Oge Maduagwu Pitches Tent With Samsung As Head Of Marketing For West Africa
Frontline marketing communications professional and marketing investment expert, Oge Maduagwu has joined the services of Samsung as its new Head of Marketing for West Africa.
In her new position, Maduagwu is expected to lead Samsung West Africa’s marketing efforts across all product categories, developing comprehensive strategies to enhance brand presence, increase market share, and drive consumer engagement. Her experience in managing multi-market operations will be invaluable as Samsung continues to strengthen its position in the Nigerian West Africa’s market and potentially expands its influence across the region.
Maduagwu joins Samsung with an impressive career spanning over 14 years in the marketing communications industry. Her journey in the field has been marked by a steady ascent through roles of increasing responsibility, rising to the position West Africa Media Manager for Unilever.
Maduagwu’s career began at Mediareach OMD, where she started as an Assistant Executive in Planning, Data & Operations in April 2009. Her talent and dedication quickly became apparent, leading to rapid promotions. By February 2010, she had advanced to the position of Media Executive in Planning, and by June 2011, she had been elevated to Senior Executive in Media Planning & Client Servicing.
Her tenure at Mediareach OMD saw Maduagwu developing annual brand-building strategies for high-profile clients such as Promasidor, UAC, Stanbic IBTC, HP, Wrigleys, StarTimes, Intel, Dabur, Reckitt Benckiser, Estee Lauder, Property Mart, Perfetti, Tolaram Group, Gino Range of Tomato paste & Spices, Jago Milk, among others. She demonstrated a keen ability to blend planning, buying, control, and post-campaign analysis to deliver exceptional results for her clients.
In February 2017, Maduagwu took a big step in her career by joining Unilever Nigeria as Assistant Communication Channels Manager. In this role, she was responsible for developing implementation plans for communication channels strategies across a wide range of Home Care, Personal Care, and Foods & Refreshment brands. Her success in this position led to her promotion to Brand Manager for Radiant Detergent in September 2019.
As Brand Manager, Maduagwu showcased her innovative thinking by initiating and launching the Radiant detergent brand, a strategic move to protect the market share of sister brands OMO and Sunlight detergents. Her comprehensive approach, which included developing marketing plans, brand positioning, pricing strategies, and advertising campaigns, demonstrated her ability to navigate complex market dynamics.
Maduagwu’s exceptional performance caught the attention of Unilever’s leadership, leading to her appointment as Country Media Lead for Nigeria in June 2020. In this role, she drove media growth strategies, improved media effectiveness by over 20% in a challenging economic environment, and introduced innovative frameworks like the Brand Engagement Architecture to enhance media planning efficiency.
Her crowning achievement at Unilever came in May 2021 when she was promoted to West Africa Media Manager, overseeing media operations for Nigeria, Ghana, and Francophone Africa. In this capacity, Maduagwu led a core team that generated over 20 million Euros in savings while simultaneously increasing brand power for core brands.
Throughout her career, Maduagwu has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field. She served as a Jury Member for the prestigious Young Lions Competition (Media Category) in Nigeria in 2014 and 2016. More recently, she was awarded Media Manager of the Year (FMCG) at the Brandcom Awards in both 2022 and 2023. She equally awarded Most Outstanding Media Manager of the year – FMCG, at the prestigious Women in Marketing Communications Conference and Awards (WIMCA). She also made the exclusive list of the Top 100 Career Women in Africa by the 9 to 5 Chick.