The National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) over the weekend conferred its highest professional honours on Tunde Olufowora, the Chief Executive Officer of Brand I Communications Limited, as part of its annual congressional activities.
Olufowora was inducted alongside 26 other persons who have distinguished themselves in the field of marketing, while the Institute admitted one person as Honorary Member into its Body of Fellows at the 2021 edition of Conferment of Fellowship Award and Dinner, held at Radisson Blu, Ikeja, Lagos on Thursday, May 27th.
NIMN is the highest professional body for marketing professionals and institutions involved in marketing activities and related fields in Nigeria.
Tunde Olufowora, an accomplished communications and marketing expert with over 29 years cognate experience spanning Media, Public Relations and Marketing has worked with major and
flagship brands in Nigeria including The Guardian, THISDAY and FCMB, pioneering a number of initiatives that have strongly positioned and distinguished the brands in the market.
He was the Head of Corporate Communications of FCMB for a period 16 years (1997-2013) within which period he had responsibilities for managing all the marketing communications activities of the bank. He spearheaded almost all the transformational stages in the life of the bank, from a small privately owned merchant bank to becoming a renowned commercial bank in Nigeria and Africa today. Some of those transformational changesinclude the Initial Public Offer of the shares of the bank and its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange after its successful Public Offer campaigns; the change of name from “Merchant” to “Monument”, the various mergers &
acquisitions exercise and the rebranding campaign of the bank which gave it the current brand appeal.
Before joining FCMB in 2013, Olufowora had worked with The Guardian and THISDAY (two leading flagship newspapers in Nigeria). A renowned, seasoned and accomplished journalist,
Tunde Olufowora pioneered (in 1993) the most famous “Appointment” page, which today remains the largest income stream for The Guardian Newspaper. He also pioneered the Daily
Stock Market reporting in Nigeria in 1995 while working as a correspondent with THISDAY Newspaper. He left the employment of THISDAY Newspaper as a Deputy Editor (Money & Markets) before joining FCMB in the year 1997.
An alumni and Bachelors of Science (B.Sc) and Masters Degree (MBA) holders in Business Administration from Ogun State and Ambrose Ali Universities respectively, Tunde Olufowora is currently the Managing Director of Red Ribbon Limited (a Creative Public Relations & Experiential Marketing Company) and the Chief Executive Officer of Brand i Communications Limited (a leading Consumer Research & Marketing Agency – the pioneer of the ConsumerHalla brand) in Nigeria – the two leading agencies he set out to establish after leaving the employment of the bank. He was also recently appointed unto the Board of Spectrum Microfinance Bank Limited, (a fast-growing Microfinance bank in the country).
Tunde Olufowora is a certified member and registered practitioner with the African Public Relations Association (APRA), – an umbrella body of all PR practitioners in Africa. He is also a member of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). He was the President of the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) in Nigeria from 2010 to 2012, having served as the 1st Vice-President for two consecutive years.
Speaking at the dinner event, the outgoing President and Chairman of the Council, NIMN, Anthony Agenmonmen, charged the new Fellows to continue to contribute to the growth of marketing as a profession in the country, while stressing the need to uphold high level of professional standard in the discharge of their duties.
“The newly inducted members are individuals that have met the high standard set by the institute and distinguished themselves in marketing and its related areas”, he said.
The Institute considered Nnaemeka Ejeh, as the only person with Honorary Fellow. Ejeh is the current Group Executive, Retail Banking Group, South, First Bank of Nigeria Limited.
Also, Prof. Alex Okoh, the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), a government agency with responsibility to reform and privatize state-owned Enterprises was on ground as the keynote speaker at the Fellowship and Dinner for the NIMN.