Supporting Vivo Energy’s First Market Entry Beyond Africa

The challenge

Jordan represented an important first for Vivo Energy: the company’s first market beyond Africa.

That put additional weight on getting the market entry right. Engen needed to enter Jordan with a locally relevant brand and launch direction, supported by an agency capable of turning the strategy into strong work and delivering it under the pressure of a significant market entry.

Our role

Short Pencils worked alongside Vivo Energy as an independent senior adviser throughout the agency selection process.

We developed the evaluation framework and assessed the competing agencies across strategic thinking, creative quality, local relevance, activation, delivery capability and commercial realism.

When two agencies emerged as close contenders, we went further. We met the teams that would actually work on the business and assessed senior involvement, mobilisation readiness, media capability, partner networks, governance, AI safeguards, chemistry and likely behaviour under launch pressure.

The final decision required judgment as much as scoring. One agency offered stronger systems and infrastructure. The other offered stronger ownership, senior access, flexibility, chemistry and creative commitment. The recommendation considered which combination mattered most for the specific demands of this launch.

From selection to launch readiness

Our involvement continued after the agency was selected.

Working with Vivo Energy and the appointed agency, we reviewed the winning pitch through the lens of execution: what should stay, what needed to evolve, what needed further development and what should be removed.

The work then expanded into the strategic platform, local relevance, station experience, activation, digital and social, influencers, media, governance and the first-year communications roadmap.

The value

Vivo Energy had an independent senior adviser alongside it through a market-entry decision carrying significance beyond Jordan, from evaluating the agency options and pressure-testing the leading contenders to helping turn the selected direction into a practical launch plan.

Short Pencils also brought a local cultural lens to the work, reading Jordanian market nuance, language and sensitivities, and helping an international team navigate them through both the selection and the launch direction.

The objective throughout was simple: reduce avoidable risk and give Vivo Energy’s first move beyond Africa the strongest possible foundation.