By Abiodun JIMOH
At the prestigious Brand Handlers Summit & Awards held at Regency Hall, Ikeja, Lagos, Emmanuel Adediran, Business Unit Director and Digital Transformation Champion at mediaReach OMD Nigeria, delivered a stirring keynote urging Nigeria’s marketing industry to embrace integrity, digital innovation, and talent development as the pathway to sustainable brand growth.
Addressing top industry leaders, brand custodians, and marketing professionals, Adediran stressed that Nigeria stands on the verge of becoming Africa’s growth hub but requires a “bold reset” in its marketing ecosystem.
“Every brand that has weathered today’s economic challenges deserves recognition. Yet, to move forward, we must rebuild consumer trust, reframe our metrics, and embrace collaboration,” he said.
He outlined eight strategies to accelerate brand growth, including integrity and quality assurance, leveraging AI for digital transformation, “co-opetition” and data sharing, local innovation to solve Nigerian-specific challenges, broader performance metrics like cultural equity, blending brand and performance marketing, embedding sustainability, and developing next-generation marketing talent.
Adediran noted that consumer confidence remains subdued, with fragmented attention and rising demand for authenticity. He challenged brands to go beyond short-term performance marketing and integrate brand-building with purpose-driven engagement.
Closing his keynote, he called for a united industry vision:
“True growth is no longer about choosing between brand or performance—it’s about multiplying both through localization, innovation, and trust. The brands that will thrive are those that turn adversity into opportunity and put people at the center of purpose.”
About Emmanuel Adediran
Adediran is a leading marketing executive with over 20 years’ experience across FMCG, banking, fintech, e-commerce, and telecoms. He is a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Council, and co-author of Africa’s Goldmine. He was the first Nigerian agency representative to win Gold and serve as a judge at the Festival of Media Global Awards and has been listed among Nigeria’s Top 35 Marketing Communications Professionals.
