With the industry navigating rapid change and evolving consumer expectations, the Vice President, Strategy and Innovation at Chain Reactions Africa, Mr. Franklin Ozekhome, urged brand leaders to embrace purpose, adaptability, and consistency as the pillars for building brands that stand the test of time.

Ozekhome, delivered a thought-provoking keynote address at the Creative and Branding Icons Awards (CBIA), organized by Marketing Space Magazine, tagged: ‘Unveiling greatness: Celebrating the 2025 creative & branding icons, held in Lagos, challenged industry leaders, practitioners and creatives to rethink how brands are built in a rapidly transforming world.

His central message was clear and compelling: iconic brands are not created by budgets, awards or fleeting visibility, but by time, meaning and consistency.

Opening his address, Mr. Franklin framed the conversation around one powerful lens, time, titled: “Beyond creativity: building timeless brands in a transforming world.”

In an industry driven by deadlines, campaign calendars, quarterly results and real-time trends, he reminded the audience that time remains the ultimate judge of relevance and impact.

While thousands of campaigns are launched every year, only a handful endure. Likewise, countless brands enter the market, but only a few evolve into symbols that live across generations.
“What truly makes something iconic?” he asked.

“Is it creativity, visibility, awards, money or followers?” According to him, the answer lies deeper. An icon is not the result of a single campaign or viral moment, nor is it merely a success story. Icons are built by three enduring forces: meaning, memory and momentum.

Ozekhome explained that iconic brands stand for something larger than themselves.

They live in people’s memories, not just their awareness, and they retain relevance even as culture, technology and society evolve. This, he said, applies not only to brands, but also to people, movements, cities and nations.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s advertising and marketing ecosystem, he noted how certain names, colours, slogans, sounds and rituals instantly come alive in collective memory. This is no accident, he emphasized, but the product of time and consistent meaning.

He challenged the audience to look beyond surface visibility and ask deeper questions about who the real icons in the industry are, the brands on billboards, or the people and teams who quietly reshape thinking, language and culture.

While visibility is often celebrated, Ozekhome argued that true icons are those who change how people think, decide, feel and live.

They include strategists who redefine how categories understand consumers, creative leaders who shape the language of a generation, brands that alter self-perception, and movements that shift societal conversations.

This, he said, is why platforms like the Creative and Branding Icons Awards matter. Beyond ceremony, they serve as a mirror for the industry, prompting honest reflection on impact and legacy.

Tracing the evolution of Nigeria’s creative and marketing landscape over the past two decades, Mr. Franklin described a dramatic transformation.

From the rise of mobile phones and social media to the explosion of user-generated content, shrinking attention spans and the early influence of artificial intelligence, the industry has moved into an era where creativity alone is no longer sufficient.

Consumer expectations have changed. Trust has evolved. A catchy slogan or one-off stunt is no longer enough.

According to Ozekhome, this reality makes the theme “Beyond Creativity: Building Timeless Brands in a Transforming World” especially relevant.

He clarified that going beyond creativity does not diminish its importance. Creativity remains the spark, but it must operate within a broader system of culture, experience, behavior and long-term value.

Timeless brands, he noted, are not those that remain static, but those that preserve their essence while adapting their expression across generations.

Drawing on global and local examples, he illustrated how iconic brands build meaning and memory over time. These brands do not chase every trend; instead, they innovate from the inside out, staying true to their core while evolving with culture.

From this foundation, Ozekhome, outlined what he described as the seven laws of iconic brands, emphasizing belief systems, cultural openness, memory structures, community building, depth of meaning and intentional innovation.

Across industries and geographies, he said, these principles consistently define brands that endure.

For brands, his message was firm: iconic status cannot be bought or rushed. It requires insight, cultural alignment and disciplined execution over time. For agencies, the moment demands a shift from content production to cultural architecture — helping brands build systems of meaning that last.

Addressing practitioners directly, Ozekhome highlighted that beyond technical skill, what truly sets professionals apart is their point of view — the ability to read culture, understand human behavior and translate insight into action.

Looking ahead to the next 10 to 20 years, he identified accelerating cultural change, deeper integration of technology, fragmented trust and increased pressure on time as defining forces.

In this environment, timeless brands will be those that respect heritage while designing for the future, maintaining a strong center while remaining flexible at the edges.

He call for a fundamental shift in mindset — from campaign thinking to continuum thinking, from short-term visibility to long-term value. Brands, he said, must earn the right to endure by telling the truth, respecting consumers and contributing meaningfully to culture.

Describing his keynote as more than a speech, Ozekhome framed it as a manifesto for the future of Nigeria’s creative and branding industry. “Icons are not accidents,” he said.

“They are the result of intention plus time.”
As the audience rose in applause, his final charge resonated strongly: build brands worthy of time, create stories that future generations will recognize, and do work that not only wins the awards, but also earns the respect of time.

In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Marketing Space Magazine, Lukman Ishau, said the event marked a deliberate shift from celebrating brands alone to recognising the individuals whose creativity, strategy, and innovation give life to those brands.

He described the award as a platform created to honour the creatives, strategists, innovators, and brand custodians who work behind the scenes to shape enduring narratives and influence culture.

He emphasised that the initiative represents more than an award ceremony, describing it as a declaration of purpose and a commitment to elevating excellence within the industry.

The occasion also marked a significant milestone for Marketing Space Magazine, reaffirming its longstanding dedication to strengthening the marketing communications ecosystem through industry-focused initiatives beyond reportage.

The ceremony concluded on a reflective note with a tribute to the late Mr. John Tolupe Ajayi, Publisher of Marketing Edge, whose mentorship and contributions to brand journalism were acknowledged. The event ended with a call for continued collaboration in nurturing a vibrant, innovative, and future-ready creative and branding industry in Nigeria.