Celebrating The Quintessential Advertising Guru, Biodun Shobanjo

By consistently scaling new heights of achievement in their chosen fields of endeavour and in the service of humanity, some accomplished Nigerians have continued to demonstrate that, tremendous good can indeed come out of this proverbial Nazareth called Nigeria.

Biodun Shobanjo, a creative colossus and the legendary Chairman of one of Africa’s largest and most innovative integrated marketing communications group, Troyka Holdings Limited. Indeed, he needs no introduction. The ever-present icon of the advertising world has continued to stand tall as a towering example of how men can make their lives sublime when they are propelled by a vision and compelling desire for universal significance.

For many well-documented reasons, a dearth of role models has become a constant singsong in Nigeria today. However, while the world of politics may be short on inspiring leadership, the corporate world has never lacked for iconic leaders, who through their entrepreneurial genius and grit possess an unwitting ability to ignite the fire of enterprise in others. Biodun Shobanjo is as great as they come!
Through professionalism, integrity, honor and passion, he has, for the better part of the over four decades in which he has ruled the marketing communications landscape, etched himself into the consciousness of Nigerians everywhere as a massive model of aspiration.

An Advertising force who is easily the face of the profession in Nigeria, Shobanjo has earned himself a dignified place among an elite few in the pantheon of Nigerian, and indeed, global professionals who through the power of vision, have revolutionized their practice and taken their crafts to mind-blowing levels through the generation, adoption and adaptation of groundbreaking ideas and innovations.

If the surest measure of success is the shadow that it casts, then, Shobanjo is by that singular metric, a hugely successful man. He is to the Advertising profession, what the late eminent Legal luminary, Frederick Rotimi Williams was to the Law profession in Nigeria and what Accounting titan, Akintola Williams represents in Nigeria’s Accounting profession. He has become an institution - a rallying point of  dreams and aspirations for many professionals.

That catch however is not the institutional status he has attained through his work. There is more to the man as demonstrated in the manner of leadership he has provided for his charges and the kind of self-sustaining organizations he has built.  As an uncommon leader with a trans-generational vision, the type alien to this clime, Shobanjo has not only, by his unparalleled resourcefulness and the peerless mastery of his craft, become a tough act to follow - one who continues to expand shoes already too large to fill - he has also produced star men in his ranks with the proven capacity and capability to tread in his trails and fill those sizeable shoes.

Management guru, Peter Drucker once wrote that a Chief Executive Officer’s success is measured not by his financial might or individual brilliance, but by how many CEOs like himself he has been able to reproduce. It is a hymn to Shobanjo’s leadership ethos that, though he has evolved an enduring vision and built a multifaceted enterprise modeled after his own image, he has in fact entrenched legacies and structures that will inevitably outlast him.

It is however impossible to comprehend the Shobanjo mystique without delving into the past that produced his venerated present. Shobanjo had a stint in Broadcasting at the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), now known as Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), as a Studio Manager in 1964. However, providence had designed that his legend would be forged in the field of Advertising. His sterling Advertising career took off when, as a promising corporate greenhorn, he joined the then American-owned Grant Advertising, as an Accounts Executive Trainee in 1971. He was a driven young man who had his work cut out and his determination to excel was not in doubt. It was this clarity and precision of purpose combined with a unique ingenuity which manifested in the quality of his work that caught the eye of his executives and saw him rise to the position of Deputy Managing Director in 1976, within just five years of joining that establishment and just at age 30!

During the intervening period, he began to conceptualise the Advertising agency of the future - one that would redefine Advertising practice in Nigeria. Like birds of a plumage that gravitate towards one another, he found visionary soul-mates in Jimi Awosika and Chukwuma Ibe - men of like minds - kindred spirits with whom he bonded for business and proceeded to co-found the now fabled Insight Communications in January 1980, following his December 1979 exit from Grant. The trio was driven by a passion to do it differently - an ambitious over-arching vision to completely revolutionise Nigeria’s Advertising industry.

Their objective was monumental and almost intimidating, but their combined potential was enormous and they had raw, informed and an unbridled confidence in their own abilities. Therefore, guided by their corporate vision and girded by certain fundamental principles and values, they got off to a flying start, several teething challenges and unavoidable birth and growth-phase obstacles notwithstanding.

Just under a decade, the vision had skyrocketed and expanded beyond the expectations and projections guaranteed by their best laid plans. It was at this point that, Shobanjo incorporated Troyka Holdings Limited, the largest and most innovative integrated marketing communications group in sub-Saharan Africa, with strong business interests in marketing communications, resource management and asset protection. Together with Insight Communications, other subsidiaries that have evolved over the years include: All Seasons Mediacom and Media Perspectives (both Media Independents); Optimum Exposures (Nigeria’s leading out-of-home ad company); The Quadrant Company (a PR Consultancy), Hot Sauce (Digital Marketing); Black Onyx Properties (Real Estate) and Halogen Security (asset protection and resource management).

Of course, Insight Communications consolidated on the gains it made over the years and established itself as Nigeria’s foremost Advertising agency with Shobanjo providing astute, innovative and exemplary leadership for the agency as Chief Executive Officer for 25years, gracefully bowing out of that role in December of 2004. He continues to function as the Chairman of the Group, offering invaluable guidance and counsel to Insight’s management and clients.

Shobanjo holds the Certificate of the British Institute of Public Relations, London as well as the Certificate of the British Institute of Marketing.  He is a  chartered member of the British Institute of Public Relations (CMIPR); chartered member of the British Institute of Marketing (CM Inst. M); Member, International Advertising Association; Fellow, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria; Fellow, Commonwealth Journalists Association and past President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).

A debonair cosmopolitan who is widely-traveled, he has attended various courses in Advertising, Marketing and Management in many Western European countries, the United States of America and South Africa.

Testament to his glowing innumerable accomplishments is a bulging cabinet of laurels - accolades received over the years, for professional excellence and integrity. He has been selected at various times by Newswatch, Vanguard, Concord, The Nigerian Tribune, The Sun and other leading publications as one of ‘Nigeria’s Top Business Managers cum Mentors’. In August 1999, he was selected as ‘Advertising Man of the Century’ by Weekend Concord. In November 2003, Success Digest nominated him as Entrepreneur of the Decade, while The Daily Times of Nigeria & Corporate Effects Communications chose him as one of the ‘100 Heroes of Modern Nigeria’. In June 2004, Shobanjo was featured in Encomium International amongst the ‘100 Nigerians that ever lived’.  In August of the same year, Vanguard Newspaper selected him as one of the Beacons of National Development, while Daily Independent chose him as one of Nigeria’s Top 25 Leaders of Professional Integrity.  He was awarded Brand Marketing Professional of the Year in 2004 by Brandfaces, and in Feb. 2005, Newswatch nominated him to be featured in their 2005 edition of ‘Fifty Notable Leaders in Corporate Nigeria’. In October 2005, he was selected by Vanguard Media as one of the Architects of Economic Fortunes in Nigeria, while The Financial Standard nominated him among the 50 Drivers of Change in Corporate Nigeria in 2005.  In February 2006, The News honoured him as one of the 30 Most Inspiring Nigerians. In 2007, he was selected to be the CEO of The Apprentice Africa, a TV business reality show that ran from January through June 2008.  In March 2008, TheNEWS honoured him with “A True Nigerian Icon” award for the innovative ideas he brought to Advertising in Nigeria, while Financial Standard honoured him as one of the Heroes of the Economy in August, 2008.

In March 2009, The Guardian listed him amongst Nigeria’s Outstanding Role Models, while The News chose him as one of 50 Yoruba men and Women of Integrity. In May 2009, Newswatch nominated him as one of the 50 Notable Leaders in Corporate Nigeria in 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. In Sept 2009, TheNEWS selected him as one of 30 Nigeria world-class Entrepreneurs, while in March, City People Media Group honoured him with the award of CEO of the Year.

It was the turn of the Guardian in October 2010 when it selected him amongst Nigeria’s 20 Outstanding Entrepreneurs of the Decade (2000-2010) and in December 2010, the NIMN awarded him the Most Valuable Personality (Titan Class) for Life Achievement in Advertising Development. In February, 2011, MarketingEdge Magazine honoured him as its Brand Personality of Year 2010. In Nov., 2011, he was elected Fellow of the Institute of Security, Nigeria (FISN).In December 2012, he received the BrandPower award for Distinction and Long time Achievement and was recognized and honoured by Business World as a Great Nigerian Entrepreneur. In July 2013, he was honoured as one of Chivas’ Top 100 Men in Nigeria.

The latest of this glut of accolades came recently on the international stage at the Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London, United Kingdom, where he was crowned “Manager of the Year” in the field of marketing communications at the International Achievements Forum organised by the Europe Business Assembly.

Shobanjo, according to the organisers, merited the award given to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), company owners and top managers who have made significant inputs to the successes of their companies by advancing the best management practices and services for employees and customers.

They added that Shobanjo’s selection was due to his vision and leadership, innovativeness, creativity, professionalism, exceptional managerial skills, business ethics, company performance and effectiveness as well as corporate social responsibility.

Shobanjo is one of those few altruistic minds whose guiding philosophy is success for significance. A chief mover of several public-spirited undertakings, this quiet philanthropist has mobilised time and financial resources in the empowerment of several Nigerians, positioning them for future successes. In February 2010, he was inaugurated as the First Ambassador-General of Mass Medical Mission (MMM) of the National Cancer Prevention Program (NCPP).

A doting family man, husband and father, he is happily married to Joyce with five children and two lovely grandchildren.
Adebowale is the Head Media at The Quadrant Company.

-Segun Adebowale