Funke Olaode
11 July 2009
interview
Lagos — Julius Agenmonmen, CEO Brandlife studied political science, but his heart had always been in the corporate world. The reason for this is simple. His father was an entrepreneur who traversed the nooks and cranny of Uromi Edo State and beyond selling his wares on bicycle. After his sojourn at the University of Benin in 1986, Agenmonmen dabbled into the corporate world and joined Unilever as a trainee. To him, entering a multinational like Unilever was a dream fulfilled because by the time he quit in 2007, he had seen it all, reaching the peak of his career. Two years ago, Agenmnomen became his own boss and floated Brandlife, a brand activation and field marketing Services Company. Within a short period of its existence, the company already boasts of high profile clientele while others are still jostling for its services. Married to Dr. Uche Agenmonmen and blessed with three children, Agenmonmen tells FUNKE OLAODE about Brandlife.
Family pedigree, to a large extent, has a great impact on the life of many. Julius Agenmomen, CEO, Brandlife is not an exception. His father's entrepreneurship made an indelible mark in his life, and today, he can look back and count his blessings. Though as a young man, he was fascinated by Government as a subject and went ahead to study political & science, his interest had always been in business. Born in a small town called Uromi in Edo State 46 years ago. "I was born into a big Uromi family of which I am the last of many children. It was a very close knit family I grew up in Uromi where I had my primary and secondary education at Uwalor Primary Schools in Uromi and later proceeded to one of the foremost school in Esan Division then, Esan Grammar School, Uromi. From there, I got admission to the University of Benin in 1981 where I read Political Science". As a young man, Agenmonmen just fell in love with certain ideas. The fascination to study political science he said was influenced by government as a subject in secondary school. "Government was my preferred subject in Jamb. Today, the fact that I have been in business for over 23 years has not removed my interest in politics. I talk about it everyday and I know sometime I may find myself playing one role or the other but I can't tell when. While in school, I was active politically. In my year three, I was the clerk of the Student Union Government Congress. I was also active in club associations. But my participation in the student politics actually helped in shaping my world view. It helped in developing me in certain areas like leadership responsibility and community service".
With a background in political science, Agenmomen jettisoned the murky water of politics and dared the corporate world where he eventually began a career. "I joined Unilever after my youth service in 1986. I remembered I was asked during the interview why do you think you want to come into a company like this to do anything having studied political science? You should be in politics. Talking seriously whatever you read in the university is actually a preparation for life. I started with Unilever as a trainee in Personnel Division, two years after; I was moved to the marketing. I rose from being a branding manager to marketing manager and having the singular opportunity to work in different countries. I was in Zimbabwe, Netherlands and my last posting was in Ghana. Besides marketing, I spent two years in customers services. So all my life, I worked with a multinational called Unilever. I left there with a lot of training and utilized capacity to be able to do a lot of things outside the confines of the company in contribution to nation building".
A political scientist working in a multinational. Does Agenmonmen believe in the power of possibility or what prompted his journey to Unilever?
"In my final year in the university, I was very active politically. But I could say I was influenced to the world of business by my family pedigree. While growing up, my father was a trader in his time. He traded in clothing. In those days, we would ride on bicycle between my village and Onitsha and other towns and villages around Esan to sell his wares. My elder brothers were all successful businessmen. Entering a multinational company like Unilever was a dream fulfilled. Like every young man graduating you have your own ambition, you want to enter a very good company with a reputable name. And of course, once you enter such company, the question is that, are you able to sustain the initial interest? And if you are unable to sustain it, you may not be able to make a lot of progress in your career life. So in joining the company, I discovered that I had a lot of flair. And if you know Unilever, you go through a lot of training. All through the way, it has been a fulfilling time working for Unilever. The human development capacity is excellent and one of the great things the company did for me was personal development and professional development. I left Unilever in 2007 after 21 years".
Agenmonmen talked so passionately about Unilever, which re-defined his career path. So why did he quit considering his success career story? According to him he left to pursue his personal objectives and aspirations. "Every person has a time when he/she has to live an organization. You may think when you join an organisation you are not going to stay long. When I joined, I didn't expect I would stay that long. I remember clearly when I joined the company, our late chairman, Chief Rufus Giwa, who was the Human Resource Director asked me specifically, "My young man, are you sure you are going to stay long with us with your interest so much in politics"? I said to him I don't think I am going to stay here more than 10 years. That was how it went but I eventually worked for 21 years. I believe every person has his/her time to dis-engage from an organization. I think my time had lapsed. I needed to pursue my own personal objectives and aspirations. I am happy I left by the time I did".
Agenmonmen a political scientist turned a corporate guru and now an information expert. When did the passion for IT begin?
Glowing in excitement, he said, "Brandlife is a very young company. When I left Unilever in 2007, I took sometime out to think about my next line of action. What system can I put in place and grow to a sustainable company for now and the future. Basically, that was how the idea of Brandlife was conceived. Brandlife is all about Brands. Brandlife as a company started as a brand activation and field marketing Services Company. Brand Activation is about bringing the brand to life. It means creating a platform between consumers and brands using all the five senses. We have been privileged to work for a number of clients within the past one year. However, along the line, we also ventured into digital signage business. What is digital signage all about? I look at the environment; I look at the advertising landscape, giving the current issues with advertising in Nigeria. In Lagos for instance, the outdoor industry is really a tough one looking at what the government is doing to sanitize the environment. There were a lot of restrictions in terms of advertising. And if you look at the current trend in the whole world, companies want to be able to reach their consumers at the point of purchase or at places where people can relax for a while and able to internalize any advertising message. The driving force behind this was to create a platform for advertisers and companies to be able to reach their consumers in a conducive environment where they can assimilate the right communication that the advertiser/companies want to pass across".
"Brandlife is not the first company to attempt to do digital signage outlet in Nigeria. However, Brandlife digital signage is the first of its kind in terms of offering the service level we are doing backed by technology. Before now, for any person to run a digital signage business, he needs to go physically from one outlet to another to load his/ her media. He also does not have access to monitor what is going on in the different outlet. In Brandlife, we have a central system which is basically a media porter which we access through the internet. From there, we are able to upload all our messages and are able to monitor our screens. For instance, THISDAY can give me a material today and say it wants it to run in the evening. All I do is to upload in the porter and within five minutes transmit to thousands of screens across the country. For the first time, there is instant connectivity to all the digital displays wherever we may have them. Brandlife digital is not only focused at the advertisers; we also have the corporate bodies and the brands in mind. Currently, most banks advertise on CNN, it is okay. But it is a good opportunity to engage the customers once they come to the banking hall. Brandlife Digital signage has the solution.
How has the response been since inception?
With a tone of assurance, Agenmonmen said the response has been overwhelming. "I must say it is been phenomenonal. We started the test run in March and the response from the corporate bodies; agencies and so on have been good. They believe it is timely. We see a situation where in the next one year, Brandlife Digital Signage will be an alternative platform when you are talking about the media to use to push forward your brands to the consumers".
What are the challenges so far? Like any businessman Agenmonmen said his company has been able to handle whatever challenges that come its way. "In life, challenges make you work harder. But we have been able to handle them. Our only challenge is lack of electricity. But we have been able to back up our screens with inverters, which can run on their own for 14 hours before an outlet restores its electricity.
Being your own boss according to Agenmonmen is interesting having worked in a multinational for 21 years. "It has been an interesting experience because I have some people that I have to pay at the end of the month. You are your own boss and you must deliver. This is different from a corporate body where the company moves on even when you fail in your responsibility".
Though the company is still young, it's impact is already being felt across the country. Where does he see Brandlife in the next three years?
"It is a brand to watch. I see it in the next two/three years being one of the foremost brand activation and field marketing services company in Nigeria and leading digital signage. Currently, Mr. Biggs with over 180 outlets is one of our clients, Tantalizers, Tetrazzini and a whole lot of independent companies are already patronizing us. For now, our ambition to be number one is achievable. I see Brandlife as a well respected company and doing well and possibly expanding into other markets".
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