A Big Vision Always Starts With A Good Idea - Victor Ariyibi-Oke

Victor Ariyibi-Oke studied fine arts at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where he majored in graphics. He has been in the advertising profession for over 12 years. He is the brain behind Poise Media, a thriving advertising agency in Lagos. In this interview with Toyin Komolafe, he opens up on why businesses need branding and the rudiments of a successful media campaign.

Have you always had a flare for advertising or job hunting made you stumble into it?

Basically because I read graphics, I think, it was a straight forward decision for me to take. From when I was in school, I have been involved in creating poster designs, I was quite popular because most of the fellowships used me to design their posters. Coming out of school, I worked in the creative department of one or two agencies and within a short while was made the creative director. So it was easy for me to say I want to start up an agency.

At what point did you feel you could stand on your own?

Basically while I was in school, I was pretty much versatile, from post production, print concept to conceptualization and art directing. I was actually very good at this but then the question was how do I start an agency without the necessary experience? I had to work with these agencies to consolidate what I already know. Having worked with them for a short time I knew I was ready to start my own. I didn’t work with the agencies to get money but to get a formal experience like how quotations are being made and how to write proposals.

What were the challenges when you started?

Like most agencies, the initial challenge is usually getting client. Starting up wasn’t easy as we needed client, we started by writing few letters to some companies out there but it wasn’t easy. So at a point, I made a decision to leverage on the markets in Diaspora. Most of the big clients had already been taken by the so called big agencies. I leveraged on the social media to reach out to markets in Diaspora. It started like a joke and before we knew what was happening, we were getting responses.

Does your background influence your success in any way?

I came from a humble home though my father wasn’t poor. When I was in the University, in my part two, I told myself, I cannot continue to live on my parents, I had to look for a means of making an extra income. I started designing mini cards like passion cards, I will go in front of the female hostel with my small radio and people were buying it. I would do posters for people and their portraiture. This made me really comfortable as s student and really I didn’t want to graduate. My father has always been a big part of my life as my father encouraged me to study fine arts. I was taking the job a step at a time and day by day big clients started coming in. One of the things we leveraged on at Poise media is that we have never met 99% of our clients before as we have learnt to leverage on our online reputation.

What advice do you have for young people who want to start their own businesses or firm?

I always tell young people, never put money first, pursue your dreams first. A big vision always starts with a good idea, not having money isn’t an excuse. Put your ideas first, start working on it after a while you will attract the right people that will be able to finance your dream. I Have come to discover that there is no shortcut to making money. I could remember my first client which was Sharp Electronics in Singapore. I could remember that the first job they gave me was so small and I could remember telling myself that this is too small but then I didn’t know they were testing me. After that particular campaign, they came up with a bigger campaign. When you are faithful at doing little, much will be committed unto you, don’t be discouraged.

As an individual what guides you?

Do unto others as you want them to do unto you, be faithful. Secondly I tell people anybody can be lucky and my definition of being lucky is opportunity meets preparation so be prepared. Keep working hard at what you do and the right opportunity will come.

What books will you say changed your life?

I read a lot of books from someone I consider a mentor though I have never met him before. I call him Richard Branson. I consider him an epitome of what business should be like because he had a very humble beginning but he kept working on the Virgin brand. I also hope to meet Aliko Dangote someday because I believe so much in what he does.

I have come to realise that even as individuals we are a brand. As a brand, how do you think we can project ourselves?

As an individual, the first thing people will read is your appearance. I always tell people you can’t determine if a bird flies over your head but you can determine if the bird will make a nest over your head. Whether you like it or not, people will interpret your personal brand because you are not the one that determines your brand, people do. You cannot stop what people will think about you but you can determine what people will think about you. Your brand is your promise, it is the promise you make and keep that determines your brand reputation. Whatever you say you do, always make sure you keep your promise, always say what you can do and keep your promise as that is the back bone of your brand. These days I see a lot of young people like me create a false impression of what they can do all because they want to make money fast. At the end of the day, you will be tarnishing your brand reputation.

Having come this far in your career, is there any success secret you will like to share?

For me, it is just one which is God, I always tell people that I don’t have any recipe to wealth, It is God that gives it. But then I play my part, you can be lucky if your preparation meets opportunity but when you aren’t prepared you may not be able to recognise the opportunity. I try to work hard at what I do, I create ideas, I don’t do it alone, I have a team of people who key into the vision and are very passionate about what we do. We are a company that prays, I believe a company that prays together stays together.

Sometimes, after a media campaign, we realise the product being advertised doesn’t meet up with the promised standard

That is exactly what we call brand promise. A lot of people come up with a product and they make product promises without keeping it. They don’t know on the long run, they are hurting the brand. I always tell people, always make the promise you can keep starting from your slogan, starting from your advert display, starting from what you write on your product. I always tell people one happy customer will only tell three, one unhappy customer will tell more ten. For me brand promise is the back bone of every brand.

Does advertisement guarantee automatic success for a product?

The purpose of advertisement is always to create awareness or what I call top of the mind recall. You will wonder why names of certain products have over the years been associated to other products of its kind. When you advertise a product and people go for it, you have induced a trial but then advertisement does not make them buy it them buy it the second or third time. Your product does. Hence there is need for internal branding. The most important is what your product can deliver, after advertisement, your product will determine whether people will buy over and over again.

What advice do you have for a start-up?

For a start up thinking of advertising, keep your budget low but then advertise. Having a good product and not advertising it is like a fine boy winking at a girl in the dark. You need to push your product out there so people can be aware but then there are ways you can push your product out there with a minimum budget. Try leveraging on social media, try words of mouth, fliers and attend networking programmes depending on what you do.

What advice do you have for emerging entrepreneurs?

We should stay focused, believe in God and then we should keep at what we are doing. Stay focused never give up, if you feel you have tried it one way and it is not working, why don’t you re-strategize? Like Albert Einstein said it is tantamount to insanity to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result.



Source: Hallmark News