President of the Association of Corporate & Marketing Communications Professionals in Nigeria Banks (ACAMB), Rasheed Bolarinwa has made the list of Top 10 Perception Managers of 2024.
The Top 10 perception managers is the brainchild of The Top 10 Magazine. According to the publisher, Tony Iji, The Top 10 magazine is conceptualized as a monthly publication to celebrate the best 10 individuals and institutions that have excelled and distinguished themselves in their chosen fields.
The latest edition of the magazine spotlighted Bolarinwa and nine other Marketing Communications and Public Relations (PR) titans. They include: Director of Public Affairs (DPA) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Reuben Muoka; National Public Relations Officer of Nigerian Customs Service, CSC Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada; Director, Corporate Communications, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali; Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Olufemi Soneye.
Others are: Chief Marketing Officer of Fidelity Bank PLC, MeksleyNwagboh; Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tolu Alero Ladipo; Director, Media and Advocacy, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi; Director, External Affairs and Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Chioma Afe and Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Ecobank Nigeria Ltd, Babajide Sipe.
Bolarinwa who doubles as Head, Brand Management & Corporate Communications, Polaris Bank was earlier in February conferred with the Award of Excellence and Recognition as Corporate Communications Professional of the Year at the 2023 Osun NIPR (Nigerian Institute of Public Relations) Excellence in Public Service Awards.
He is one of Nigeria’s exciting and foremost award-winning marketing and corporate communications professional whose craft and charisma have positively influenced the fortunes of the profession and brands he has been associated with.
Bolarinwa is one of the few marketing communications (marcom) practitioners that have a good mix of the academia and foot-soldier experience in a field that has seen tremendous global growth, buoyed by the social media and increasing ability of the sector to safeguard reputations, support growth of brands and enhance thought leadership.
Bolarinwa’s over two decades and half marcom odyssey (post-qualification), has seen him apply his well-honed skills in journalism, public relations, marketing, corporate communications, strategic brand management, insurance, HR, consulting and banking. He is a thorough-bred communicator and a certified Integrated Marketing Communications Practitioner and brand management professional. He’s educated and holds two Master’s degrees spiced with further function-specific and leadership trainings in top class local and foreign institutions under his belt.
In an era where the industry is facing threatening headwinds from unschooled practitioners, pretenders and impostors, Bolarinwa has continued to uphold the tenets of best practice, and is driven by an uncompromising commitment to excellence and professionalism.
He was re-elected as ACAMB President in January by his colleagues across 24 Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria after a stellar 1st term and earlier two term stint as a Secretary General.
In 2022, Bolarinwa was named the “Most Outstanding Public Relations Professional” at “Your Image Awards,” organized by PR Primus Limited in conjunction with the Ogun state chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). In the award citation, Bolarinwa was described as “one of Nigeria’s sensational and award-winning Public Relations/Marketing and Corporate Communications professionals, whose craft and charisma have positively influenced the fortunes of the profession and the brands he has worked with over the years.”
He is reputed for his deft handling of change management communication and is among few PR practitioners that have directly handled the transition and leadership change communication management of five CEOs in Nigeria’s financial sector (insurance & banking). His most cherished moment came in 2021 when he orchestrated what analysts described as the most impactful in-house executed PR campaign for VULTe, a digital bank by Polaris Bank that largely contributed to strong TOMA resulting in one million customer uptake within the space of four months of the product launch, a record in Nigeria’s digital banking space.
Also in 2022, the umbrella body of Bankers in Nigeria, the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) appointed Bolarinwa to drive the visibility for the biggest gathering of Bankers and Finance stakeholders in Africa as Chairman, Media & Publicity, of the Consultative Committee of the 15th Annual Bankers & Finance Conference which took place in Abuja in September. He delivered on the task spectacularly.
A Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing in Nigeria (NIMN), the Polaris Bank spokesman belongs to premier Institutes regulating PR and Marketing Communications sector in Nigeria and is indeed, a Member of NIPR, ARCON among other Professional Associations in Nigeria.
