Monday, 3 February 2014

Youth Marketing Expert, Funke Babatola dies at 55

I really don't know this lady, but would have loved to know her before she passed on. Her resume is reaaaaaly impressive. This is a release I got from her people. 

Release reads:
"Foremost Youth Marketing Expert, Funke Babatola (widely known as FBi) has passed on.
In an official statement by the family from the tribute website, FBi ‘waltzed on in the evening of Monday, January 20, 2014’ at the age of 55.
Funke was born Olufunke Ibidunni Arike Dorothy in London, England on the 24th of October and graduate of Business Studies from Farnborough College and a post-graduate Diploma in Advertising from Watford College, both in the United Kingdom.
She garnered top-notch experience working at executive and managerial levels with advertising firms such as Grant, Rosabel& STB Mcann, went on to partner in Communication Plus, and set up FBi Advertising Ltd , before taking on an appointment as pioneer Managing Director of the first, global, research-based, youth marketing consultancy in Nigeria, Youth Dynamix. She ran the company for 5 years working with South African and Kenyan affiliates, and establishing youth marketing as an identifiable entity on the Nigerian marketing landscape.
(more after the cut)


She was the Founder /CEO of FB Initiatives & Innovations Ltd whose brainchild, the Youth-Marketer Converge Series, is a first-of-its-kind initiative in Nigeria designed to bring together professionals from different disciplines who work with the Youth demography on the African continent, with a view to helping brands and organizations position their products and services to effectively and ethically engage the youth market.

The Youth Marketer Converge Series hosted various conferences and other events featuring international and local experts such as Dom Sagolla, Co-Founder, Twitter; Sam Graham-Felson, President Obama’s Social Media Campaign Manager; Co-Founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales; Rob Nickel, world renowned CyberSafety Expert™; Kali Ilunga, CEO, EXP Digi South Africa; Mike Saunders, Partner, Digit Lab& CEO, TomorrowToday South Africa; amongst many others. FB Initiatives also conceptualised and implemented a very successful CyberSafety Initiative working with the Lagos State Ministry for Science and Technology.
                                                                                                                                                                                    
Some of the clients she has worked with include multinationals such as: Coca-Cola, Nokia, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, PZ, Nutricima, Friesland WAMPCO, and others such as First Bank, Nigerite, Symantec and the Lagos State Government.

Very keen on developing youth through sports, FBi was Vice-Chairman of Lagos State Squash Association and member of American Football Association of Lagos State, until her passing. As a former Board member of the Nigeria Squash Association, she also co-ordinated the annual children’s Squash clinic, Squashstival.

She is survived by a son, five sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews, colleagues, friends too numerous to mention, associates and a 'cult-like following' of young people to celebrate her life.

She was working on a number of brand activations, corporate projects and youth marketing plans and had only a few days before learnt how to dance Skelewu.

Funke was larger than life.
 "

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