Poised to push the frontiers of brand and marketing communications ecosystem and celebrate the exploits and achievements of brands, agencies, and notable players in Nigeria that have gone the extra mile in making an impact in the industry, organisers of the Brandcom Awards recently honoured some young, influential professionals in it new category, ’35 Under 35′.

Among the top honoured marketing communications professionals were Onyebuchi Allanah, Senior Brand Manager, Maltina; Sola Obagbemi, Corporate Communications Manager, Anglophone West Africa at Meta and Motunrayo Babalola, Country Marketing Lead, Ekaterra.

According to the convener the award and publisher of Brand Communicator, Joshua Ajayi, the ’35 Under 35′ category, which is a new addition to the awards, celebrates young and impactful growth drivers in the marketing industry.

Speaking on the award sustainability and brand building in the face of disruption, Ajayi said, “The Awards honour the accomplishments of renowned marketing companies, advertising agencies, and remarkable figures who have impacted the market, including unsung heroes who have honed their craft to build and lead brands.”

“We are celebrating the giant stride at our award this year based on our mantra of Prestige, Integrity, and Credibility. The awardees were painstakingly assessed by a panel of assessors who judged based on those key touch points.

“To date, industry players have judged Brandcom Awards as a credible award platform amidst the falling integrity of some awards in recent times. We boldly say our awards remain credible and we won’t rest on our oars,” he added.

Currently the Senior Brand Manager, Maltina, one of Africa’s iconic malt drinks under Nigerian Breweries, Onyebuchi Allanah, is an award-winning marketing professional with over six years of experience in brand marketing and merchandising, media buying, product launch, consumer and market intelligence and media strategy. She is also a trained lawyer and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.

With a vast experience in product innovation and driving brand equity, Onyebuchi is highly adept at reviving and growing brands in the FMCG industry, creating new territories in white spaces and winning in channels across several markets in West and Central African countries.

Since she started her career as a Public Relations and Communications professional, Oluwasola Obagbemi has steadily climbed through the corporate ladder to become the Corporate Communications Manager for Anglophone West Africa at Meta (formerly called Facebook).

She oversees the brand’s communications across Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Sierra Leone.

As a versatile marketing professional with over 12 years of experience in brand strategy, communications, advertising, digital marketing, media management and growth marketing, Nengi Akinola started her career in advertising at Insight Publicis and moved to drive brand strategy and consulting at GDM Group.

She currently leads Marketing and Branding at FairMoney, where she is successfully navigating the brand’s transformation from a digital lending platform to the leading Credit-led Digital Bank for emerging markets.

Motunrayo Babalola is a marketing professional with over 12 years of experience in the FMCG sector. She currently serves as Country Marketing Lead on the leadership team of Ekaterra Plant Based Limited, the new owner of the world’s largest tea brand, Lipton.

Her core expertise is in brand development, sales management, brand communication, team building, marketing strategy development and execution, including customer-brand relationship management.