In conversation with Ore Afolayan —Founder, TOA Marketing
"Marketing is not magic."
This week, we got to have a chat with Ore Afolayan, Founder — TOA Marketing.
Curiosity can take you places. It has led Ore to a career of leading marketing for brands of different sizes. With a unique blend of writing, strategy, research & media experience, he helps brands develop smarter thinking and provide insights that can be built upon.
Ore is continuously digging deeper to uncover the unexpected, making him a highly sought-after resource on new business ventures. A graduate of University of Ibadan, Ore is a supporter of his alma mater. With a passion for SMEs, he “moonlights” as marketing consultant.
World meet Ore.
Ore meet world.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity & length.
Hi Ore. Can you please introduce yourself to our readers who don’t know you yet?
I am a digital marketing professional. I lead TOA Marketing. A digital marketing agency that helps businesses of different sizes, across a number of different industries to develop marketing strategies and execute them to drive business success. I am obsessed with human beings and fun.
I know for a fact that I have one of the best jobs in the world. I’m lucky to be able to do what I do.
All of us have a story. Tell us when your relationship with marketing begins. How did it start, starting with your education?
It’s hard to put a time on the exact moment I realized I wanted to work in marketing. But I got into marketing to satisfy my curiosity about normal people and businesses. I've always been curious about how businesses make people go for their product instead of other products in their category. I was a campus journalist during my undergraduate years in University of Ibadan. And later became the University editor-in-chief. I’d been writing all my life. But it wasn't until my third year in the University that I wanted to make a go at writing branded content for businesses because that was the only way I could enter the marketing world to satisfy my curiosity. I didn’t know anything about this job. I did not know about creating strategies. I was just a writer.
Fate intervened. I met a few amazing folks in the media and comms space. They explained what they were doing for a living, and I can tell you… it blew my mind. From that moment on, I changed career totally. I did not know how to do anything, but I felt like I had the Willy Wonka golden ticket because I was in an agency. So I would observe and hang out with people. I’d buy them a beer and ask them how they did stuff. That’s how I got started in marketing.
I was still a student while doing all of this. After leaving UI, I co-founded an online TV platform where we interviewed brands and worked with musicians and people in the entertainment space. But It got to a point that brands who reached out to help in hiring brand influencers for their influencer marketing campaigns. When they wouldn't stop reaching out, I decided to put a structure in place and that was how TOA Marketing was born.
Personally, I know that building a business isn't always sunshine and lollipops, it can be tough at times especially in the early days. So I'd like to know some of the challenges you faced growing TOA Marketing? Was there a time when it seemed like you were going to throw in the towel?
The biggest challenge we faced in the first 3 months was finding marketing talent who would join me to witness the train wreck firsthand — I didn't know what I was doing obviously. We didn't have a lot of money. Some people will build with you even if it means not getting paid and spending their personal money. But, not everyone out there wants to build. I mean, you know that feeling when you're building and asking people to join your company that does not have any client on retainer yet. And they wouldn't stop asking, “Why TF should I join you to witness the train wreck firsthand?
Also, nobody wanted to come to Ibadan — Lagos is the capital of the advertising and marketing agency in Nigeria. Everyone wants to chill with the big boys. We didn't have a lot of money to offer and we also couldn't afford to hire many people. It was so difficult finding talent to grab the opportunity to witness if we'd fail or succeed. Well, some amazing people believed in my mission and idea and they decided to join me. Thankfully, the train didn’t wreck. Lolade left what he was doing in Abeokuta to join me in Ibadan. He's no longer with us full-time. But most of the people who joined me then are still here.
The second challenge was finding the right clients. Every client wants to see that you've successfully managed an account. It was not just enough working with clients that only needed us for a one—off project. We needed clients with deep pockets and willing to put us on retainer to build our portfolio. Also, client didn’t trust us to deliver because some people in "buttoned up" industries didn't like how we were cussing and wearing edgy clothing. Well, So exciting, rebel for lyfe.
5 years plus, we've worked with Stanbic IBTC @ease App, FarmkonnectNG, NYSC, Durex, WhatsApp, Peak Milk, BrandSpurNG, F & K Savings, WazobiaChow, LifePage-Group, United-Purpose, APC, PDP, ADP, Ted-X, and a lot more.
Basically, lots of researching, writing, media buying, planning, strategizing, and yes, executing.
What is the best thing about what you do?
Helping our clients so they can as well help their customers. Brands come to us to get solutions for their painful business problems so that their customers can use their products or services.
The worst?
Prospective clients saying "we don't have budget for that" after 1999 meetings and presentations. I've been in plenty of situations over the last year where we've collectively realised a meeting wasn't necessary and given each other our time back.
Drop one advice for anyone looking to get into marketing?
It is important to understand the psychology of the consumer. So if you're getting into marketing, double down on understanding human beings. It is not all about the product and how best to take it to the market, but also understanding the needs of the consumer.
Do they really need this product? At what point is it best to show them this product? What platforms do these consumers often visit? How can you take your product to them there? How frequent will they like to see your messages?
It is very important to understand the consumer and meet them at their point of need.
Now what I really want to know is what you currently do at TOA Marketing.
The workload increased substantially. Now, I do a lot of things. But these days, I attend a lot of business meetings and dinners. Also, clients and I grab a drink sometime. We do all of this to strengthen our relationship with our existing clients and generate new business for the agency.
What's the hardest part of your job today?
Managing clients' expectations and our team. Other things are basic Ops. It's better to lose a potential client than settling for unrealistic expectations. Managing people is not an easy thing to do. This is why being empathetic matters. Transparency, permission, easy to work with; all add up to empathy.
But empathy is completely different from sympathy. Sympathy requires pity. Empathy requires understanding. You can pity someone without really caring about how the person feels. You can understand someone and feel admiration rather than pity.
When you've empathy, you treat clients' work as if it were yours; you treat your colleagues with empathy; not as a means of self or corporate enrichment, but with empathy...I could go on and on. It is the way to go.
What's the biggest misconception about marketing that you wish more people knew?
Marketing is not magic. There's no magic wand or rocket that brings buyers are by your doorstep. Marketing needs time, strategy, talent and money to bring effective results.
When you think about your team, what is the thing that matters to you the most?
That they trust me to have their back.
Pick a random pic from your camera roll and tell me about it.
When I realized that problem no dey finish, I closed my laptop and grabbed a bottle of wine.
Wrapping up, what's the future for TOA Marketing?
The future for us at TOA Marketing is to be a leading Marketing agency helping African small and medium enterprises scale with ease.
Before I remove the shackles, is there anything else you want to shout-out? Is there a big project you have coming or anything else you want to draw attention to?
Currently building Reni Labs, a open data company that leverages on Blockchain technology to educate people about crypto and also provide accurate data that helps crypto investors and enthusiasts make informed decisions.
I started getting involved in DeFi, NFT collections, and more at the end of 2020. I have made a lot of newbie mistakes, learned the hard way about the space. A lot of content are scattered all over the web but I didn’t know where to start and what to look for. I believe that a lot of people will start using DeFi, NFT or crypto in general, and we should have a place where users can start to learn and get market data. The place should be dedicated to focus on Education alone from Basics to Advanced topics. With a community that’s focused on helping each other.
I really want to help, so in September 2021, with some friends I started to work on www.reni.ng to try to solve the education and data gap starting with DeFi. We have no funding and I’m working full time on it.
Crypto Education is critical if we want to onboard a lot of users on-chain. This is why we’re building Reni — a crypto dedicated learning platform and community that simplifies the learning and investing process.
Reni Labs is publisher of www.reni.ng. Check it out and let me know what you think. And if a community focused on crypto education is of any interest to you, email me at oreafolayan1@gmail.com.
Asides Reni Labs, I also recently published an e-book that helps people to secure jobs, secure contracts, get business, and build a Brand with LinkedIn.
Tons of our clients at TOA Marketing connected with me through LinkedIn. I have been on the platform for years. When applying for jobs, there's a huge chance that people will Google search you and ask/search for your LinkedIn profile when they want to do business with you, it is therefore important to manage your LinkedIn presence well and create a profile that appeals to people.
That's why this e-book was created. To help you drive results.
You can get it here: selar.co/m29w
Tell me where people can find you online.
Ore Afolayan on all platforms.
Thanks to Ore for making this interview possible.
If you have any comments, questions, concerns, or if you just want to reach out and give us other people you’d like to see us interview, drop us a note in the comments below or email us at noticingafrica@gmail.com
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