The 10 Success Secrets as Shared by Biodun Shobanjo

 

“I was young when I left Grant advertising and young people are very daring, so it didn’t cross my mind that I wouldn’t make it. Again, without meaning to be immodest, I really have never failed in my life. If you’re not used to failing you don’t even contemplate failure.” - Biodun Shobanjo

 

Biodun Shobanjo commenced his communication career with the former Nigerian Broadcasting corporation, now Federal Radio Corporation in 1964 as a studio manager. After leaving in 1971, he joined the American-Nigerian agency Grant Adverting. He rose to the post of Deputy Managing Director of Grant Advertising before his 30th birthday and co-founded Insight Communications (now Insight Publicis Worldwide) in 1979 and has today grown the company from the initial 18 man strong team into an advertising behemoth.

The Troyka Group which is the holding company for Insight Communications, Azzagai, Optimum Exposure, Media Perspective, MediaCom, The Quadrant Company and Halogen Security amongst others employs over seven thousand Nigerian men and women.

Here are the 10 success secrets of Nigeria’s most successful marketing communications professional that he has not shared with anyone before:

Do not fear failure

“I was young when I left Grant advertising and young people are very daring, so it didn’t cross my mind that I wouldn’t make it. Again, without meaning to be immodest, I really have never failed in my life. If you’re not used to failing you don’t even contemplate failure.”

These were the words of Biodun Shobanjo. These words were critical to the success he was able to achieve in the Nigerian Marketing Communications landscape.

Shobanjo had a good job at Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria with a career growth path that was going to take him to the zenith. But he quit.

At Grant Advertising which was his next destination, he was rising fast in rank. But he also quit.

Although he boasted that he does not fear failure, Biodun Shobanjo has failed a number of times. First, he failed in his bid to sell his agency to the West African market.

“About 25 years ago, we went to Ghana to set up. If you go to Ghana today, you will still find a company called Insight Communications, Accra. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience and we felt it was better off we deploy our resources here rather than going everywhere in the sub-region. I don’t need to go into the details, but I can tell you it is very difficult.”

But what he lost in failing to sell Insight to West Africa, he is about to gain by aligning with Publicis Groupe in a partnership that practically drops the subregion on his laps without breaking a sweat.

Start early to lead

Things were a lot easier back in the days in Nigeria but only a few people ventured into entrepreneurship that early. It becomes even more difficult if one finds himself or herself in the Nigerian civil service with all the comfort it provided.

Biodun Shobanjo joined the Nigerian civil service very early and rose to the rank of Studio Manager of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. For many of his colleagues at the time, that was a dream job, especially since he was in his 20s at the time.

But Shobanjo knew what he wanted to do and concluded it was better he started out pretty early. He wanted to be a leader of people and to fully learn the ropes, he joined Grant Advertising in 1971.

By 1979 at age 35, he co-founded Insight Communications which, with the energy of his youth, has grown to six agencies, employing over 7,000 people and inspired other entrepreneurs who went ahead to found other advertising agencies in the country.

Empower your managers

Most entrepreneurs in Nigeria are control-freaks. Even with all manner of managers, with huge pay and perks, the Chief Executive does just about everything. Managers are not allowed the latitude to “think” and be responsible for their briefs.

According to Kevin Daum, author of Roar! Get Heard in the Sales and Marketing Jungle, “All managers want people who show initiative by taking on and completing tasks with little guidance. Of course, the expectation is that these people will perform only in ways consistent with company objectives and values… Often the leadership has not done their part to empower the employees or, worse, has gotten in the way through micro-management.”

It happens so frequently in our environment. You are a manager in rank. You are treated like a handy-maid in reality.

But “Shoby” from the get-go, established a culture of empowering his employees to initiate tasks and take decisions. It never would have been possible for him to build seven companies all playing in the same industry via micromanagement.

“There are seven companies in our marketing communication group and I have no business with any of those companies. You came here and met me in my office, this is not where they reside. How do we do it that those companies after I ran Insight, Awosika ran it for 10 years, he has passed it on to another person. And each of these companies are run by people who are employees of the company. Am not saying that we are the greatest thing after slice bread, but I promise you we are a very focused group and we have an understanding the kind of institution that we want to build. It is not a family business, it is a business for Nigerians and those Nigerians will come in here based on two things. The first is that they are eminently qualified to work in the business, and from the day they enter the business their potential CEO of the company that they are working for. The second point is that you must be extremely passionate about this business.”

Create enduring corporate culture

One of the biggest things Biodun Shobanjo did after birthing Insight Communications was to institute a strong corporate culture that emphasizes excellence, welfare and creating a growth path for everybody in the organisation.

The strong culture ensures staff rarely leaves for “greener pastures” elsewhere except they want to taste entrepreneurship. That may also have accounted for the growth of the Troyka Holdings group that today is the biggest in Nigeria. Same corporate culture, according to Shobanjo was the key attraction to Publicis.

“We place a lot of premium on character. We pride ourselves on integrity, on working 24-hours for our clients, we take our clients very seriously.”

Place premium on values rather than money

“What did we say when we started this company? We said, if we do a good job, and we do it consistently, fame and fortune would follow. Fortune is the last point in that mantra.”

Shobanjo will not tell you he does not like money. On the contrary, he insists those who engage in businesses for the sole aim of making money will not endure. For him, you have to be known for the values you bring to the table and with that, money will be made.

These are the very planks upon which he built his business and today, he has succeeded in becoming the most famous advertising practitioner in Nigeria. He is no doubt, also the richest.

Train your employees

Udoh Saturday Emmanuel was a security guy with Halogen Securities who was opening and closing gates at Insight Communications. But Saturday also had other skills. He was an excellent illustrator.

Somehow, he showed his sketched to Chima Okenimkpe, Executive Creative Director at Insight Communications and one thing led to another, he was given the opportunity to train at O2 Academy where he came tops.

That was a life changer. Insight Communications eventually hired him as an illustrator and today, he no longer sketches for fun. A new career path has opened.

Shobanjo thinks this is not one accidental occurrence in the life of Insight Communications. For him, spotting talent and exposing staff to training is critical to the growth of any organisations in Troyka Holdings.

In a market where company owners and CEOs invest very little in staff training out of the fear of losing them to competition, Shobanjo shares an opposite perspective. For him, staff training is compulsory is a company has to grow and compete.

“Here, we place a lot of premium on training because that is the only way we can get the best out of our employees and make them responsible managers. I am aware that most companies are reluctant to train their staff out of fear that after the training, they may leave. But the point is that you really have no hold on your staff. Whether you train them or not, they will still leave, if they consider the environment not good enough for them to thrive.”

Negotiate deals at the topmost cadre

The partnership between Insight Communications and Grey Advertising collapsed a few years ago after 18 years and the lesson was not lost on Biodun Shobanjo. Among many other factors that led to the collapse of the partnership was how the partnership was incubated in the first place.

Shobanjo, believes with the benefit of hindsight, that the partnership collapsed because the deal was not incubated at the highest level.

Throughout the 18 year life of the marriage between Insight and Grey, Shobanjo met the highest echelon of WPP only a few times.

So when Publicis came calling, he ensured that discussions were held at the topmost level where better understanding will be achieved. It also ensures a middle manager out to impress his supervisors does not talk down on the would-be partners.

The discussions for the partnership between Troyka and Publicis were held at the Group levels with Maurice Levy, CEO Publicis Groupe, leading his team while Shobanjo stood in front of the Nigerian ad giant.

“That created an atmosphere of real mutual respect. They understood what we stood for as a group and we were let into the values that drive their own organisation. That way, we were able to structure a partnership that I am certain will stand the test of time.”

Plan succession

Succession planning has been the bane of most companies in Nigeria, big and small. A lot of Nigerian companies slow significantly in their growth or even close shop after the founders have left the scene.

Shobanjo does not see this happening at Troyka. In his lifetime, there has been two change of batons. He handed over to one of his founding partners, Jimi Awosika who spent 10years at the helm and now has handed over to another person.

“I ran Insight; Awosika ran it for 10 years. He has passed it on to another person. And each of these companies are run by people who are employees of the company. I am not saying that we are the greatest thing after slice bread, but I promise you we are a very focused group and we have an understanding of the kind of institution that we want to build. It is not a family business; it is a business for Nigerians and those Nigerians will come in here based on two things. The first is that they are eminently qualified to work in the business, and from the day they enter the business they are potential CEOs of the companies that they are working for.”

Respect your (ex)partners

Bad blood often trail partnership break-ups with everyone doing his best to disparage the other. Boardroom squabbles spill into the streets with the media feeding fat on the ugly stories.

But Biodun Shobanjo seems to have managed the break-up of Insight Communications affiliation with Grey Advertising so well you would think the separation was based on mutual consent.

May be it is.

With the split in their relationship and the eventual partnership with Publicis, many would have expected “Shoby” to go to town with ugly stories about WPP, out of anger or may be to impress his new partners. But he was never going to be caught doing that.

Even with the lost opportunities, Biodun Shobanjo still has nice words for Grey.

“Yes, we had a courtship with WPP that lasted for 18 years, but that is what it is – a courtship. When you do a courtship, you are looking for areas that will make the relationship to become a marriage. Unfortunately we had to go our separate ways, because we couldn’t find what we wanted. Nice people, nice group, I am not about to begin to disparage what we know of them, but there are certain values that we found extremely attractive about Publicis Groupe.”

Know when to run away

Ego is bad for business. It makes the CEO and other company leaders blind to dangerous bends that businesses make.

There are many companies spending heavily to fund unprofitable products and projects merely because they do not want to be seen to have backed down. So they keep pumping money and other resources to keep the front door clean while the balance sheet bleeds.

But that is not Biodun Shobanjo. He took Insight Communications to Ghana, probably with a quiet intent to take it to other countries in the subregion, but soon realized it was a venture he could not sustain, he quietly beat a retreat.

He was not worried about how he was going to be seen to have failed in that venture. It just did not make sense for him to continue along a path that has very little potential to bring value.

“If you go to Ghana today, you will still find a company called Insight Communications, Accra. We are part owners of the organization, we did it along with Grey who were our affiliate partners at the time and of course with some Ghanaians. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience and we felt it was better off we deploy our resources here rather than going everywhere in the sub-region.”

Credits: Brandish.com,  ikem okuhu