Meet Emeka Oparah, quintessential image maker as MARKETING EDGE Outstanding Corporate Communications Personality of the Decade
One Nigerian whose life and career very well reflects the words of Ronn Torossian, the Founder, President & CEO of New-York based 5W Public Relations, and 1 of the 25 largest US PR Firms, is Emeka Opara.
According to Torossian, “PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and lawyering – it’s an ever-changing and always interesting landscape.”
Emeka is one of Nigeria’s leading experts in crisis communication, leadership transition and rebranding. He is currently Vice President, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria,
With over 25 years of consistent and robust communications practice spanning journalism, advertising, public relations, events, sponsorships and corporate social responsibility, Opara is reputed for managing the ownership and management crisis, seven leadership changes and six brand name changes in one of the leading telecommunications companies in Nigeria.
From Econet Wireless where he was Corporate Affairs Manager, to VMobile where he was Public Relations Manager, to Celtel Nigeria Limited where he was Head of Division, PR, Events & Sponsorships, to Zain Nigeria where he was Head, Corporate Communications, to Airtel Nigeria where he has been a Director since 2002 and, currently, Vice President, Corporate Communications & CSR since June 2011, Emeka Opara has been very much a part of the continuing and enthralling evolution of a primus inter pares corporate phoenix in Nigeria.
In his current position as Vice President, Corporate Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility, he leads the team that develops the strategies and executes various activities in the management of media relations, social media communications, consumer affairs, internal communications, government relations and social investments at Airtel Nigeria.
With a very deep, high-level knowledge of the workings of the local and international media, government and regulatory agencies, this quintessential image maker and iconic crisis management expert maintains a wide network of contacts and friends in the media, social media, various state governments and the Federal Government as well as the Nigerian Parliament (the National Assembly).
These qualities have not only enhanced his job deliveries in all the offices which he has held to date, they have impacted positively in the image and brand building initiatives of his esteemed organisation and have helped to take the equity rating of both the corporate and product brands of his company to enviable heights.
A gold fish that has no hiding place that he is, Emeka Opara emerged winner in the Outstanding Corporate Communications Personality of the Decade category of the MARKETING EDGE Marketing and Advertising Awards of Excellence 2020 which held recently.
According to the Publisher/Chief Executive Officer of MARKETING EDGE, Mr. John Ajayi, “Emeka came tops among equally formidable professionals in the awards category because of his ever-rising brand equity, inspiring and admirable record of performance that has distinguished him as Primus enter pares amongst peers and colleagues over the years.
“He has over the years become a leading branding architect and an archetypal brand positioning expert grilled, groomed and grounded in brand identity creation, innovation and creativity. He is a quintessential industry intellectual that has robustly contributed to the changing and challenging phases of the evolution of the brand which he has worked on over the last two decades, and the robustness of his contributions to the industry and the larger Nigerian economy and society over the last decades.
Emeka Opara graduated top of his class in Mass Communications (BA Hons) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1990 and holds a post-graduate Diploma in International Public Relations from The Management School, London.
His career covers stints in Patine Communications (1991-1992); Candid Communications (1992-1992); Richland Communications (1992-1994); Cadbury Nigeria (1994-2002) and Airtel Nigeria since 2002 (when it took off as Econet Wireless Nigeria.
A member of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA); International Association of Business Communicators (IABC); Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Emeka has attended numerous courses locally and internationally in Communications, Management and Leadership.
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