Dentsu Agyle Masterclass: Experts Urge Female Undergraduates To Explore Career Opportunities In Integrated Marketing Communication
Experts in marketing communications have shared valuable insights with young female undergraduates and postgraduate on how to become the next generation executives in the media and marketing communications industry through research, creativity, curiosity and opportunity management.
These insights were shared at the just concluded masterclass and symposiums themed ‘Women leading change – Empowering the next generation of marketing and creative mavericks’. The event was organized by Dentsu Agyle Nigeria, a prominent integrated marketing, media buying/investment, entertainment and production agency in commemoration of the 2024 International Women’s Day at the Theatre Hall, Department of Creative Arts, UNILAG on Friday, April 12, 2024.
Joke Silva, an iconic Nigerian actress and entrepreneur while delivering the first keynote speech emphasized on gaining longevity in any profession. She said, “To gain longevity, make difference, make impact in your field and see the opportunities that await you, you need to stay within the profession for a while and explore well.”
In every field, there is always so much to gain and achieve, the space is bigger for everyone to be known which is why the entertainment industry have so many of them as producers, actresses and actors who are known and doing well.
“Give all you have to give to the world to stay relevant and also learn to balance work and play to avoid compromising your mental health. It is very important in every profession to distress. As women, always remember you carry lot of powers and use it in for the betterment of yourself and the society.” She added.
Speaking on the theme while delivering her keynote address, Adebola Williams, Marketing Director of Promasidor highlighted several points needed to build a career and achieve ones goal. According to her, “Creativity is birthed from the sum of your experiences which includes the things that has been done, heard, seen, read about, places that you have gone and worked on.
“As a career builder, you must take into consideration making creativity a culture, having a collective mindset, be true to who you are, accept rejection as part of life, brainstorm when necessary, take your creativity from the ordinary to extra-ordinary, be incentive, and be curious”
She also emphasized on being interactive, seeking quality experiences, asking questions, exposing yourself, reading books, listening to histories, making the best use of time and resources.
“Always believe that you are you, and nothing can change what you stand for”
Earlier in her speech, the General Manager, Dentsu Agyle Nigeria, Marian Ogaziechi, while delivering her masterclass presentation, emohasized the importance of marketing and communication to run a business. According to her, marketing comprises of 7ps which include product, promotion, place, price, physical evidence, process and target audience.
Ochuko Adeboye, Business Development Lead, Disney Nigeria during her masterclass presentation harped on the role of research in developing advertising strategy. She said, research helps to understand target audience better, understand market analysis, understand testing of optimization, understand media planning and allocation, as well as performance measurement and evaluation.
In his welcome address, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, Director General, Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) who was represented by Martha Ogbonna Onyebuchi, FRPA, Director Regulation of ARCON said Advertising is an announcement, notice, publication, broadcast, exposure, hype, display, show, event, trademark, to solicit, endorse, showcase, support a product, service, idea, organization with the intention to influence, sway, actuate, impress, arouse, patronize, entice, or attract a person by an identified sponsor irrespective of media, medium or platform.
Speaking during the panel session on current trends in media, Morayo Afolabi-Brown said “The reason why most of the media budgets from TV have gone to social media is because on the internet you can easily tell who is watching, where they are watching from, and how long they have been watching.”
She added that TV will continue to transmit from one form to another because technology will continue to develop.
Commenting on the relevance of traditional media in an era where mobile phone is taking the glory, Sophie Ejegi, Managing Director Loatsad Promomedia said “Outdoor Advertising has no choice but to stay relevant, we have to move with the time for us to keep in trend, we have to do things bigger and better.
“So over the years, we realise brands wants the visibility, they want the top of mind awareness, they want better advertising and better billboards that can also be interactive and have a bit of technology inserted inside it. So to remain relevant, we have this new billboard that comes with a QR Code that can easily take you to the landing page and social media page of the company or programme being advertised.”
In addition, Igwe Okeke, Managing Director of CARAT emphasized on the impact social media has on the dissemination of news and information. According to him, “Social media is growing in Nigeria because smart enabled devices are also growing. There are two impacts which could be positive or negative; the positive one is that we now have the opportunity for everybody sited here to now become a content producer or content creator”
According to him, everybody has now become a mass communicator because the social media platform has given the opportunity to disseminate information which could be in terms of advertising of products or other angles.
“On the other hand which is the negative; there are professionals who are trained to disseminate information to the audience, so there are legal implications for you if you transmit false news so caution has to be taken. It is important that all news are verified before it is been passed to the audience”
Other speakers at the event include Dammy Abodunrin, Industry Manager, Google; Baba Akintunde-Johnson, Country Manager, Nigeria, Paramount Africa; Rosemary Egabor-Afolayan, Senior Executive, News Central; Chioma Ude, Founder, Afriee; among others.