Ogunyooye boosting insurance adoption at AXA Mansard through brand marketing

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc’s Olusesan Ogunyooye, head, Marketing, is redefining insurance awareness and adoption in Nigeria.

By reshaping the brand to feel more relatable, accessible, and culturally relevant, he is helping reposition insurance as a necessary part of everyday life for more Nigerians.

This has continued to earn him awards among marketing and branding communications watchers in Nigeria.

Recently, Ogunyooye received another honour for his leadership as head of Marketing at AXA Mansard and his intellectual contributions to the growth of the business environment and marketing profession in Africa.

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‎Ogunyooye, who leads the Global Insurer’s brand and products across insurance, health, and investment categories in Nigeria, joined the company in 2021. Since then, he has led the advancement of the brand, driving its domestication and cultural integration in Nigeria.

He led the launch of various campaigns to increase the brand’s share of mind and salience among the youth and emerging customer segments.

‎Reacting to the awards, he commented, “This feels truly special. But more importantly, it represents a well-deserved recognition for the work and commitment of my team. We come to work every day with a single mission to help Nigerians recognise and appreciate the pivotal role insurance plays in their lives. This mission has driven every initiative we ran, and it’s fulfilling to see that that mindset is being recognised with awards tonight,” he said.

‎“This is therefore another reminder that curiosity, consistency, and excellence can take one far. Marketing in Nigeria has moved beyond pure intuition; it’s now about fusing data, creativity, and empathy to create products and messages that make people’s lives better. And I am happy to see that this philosophy is being rewarded by the Edge awards”.

‎“I would like to dedicate the award to the AXA brand for the inspiration it provides me and my team. I’ve always argued the AXA purpose – “acting for human progress by protecting what matters” – is the profoundest that I know. It gives you the room to imagine and dare. It’s that daring that has brought us to where we are and is taking us even further as a team.

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‎Besides several local and international awards that the AXA Mansard brand has attracted under his leadership, Ogunyooye’s belief that a brand should reflect the society that it serves is central to the several social responsibility initiatives that have endeared the AXA brand in Nigeria. Through his leadership, the brand impacted over 5,000 lives, engaging over 900 AXA Mansard employees and agents to participate in at least one volunteering act. In 2024, under the AXA Hearts in Action (AHIA), employees logged more than 23,000 volunteering hours.

‎Before joining AXA Mansard, Olusesan was head of Marketing and Communications at Alpha Mead Group, where he led marketing campaigns and programmes across the 11 countries where the company operates.

Besides being directly responsible for the full rebranding of the Alpha Mead, his work on the launch of the first monthly rental product in Nigeria and Ghana, and the launch of Nigeria’s first Modula Healthcare Facility also won the Sabre Awards.

‎Olusesan holds an MBA from Business School Netherlands, a Bachelor of Arts in English Studies from Adekunle Ajasin University, and a Diploma in Mass Communications from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic. He is a Fellow of the National Institute of Marketing Nigeria (NMIN), a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), UK, and a Member of the Strategic Management Institute, Nigeria.

Modestus Anaesoronye is a leading Nigerian financial journalist with over two decades of experience reporting on the insurance and pension sectors across Nigeria and West Africa. He has held key editorial positions at major national media outlets, including The Comet, The Nation, and Financial Standard, and currently serves as a Senior Financial Analyst at BusinessDay Media Ltd.

A widely travelled reporter, he has covered industry developments in more than 14 countries across Africa and Asia.

Anaesoronye is a multiple award-winning journalist, honoured several times as Insurance Journalist of the Year and Pension Journalist of the Year by recognised industry bodies, including PensionScope and the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp), among others.

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