By Morenike Taire, Woman Editor

One of the foremost corporate communications practitioners in the vast FMCG space, Victoria N. Uwadoka, as head of Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability for Nestle Nigeria, has brought in unprecedented creativity and innovation into the ecosystem. 

A strong voice in the advocacy for building  sustainable food systems, Victoria  has  strengthened  her company’s  social impact, bringing to bear her passion for building connections while leveraging her experience from working with a broad variety of industries including entertainment, beauty, healthcare, ICT, and food & beverages.

The multiple award-winning practitioner has served in the leadership of various professional bodies such as Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and Lagos PR Industry Gala and Awards (LAPRIGA).

She is at the forefront of the campaign to tell “the African story.”  

You are quoted as saying: “As African communicators, we have a responsibility to represent and reflect the realities, challenges, and opportunities of our continent.” Can you elaborate on this?

Only the person wearing the shoes understands where it pinches. Nobody can tell your story better than you but when you don’t own your narrative, other people will tell a story that maybe, vaguely resembles you. For the longest time, we have allowed people who are not Africans, who do not understand our context, who have never spent time with us, understand our strongest, deepest belief systems, our culture or even the capacity we have, who do not understand the depth of knowledge and wisdom that have been passed down through the ages to us; we have allowed them to build a narrative about us and that narrative is not pretty or attractive.

It’s not attracting the right investment or the right reputation for us. There is nobody that is better positioned than African communicators to harness the African story and tell the story of our potential, our strength, resilience, brilliance, creativity while recognising the challenges that keep us from attaining the fullness of our potential as Africa. We need our African communicators to be more responsible in the way we deliberately, intentionally harness the power of storytelling to drive collaboration across Africa, focus on our similarities, what we have achieved in the last 60 years and talk about what we need to do to move forward. He who pays the piper determines the tune so publications like Vanguard are platforms that are super important that we can count on to tell the authentic African story. If we think about where we are today, there is a trust deficit because we are not communicating enough. As nations, we don’t trust each other and our governments because of narratives that are being seeded either deliberately or ignorantly, so as African communicators, it’s about time that we intentionally own and tell our stories.

 What was your attraction to Corporate Communications?

Like most young people, I started with work that was available at that time. I started in logistics then had an opportunity to work as PR and events manager for a beauty care product. I had no idea what PR was. Communication came easy for me, I could speak well, write well, bring people together, had a knack for bringing clarity to knotty, difficult situations, so I thought. I realised I needed to learn more about Public Relations so I could do more, so I went for training and was certified. I went on to Nollywood. I missed that time, so once there was an opportunity to join a PR agency, I took it up very quickly and since then, I have not turned back.

Corporate communications is that co-pilot that helps an organisation draw linkages between its objectives and the objectives of its various stakeholders; that role that articulates the messages, understands the shared objectives of stakeholders and communicates that strategically to help them achieve their goals. It’s the bridge between a company and its stakeholders, the outside view in and the inside view out. The glue that brings all that the company is about and wants to achieve together in one coherent message that resonates with all stakeholders both internally and externally. I really loved the opportunity to help people clarify and articulate their full potential, so it all comes together with my deepest aspirations and there is nothing better than effective communication whether corporate communications or communication for communities, individuals or families. It is that  ability to help my principals whether they be individuals or organisations, to articulate their messages in such a way that they achieve their objectives. 

 In your view, how much of an impact will digitalisation have on the field of PR? What are the changes that have been made and would you say they are that phenomenal?

Digitalisation happened for all professions and value chains. PR was not left behind, so it is actually a great thing to happen because it has brought us speed, fluidity, tools that make engagement easier. Communication is not complete until you have feedback, and you understand that the feedback is as expected and the behavior or message you receive from the person you are communicating with. Digitalisation has enabled those functionalities. Are they phenomenal? I won’t say so. The advent of AI seems to have accelerated that. We saw the changes coming, just that now AI has been democratised so that many more people can have access to it and use it to do better work.

It is changing our way of working, the skills set that we need and the structures that we have within our agencies and teams. We are looking for more capabilities and eliminating the administrative routine work that keeps us busy so that we can focus on strategy which is where our principals need our support more. We are not yet at the pinnacle of that change. As PR practitioners, we need to be on top of it and understand how these digital platforms work and how best to leverage each one even to simplify your research, personalisation, and targeting. They are transformational capabilities.

Have you ever had to deal with a corporate crisis? What lessons have you learned?

They seem to be our cup of tea. Thankfully not so often because we are also very good at anticipating crises and averting them before they happen and dealing with issues before they turn into crises. When we have crises, we would have already prepared so we deploy the plan and processes and come out not only surviving but thriving.

You must always be prepared way before that crisis happens. One key element is the ability to anticipate what could be a problem and you must be 10 steps ahead of it.

The second thing is, you must always review to ensure everyone is tuned in, tweak what you need to tweak and make sure you are running simulations, scenarios, to be ready.

Thirdly, a crisis is not the end of the road. Deploy your plan, be very clear headed about what your message is and stick to that message. Make sure you are remaining factual, don’t be too hasty to respond. You need the power of different perspectives.

The next thing is to turn it into the positive, to improve something within your processes. Keep your communications civil and ethical, and always circle back to close the loop after every crisis.

Having practiced across such a wide range of industries, are industries more similar or more different than you had thought?

The only things that stay the same are your skill, your professionalism. Each industry comes with its own distinct sets of challenges, stakeholders, competitors. You must learn to adapt your skills. You must deal with people, be a quick learner and collaborative. There are some synergies between industries, but each industry is different. I like challenges because they push you beyond your limit. Each industry is unique.

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