Ghana
is gradually marching towards an inclusive and sustainable economy, where there
are more opportunities for more people and the economic structures of
inequality are constantly being taken out. An era that believes in enabling and
enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of its entrepreneurs.
While
many are yet to get comfortable with the idea of seeing women rise and reach
their full potential. Adeline Esi Asante-Antwi is fast rising above the regular
bar set by society for women and changing the way brand building and product
development take shape on the African continent and around the globe.
Let’s
meet the current FMCG Marketing Manager of the year, Adeline Esi Asante-Antwi
in a faithful interview about her life, career, and the impact of playing the
lead role of a multinational brand. She talks candidly about her educational
background, work ethic, her journey with L'Oréal, and her future aspirations.
Question:
What makes you fearless as a woman, and also as an entrepreneur?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: What makes me fearless, is embracing fear as part of life and
pushing through to achieve my goals despite the fear I feel, whether it's fear
of failure, rejection, or criticism. Fear keeps us in check sometimes, and
makes us prepare more or do our due diligence. I always have it top of mind,
that the greatest people we know, from Oprah to Mike Tyson, have dealt with fear
and yet have achieved greatness.
What
do you consider your greatest strength in life?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: I am very curious and thus have a great learning spirit. I
have moved from different industries, managing education to flour to
makeup...my learning spirit has given me the courage I needed to move into the
unknown and to adapt to different situations.
Describe
your work ethic which I’m very confident has everything to do with how
successful you are in life?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: My work ethic is very much based on values instilled in me by
my father. Growing up, he ensured we always gave 110% effort to every task and
if we didn’t understand something, he would push us to do our research, even
before Google, I was always knee-deep in his set of encyclopedias.
For
someone who is not familiar with you. Can you take us through your childhood
and educational background?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: I grew up in Akosombo, and attended Akosombo International
School from kindergarten to high school. Akosombo is a small town, so there
were very few activities to engage in. This made me very creative and sort of
an oddball, as I lived in my imagination in a quest to entertain myself. This
creative edge has helped me throughout my career to always think outside the
box.
I
attended Central University, got a degree in marketing, and then the Ghana
Institute of Management and Public Administration where I received an MBA in
Entrepreneurship.
I
truly fell in love with marketing when I attained a professional diploma in
Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I highly
recommend that course to upcoming marketers.
Was
brand building and new product development always the dream?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: No. I really fell in love with and understood brand building,
as a brand manager of Maybelline New York in 2015. That experience taught me
everything about brand love and building brand profitability.
How
important is storytelling in brand building?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: People connect with people through storytelling, the same
principle must be used to build brand love. People don’t pick products on the
shelf; they pick brand promises they can relate to. Brand promises communicated
through effective storytelling.
How
did your journey with L'Oréal start?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: I made a LinkedIn friend who I had never met in person,
called Aretha Sabeng, she was going on maternity leave after launching the
Maybelline NY brand and she helped me get an interview to be her temporary
replacement and that was the beginning of my love story with
L'Oréal. I am forever grateful to Aretha for giving me that opening.
She is currently head of digital for Dark &Lovely for Africa.
I
left briefly for Unilever, and Sekou Coulibaly the General Manager then of L'Oréal
West Africa, gave me the opportunity to return to L'Oréal as brand manager for
Dark&Lovely. I am very grateful to him.
I am
currently the marketing manager for Maybelline NY, Garnier, and
Dark&Lovely. I love the entrepreneurial culture of L'Oréal, this is
what I enjoy the most about working with the company.
How
do you evaluate success in your line of work as the manager of L'Oréal West
Africa?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: Success in my line of work would be foremost understanding
the consumer need and being first and best in the market to introduce a product
that fulfills that need. Secondly being able to efficiently communicate the
offering to that consumer and working with all other departments to
successfully achieve the set sales target for the product.
Generally,
what do you think we get it right when it comes to brand building in our part
of the world. And also, what we don’t get right along the same vein?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: I believe most marketers understand that our market is very
unique, and when given the opportunity are able to localize product
offerings. However, I believe we need to have more courage to speak
up, especially in multinational companies, when we are asked to standardize
offerings, instead of succumbing to external pressure. We need to be experts of
the local market needs; the African marketer must be the expert when it comes
to understanding the African consumer journey.
What
is your story as a Ghanaian businesswoman, and what life lessons can we learn from
your story?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: My story is that of growth as a person. The pursuit of
personal development. My biggest lesson is not to define yourself by your
lowest moments. In my career story, there have been many times, I have been
told I didn’t have talent; however, I have learnt that I need to carve out my
own story and tell myself that story. A story where I define myself, a story
full of hope and determination to become a better version of myself. You can
never give up on yourself.
FMCG Marketing
manager of the year, what does that mean to you personally, your career, and
also the brands that you are in charge of?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: For me, this award is a challenge to push myself harder. For
the brands I manage, it's a testament to the work the team has put in over the
years and a much-needed pat on the shoulder.
What’s
that one thing, responsible for the difference in your marketing career
compared to any other marketing executive
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: I know I am not the best, and neither do I feel better than
others. I live in a continuous space of self-development. We may
fall but we need to love the process of getting back up on our feet, and
working towards the best version of ourselves.
Looking
back, did you ever doubt you could be in this position at any point in time in
your life?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: Several times. That is why we must always, always be hopeful.
Faith,
love, and hope.
Looking
ahead to years to come, what does the future hold for you in your career?
Adeline
Esi Asante-Antwi: My hope is to be a great contributor to brand building in the
African market, by cultivating international brands for our markets and then
eventually building my own brand.
I
also love passing knowledge to the next generation, I hope to grow in the
motivational speaking space in years to come.
The Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Summit and Awards
recognized Africa’s global leaders in the multitrillion-dollar FMCG economy.
The National FMCG Summit and Awards event brought
together key players and delegates from the consumer-packaged goods and
business industry in Ghana, Africa, and the world under the theme: Codes of
winning in the New Reality; Sustaining winning brands with the New consumer.