Women In Marketing 2020 Edition ft. Ojiakunalu Nwokeke from Interra Networks limited

Continuous Learning and development should be everyone’s watchword 

Ojiakunalu Nwokeke

Ojiakunalu is the Marketing and Communication Manager for Nigerian ICT Solutions company, Interra Networks. She joins us for this segment of Women In Marketing and explains why digital marketing should not be an afterthought but rather a central form of any organisation’s communication strategy. Let’s learn more

LET’S GET PERSONAL

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FONDEST MEMORIES?

I was born in Aba, a commercial city in Abia state Nigeria. Most people see Aba as a place to exchange money for goods and services, but interestingly there are lots of amazing places and things that made my childhood memorable. I grew up in an extended family circle where every member of the family played a big role in making me who I am today. 

My Dad of blessed memory was a disciplinarian that ensured we had a set time for everything around us. Most people didn’t understand his kind of person, but we had our best memories with him while growing up. My siblings looked forward to visiting the popular “Bata”, a shoe company where we often go to get our footwears and other stationery.

We ensure to finish up our book reviews and memories key points in all novels we read during the holiday so we don’t miss out getting our tickets for the amusement park visit or the zoo. A vivid issue that happened to me was when I went missing during our catholic youth convention exercise, but luckily, I was traced back to my siblings, my father stopped us from being members of the catholic youth fellowship, which was not cool with us back then. We all felt bad but I am happy that I didn’t end up in the wrong hands.

Another interesting thing that I always look forward to was my Dad taking us back to the boarding house during the school section and the holiday period. we were privileged to visit my Grandma- Christiana in the home country where we learned domestic chores that prepared for the future unknown to us. Just to conclude my story because no ones’ s childhood story can be written in just one chapter of a series, these are a few of my memories but because if I keep on going, I bet you will be lost in my adventure story. 

SHOW OFF TO OUR READERS. ANY HIDDEN TALENTS YOU CAN SHARE WITH US? A CLARINET STAR IN THE MAKING PERHAPS?

Wow, talents are best identified by others not the personality in question. But I must say that a lot of my friends, colleagues, and family know that I am a good creative writer, I love composing text into appealing poems, short write-ups. I love to create impact by training others to be better in what they have a flair for. Also am good at mimicking someone 

WE WOULD ALL LOVE TO WIN THE LOTTERY RIGHT? IF YOU WON $10 MILLION TOMORROW, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR FORTUNE? 

Interesting!!! 

With $10million tomorrow, I will surely work out a short to long term plan on the use, starting from paying my tithe in the church as a Christian, I will do some Investments, donate to charity and Job creation through my investment. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL? THAT ONE MEAL YOU WOULDN’T SHARE WITH ANYONE!

I love vegetable yam porridge with fish a local Nigeria delicacy 

WHAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD OF MARKETING? WHAT PARTICULAR MOMENT IN TIME PUSHED YOU TO PURSUE THIS CAREER? AFTER ALL, WE ALL WANTED TO BE DOCTORS GROWING UP, RIGHT?

Marketing to me is an expression of concepts starting from the research I do to get in tune with trends and the return on investments when clients are satisfied with our products and service values 

IF YOU COULD BE ANY ANIMAL IN THE WORLD, WHAT ANIMAL WOULD YOU BE AND WHY?

I will like to be an eagle, fearless always soaring on high 

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU THAT WE WOULDN’T LEARN FROM YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE ALONE?

Meeting me in person, talking to me 

ENTERING THE WORKPLACE

GIVE US A SNEAK PEEK OF HOW YOU TYPICALLY START YOUR DAY. ARE YOU #TEAMCOFFEE 

I arrive at work 30minutes before my official resumption time to enable me to settle down, read my emails with a cup of green tea. Afterwards, I call for my team brief to enable us to ensure that all team members are alive to our plan for the week. I go ahead to update my CRM with my routine activities of the day for QA measurement and tracking. 

ARE YOU #TEAMCOFFE OR #TEAMTEA? OR BOTH? YOU BEAUTIFUL REBEL!

I will say am a #TEAMTEA 

HOW BEST DO YOU STRIKE A WORK-LIFE BALANCE?

Aww…. I ensure to have a routine mid-week where I go catch a movie after work sometimes and during the weekend, I do sure take care of my home, go swimming and other activities that keep me energized and ready for the start of a new week with friends and family. 

WHAT APPS/SOFTWARE/TOOLS CAN YOU NOT GO A DAY WITHOUT UTILISING?

I love reading so I check my Gmail email daily, a lifestyle which I get info on from some blogs.

HOW BEST WOULD YOU DEFINE GREAT LEADERSHIP?

Speaking for all with no attachment for favouritism or prejudice 

YOU OBTAINED YOUR MBA IN MARKETING FROM THE NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI (GIRL YOU FANCY!). ACCORDING TO GLASSDOOR, IT HAS BECOME SEEMINGLY EASIER TO APPLY TO WORK FOR COMPANIES LIKE GOOGLE, APPLE AND STARBUCKS AS THEY DO NOT REQUIRE APPLICANTS TO HAVE A DEGREE. HOW CAN YOUNG WOMEN UTILISE THE INTERNET TO UPSKILL THEMSELVES PARTICULARLY IF THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO OBTAIN A FORMAL EDUCATION?

Women can now work from work and maintain a healthy balance. With self-empowerment where they can study online about a field and prove their relevance where they can be hired. There are a lot of online courses and tools to take advantage of to get in the field one desires. 

JOB HOPPING IS A COMMON PHENOMENA ESPECIALLY IN THE DYNAMIC WORLD OF ADVERTISING AND MARKETING. WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ON JOB HOPPING? DOES IT HURT OR AID ONE’S CAREER? 

I will not call it job-hopping because different people move for different reasons such as career advancement, better wage, welfare, life circumstance etc. But the most interesting part is hopping to greater cadre in one’s career path 

COVID19 HAS BROUGHT WITH IT AN UNPRECEDENTED DISRUPTION TO THE WORLD. SEVERAL COMPANIES ARE NEARING BANKRUPTCY WHILE OTHERS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO SHUTDOWN OR LAY OFF THEIR STAFF. WHAT SHOULD THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION BE ESPECIALLY IN THE MARKETING CONTEXT AS WE ADAPT IN THIS ENVIRONMENT? HOW HAVE YOU AND YOUR DEPARTMENT COUNTERED THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC? 

Marketing has allowed the whole world to see online service as savvy and easy to manage. Yes, Covid brought both positive and negative tunes to business but I see it as a good problem because it made us think outside the box and review how businesses operate before now etc

SYSTEMS AROUND REMOTE WORK AND VIDEO CONFERENCING ARE INCREASINGLY BECOMING STAPLE IN MOST ORGANISATIONS. ACCORDING TO THE INFOGRAPHIC CREATED BY VISUAL CAPITALIST, ZOOM IS NOW WORTH MORE THAN THE 7 BIGGEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD AT A WHOPPING MARKET CAPITALIZATION OF JUST OVER $40BN. SUFFICE TO SAY, REMOTE WORKING IS AN ASPECT OF MODERN-DAY WORK THAT HAS BEEN LONG OVERDUE. IN YOUR OPINION, WHY HAVE MOST ORGANISATIONS STRUGGLED TO CONVERT TO THIS WAY OF WORK? 

Well I work in an IT company so before now we have some stuff of remote work processes on-going and luckily for us in Nigeria Covid made it possible to have remote work openly accepted 

MARKETING OBJECTIVES WILL MOST LIKELY CHANGE DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. HOW HAS YOUR ORGANISATION PIVOTED WHERE MARKETING IS CONCERNED, AND HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE A DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY AMID THE PANDEMIC?

Due to the pandemic that slowed most business activities around the world today, we have learned new and old ways to meet and extend the needs of our clients 

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

ANY RECENT/UPCOMING INFLUENCER MARKETING CAMPAIGNS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE FROM Interra Networks limited?

We indulge our digital marketing team to do online marketing certifications to enable them to be abreast with recent trends 

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF Interra Networks limited BIGGEST SUCCESSES IN MARKETING OVER THE PAST 12 TO 18 MONTHS?

WE have built our online presence from the number of inbound leads (Client acquisition) we have gotten from our website and other online channels of contact with the organisation 

2020 AND BEYOND

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? (WHAT DO YOU READ, AND HOW DO YOU CONSUME INFORMATION? PAPERBACK VS EREADER?) 

I read online 

WHAT IS ON YOUR NETFLIX WATCHLIST?

Cartoons 

AS WE LEARN TO LIVE WITH COVID19 IF YOU COULD REPLACE THE HANDSHAKE AS A FORM OF GREETING, WHAT INTERESTING NEW GREETING WOULD YOU INTRODUCE?

A smile …it goes a look way 

WHO HAVEN’T YOU SEEN OR TALKED TO IN A LONG TIME AND HOPE THEY ARE DOING OKAY?

My aunty Angela in America 

A UNIQUE MESSAGE FOR ALL YOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN THE MARKETING INDUSTRY

Continuous Learning and development should be everyone’s watchword 

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

Build more confidence and more risk 

WHAT CHALLENGE IS ON YOUR PLATE? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PAINPOINTS YOU ARE TRYING TO OVERCOME IN YOUR LIFE WHETHER PROFESSIONALLY, PERSONALLY OR BOTH?

I am striving to get my career within the international community thereby imparting life’s 

ANY BUCKET LIST ITEMS (PROFESSIONAL AS WELL AS PERSONAL)?

Another degree and Masters in international studies 

To owe my own marketing company 

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FEMALE HEROES?

Florence Nightingale

Ngozi Okonje Iweala 

Hillary Clinton 

HOW CAN PEOPLE FOLLOW YOUR COMPANY ON SOCIAL MEDIA? 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/interranetworks

Twitter: @Interra_NG