Public Relations and Marketing expert and CEO of Nigeria’s leading PR agency, Black House Media (BHM), Ayeni Adekunle, has joined an elite class of distinguished Nigerian professionals following his induction as a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN).

A seasoned public relations practitioner, Journalist, and entrepreneur, Ayeni has pushed the frontiers of integrated marketing communications practice in the country, having harnessed the disruptive power of new technology to birth innovative interventions in PR and marketing.

Ayeni Adekunle, as CEO of BHM, which is today a flourishing group of disruptive fledgeling companies — BHM Group — is one of the pioneers who led the industry into the digital-first strategy era of Marketing Communications in Nigeria.

Named Nigeria’s PR practitioner of the year in 2017, Adekunle is a member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Chartered Institute of Public Relations UK (CIPR).

Among his numerous contributions are several interventions that have served to bolster the practice of the PR profession in Nigeria and the marketing sector at large. Chief among these is his introduction of the Nigerian PR Report – an empirical analysis of the Public Relations market and the country’s first-ever annual report dedicated exclusively to chronicling data on trends, perceptions, challenges and prospects within the PR industry among others.

Ayeni is also credited for the launch of the first PR app in Nigeria in 2014;  the largest and most important gathering of Nigeria’s entertainment industry practitioners called the Nigeria Entertainment Conference (NEC Live); the BHM Guide to PR — a bible of sorts for professionals interested in learning the dynamics of smart PR practice; and the Concept of Virality: a case study on Olajumoke Orisaguna and other viral stars among others.

What sets Ayeni apart is his unique and refreshing approach to marketing and PR. It was he who first called the demise of the traditional PR practice, declaring much to the hearing of all stakeholders that public relations, as was known and practised, was dead. The campaign aptly tagged #PRisDead shook the industry.

As with every innovator, Ayeni offered a more refined and rewarding approach to PR; first to acceptance of many and then the chagrin of the sceptics who later became converts and advocates of the digital-first approach to PR and Marketing.

The NIMN President and Chairman of Council, NIMN, Tony Agenmonmen , Fellow NIMN, while conferring the award, described Ayeni as “an outstanding marketing practitioner whose hard work has supported and grown our industry’s professionalism. Our Hall of Fame celebrates those who have worked on behalf of the industry and their leadership inside and outside of it and Ayeni Adekunle is without doubts highly deserving of this recognition.”