• Image credit: SO&U
SO&U Advertising Agency marks her 36 anniversary this year (1990-2026).
Here are what the founders, pioneers, and former staff said about the company:
Toye Arulogun, a pioneer staff member between 1990 and 1996 and now Executive Vice Chairman of The Tall & Wide Company Limited and Executive Producer at Life Radio 107.5FM Ibadan, said : “The anniversary represents something far greater than business survival.”
He describes the journey as “no mean feat,” particularly within Nigeria’s often unpredictable economic landscape.
In his words, SO&U was built on a founding vision strong enough to withstand “the vagaries and dynamics of Nigeria’s economy” over 36 years.
He recalled a beginning shaped by constraint but powered by conviction. There were challenges – funding limitations, staffing gaps, and infrastructure hurdles, but what defined the early years was not scarcity, but momentum.
His recollection of culture is even more vivid. SO&U was not just a workplace; it was a shared existence. People worked late, learned fast, and lived close to their craft, bound together by creative ambition and camaraderie.
What carried the agency forward, he explains, was a shared sense of purpose, vision, energy, and an almost contagious hunger for success across every level of the team.
“Kudos,” he said, not merely as a closing remark, but as recognition of a journey still unfolding.
Mrs. Idorenyin Toye Arulogun, former Account Executive at SO&U and now Chief Executive Officer of Tita Edibles Ventures, offers a reflection shaped by what the agency instilled in its people.
For her, the 36-year milestone evokes pride, excitement, and gratitude.
She describes SO&U’s growth as remarkable, particularly given the intensity and constant evolution of the industry it operates in. Yet what stands out most in her account is not scale, but structure in an environment defined by inclusion.
Even improvised moments, like media purchase orders written on makeshift surfaces, became symbols of a movement already in motion.
What carried the agency forward, he explains, was a shared sense of purpose, vision, energy, and an almost contagious hunger for success across every level of the team.“Kudos,” he says, not merely as a closing remark, but as recognition of a journey still unfolding.
” SO&U’s longevity is rooted in its obsession with solving client problems and not merely producing communication. Creativity was always tied to function. It had to work, not just impress.”
Dr. Gbenga Badejo, Managing Partner of Gbenga Badejo and Co., viewed the agency’s evolution through a professional and structural lens, but arrives at a similar conclusion about consistency.
He describes SO&U’s growth as one built on early strength in financial services communications, which later expanded into FMCG and broader sectors with disciplined intent.
What has sustained the agency, he notes, is not expansion alone, but consistency in delivering on its brand promise.
Tony Archibong, distils the agency’s essence into three words: creative, assertive, enduring.
For him, SO&U’s longevity is rooted in its obsession with solving client problems and not merely producing communication. Creativity was always tied to function. It had to work, not just impress.
He points to a strong customer service orientation and a disciplined commitment to delivering solutions that directly influence client business outcomes.
That, he suggests, is why clients stayed and why referrals became a natural extension of the agency’s reputation.
Violet Nath-Okoduwa, CEO of Tangent Media Services Limited and former Media Executive at SO&U:
She credits the agency’s resilience to leadership foresight, adaptability, and a deep understanding of Nigerian consumer behaviour.
In her view, SO&U’s strength lies in its ability to balance consistency with reinvention.
(Adapted from THISDAY)
