Mediacraft Associates Limited, a leading full-service public relations and integrated brand communications consultancy firm, has announced the appointment of Ms. Laura Oloyede as its general manager/chief operating Officer effective September 19, 2022.
Oloyede’s appointment follows an extensive selection process that considered both internal and external candidates.
She has a broad and extensive integrated marketing communications experience, spanning over two decades in the industry and has held various job roles on both client and agency sides. Her strengths include corporate communications, brand positioning, reputation management, stakeholder management, brand and marketing PR, and crisis communications management.
She holds a first degree In Estate Management from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, and a post-graduate diploma in Marketing from the University of Liverpool, UK.
Oloyede has worked for, and managed, some of the leading multinational companies across different economic sectors, including Financial Services, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Automobile, Aviation, Telecoms, and Entertainment. She has led the strategic communications drive for Coca-Cola, Ford Motors, Old Mutual, Nigerian Breweries, Multichoice, Peugeot, and StarTimes, among others. Over the last decade, before this appointment, Oloyede had functioned as the spokesperson for Ford Motors in sub-Sahara Africa.
As GM/COO, Oloyede will have oversight for the brand and corporate communications, business development, and client relations activities of Mediacraft, to ensure the company achieves its business objectives. She had functioned in a similar role at Prima Garnet Ogilvy Group where she was GM/COO of Cutler Ogilvy PR and Lampost Experiential with oversight for operational excellence and sustainable profitability. Oloyede had also served as the Vice President for Marketing and Communications for Nigeria’s first concessioned 50km Lekki-Epe Expressway. She has led agencies’ strategic operational direction, including business development, financial management and organisational growth.
“We are quite excited that Laura has accepted this new challenge and will be joining us as we recalibrate our business to make it more nimble for our next growth phase,” Group CEO, Mediacraft Associates, John Ehiguese, said.
“Laura has extensive communications, marketing and leadership experience in the industry and has demonstrated her ability to drive business growth. We are confident that the new energy and thinking she would be bringing will help drive Mediacraft forward.”
“I am very pleased to be joining Mediacraft Associates, certainly a leader in the PR industry. The prospect of working alongside the CEO, an industry giant, and his competent and capable team truly excites me,” says Oloyede.
“Mediacraft Associates has been very successful in transforming to a full fledge integrated marketing communications company over the last few years, managing communications for some of the biggest brands in the country, including the Stanbic IBTC Group, Interswitch Group, and Olam Group. I am certainly looking forward to helping the business further strengthen its industry leadership, in line with its growth objectives”, Oloyede concluded.
