'Excellence Is Not by Luck' by Tony Agenmonmen

AUTHOR'S BIOGRAPHY:

Tony Agenmonmen is a consummate marketer, author and currently President of National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN). He has over 32 years experience in marketing, spent majorly with the blue chip company; Nigerian Breweries PLC. He is known for hard work, perseverance, professionalism and strong moral belief. He is a crisis manager and a stickler to 'due' process without loosing sight of reality, flexibility or human fallibility.

THE BOOK

Reviewed by Segun Ozique.

'EXCELLENCE IS NOT BY LUCK': TAKING CHARGE IN CHALLENGING MOMENTS explores the world of marketing in practice and the inner working that keeps the consumer falling in love with, staying with as well as coming back again and again for their favorite brands. Tony broke down the insider working of very complicated and complex relationship to simple, easy to read and understandable narratives. He made it abundantly clear that successful marketing, branding, sustainability of the brands at peak level and driving up profit without compromising on quality, company goals, vision and mission requires diligence and persistence. The book is a good template to marketing professionals, wannabee and the general public on how to create, retain and sustain the proper environment for business to thrive. To be able to showcase the requisite organisational skills, professional deftness and successfully navigate the many pitfalls of successful marketing, Tony drew on his many years of dealings, negotiations, managing people and profiling to expertly guide his readers to see and understand clearly the many changing decisions; rebranding, musical concerts, competitions, etc informing the processes their brands went through in the course of his time with Nigerian Breweries (NB) PLC.

'EXCELLENCE IS NOT BY LUCK'  has attracted mass followings among marketing practictioners and the general public who resonate with the stories told in the book and the personalities involved. It is hugely very ambitious writing style; first, adopting such an unusual structure for a non-fiction work that narates aspects of his working life and secondly, given the fluidity and inovativeness of the marketing scene and the social events at the time, there is the risk it would be quickly dated and irrelevant. However, he gave a good justification to the need for the book: hear him, 'I was..inundated with requests...why my "wealth of experience" should not go unrecorded...if I allow such to be lost' and as the memories of the events defining his career flooded, he simply put them down. As it turns out, the book is not a prescriptive 'how to' book but an entertaining and engaging chat that takes the form of reflective writing of event and decisions spanning over 32 years in marketing.

The tenet of the messages in this interesting, revealing and valuable work is that excellence depends largely but not wholly on making rational choices. But more important, excelling requires developing the virtue of patience and attentiveness to details, persistence and not quick to take no for answer, efficiency, analytical thoroughness in thoughts and deeds, the ability to work hard and if need be for long hours, have the belief and confidence to take decision, be prepared to take responsibility no matter the outcome of one's decisions, explore possibilities, be cautious in embracing innovations, weary of research that runs contrary to facts, treat people with respect, and remain principled based on ideal and philosophy that is practicable and rational. It is a practical and pragmatic view point that should appeal to both practicing marketing professionals and the general public.

Tony is a man with perceptive insights based on practical experience. His simple but powerful central idea and messages to practitioners generally are highlighted in bold fonts and spread throughout the books. It begins with the assertion that 'being oneself always and holding on tightly to what one believes in as if one's life depend on it' then goes philosophical, 'this is not heady idealism, it's about holding strong to principles.' Then he says; 'flexibility may in some situations prove to be the right way, but once sufficiently convinced of the road to go, run on it and do not look back.' Regarding man's fallability, here is Tony's adaptive principle, 'any position or action taken by man, regardless of status, knowledge or expertise has certain degree of probability with regard to the outcome. It is in this sense that we are considered finite beings - not God.' Concerning the possible seduction of agencies and vendors, he writes, 'my warning to marketing practioner is never fall in love so easily with agency presentations largely due to the colourful charts...' and while apparently confronted by unresonableness, prejudice or outright insults which may cause one to be '...livid...when you get challenged in such moment, you have to take a deep breath, surbordinate your emotions and take rational decisions,' he says.

Tony writes, 'my experience is that a rescue plan well executed can sometimes provide an experience that still captivates the audience...' And again, he asserts, 'I found...pretty useful to carry your boss along always whether it is good news or bad news. It helps when there are no surprises. Sometimes, in such...'he becomes your fall back. And, he concludes; 'Execution is about excellence. Excellence is not by luck. You plan for it. Yes, you are not God, but He has given you a brain, two hands and two legs. Put them to use.'

Though the book did not follow particular structure and the sampling court judgement and other documents disrupts the flow and full enjoyment of my reading, Tony presents his naratives in a lively, entertaining, interesting and amusing style. He writes in simple and uncomplicated language with clarity of purpose and demonstrates incisive thinking in making the right calls and judgement as professional. The book is written in a chatty form that makes for easy consumption and full of insights to the world of marketing and brand promotions. It is obvious that practitioners and all in related field of brand management and marketing would find practical helpful tips from this book. The interesting thing as I read the book was the mentioning of names of popular musical stars; revealing their shenanigans, the mention of my brand larger beer-Guilder and all the brouhaha that went with it's promotions and lastly the sordid shameful behavious of some highly placed individuals exhibiting rascality and nepotism. But the beauty at the end remain; how they all excellently blended in Tony's pursuit of excellence. It is certainly a very revealing, entertaining, entrapping, enthralling and enjoyable book. For all those looking for guide, secrets and wanting to learn the rope on handling clients, agencies, vendors, colleagues and branding, Tony has exhaustively provided you with rich insight to the conundrum of the inner workings and complex executive relationship of a blue chip company with 'A' listed brands.

'Excellence is not by luck'  is highly recommended.