Ayodotun Akinfenwa is a brand/marketing communications consultant, corporate trainer and the CEO at Lifestyle Hues Brand Consulting. Before starting out on her own, she worked in advertising for eight years, honing her skills and working on some of the biggest international brands and campaigns across West Africa. Today, she works with and trains SMEs and startups in the areas of Branding, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Customer Service, Content Creation and Graphic Design via online courses and physical workshops. She shares her experience in this interview with Ferdinand Ekechukwu
What influences your work?
Results. The drive for results keeps me awake at night and wakes me early in the morning. Our clients at Lifestyle Hues Brand Consulting come to us for results, some are seeking visibility, others want to create brand messaging that resonates, others want to increase sales/downloads/patronage and that is what drives me and my team, the quest for results.
Would you say the ‘new normal’ has had a positive or negative impact on the creative industry? What are the brand trends to prepare for in the next couple of years?
It has had both effects in varying degrees on different sectors and businesses. There are several trends to prepare for especially with the new normal but I will focus on only two in this conversation. That digital marketing is here to stay is no news and with the Covid-19 pandemic, our lives are changed forever, brands locally and globally are embracing “Phygital” trends in their processes and marketing according to a 2021 Euromonitor report. Phygital, as the name suggests is a hybrid, a blend of physical and digital experiences. Another trend is that consumers and audiences are also more aware of social and political issues and are demanding more from brands/business even the government to do better, observe Covid-19 protocols, deliver what they promised, keep people’s money more safe etc. Their voices are louder, thanks to social media and other online forums.
Having worked with some established individual and corporate brands what will you say is the secret sauce in branding and digital marketing that has always worked for you?
Consistency. You have a great idea, product or brand? Be consistent in doing what you do with your product, customer experience, marketing efforts. Branding is about consistency. Pick a position, a mental space you want to fill in your market and stick with it. I have seen brands do well with this and I’ve seen others fail because they failed to be consistent.
Do you think that digital marketing is a threat to the future of conventional marketing? What impact has technology and social media had on advertising?
Oh, it’s all interconnected. Marketing is marketing irrespective of the space, time or platform. What I mean is, the major factor in digital or conventional marketing is the target audience. Digital or conventional marketing are really vehicles to reach our desired markets based on the platforms those audiences use and based on consumer culture. Yes, some traditional media are losing influence; others have evolved with the times. Digital Marketing is leading today and some media even straddle the two factions. In the end, technology has changed the way advertising/marketing operates; it has definitely been a leveler for all brands. I believe brands have options from both categories and should just apply based on their desired markets.
Do you think creative agencies doing business in Nigeria have lived up to global expectations, in terms of ethics, because many believe ad agencies should take part of the blame for creating derogatory and deceptive messages?
Well, I think we let our culture influence us a lot when it comes to derogatory messages, especially with family/gender stereotypes which some groups globally and a few locally are kicking against. With deceptive messages, that will always be an ad agency accusation, because the clients sometimes do not deliver on their promises and we agencies have our work cut out for us, trying to sell what client is offering as best as we can, with no control over what they actually deliver. There’s always room for improvement in living up to the ethics of the profession here in Nigeria and I know the governing bodies like APCON and others are working towards this.
I know you work with many young people. With the recent Millennial Vs Gen Z “war” that happened on Twitter, how will you advise brands to navigate engaging target audiences?
Yes, one of the key aspects of that war is the differences between millennials and Gen Z individuals. Millennials are those born between 1981/82 and 1996 while Gen Z were born between 1997 and 2012. The millennials straddle both the pre-internet era and this digital age while the Gen Z were mostly born into it, a good number of them are digital natives. The former pride themselves on being of age and taking care of business, they also take credit justifiably for paving the way for new industries/sectors built on technology. They think the Gen Z are getting ahead of themselves because they really have not started experiencing life, not started paying their own bills and do not have buying power yet and that they are a loud, rambunctious bunch. The latter think the millennials are not as cool or as influential as they think, especially with the level of creativity which they (Gen Z) bring to the table. My advice to brands is to know what your brand is positioned as (If you don’t, you must address that), also know who your target audience is, their age and lifestyle habits, then focus on being your most authentic self to them and your key stakeholders. What this means is, focus on what’s important, not every trend will be on brand for you. Audiences are vocal now with social media and will call out brands who are not true to themselves or who fail to deliver their promises online and offline. They know when brands are clout chasing or trying to ride trends for personal gain.
In the last four years, how far would you say your business Lifestyle Hues Brand Consulting has been able to deliver its service and achieve set goals and targets?
We are growing; it was a rough and very small start. What started as an idea to simply consult for businesses setting up their brand management and marketing systems has evolved into a boutique agency serving clients from different sectors. Today, we have served clients in hospitality, events, manufacturing, education, health, tech and other sectors. I think we have done reasonably well not only serving our clients but also training entrepreneurs many of whom cannot afford our services fully and so had to be trained to handle a lot themselves. We have partnered with various organisations many times to offer these trainings free! So far, we have served over 60 businesses and trained over 10,000 business owners and their staff. It has been an impactful almost 5 years and we are thankful to God.
In your opinion, what is the secret recipe for success?
Again, I will say consistency, in brand building, in life’s endeavours. When you stick with a cause long enough, you get better at it, you even fail and you succeed too in that space. All of that enables you to grow with it and in time, you become a pro at it and your value in that space increases. Passion and integrity are also keys to propel you to greatness
Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I can be modest/shy at times. I train, consult and speak a lot to clients, students and audiences so it’s not apparent. I was shy a lot for most of my 9-5 career and it affected my growth because I never spoke up or shared my ideas. But I found my voice when I started working for myself and it’s helped me tremendously.
