#StraightTalkWithSuz

I love to dance. If I was a god, I would be the goddess of dance; someone called me that way back in school. Dance was my ‘safe’ place, my ‘escape’. When I start, I get lost, I live in the words of the music, the notes, I feel it in my bones as I take steps to create life in form of a dance movement. Sometimes it's in the abstract few times, it tells a story. The joy was not to define the movement but let it come naturally. Now, I find that place so hard to return to. You juggle between making a living and following your passion and sometimes you fall into your 2 nd  or 3 rd  passion and that, most often than not, gives not as much satisfaction as your main passion. I love to write. Creatively, crazily, weirdly; not the usual. Sensual and horrific if possible…sic. It's an escape route that takes me to a world of creativity. I get lost just like when dancing; I smile, I chuckle, I admire my ingenuity as I write. I know people will think me sick and I just love that t...

Find my version of character profiling of people I have studied in the years I have spent working in various industries. Enjoy and do list yours too; The Doers : These people never wait to be told before they come up with ideas and implement them. They love the competition and love to be known as achievers. They strive for success and continuously improve on themselves and their work. These are usually the people who make it up the ladder fast and are usually managers. They are self-assured and very independent. They are very perceptive, witty and clever. They have a natural ability of convincing others of their point of view. They are problem solvers. The Users : This set like to use people to get what they want. In psychology, we call them the manipulators. The manipulator deliberately creates an imbalance of power and exploits the victim to serve his or her agenda. Most manipulative individuals have four common characteristics; 1.     ...

Writing takes more than guts and skills, you must have a curious mind. There are various variations of writing. We have the journalistic approach to writing where it is in form of a report, telling on something or a situation or someone etc and then we have copywriting which is writing for advertising. We also have creative writing which for me, is basically writing for self, having fun, writing poems, stories etc. All these forms of writing have presently met on a page called ‘storytelling’; my favorite form of writing. It entices, enchants and engages you. Storytelling is a strong mode for content writing which is basically writing for online media. Now, storytelling can be in writing form, picture form, voice or video. What are you trying to say? What do you want the audience to take out when they see your picture? It is not just a word, it should be a phrase or a feeling that encompasses a huge, enchanting story. I like to dream. What story is this picture te...

I have had the opportunity to have worked both on the client side and in agencies for over 13years now; some of which I was doing my own thing. Through these years, I have come to realize that productivity is key and in everything we do, the bottom-line is essential. This is why I have decided to list out the 5 death sentence of advertising agencies in Nigeria and hope that those guilty will not only read but change. All about winning awards : This is a selfish act by some agencies. They are all about creating award winning ads than actually communicating the brand essence of their clients’ product and engaging its TA. Due to this, most brands have shifted to patronizing hotshops, experiential agencies and now digital agencies. Why? These upcoming agencies are concerned about getting more clients so, they will go out of their way to be relevant and also, do what the client wants though most times, the client do not know what they want and that brings me to… Yes Sir, Yes Ma, just p...

Years  ago, this seemed an impossible task. Where else could anyone live if not in a physical state. The only time we lived differently was in our minds.  Drowned in different kind of habits especially games, growing an avatar that did everything inhumanly possible that we wished we could do, the  escapist world has not really lived up to its name, ‘escape’ .  It has only fulfilled a temporary want, need and lust. Today, people like me are gradually living the life we had dreamt about for so long.  Life as we know it today does not cut us as much slack as we would want especially for those of us who need and want to achieve much more that the 24-hour day offers.  Teleworking  and telecommuting have become, not just an escapist mode but the futures of the work-place as we presently know it, and you can work from home even.  They promise a new way of life and an interesting one indeed for everyone including extroverts, who need a ‘me time’ sometime...

Betty (fake name) and I got into a discussion. She was complaining bitterly about how she is losing customers due to the hike in dollar as she was into selling foreign clothes and fashion accessories. Her boutique was dying as no one could afford the new price. So I made a big blunder, I suggested she sells Made In Nigeria. How dare you, she screamed. Do you know who my customers are? You think they are cheap? So I went ahead to tell her about Deola Sageo, Alara and the likes. They sell Made in Nigeria and Made in Africa and I bet your costumers can’t even afford them. Then her story changed… How many people can afford to buy a Deola Sageo? Do you think they design for us? I saw then that this is another one of our blind patriots and so, I stopped selling my new idea to her.  The truth is that if we want to make it through this recession and build our economy, we have to start relying on Made in Nigeria. Anyone doing business in dollar right now is heading for the rocks...

How well do you know your onions? I was opportune to train people on digital marketing, the basic. It was a very uplifting period as I love to give back to society in any way I can. There is nothing as uplifting as giving value to people who really want it and appreciate your effort. Teaching gives a feeling of a god, especially when you see your student use your teaching to make a better life for themselves and people around. As much as we (Nigeria) have jumped on the bandwagon of Digital marketing, it is so evident that we, most of us, do not even know how to use/maximise this platform. Like a normal Nigerian, we take everything in and specialize in none, making some of us less competent in the field. It’s also amazing when you see IT specialist try to write content. It is not their fault though; they have been made to believe that they can do anything ‘Digital Marketing’. They were not taught the different career parts in digital marketing instead, made to believe you must kn...