Redeemer’s Marks BrandiQ Day | …as Akingbade Speaks on Varsity Branding

One
of Nigeria’s leading brands and marketing expert, Bola Akingbade will, on
Tuesday, March 22, 2016, speak to about 2000 University students on the topic, Building a World Class University: the
Role of Brand Management
.
Mr.
Akingbade would be sharing his rich and enduring marketing communications
knowledge and experience with students of Redeemer’s University (RUN) as they
mark their BrandiQ Club Day at The University Auditorium, Ede, State of Osun.

Already,
there is a high level of excitement within the entire academic community since
the announcement that this strategic marketing egghead would be presenting the
main paper during the RUN BrandiQ Club Day. Students from neighbouring
universities and polytechnics have been invited in huge numbers to grace the
occasion. The Vice-Chancellor of Redeemer’s University Prof Debo Adeyewa and
the registrar, Bola Oloketuyi will play hosts to the select personalities
across all spheres of life invited to the unique occasion.
 The
guest speaker, Bola Akingbade is one of Nigeria’s most respected brand
strategist with vast marketing experience. His experience cuts across local and
international marketing assignments mostly in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods
(FCMG). He is a former Chief Marketing Officer of MTN Nigeria. While serving
this Telco giant, Akingbade deployed his wealth of experience to create
seamless strategic marketing models to boost the firm’s profitability.
 He
also worked with Nigerian Breweries Plc where he rose through the ranks and
climaxed as Corporate Affairs Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc in 2004. In
2001, he was at Heineken International, responsible for building the Amstel
brand across the African continent.  He also served as the Marketing
Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc
 Also
held leadership positions in several professional bodies, including the
Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) where he served as President. He is
a member of Nigerian Institute of Marketing; Fellow, Advertising Practitioners’
Council of Nigeria and Member, Institute of Directors. 
 With this wealth of experience,
handling a highly interactive and intellectual session that would dissect
several burning issues bordering on the question of institutional branding and
other related issues comes natural to Mr. Bola Akingbade.  At Tuesday’s
event, Students and other members of the academic community will have the
privilege of interacting real time with this marketing legend.
BrandiQ Campus Club,theorganisingplatform
for this programme was
designed to intellectually equip
all
students, especially those in programmes related to Integrated
Marketing Communications (IMC) in universities and polytechnics, and
to also develop their brainpower and creative minds during their
formative years in school.
Commenting
with excitement, after he has seen the impact of the club in schools like
Redeemers University,
the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of BrandiQ Magazine, Mr Desmond Ekeh, expressed great
delight at the pace of the club’s growth in Redeemer’s University. He further
stated that the
major objective of establishing the club

on campuses
is to “give
students
a platform to assimilate the IMC industry and activities of players in the industry and help them transit
from the university to the labour market. We have spoken to industry experts
who are poised to mentor students in the area
s of their
endeavour. This will involve the use of conferences, workshops, seminars,
symposiums and other professional windows and mediums of supporting the
academic world
, just like the one we would be
witnessing next Tuesday. We hope corporate organisations will respond
positively to this cause, even as they will end up being the major
beneficiaries of this initiative
.
In bemoaning
the disconnect between the university and the labour market, in terms of
capacity, Mr Ekeh noted that recent experience by employers has shown that it
is becoming increasingly difficult for graduates to “enter into the labour
market
as equipped and ready hands,” hence the
need to “fire up their
professional spirit,” while still in school,
through such initiative.
The purpose is to connect.”
 The Deputy
Editor-in-Chief of BrandiQ
, Mr. Agbo Agbo also commended
the BrandiQ club of Redeemers University,
for their commitment to scholarship and
encouraged other students in various universities

and polytechnics
to make the
most of the
BrandiQ platform to support
their academic endeavours.