SO&U Boss Hits Diamond
….MarketingEdge felicitates
Udeme Onofiok Ufot, MFR, Managing Director and ChiefExecutive Officer of SO&U Group, one of the leading marketing communications and advertising agency in Nigeria is 60 today. He is a Fellow of APCON (Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria) and Member, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (MNIMN). He is also a board member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and past President of Lagos Business School Alumni Association (LBSAA). He remains one of Nigeria’s most revered figures in marketing communications. He is a Member of the Federal Republic, MFR, and the last Chairman of APCON.
Born in Etinan, one of the Local Government Areas in the oil rich AkwaIbom State, on March 27, 1958, two years before Nigeria gained independence from her colonial masters, Udeme grew up in an environment permeated with peace, creativity and natural proclivity for the expression of the arts.Etinan is home to the famous Peacock Paints. This surrounding might have unwittingly influenced Udeme’s choice of industrial design as course of study at the Ahmadu Bello University and a lifelong vocation in creative advertising starting with his years at Desmark Advertising before he joined Insight Communications as a creative artist in 1984. Within five years, he has risen to be the Deputy Creative Director (Art).
Undeterred by the unpleasant and abrupt experience in his first foray into private business, he soldiered on. He hit gold in 1990 when, with two former associates, SO&U was birthed. Though the industry players did not give the new venture any chance of succeeding, he and his team has since proved the sceptics wrong. Today, SO&U, like the proverbial cornerstone, is one of the leading players in Nigeria’s, and indeed Africa’s Integrated Marketing Communications industry.
Reminiscing about his life, UFOT SAID, “I realized early that I had a flair for creativity; this I discovered after secondary school. I knew I could express my creativity and enjoy a successful career in advertising. I obtained a BA in Industrial Design specializing in graphic design from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria 1981, and started my career at Desmark Advertising, Calabar in 1982. I relocated to Lagos to join Insight Communications in April 1984 and rose rapidly within five years to). I left to co-found SO&U in 1990, after a brief six-month stint as Creative Director of CASERS (now DDB). I have benefited immensely from close association with a number of mentors who helped shape my approach to business and attitude to life.
“One of my career highlights is being the youngest ever President of the AAAN and youngest fellow of the advertising profession at the time I was elevated. Another is being past President of the LBSAA, rejuvenating the interest of the alumni and returning the LBSAA Annual President’s Dinner to its pre-eminent position as the premier business social event in the alumni’s social calendar. I have also built with very minimal funding what has grown to be one of Nigeria’s most respected and leading marketing communications group which has continued to maintain its leadership position over the last 28 years. The agency has a strong reputation for creativity and professionalism.”
in a congratulatory message to the celebrant and in recognition of his greatness, MARKETING EDGE, said, “Indeed, the occasion of your sixty birthday has again brought it out all the more poignantly that you have traversed and triumphed over the decades. As observed by the poet – philosopher Henry Wadsworth Long Fellow, an America of great repute, your current status and achievements are no feats won in sudden flight. Rather, they are manifestations of many years of focused hard work and remarkable visioning.
“As you celebrate your 60 birthday today, we at MARKETING EDGE felicitate with you on this auspicious occasion. For us, a friend like you is more priceless than the most beautiful diamond. You are not only strong and wise but kind and thoughtful as well. Your birthday is the perfect opportunity to show you how much we care and how grateful we are to be associated with you in many ways in these past epochal decades.”
Indeed, our friend, Udeme is great! Yes, he may not be working in the skies like his ‘Guinness Advert’ namesake but he has reached the greatest heights both in personal and professional life. Not only that, he has taken many on the greatness flight that his ‘flight hours ‘ will make most pilots green with envy.
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