverse customer requirements. With print speeds of 70m² per hour in quality mode, 106m² per hour in production mode and up to 211m² per hour in express mode, the system delivers the productivity needed for demanding production environments while accommodating substrates up to 52mm/2 inches thick for rigid applications. The new platform includes multiple technology innovations, such as the UVgel 860 ink set, which has been optimised to cover a wide variety of both rigid and flexible applications. It also provides the proven benefits of UVgel: odourless and instant-dry prints, high mechanical and chemical robustness, dimensional stability due to low-temperature curing, excellent colour consistency, TPO [1] - and VCL [2] -free, and matte and gloss finish without the need of a separate varnish. The Colorado XL-series also incorporates new UVgel 850 PrintHeads. Each printhead has 4,544 nozzles and features automated built-in nozzle performance monitoring and compensation. A single printhead supports two colours simultaneously, so that only two printheads are required to print CMYK, plus an optional third if white is configured. Additionally, the Colorado XL-series has an agile and precise printhead carriage that features UVgel DynamicMotion Control to ensure exceptional print quality even with challenging media. Taking the UV LED curing process to the next level, the Colorado XL-series introduces UVgel FullBeam Curing. This technology uses a unique 3.4-metre-wide LED curing array that, combined with an ingenious mirror system, delivers consistent UV light dosing across the entire print width, guaranteeing exceptional print uniformity over large surfaces and enabling a wider colour gamut. Media handling is optimised by the new UVgel TRIdrive vacuum belt system, which features three interactive rollers and multiple powerful vacuum zones that reduce wrinkling and skewing by automatically detecting and correcting the media positioning. This results in highly repeatable media transport through the printer, ensuring accurate positioning both longitudinally and laterally and enabling razor-sharp applications. Optional features for the Colorado XL-series, which are already available on the highly successful and modular Colorado M-series, include: UVgel White for hassle-free white printing, FLXfinish+ for creative effects using matte or gloss or mixed matte and gloss on the same print without additional varnish, and FLXture for textured finishes that mimic materials like leather, wood or fabric. Mathew Faulkner, Director, Marketing & Innovation, Wide Format Printing Group, Canon EMEA, comments: "For the past decade, Canon has been at the forefront of the inkjet evolution in large format, with market-leading technologies including the Colorado roll-to-roll printer series powered by UVgel technology and the Arizona flatbed printers. Large format print providers are looking for systems that deliver high productivity, versatile applications and reliable quality while addressing the challenge of finding skilled operators – which is why Canon is launching our new, breakthrough Colorado XL-series, an addition to our portfolio that will set a new standard in productivity and versatility. “This innovative solution brings the proven advantages of our unique UVgel technology to the 3.2m market for the first time, combining it with extensive automation and a modular design that will enable customers to extend their application possibilities into markets such as packaging and décor. Print service providers already producing high-value signage and graphics can now leverage UVgel's distinctive finishes, including mixed gloss and matte effects and textured printing, at scale to stand out in these new markets. And with its hybrid capabilities, users can print both roll-to-roll and rigid applications on the same device, using the same ink, the same colour profiles and the same unique features and finishes. For brands, for example, this translates to seamless campaigns that span the full spectrum of applications, ensuring perfect consistency across campaign assets whether they're roll-fed graphics, rigid signage, packaging, or décor elements. This is particularly valuable when these different applications appear side by side in-store, where maintaining that consistent quality and finish elevates the entire brand experience that today's brands demand." The Colorado XL-series will be available from the beginning of 2026 via Canon’s direct sales organisations as well as from accredited partners. For more information about the Colorado XL-series, please visit: https://apo-opa.co/3WltKtM](https://businessinsights.africa/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/canon_prograf-100x70.png "Canon expands large format graphics production portfolio with new 3.4m Colorado XL-series")
