Biodun Shobanjo

Biodun Shobanjo is one of Nigeria’s finest marketing communications practitioners.

With a career spanning over 50 years, he started off in broadcasting some 56 years ago and later switched to Advertising at the American-owned Grant Advertising in 1971.

He rose quickly, becoming the Deputy Managing Director in 1976, before leaving to co-found Insight Communications, Nigeria’s foremost advertising agency in 1980. He ran the company for 25 years before stepping aside in 2004.

Shobanjo’s pioneering role in the marketing communication industry is unchallenged, with a chain of firsts:

• 1990 – Established The Quadrant Company, Nigeria’s first PR Consultancy
• 1997 – Founded All Seasons Mediacom, Nigeria’s first Media Independent
• 2005 – Set up Media Perspectives, his second Media Independent
• Other Troyka Group companies include Optimum Exposures (1984) and Halogen Security (1992), which employs over 19,000 people nationwide

In 2015, Dr. Shobanjo’s ultimate dream of turning Troyka into a global player was fulfilled when he went into an equity partnership with Publicis Groupe, the world’s 3rd largest marketing communications group. This scaled up to Insight Redefini, the communications arm of Troyka Holdings, comprising:

• Insight Publicis and Leo Burnett (advertising agencies)
• All Seasons Zenith and Starcom Media Perspectives (media buying companies)
• Quadrant MSL (reputation management)

Over the last two decades, he has earned more than fifty national and international awards and recognitions for professional excellence, integrity, leadership and remarkable contributions. Notable among these are:

• Advertising Man of All Time
• Most Influential Personality in Advertising in Africa
• Africa Brand Leadership Excellence Award
• Zik Prize in Leadership

A past President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria, Shobanjo holds certifications from the British Institute of Public Relations and the Institute of Marketing. He is also a:

• Chartered Member, Institute of Marketing
• Fellow, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria
• Fellow, Commonwealth Journalists Association

In December 2019, he was conferred with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Litt) Honoris Causa by Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife – the first ever in the Marketing Communication industry to be so honoured by any Nigerian University.

In July 2021, the University of Lagos also awarded him an honorary D. Litt (Honoris Causa) at its 51st Convocation Ceremonies, in recognition of his commitment to education, economic impact and humanitarian contributions.

A quiet philanthropist and public-spirited business leader, Dr. Shobanjo was inaugurated in February 2010 as the First Ambassador-General of Mass Medical Mission (mmm) of the National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCPP). In 2014, he donated the Biodun Shobanjo Multi-Media Centre of Excellence to the University of Lagos.

Married to Joyce, he is blessed with children and grandchildren.