BY JULIET ONWUBIKO
Excellence is expected to be at the centre of many things that happen in Lagos, and it was exactly that, that the organisers said they had in mind for the first ever SBI Media Workshop, which held in at Radisson Hotel Ikeja on November 14 and 15, 2020. With a theme like ‘Monetise the Media in Your Hand’, SBI Media Limited and its founder, Rotimi Bankole, corralled a covey of top media experts to share their unique business insights with young, aspiring media venturists whose dream was to become self employed in the media industry.
As Twitter, YouTube and Instagram continue to record an explosion of content creators and influencers, many of whom have become leading voices and thought leaders within their generation, the SBI Media Workshop, saw fit to bring the very best of those voices to speak to the attendees. Social media stars who spoke at the training included Chidi Okereke, a digital entrepreneur and top Twitter influencer; Fisayo Fosudo, Nigeria’s top tech Youtuber; and MC Lively, a top influencer and lawyer-turned-comedian, who is also a master of Instagram.
MC Lively delivered key insights to the audience through anecdotes as he chronicled his journey into being one of Nigeria’s top influencers, from the humble beginnings of his Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) days. His message centred on the need to set oneself apart by identifying a niche that one is naturally suited to and embracing that niche from a value standpoint. He emphasised the need to build an audience through the delivery of consistent value, an audience interested in what one was talking about. He went on to draw contrasts with the wrong approach that many take, one of trying to build an audience without offering any value or embracing a niche, a scatter-gun approach that only leads one astray. For him, influencing is not a goal and delivering value is not the last thing on the menu but the first.
Chidi Okereke’s talk focused on the steps leading to the goal of extracting economic value from social media. For him, the three key things to remember when trying to achieve this were “create, connect and engage.” He broke it down further, explaining that creating content was the first step in the process, before building a bridge through connecting with the audience the content was made for, and then engaging with that audience consistently.
For Fisayo Fosudo, it was not enough to create any content, one had to create content that appealed to a market. One also had to make sure that the content being created was in line with what one was passionate about, to be able to keep up consistency in the long run. Once these were achieved, one could then think of delivery – how to get the content produced to the market it appealed to.
Rotimi Bankole, founder of SBI Media Workshops, had explained the workshop’s goal ahead of the event: to train the next generation of youth skilled in using mobile technologies and internet penetration to provide value and empower themselves economically.
“Despite the unemployment challenges facing youths in Nigeria,” Bankole had said,“a majority have or are able to access a mobile device. This is where SBI Media Workshops is looking to tap into and take the devices in the hands of youths and turn them into tools for creating value and business opportunities for themselves while solving a crucial need for brands and businesses.”
He emphasised the need to reduce the challenges faced by many in Nigeria, especially the youth, particularly where it concerned economy and value. With unemployment soaring, and more youth getting disillusioned with the challenges in the country, he believed there was a need to address the problems and empower as many youth as possible to rise above it. This, for him, was why SBI Media Workshops had to exist. It was not just about fulfilling a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) requirement, it was also about making a long-lasting impact on the Nigerian society.
Youth within the country, aged 18 to 35, who applied for the workshop, were selected based on how well they advocated for their participation. From a pool 650 applicants, the “most compelling” 70 were picked to attend the free workshop. As part of the company’s commitment to the cause, seven winners were then unveiled at the event and they all received 200,000 naira grants each.
The grants were awarded to the seven who had the most compelling ideas. These grant winners were Elvis Boniface, Ayomide Oluwaremilekun Oyetunde, Sunday Joseph Chinonso, and Salawu Adeniyi Michael. Others were Michael Ebishue, Olaoye Adesewa, and Adebayo Akanbi. Elvis Boniface’s idea especially caught the eye, as he sought to connect parents of homeschoolers with home schoolteachers via his proprietary platform.
Other facilitators at the event were Bola Popoola, marketing manager at Sport Bet and founder/creative director at Chow Media; Kayode Adegbite, MD and CEO at Mediacrush Outdoor Advertising Ltd; Oladapo Adefolajo, head Commercial and General Procurement and Contract Management at 9mobile; Oke Umorhohwo, marketing manager, Itel Mobile; Barrister Tolulope Aderemi, partner at Perchstone & Graeys LP; Samuel Odusami, group head, Strategy & Data, SBI Media; Olakanmi Amoo-Onidundun, managing consultant, OMP Consult Limited; and Tomi Kolawole, a marketing & communications expert.
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