Afrigather Obatunde Israel’s rise in Nigeria’s promoting panorama is a masterclass in focus, resilience, and innovation. Identified for his skill to harness authentic storytelling and forward-thinking methods, he has persistently positioned himself forward of the curve in an trade that thrives on change.
On this interview with Enterprise Elites Africa, Obatunde displays on the core rules which have outlined his success—an unwavering focus, a dedication to nurturing expertise, and a transparent imaginative and prescient for what creativity can obtain in enterprise.
Stroll us via your journey – how did you get to the place you’re right now and what impressed it?
My journey is that of a resilient and decided Artistic Entrepreneur who doesn’t understand how to surrender as a result of my course is all about making life a lot better for everybody round me, together with companies. The artistic enterprise is an especially demanding enterprise however has its rewards.
All through my profession working for different companies, I used to be lucky to work at high promoting businesses the place I served diligently and rose up the ladder to a degree the place I might confidently say it’s time to begin a artistic home that may make a distinction. That was what led to the beginning of Concepts Origin Media (IOM), one of many quickest rising artistic businesses in Nigeria and past.
What distinctive qualities do you imagine have been crucial to your success in an more and more aggressive world?
Focus. It takes rather a lot to give attention to what actually issues amidst guaranteeing you’re topnotch in administration, to creating a wonderful artistic course of and unstoppable workforce, then growing your clientele. It’s no joke, so I clearly give attention to my imaginative and prescient and completely shut out each type of distraction.
To steer a profitable artistic enterprise or company, visionary considering and the flexibility to foster a tradition of artistic empowerment is very wanted. So, I adeptly use an method of inspiring innovation whereas balancing artistic freedom with sensible enterprise outcomes.
Managing the workforce primarily based on their personalities is among the hardest process of a frontrunner. Therefore, persistently horning my emotional intelligence has been key to managing various personalities and sustaining a harmonious workforce dynamic, whereas infusing a client-centric method into each workforce member’s mindset in guaranteeing that the company’s artistic output aligns with shopper expectations and enterprise objectives.
Past creativity, sturdy enterprise acumen is essential for aligning artistic tasks with monetary sustainability. I all the time make sure that I keep my deep ardour for the artistic course of, which fosters stronger connections with each the workforce and shoppers.
How have you ever leveraged your affect to not solely obtain private success but additionally to create change in your group or trade?
All the time. I do all I can to offer again to the group. Living proof is an Artwork Director we as soon as employed after listening to him current his works at a Pitch Occasion of one of many high promoting faculties in Nigeria.
Additionally, we welcome undergraduates and graduating candidates from each increased establishment into our company with open arms. We have now skilled and nonetheless coaching them to grow to be unbiased and frontier of creativity within the varied ranges of the society that they discover themselves.
What was your technique for breaking into your trade, particularly contemplating the challenges within the African market?
It’s merely Originality.
Creativity and innovation on the bedrock of ORIGINAL storytelling are valued extremely within the core values and working rules of our company. We encourage a tradition of artistic risk-taking, which evokes us to assume creatively and past the field in the case of conventional and non-traditional promoting.
Due to our office’s emphasis on cooperation and teamwork, people from many backgrounds simply come collectively to create progressive works that resonate with the target market.
We take a client-centric technique with the intention to perceive our shoppers’ goals and create tailor-made and significant artistic options. We don’t additionally joke with ability improvement and lifelong studying with the intention to preserve forward within the quickly evolving promoting trade.
What was probably the most unconventional method you took that turned out to be a game-changer?
When you’re constructing a imaginative and prescient the place everybody sees themselves in it, they take it as their very own. Concepts Origin Media began out to make a distinction from day 1, being a game-changer is a ripple impact of our dedication to this.
Excellence is our day by day KPI. In attaining this, we’ve been intentionally dedicated to creating an enabling setting and a those who work collectively seamlessly with the identical excellence mindset. Our tradition additionally encourages collaboration and partnership on each small and massive scales.
How do you keep resilience and focus in a fast-paced setting the place the strain to carry out is fixed?
Don’t permit distractions to shift your eyes from the aim publish. Generally, it’s robust to maintain going however conserving your focus builds the dedication and resilience wanted to repeatedly win.
In a world that’s quickly evolving, how do you future-proof your profession and enterprise?
“To all the time evolve with excellence” has all the time been our mantra. Being a gaggle of youthful, dynamic, and enthusiastic brains has additionally enormously contributed to our capability for fixed adaptation. We experiment with AI applied sciences, monitor trade traits, take a look at alternatives within the metaverse, and work with specialists to reap the benefits of their sources and data.
WATCH ALSO:
What’s your management philosophy, and the way has it developed as you’ve grown in affect and accountability?
Each chief has his or her personal management fashion relying on their objectives and goals. Whereas working underneath completely different leaders earlier than beginning IOM, I witnessed extra of the normal fashion of management which allowed me to see the professionals and cons of it. Therefore, we adopted each the normal and radical clear (flat) fashion of management.
This permits us to use decentralised, radical transparency inside mission groups, for innovation processes, or round artistic decision-making, the place autonomy and collective enter are most dear. In the meantime, conventional construction is then maintained in areas like monetary administration, authorized compliance, and long-term strategic planning, the place a extra hierarchical method could be very crucial. So, everybody has a voice in the whole lot we do immediately or not directly.
The steadiness of each types additionally helps us to create a workspace the place the brand new generations like Gen Z can work seamlessly with the earlier generations who grew as much as perceive mode of operations in workspace in a different way.
What key partnerships or collaborations have elevated your model or enterprise, and the way did you strategically domesticate these relationships?
We’ve had key partnerships that has elevated our artistic model by increasing its attain and infusing recent concepts.
Certainly one of them was the collaboration with Hilda Bassey on telling the ‘Making it Rely’ story to the Jack Daniel’s target market. The collaboration leveraging on how Hilda made it depend by breaking Guinness Guide of Document throughout her Cookathon, helped to attach extra with Jack Daniel’s viewers, elevated the model’s visibility and credibility.
With shoppers, now we have artistic partnerships that present entry to cutting-edge concepts that pushes artistic boundaries. Co-creating with complementary manufacturers opens alternatives for progressive merchandise or campaigns, and constructing networks with creatives permits for versatile progress. An instance of that’s how we creatively labored on telling the story of Addmie in its’ new TV industrial: Ultimate Contact. Completed!
To domesticate these relationships strategically, it’s vital to align values with potential companions and provide mutual advantages that create win-win eventualities. Lengthy-term partnerships are extra impactful; so specializing in ongoing engagement, co-creation, and clear communication is vital. In search of out potential collaborators proactively, whereas leveraging present networks, can open doorways to new alternatives. By combining creativity with a strategic partnership method, companies can unlock new progress alternatives and develop their affect.
In what methods do you imagine African entrepreneurs and leaders are reshaping international perceptions of the continent?
Individually, with the ability to change the narrative by telling our tales with resilience and dedication regardless of the challenges African entrepreneurs undergo is an plain means we’ve been re-shaping international perceptions of the continent.
In contrast to different enterprise local weather, African entrepreneurs present nearly the whole lot to work in giving high notch companies. This makes us thrive higher after we finally get extra support from collaborations with the federal government, international companions, and associates.
As a enterprise, we’ve partnered and nonetheless collaborating with nice minds and establishments in celebrating our tales extra and showcasing our prowess as Originals.
READ ALSO: 40 Underneath 40: Nhlanhla Dlamini is Disrupting the World Pet Meals Trade from South Africa
What’s your imaginative and prescient for the way forward for your trade, and the way do you propose to contribute to that future?
Nigeria’s built-in advertising communications (IMC) panorama has been profoundly altered by the appearance of digital advertising and the give attention to digital expertise, with introduction of AI as nicely.
Corporations are placing increasingly more emphasis on digital channels and on-line platforms with the intention to effectively attain their target market.
As a result of this alteration, communication plans which can be extra cohesive and built-in are actually required. These methods are anticipated to cowl a wide range of digital touchpoints, together with influencer relationships, social media, e-mail advertising, and web site optimisation.
As a enterprise, we’re creating strategies to provide extra tailor-made and focused campaigns that enhance engagement and conversions with rising significance of knowledge analytics and personalisation in advertising whereas leveraging new applied sciences.
For those who might depart a single lesson for the following era of African leaders, what would it not be?
Your best asset is focus however be calm sufficient to know when to observe your instincts, be persistently open to studying and pushing boundaries.
Like I mentioned earlier, my journey is that of a resilient and decided entrepreneur who doesn’t understand how to surrender. Most instances, folks see the glitters exterior and conclude it’s a free journey to guide or run a enterprise however the healed stripes out of your each day struggles beneath your lovely cloths that turned wins, are the outcomes that everybody is celebrating.
