Ikemba Speaks

9 Years after my sojourn into advertising and marketing communications, the economic meltdown in my country Nigeria ensured that my office could not sustainably and profitably run with Fat Cats (figuratively and literally speaking) like me on the payroll, I resigned, took a sizable severance cheque, and in my ‘infinite’ wisdom, decided it was time I put in all my years of experience into starting my own business. I looked at the Marketing Communication “Red Ocean” in Nigeria, and identified a “Blue Ocean” and leapt into it, putting every other project in my life on hold. Some offers came occasionally, almost on a monthly basis, but I did not accept any, claiming it did not excite me enough, or that the pay was not good enough  (Though I did do some consultancy ish for a couple of months)   . But in my heart, the main reason I did not acceopt a full-time 8-5 gig was because I badly wanted to own and run my own business. I had some savings, but 6 months down t...

The football world was shocked when last week, Claudio Ranieri, the man who wrote the most romantic football story of the century, when he led English Football Lilliputians, Leicester City, to win perhaps the most glamorous cup in Europe, (second of course to the UEFA Champions League Cup), the English Premier League Cup, was fired as coach of Leicester City FC. An unassuming, always smiling, very friendly and team motivator extraordinaire, humble coach who had never won any major or significant European Club honours in his 27 years of club coaching, he was nicknamed “The Tinkerman” by the English press because he loved to shuffle and “tinker” with his team’s squad, tactics, and formations, over-rotating them throughout the season. Except for Fiorentina, which he led to win the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiano in 1996 and Valencia with whom he won a Copa Del Rey and UEFA Intertoto Cup as well as qualifying them for the UEFA Champions League, his forte seemed t...

Click:  https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ3YEc_DInO/?taken-by=firebrandmarket I saw this one-minute video yesterday, and it got me thinking seriously about how social media has so pervaded our lives and society, so much that, unconsciously, our happiness and sense of achievement can be so dependent on the validation we get from followers, likers, tweeps and ‘mentioners’. I vividly remember one Saturday morning, 5 years ago. I was at my friends’ place where I had passed the night. We both worked at the same advertising agency, and since we were both unmarried at the time, I tended to, more often than not, pass the night at his house, mostly on Fridays. So, that Saturday morning, we both woke up at about past 7am, and were lying on the same bed, Blackberry phones in hand, backing each other and tweeting. Without as much as ‘Guy how far’ or ‘Dude, what are we having for breakfast?’ we both were immersed in twitter till about past 12 noon. 5 solid hours of tweeting. I wou...

My prettier half tagged me on a video making the rounds on social media. After viewing the video, the curious cat in me began sniffing and looking up this Barry White Jr. fellow. I realized that he is a 5th grade English teacher at Ashley Park PreK-8 School in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. In an interview with ABC News, Barry said that he was inspired to do his personalized handshakes when he saw his basketball idol, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers also doing the same thing with his teammates before every basketball match. Mr White also revealed that this ritual began with having a personalized handshake with a 4th grader some months ago. Now, according to him, all 3rd graders want personalized handshakes with him too! Below are lessons I believe brands (personal or corporate) can learn from Barry White Jr. and his nationally acclaimed personalized handshakes: 1. START SMALL: Barry began this ritual with...

I've been searching for an app that'll help me save for a while. I mean, we've got apps that assist us in stalking our ex's, crushing candy and fixing our contour, so why couldn't I find an app that'll help with my finances? They need to be on fleek as well. If you've been in a situation where you're meant to save up for your next vacation, rent, your friend’s bridal shower or baby shower (a lot of showering if you ask me), then you understand my plight. I mean, do y’all get married every weekend? Abeg, saving money is hard work compared to spending!!! Me sef, I’ve started dodging Aso-Ebi bellas, because, “Fam, who her wedding epp?” Well, for those of us in search of a 'financial Snapchat' to add savings filters to life, today is our day! There's an app that helps us do just that and more. It's called REACH! *dancer emoji* REACH is a group savings’ tool. Save for your big life moments with those closest to you. ...

Source: International Telecomms Union