The founder and Chief Executive of SBI Media, Rotimi Bankole has been named the Marketing Media Personality of the Decade by Marketing Edge magazine, the most prominent marketing industry journal in Nigeria.
Bankole, 40, who founded SBI Media in 2013, has led the company into over 150% year on year growth for the past three years, according to data released by SBI. The company has also expanded to include Streams, a full service creative advertising agency.
Currently, SBI Media and Streams Networks provide creative, media strategy, planning and buying services to some of the most influential companies in Nigeria. This list of clients include 9Mobile, Sterling Bank, Access Bank, and Turkish Airlines. Others are First Bank, iTel, Infinix, and Tecno.
Although expressing great surprise on his nomination for the award, Bankole said it was understandable that Marketing Edge would give such recognition to his work at SBI Media.
“We have come a long way,” he said. “As an organization, we have focused consistently on being a model for other startups in the industry, and to be recognized for that is greatly satisfying.”
SBI Media, which launched with a single non-retainer client, is now a member of Masscom Global, a network of media agencies founded in developing countries. “With Masscom Global,” said Bankole, “we have a reach spanning more than 150 countries.”
At the award gala, well attended by agency founders, brand managers, CEOs, and other top marketing professionals, the award organisers stated that SBI Media exemplified the idea of a truly modern and successful media independent.
In what appears as a confirmation of Bankole’s personal achievement, his two agencies — Streams Networks and SBI Media — were awarded Outstanding Young Creative Agency of the Year and Outstanding Media Agency of the Year, respectively.
In their statement, the Marketing Edge Award Board said, Bankole and his agencies “have attained Olympian heights and market leadership in their media and creative advertising genres through the innovative services offered to their high profile clients. These innovative services stand him and the two agencies head and shoulders above their peers and very well position them for such recognition and celebration.”
