Up In The Sky Wins International Marketing Effectiveness Award - 2016 Summit MEA

Up In The Sky Ltd is a Platinum, Best of Category winner in the 2016 Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award competition for their work with Royal Diamond Orphanage. The ‘Special Day’ campaign was adjudged one of the very best out of 1100 entries received and won in the Integrated + Mixed Media category.

“We are thrilled to receive this award especially because this campaign was one to protect and provide for children in our society. We ensured that all communications materials – the TV Commercial, Radio, Press Insert, Outdoor and donations website – worked together to deliver on our objective. This marketing effectiveness award is an objective endorsement of our campaign strategy” said Oje Ojeaga, CEO Up in The Sky Ltd.

“Up in The Sky Ltd delighted us by developing this campaign pro bono and the results were amazing, not only in the amount of money raised for the orphanage but the unique level of awareness the campaign raised for the orphanage and our work in getting displaced and destitute children off the streets. We celebrate their win of this award wholeheartedly” said Favor Ogunyemi, the founder of Royal Diamond Orphanage.


The Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award (Summit MEA) responds to a common need in the marketing and advertising sector: to acknowledge the contribution of results and messaging, and the achievement of the marketer’s business goals. The Summit MEA is unique to other award programs because it reinforces that the goal of marketing communications is to change, influence or reinforce a audience's knowledge, attitudes, or beliefs. Using this premise as a basis for its judging criteria, the competition is becoming a true arbiter of marketing communication effectiveness. 

During the 2016 event, judges analyzed submissions and selected only 6% to receive the top spots. A truly international competition, the Summit MEA received submissions from the following twelve countries: Australia, Canada, England, Hungary, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States and Wales.

“Distinguishing between creativity and effectiveness is a difficult task so winning a Summit MEA is a significant achievement.” Said Jocelyn Luciano, Executive Director for the Summit International Awards. “The combination of experienced judges and our tough criteria ensures that only deserving submissions receive Summit MEA recognition.”

Up In The Sky Wins International Marketing Effectiveness Award - 2016 Summit MEA

Up In The Sky Ltd is a Platinum, Best of Category winner in the 2016 Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award competition for their work with Royal Diamond Orphanage. The ‘Special Day’ campaign was adjudged one of the very best out of 1100 entries received and won in the Integrated + Mixed Media category.

“We are thrilled to receive this award especially because this campaign was one to protect and provide for children in our society. We ensured that all communications materials – the TV Commercial, Radio, Press Insert, Outdoor and donations website – worked together to deliver on our objective. This marketing effectiveness award is an objective endorsement of our campaign strategy” said Oje Ojeaga, CEO Up in The Sky Ltd.

“Up in The Sky Ltd delighted us by developing this campaign pro bono and the results were amazing, not only in the amount of money raised for the orphanage but the unique level of awareness the campaign raised for the orphanage and our work in getting displaced and destitute children off the streets. We celebrate their win of this award wholeheartedly” said Favor Ogunyemi, the founder of Royal Diamond Orphanage.


The Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award (Summit MEA) responds to a common need in the marketing and advertising sector: to acknowledge the contribution of results and messaging, and the achievement of the marketer’s business goals. The Summit MEA is unique to other award programs because it reinforces that the goal of marketing communications is to change, influence or reinforce a audience's knowledge, attitudes, or beliefs. Using this premise as a basis for its judging criteria, the competition is becoming a true arbiter of marketing communication effectiveness. 

During the 2016 event, judges analyzed submissions and selected only 6% to receive the top spots. A truly international competition, the Summit MEA received submissions from the following twelve countries: Australia, Canada, England, Hungary, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States and Wales.

“Distinguishing between creativity and effectiveness is a difficult task so winning a Summit MEA is a significant achievement.” Said Jocelyn Luciano, Executive Director for the Summit International Awards. “The combination of experienced judges and our tough criteria ensures that only deserving submissions receive Summit MEA recognition.”

My top 5 books in 2015

2015 was quite a year. This was the year I bade farewell to physical books and went totally digital. E-books and audio books became my thing. This shift allowed me read (or listen to) multiple books at once.

It’s a precious thing when a book can alter your perspective on fundamental areas of your world view. I want to highlight the top 5 books that did this for me this year. I believe I ‘stole’ these books from the universal mind — a sort of unending stream of consciousness that powers all life. I call this stream God. He is always speaking, many times He does it through a random phrase, a chance image or a well written book.

These ones had some words for me. I’m happy to share a little piece of what they taught me with you

#5 — The PayPal Wars by Eric Jackson

This was a delightful book to read. I heard about it from a side reference in “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel, my definite number one book of 2014. The book takes us behind the scenes, seeing the key decision points that created PayPal and what is today referred to as The PayPal mafia — the distinguished employee /founder alumni who have gone on to found multi-billion internet companies (Linkedin, Space X, Palantir, Youtube, Yammer, Tesla etc). As a marketing buff, I was intrigued by their decision making at critical points in trying to scale their idea for an alternate payments system.

In a startup, you have to be ready to subordinate your heart for your head, over investing emotions in a perceived path to growth can lead you to stagnation. This book showed me this and the culture that results from this mind set.

Business man as scientist , tweak tweak tweak…Bingo! — 100 marks

#4 — Believer by David Axelrod

Another great book. A random quote from my friend F led me down this delightful rabbit hole. As we were squaring up for the 2015 presidential elections, this book came handy in guiding me to shape narratives. David understands politics and how to win elections, The End.

Ok let me say a little more. ‘Believer’ is a testament to what being guided by a genuine belief in the power of politics to make a difference in society can do. How to marshal resources, what messaging appeals the most, the necessity of only working to elect people you believe in. it’s a precious book, told with much heart by a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.

Politics can bring good guys to power — 100 marks

#3 — Give and Take by Adam Grant

This was a book I stumbled on by reading a quote from the author on a random post on Instagram. Adam sought to explore if nice guys finish last — do givers get ahead? Is the world of business set up to favor takers? His findings were not only enlightening but also provided a road map to effectiveness. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and one of the principles I was able to apply immediately led me to earning a tidy sum of money. That’s a solid ROI.

Givers win…the ones that give with ‘sense’ though — 100 marks

#2 — How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp

As a marketing professional, my obsession has always been growth. How can the brands I manage or the businesses I advise grow fast? Byron Sharp gives a pretty damn good set of answers in his book. Bursting many ‘received truths’ on segmentation, loyalty programs, sales promotions, mass marketing and advertising and I was like….hol up, hol up, hol up!! This guy is messing with my brain! The good thing is he has the data to back it all up.

I will be incorporating these new thoughts as I approach marketing and advertising projects in the new year.

Bye Bye to narrow segments, hello mass marketing — 100 marks

#1 — Mastery by Robert Greene

How do you spell serendipity? This book. My approach to navigating my career has always been weird. From my very first job to my last one, I have behaved like I was on a paid internship — learn as much as you can and create new challenges for yourself, don’t choose a job for money, keep your head down and grind, be confident to gain horizontal knowledge and not vertical leaps. ‘Mastery’ showed me I wasn’t crazy or weird. Using the lives of many masters (ancient and modern), Robert Greene presented a model for the pursuit of mastery in any field, the careful system for self-directed development and apprenticeship that places men and women in the very center of their purpose and gifts.

More importantly he showed how to know when your time is up for apprenticeship and pinpointing all the ‘forces of gravity’ that wish to keep you at a certain level. In several light bulb moments I knew where I was, what I was ready for and the assurance that the time was right to make some changes. Nuff said…I went for it and its already looking incredible from the nice perch I’m on up in the sky.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears — 200 marks

what were your top reads this year?

Taking A Market

I was invited to speak on market penetration in a lovely church - Virtues Christian Center- with a very focused pastor, Alex Faranpojo. In 2 early sunday morning services i was allowed to speak on marketing, segmentation and entrepreneurship.

Here are the 2 talks in sound cloud for your enjoyment

(Lazy man's way to blog  :-) )

Starving Your Children – A Brand Portfolio Management Conundrum

“A great empire and little minds go ill together” – Edmund Burke

Benjamin Franklin was a complex American statesman. Born in America in the years when it was still a colony of Great Britain, he achieved fame as a newspaper publisher, postmaster, inventor, public affairs commentator and politician. It was he who helped define the very concept of a middle class - shopkeepers and tradesmen who pulled themselves up by their “bootstraps” - with his articles published in ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’, as well as several other articles he wrote in his name and under countless pseudonyms. 

In the series of events that provoked the American people to demand their independence from the British Crown, Benjamin Franklin wrote a piece that struck to the heart of British imperialism. He questioned the propriety of the English Parliament passing laws that sought to limit the establishment of manufacturing industries in the Americas to ensure that goods produced in England would have a captive market.  Britain’s policy would use America as a source of raw materials and a market for finished goods. Benjamin Franklin said, “…therefore Britain should not too much restrain manufactures in her colonies. A wise and good mother will not do it. To distress is to weaken, and weakening the children weakens the whole family”.   

By seeking to keep America dependent on the United Kingdom for fully manufactured goods, the English parliament provoked a sleeping beast. In population, land mass and educational advancement, America was already accelerating far ahead of its mother country. Otherwise docile and willing subjects of the English crown began to doubt the long term good intentions of their sovereign king to their welfare. Thus were sown some of the seeds that eventually led American nationalists like Patrick Henry, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to fight for America’s independence in the Revolutionary War of 1775 – 1783.

What does this tale of wise mothers, weakened children and broken empires have on brand portfolio management you may ask? In my brief marketing career, I have been privy to many scenarios that highlight what can go right or wrong when a company has more than one brand in its stable. No company has unlimited funds to execute every plan it has to drive its marketing program.  By implication, prioritization of one brand over the other must occur. Which brand should have a TV commercial shot for it? Which brands should be used for the large sponsorship inventory purchased on the digital TV platform? Which brand should the sales team give priority during sales calls?

These are the questions marketing leaders grapple with under the watchful eyes of their marketing teams. Egos are on the line, career trajectories are at stake and annual bonuses are in play from the decisions made on what to do with the available resources. 

In an ideal situation, a professional would consult the Boston Consulting Group Matrix (define which is a Star, The Dog, The Question Mark and the Cash Cow amongst the brands and allocate resources accordingly).  Alternatively they could use the Arcus Portfolio performance matrix, defining their Focus brand, Divestiture brand, Alignment brand or Investment brand and allocate resources accordingly; or utilize any other structured way of making these decisions.

Sadly this doesn't always happen. Organizations are run by people, and despite their best intentions and professional exposure; it is often the case that decisions are made on a whim, to manage egos or to reward ‘loyalty’ – not always in the best interest of the company.

These actions, birthed and conceived in irrational cocoons, are eventually defended by quasi-rational justifications.

“We don't want brand X to outshine brand Y because Y is the current focus of the company”

“You know brand X has always delivered 80% growth, so it can sit this quarter out.  Let's put all resources to ensure brand Y performs well”.

Don't get me wrong, many of these justifications may have substance but it's the follow-on actions that make their implementation ultimately detrimental to business performance. I believe decisions concerning portfolio management should be openly discussed and a clear framework for allocating resources based on a disciplined approach be adopted by marketing-focused organizations. Decisions should be made in the open and the opportunity for robust representation be made at all levels. 

Ideally, every brand in a portfolio should be focused on a differentiated segment of its own - with a clear target audience, distinct route to market and unique product features - to make it stand out in a crowd. However, what we often see is that brands slowly begin to overlap as the struggle to make a struggling brand a winner, leads to a cut-and-paste approach. A route to market appropriate mainly for brand X is hijacked for brand Y just to "see if it will work". Slowly the marketing organization begins to cannibalize itself for growth.

Weakening one child (brand) in other to make another child strong is a recipe for civil war in the marketing organization. A wise mother (marketing director/GM Marketing) focuses quite intently on discovering all the things that make each child unique and ensures none is starved for the other. Those requiring immediate focus should be fully supported while those on the bench need to be allowed to flourish while they wait their turn in the sun. This is the secret to retaining an empire (multi-brand market dominance). I believe this is possible: A situation where every brand in a portfolio is in a market dominant position within its own competitive ecosystem.

Here is a special hat tip to my friend whose struggles at work inspired this article. Hang in there bro, whatever refuses to bend will break free….just ask America.                               

P.S: Here is an insightful report on brand portfolio management :     
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil_Morgan2/publication/242383311_Brand_Portfolio_Strategy_and_Firm_Performance/links/0deec51e78e56c68f1000000

Social Media Marketing: Pros and Cons

Precious lives saved, corrupt policemen exposed and corporate malfeasance unearthed. Lynching’s going viral, nationwide protesters united behind hashtags and new products discussed without the brand managers input.

So much for social media and it's ever widening reach in Nigeria. This has happened in tandem with the democratization of access to ever cheaper data plans on even the most mid range of mobile devices

For the marketer, this digital seismic shift has opened a pathway, nay a firm crevice into that most elusive part of the "target market": their proclivity to be influenced.

The old media forms were losing their hold, their time tested ability to sow our seeds of influence. The old media was on the ropes, grasping for air but mercifully new media is here to bail it out. With radio stations conducting visual interviews via “hangouts” and TV stations live streaming tweets as they happen…it is clear the times they are a changing.

EXPLORING THE PROs FOR MARKETERS

The ability to influence the thoughts and actions of large groups is the "Pro" we would pay a kings ransom to preserve as marketers. For most marketers, the A.I.D.A framework for influencing behavior change remains a rallying schematic.

Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action lend themselves to the social media landscape in a fast changing digital world. Recruiting influencers on social media has become a key task that is only tempered by matching the right influencer to the campaign at hand. Choosing the right influencers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram greatly fast tracks the success of awareness creation, interest development and stimulation of desire to purchase our brands and patronize our services.

For those with a limited vision on how far ranging social media can be deployed, they tend to use it only for the first 3 legs of the A.I.D.A framework. 

Taking action via Social media (usually purchase decisions) has been slow to catch on but there are many “outliers” in the Nigerian sphere. A strong commendation must go to a brand like GTBank that has created an application that allows users set up a bank account and transact business from within the Facebook environment.

We now have the robustness of “brick and mortar” businesses like Vitafoam that not only allow you select mattress types on their website but also pay for it online. To boot you can also verify “authenticity” of a purchased mattress via an SMS platform. 

This trend cannot be ignored as “Action” is what most marketers get rewarded for. Revenues are assured when the tools you deploy for marketing result in customers who take action. Getting marketing budgets approved for social media campaigns are another trend characterizing much of budget defenses.

Only few marketing directors give Social Media budgets the true focus they deserve. For those who are bullish on it, the rewards have been massive. You gain first mover advantage within your industry if you know what you’re doing.  

THE “CONs” REAR THEIR HEAD

In the old days, (pre-social media) there were very few opportunities for individuals to engage brands and get their attention. It was a “broadcast” relationship of one-to-many (brands speaking to audiences). 

Social media has disrupted this balance of power. The world we now live in is one of many-to-many relationships; with individuals being able to put a brand on the spot for any service failures in the open “village square” which social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook have become.

The very nature of a village square in pre colonial times was one in which an aggrieved person would table an issue in the presence of other villagers to get their input in holding an offender responsible. Needless to say this was quite an effective means as offenders behaved themselves to avoid public censure 

Social media has become a platform for not only customer complaints resolution by brands but also a village square sometimes overrun by bellicose digital citizens. A few brands have been at the receiving end of a barrage of “hostile customers” who can latch on to hashtags, hijack social media campaigns and engage smear campaigns. Such public scuffles’ can get really messy and may leave your brand in tatters.

Skilled marketers need to be ready to face this clear and present dynamic in their use of social media for marketing purposes. Authenticity and the willingness to admit wrong will go a long way in building a hedge for your brand in online waters that can be really murky.

IN CONCLUSION                                                                  

I believe the “pros” far outweigh the “cons” when it comes to social media marketing. The social media space has opened brands up to consumers who can respond and interact more meaningfully to our brands and services. 

I would sign up for that any day.

How I Chose a Career in Marketing

I believe one of the most defining decisions a young person makes in their 20's is the choice of a career. Many are sadly hampered by many distractions and thus spend that time merely choosing between jobs.
Several other writers have done a better job splitting the hairs on the difference between a job and a career.

For me and quite simply, a career is a series of jobs, experiences and projects that reflect a coherent theme and are usually aligned to a specific industry.

This post is to help shine a light for many young professionals just starting out in the world of work. Hopefully my story can serve as lighthouse as you make the right choices along the way.

While in the University of Ibadan, I decided I wanted to be a consultant. Don't ask why consulting...it just happened to become a dominant theme in my thoughts at the time. So i researched the leading consulting firms....Phillips Consulting, Accenture, Price Water House, Akintola Deloitte etc

I found out that most of them required at least a minimum grade of Second Class Upper to get you in the door. To be honest my first year in school was spent shooting the breeze..i was just taking life easy and didn’t realize the heavy lifting required to be an outstanding student. When my grades came in they were mediocre to say the least.

I thus began the valiant effort to redeem myself from my 2nd year. By final year, I was a straight A's student in Psychology, earning a nick name and an award as Class Professor for leading discussion groups, managing research projects and all what not.

Alas I missed a 2nd Class upper grade by .5 .The CGPA system allowed my 1st years mediocrity to limit the redemptive work of 3 more productive years. Oops...down went my consulting dreams or so i thought. This was 2002

I spent my 1 year of National service as a children's missionary in Benue state Nigeria after graduation. It was hard work. i was teaching little children bible stories and traveling different towns in the state to help churches and ministries.

Language barriers aside, teaching children anything is a job reserved for saints. I shouldered on to the end. Just before I finished my service year though, my fiancee (now wife) told me about a great speaker and consultant Fela Durotoye who had come to speak in UI.

I went on the internet to research about him and his company and stumbled on an interview that just blew me away. I determined to cut my consulting teeth at his firm. I got his phone number and requested a meeting. He obliged

After some chit chat, he asked pointedly why I had asked to see him. I told him I wanted to learn consulting at his firm. He declined. He wasn't looking to hire anyone more as he believed in a small firm of competent hands and his team was complete at the moment.

He saw my dejection and asked me to tell him what exactly i was doing in Benue state. Feeling all hopes were lost in getting a job at VIP Consulting, I simply went on to tell him about all my adventures teaching kids, organizing meetings and starting bible clubs across the state and north central zone of Nigeria.

Unknown to me, my account left a lasting impression on him and he asked me to give him a call when I returned after the service year. I returned February 2004 and immediately called him. He offered me a job on the phone and I started work the Friday after i returned from Benue.

I would need a separate post to tell all I learnt at VIP Consulting - how to facilitate strategy sessions, present to a management team, craft a consulting project and execute it, how to bill for consultant projects etc. My first project was a telephone culture assessment project for a mid level bank. After 10 months at VIP though, I was feeling restless.

We were consultants on customer service excellence projects with an industry focus on the banking industry. We did great work but I knew this wasn't my sweet spot. The subject matter didn’t get my mind blazing. I decided to resign and seek for what I lacked through some time introspecting.

Fela wasnt pleased, none of my colleagues were but I insisted and they wished me well. For 6 months I was job hunting and trying to understand what exactly my field should be. I guess I left thinking an “aha moment” would hit quite quickly and a job would follow immediately. I was wrong. Thus begun a long period of soul searching and kicking myself in the foot for resigning a good job.

Eventually i resolved that I was a communicator at heart. Explaining and selling ideas and products got my blood racing. One of my best courses in university was consumer psychology and this was one of the insights that led me to settle on the marketing communications industry. I started applying to advertising agencies, fast and furiously.

From a 2 month contract job as a training consultant on the Lagos Lottery Project, I eventually got a job as Public Relations executive at DDB Lagos a leading advertising company. I was like a fish in water! Crafting key messages, writing press releases and interfacing with clients, journalists etc was like the best thing ever. My first boss Akonte Ekine remains one of the finest minds in PR practice in Nigeria and he taught me everything he could for as long as I could seat still.

Little did i know then that another change was near. DDB had been invited to pitch for the MTN Nigeria advertising business and the Strategic Planning manager of the agency invited me to join the pitch team. This was pure bliss, my consulting skills and my newly appreciated love for communication found harmony in that pitch process.

To cut the story short, DDB won the pitch and i moved from the PR team to the Strategic Planning unit. My new boss Bayo Adekanmbi took me under his wing and showed me that communications was only a small part of marketing and I must prepare to expand my capacity.

In this new role I was using studies of an industry, insight about a product and analysis of the motivations of consumers to brief the creative teams to come up with winning communication campaigns. In this hot matrix I discovered my career.

From that point on till now, I have been expanding my capacity in the marketing industry. Going on courses, enrolling for CIM programs and taking on jobs and projects that have made me more and more of a marketing professional.

At my core i remain a consultant in orientation, my degree in Psychology has guided my lifelong curiosity about consumers motivations and my choice of marketing as a career has led me on a path of professional fulfillment.

Choosing a career is a tricky business and must be done not only with an eye on how much money you can make on that path but also how engaging the chosen path is of your unique talents, your interests and motivation.

Finding and listening to mentors to help guide your decisions is also very important. I thank God for the quality of leaders/managers I have had all through my career.

I learned early in my career not to make decisions based on just salary but on the path which, if taken would make me a better marketing professional. So far its been profitable.

Its been 10 years now since my first job, i can only hope that the next 10 will be even more exciting.

Have a great weekend.