NIGERIA – Universal McCann (UM), one of largest media agency in Nigeria has appointed Austin Efienamokwu as chief executive Officer.

The move came at a time when the company was undergoing an extensive restructuring process which according to UM is aimed at repositioning the company into becoming No 1 Media Agency across West Africa.

Prior to his appointment as head of the media agency, Mr. Efienamokwu was the Media Director and Business Head at Vizeum Nigeria, a subsidiary arm of Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network.

While at Vizeum, Efienamokwu oversaw the launch of ABInBev’s Budweiser in Nigeria and other international and national brands across the region.

His appointment at Vizeum helped to accelerate the agency’s rapid growth and drive development of services and capabilities for competitiveness.

It is to the credit of Austin Efienamokwu that Vizeum became one of the fastest growing media agency, winning several juicy media advertising businesses and awards within the Media Fuse Dentsu Aegis Network.

According to a press statement from UM, Efienamokwu started his media advertising career with MediaReach OMD as a management trainee and rose to become maiden country manager of the Cameroon office.

He later proceeded to work with Capital Media, a media agency of DDB Lagos as their strategy director. He, however, resigned his position at the media agency to take up appointment with Bharti Airtel Nigeria.

Mr. Efienamokwu is a holder of a Master’s Degree from the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso and a graduate of Quantity Surveying from Yaba College of Technology.

He has over 15 years of experience managing multinational brands in several African countries including in Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Central African regions.

The Brands which Efienamokwu has been able to successfully work with are drawn from various sectors including Brewery, Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, fast moving consumer goods and financial services.

His key areas of specialisations include connections planning, strategic media planning and implementation, and brand management.