In this interview with MARKETING EDGE, Tolu Onile-Ere, the Managing Director of Playhouse Communication Ltd, shares his insightful career.

Could you walk us through your career journey and the pivotal moments that shaped your path so far?

I studied law at university and also passed the bar at the Nigerian Law School. Whilst I like the way training as a lawyer helped me with processing information, I knew that legal practice wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue. So, I started looking at what I could do. Some friends suggested going into finance and whilst I knew it would pay well, I also knew it would not be something I would enjoy. Then I stumbled on advertising and was attracted by the fact that you got to work with different companies from different fields. Project management was something I felt I could do so I went into Client Service.

The first agency I worked at was quite innovative at the time as they were servicing a Pan European client from just one office in London. It was at the infancy of the internet and the birth of the Pdf This was my introduction to digital and it has been something I have been interested in ever since. I worked at a variety of UK agencies and then decided to move back to Nigeria in 2009.

I worked at an agency in Lagos for one year and then got fired. After a period in the wilderness, in 2011, I met a group of investors who backed me to set up Playhouse Communication Ltd and the rest, as they say, is history.
How would you describe your journey up the ladder?

I would describe it as ‘steady’. I started working as an Account Executive and then got promoted to Senior AE, then to Account Manager, then to Account Director and then I stepped out and set up my own agency. So the ‘ladder’ was over 11 years. I would describe my journey up the ladder as ‘steady.
What sparked your interest in pursuing a career in the digital field?

An opportunity. I’m not techy in the sense of wanting to code or even understanding code but I stumbled upon an agency that was using digital in a way that was very different from other advertising agencies at the time. They were using digital as a point of differentiation and that gave me an insight into the way it would change the advertising industry. That opportunity piqued my interest, and I think digitaľ in terms of technology continues to change the industry and present opportunities for those who are able to understand and harness it.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced early in your career, and how did you overcome them?

Well, my first challenge was actually getting into the industry.`1 didn’t study Marketing or anything like that and actually came to advertising quite late. I think I was 28. So I was competing against people who were just coming out of university and who had more ‘relevant’ degrees.

The next challenge has been money. I think that is not unique to me – most small businesses starting out have the challenge of making sure they are making enough money to continue to exist. And I can remember the days when I would start losing sleep as we got closer to pay day as I worried about making sure we had enough to pay our staff.

The third challenge I would mention is the appreciation of ‘digital in this market. I think starting back in 2012, companies didn’t really understand the opportunity digital presented and so tended to just pay lip-service to it. It wasn’t until COVID- 19 hit that companies were forced to take it more seriously. Things are changing as a generation of digital natives are growing older and taking more management roles more people are comfortable with and aware of the opportunities that digital marketing offers.

Read Also: 75 Years of Greatness – Girish Sharma, Managing Director/CEO

What have been the high points of your career to date?

First high point was getting my first job in advertising. I used to go in to an advertising career club while I was job-hunting and one day, an agency called saying it needed some interns ASAP. The lady running the agency was lovely. She liked me so much and sent me there knowing that I would deliver. That’s how I got my first job. The next high points have been getting promotions as each one encouraged me as a sign that I was doing well. Another one was stepping into our first office as Playhouse with the first six members of staff. The last one I’ll mention is getting our first client – and every client we have won ever since.

What were the low points?

Oh, probably getting fired from my first job when I moved back to Nigeria. It shook my confidence and made me question my abilities. It also made me challenge the way Iliked to think of myself- I am not a ‘it was them, not me’ type of person which meant that I felt the fault was mine but I took stock and reviewed and came to the realisation that sometimes it is ‘them, not me’ Since we started Playhouse Communication Ltd, every time we have had to pay salaries late has been my low point. Then, there was the time as a group – management and staff agreed to take a salary cut rather than for the agency to make some people redundant. But while that was a low point, it was also encouraging to see that we had created a community of people who cared for each other.

What’s your assessment of the Nigerian marketing communications ecosystem at the moment?

I think the ecosystem is struggling. I think the value perception of the industry by clients is quite low, which means that the amount agencies are able to charge is not high, which means that the salaries are not comparable to other industries, which means that people do not choose the industry as a career path and only end up in the industry as a last option which also means that we are not getting the best talents.

What future do you foresee for the industry, and your company in particular?

I see technology, especially Al having a huge impact on the industry. I think it will affect all aspects from the way companies engage with agencies to the roles and outputs of agencies. So, what agencies have traditionally charged for man hours – will reduce. Then how will agencies make money? They will need to understand the value they bring and how that enhances the technology rather than competes with it. For Playhouse specifically, I think our challenge is to continue to stay on the forefront of digital marketing. For example, we set up an office in the metaverse in anticipation of what we saw was going to be a move towards a more virtual world. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened but we must continue to look ahead, take calculated risks and understand how our clients can use the technologies that are coming.
What advice would you give to someone just starting their career in the digital field?

Understand that you need to be a lifetime student open to learning. You must also be agile so you can adapt as roles and expectations change. But most importantly, remember that you must bring value to whatever role you take on.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership to me is about having no ego. It’s about understanding that ‘we’ is stronger than ‘T. This means that I believe that the key to my success is having good people around me. Yes, a leader needs to have his (or her) vision of where he wants to go but he must also understand that the good people around him might have better ones. In fact, he should be worried if they don’t! So, the leader needs to be ego free and strong enough to go with the best idea even when it isn’t his. The leader needs to understand that the team’s success is his success.

For me, a leader also needs to understand that their role is not to do but to enable his team to do. As I tell my team, sometimes, my job will be to make the coffee because they are busy doing the work and I understand that what is key is getting the work done and, on that occasion, making the coffee is my contribution towards getting the work done.

Who is Tolu Onile-Ere?

Tolu Onile-Ere is the Managing Director of Playhouse Communication Ltd. He has over 25 years integrated marketing experience gained in top agencies in the UK & Nigeria across a range of renowned blue chip clients and brands, including Shell, Adobe, Procter & Gamble, Stanbic IBTC & MTN Nigeria. In 2011,he set up Playhouse which has become one of Nigeria’s leading digital agencies working with leading brands, including MTN Nigeria, Pernod Ricard, ExxonMobil, AAVA Brands (Lucozade) & Stanbic IBTC, as well as the Federal Government of Nigeria. The agency has won a number of awards, including The Marketing Edge Digital Agency of the Year 2019, 2021 & 2022 and The Marketing Edge Outstanding Digital Agency of the Decade, 2023 Tolu’s expertise is varied, but his real strengths lie as a digital evangelist, and as an advocate of thought leadership. Throughout his career, he has been heavily involved in a range of pioneering digital projects, which has given him a real passion for the possibilities digital offers. Tolu has won The Marketing Edge Outstanding Digital Marketing Personality of the Decade, 2023. In his private life, Tolu has a 16-year-old son and a family that makes him who he is a and is very important to him.

What legacy do you hope to leave in the digital industry?

I hope the legacy I leave behind transcends digital and applies to life in general. The legacy is that I was a good person that treated everyone with respect. And that those principles underpin everything I did. And that those principles can be seen in all who worked with me.

See Also: Creatives! It’s better to own 5% of something than 100% of nothing – Temitope Ajayi