By Olayinka Ajayinka

Julius Agunmonmen is a marketing guru with experience spanning over 27years. He is the CEO of Brand Life marketing services and in this interview,he  speaks on how his father an illiterate but successful trader from Uromi, Edo State inspired him to stay at the top of his career. Excerpts.

Tell us about your background

It may interest you to know that while some of my mates were born with silver spoon and they had virtually all their academic  qualifications in European countries, I grew up as a village boy and I am the last born of many children of Agunmonmen.

I was born around 50 years ago in a native village called Uromi where I attended Ualor primary school and later proceeded to Esan Grammar School Uromi .

However, I was fortunate to gain admission into University of Benin, UNIBEN, where I studied Political Science.  While in school, I had a number of interests, one of them was politics and I was part of the Students’ Union Government in the 1983/84 section. Beside politics, I was also involved in leadership and community development publication otherwise known as JTI International.

The organization actually prepared me for the future. I graduated in 1985. Then, serving your mother land was the pride of every young man because you are indirectly giving back to the society that has empowered you . I did my National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, in Imo state. Like many of us, I was not too lucky to serve in a big organization.

I served as a Youth Corps teacher. Interestingly, during my service year, I had employment opportunities in multinational companies like UAC Nigeria and Unilever. I decided to join Unilever in 1986 as a personnel management trainee where I was instilled with the training that has become my life style now.

What inspired you and how did you find yourself in marketing despite your qualification?

Your university degree is just a preparatory ground for you to explore into any field you want to dive into. I came from a family that is business- oriented.  My interest in marketing was inspired by the family I came from.

Although my father was an illiterate, he was a successful trader. However, he was a profound business man who travelled from far and wide; from Uromi to Onitsha and other parts of the East  to buy clothes and sell in Uromi. All my brothers are also business men. My immediate elder brother too was also a good source of inspiration for me at the time I was serving my mother land.

He was already working in Nigerian breweries at the marketing department. These have always made me have interest in marketing. After my two years training in Unilever, I was moved to the marketing department where I spent most of my working career as a Senior Marketing Executive, Sales and Logistics.

What actually brought you into Brand Marketing Services?

Considering my back ground in Unilever where I spend most of my working career from logistics to marketing; I have spent virtually over 20 years in marketing where I gained my ground. When I was out of employment, the next question that came to my head was what to do since I have passion for marketing and I am grounded in marketing.

In the process of planning and strategizing for the future,Brand Life was born in 2008 .It is essentially a branding and marketing services agency that runs brand activations, field marketing services, and out of home media monitoring . We look for where we can add value to our clients and the entire society.

What are the challenges facing the industry?

While in employment, there are lots of challenges like why am I not getting promotions I deserve? Why are my mates ahead of me? Why are things not moving in my own pace? Of course these were challenges but the fact remains that I knew what I wanted and I have to strive to get it .The training I received in my days as an employee was a cutting edge advantage that gave me inner strength to battle the challenges that comes my way.

However there are some challenges that come to prepare you for an opportunity to improve and if you were able to improve yourself, then your promotion opportunity will surface. Another major challenge I had when we started marketing services was clients and finance. Sourcing for clients is indeed a big challenge.

There are some jobs you know automatically you deserve based on what you can offer but due to the fact that you don’t have an insider in the company, you tend to lose it. The marketing agency that has a strong insider is a challenge most organizations face. Finance was another challenge that affects us and  many organisations in the beginning.

When we first started Brand Life, we went to banks to get facilities to effect clients’ project but were turned down several times. I had to borrow from families but today, the banks are giving us the necessary facility we need to run the business.

What drives you to keep moving despite the challenges?       

The passion and vision of where I am going is what drives me to climb the ladder of success  and I have absolute trust in God. The philosophy that also drives me is, ‘if one door is closed against you, many other doors of opportunities will surely open for you’.