Flex & FMS Africa: A Launch Story That Kicked-off Real Growth.
Overview
According to FLEX, in Africa, where over 81 million people remain underserved by traditional financial systems. Despite the highly competitive fintech space; a market saturated with mobile apps promising speed, simplicity, and secure transactions.
But FLEX was not just another payment app. It emerged with a singular, transformative vision: to simplify payments, empower businesses, and drive financial inclusion across Nigeria and the continent at large. FLEX was built with a unique ecosystem: personal users could send/receive money using PayTags, while merchants could operate their business faster with the FLEX Merchant App.
The Project Summary
The client wanted a simple but meaningful launch, Tier 1 PR mentions and product communication on the everyday social channels.
To achieve this, FMS Africa was hired by the brand on a bespoke service retainer, and to kick off we conducted a competitive landscape survey using strategic marketing planning models and frameworks to identify our customers and how to approach them.
We went on to develop a 360-degree integrated marketing plan that can help the brand achieve their objectives and growth milestones in the first 3months of launch.
As a data-driven agency, our plan included a go-to-market strategy, PR communications roll-out plan, digital media buying plan, influencer marketing campaign and social media communications which were mapped to roll-out in different phases.
In this blog, we will walk you through how we came up with the launch strategy, big idea and how we officially launched the brand.
The Big Idea: THIS IS FLEX
In Nigerian lingua (especially among Gen Z and youth culture), “Flex” means to enjoy life, show off, or have a good time, often in a flashy, carefree, or celebratory way. Already, with the emergence of many fintechs and digital banks in Nigeria, people are able to flex when it comes to a certain level of transaction such as instant transfers and minimal downtimes; but when they can move money with ease, no downtime, no long account numbers, no fees, earn rewards on every transaction, and have the ability to split bills without the awkward situations, now, that is a DIFFERENT KIND OF FLEX.
The concept of the big idea we came up with “THIS IS FLEX” positions everything the audience can do with the better option of convenience and ease when you use the FLEX App.
The intent was to redefine what Flex truly is to our target audience “a lifestyle they love to enjoy” positioning Flex the App as the app that fulfills their desires.
What We Offered Flex:
The Campaign Project Team was a Full Squad of Ten Experienced Specialists Including:
•A brand strategist who was responsible for developing the core marketing strategies and launch ideas into roll-out execution campaigns.
•A campaign manager responsible for ensuring the smooth planning of all aspects of the campaign.
•A PR manager responsible for media relations, development of press kit, media placements and coverage.
•A four man creative team of creative designers whose expertise includes, motion graphics content, static creative designs for both online media, event and out of home, led by our creative director.
•Two experienced content and social media managers who worked on the copy for social contents, ads media buying and posting across all platforms.
•A dedicated account manager who managed day to day work flow and client communication.
All of these were provided under our standard retainer package for the client to support their marketing and effective launch goal.
Why Startups Should Launch with an Experienced Marketing Specialist Team:
In the early stages of a startup, establishing a strong brand presence is critical. FLEX partnered with FMS Africa at launch to ensure that the brand entered the market with clarity, credibility, and momentum—before building its internal marketing team.
1.Startups need to move quickly. Agencies already have experienced teams, tools, and execution frameworks in place. Fusion Marketing Sync delivered FLEX’s go-to-market strategy, brand positioning, creative assets, launch event, and media coverage within a tight timeframe.
2.Hiring an in-house team takes time, resources, and ongoing overhead. Agencies provide immediate access to skilled strategists, creatives, and media professionals without the burden of long-term hiring.
3.Successful launches require unified messaging across digital, press, events, and social platforms. Agencies are structured to deliver integrated campaigns. FMS Africa supported FLEX with end-to-end execution, ensuring that all touchpoints told the same compelling story.
4.Startup teams are often focused on product development and operations. Working with an agency allows founders to stay focused while brand rollout is professionally managed. FLEX concentrated on refining its app and the core branding while we managed go-to-market plan, brand launch, communications and stakeholder engagement.
5.An agency also offers scalability. Once the brand is launched and market-tested, internal hires can be made with clearer direction. FLEX now has a strong brand foundation, audience insight, and campaign assets that future in-house teams can build on.
In summary, for early-stage companies, an agency is more than a vendor. It is a strategic partner for market entry, and often the difference between launching quietly and launching with impact.
Watch out for the full case study of the impact we drove for FLEX within 3 months of launching.
Have a product launch coming? Connect with us via our email grow@fusionmarketingsync.com
FMS Africa—We’re Seriously Effective.