30Under30 Nominee: Onyinyechi Okeke

Great to hear from Significant Insights Global 30 under 30 nominee Onyinyechi Okeke who is an Analyst at Pierrine Consulting and is passionate about Africa!

So, how did you get into the industry, and take us through how you got to this point?

As I neared the completion of my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), a mandatory one year service to the nation program for Nigerian university graduates, I began proactively applying for jobs about a month before the service ended. One of the positions I applied for was a graduate trainee role at my current organization. After a successful interview, I was offered the opportunity to start immediately after my service year, which was only a few weeks away from ending. Although I had no prior experience in market research, I began my journey as a graduate trainee, and since then, my career has been both rewarding and without regret.

Why should anyone consider a career in market research, data and insights?

The market research industry is a truly interesting and impactful industry where your insights and recommendations help businesses make crucial decisions to drive success. It also keeps you knowledgeable as you get to work with various industries – today you are working on an alcohol innovation study and tomorrow it is a beauty or tech innovation study. All these diverse works help the researcher become a more critical and analytical thinker.

Career paths are rarely without challenges. Can you share an honest moment from your career when things didn’t go quite according to plan, but the lessons remain with you to this day?

My CEO’s advice, “bad news early is good news,” was key in resolving a challenging project for an FMCG company. It involved a product test with a large sample size and tight deadlines. The target audience could only be found in certain locations at specific times making the process more difficult than expected as we could only do little out of this large sample and time was fast running out. After escalating the issue early, I suggested finding the TAs in alternative locations with similar demographics. The client accepted the idea, and it helped us complete the project successfully despite initial setbacks.

What two things should junior researchers focus on as they progress in their careers?

Maintain an open mind to adapt and grow, especially when working across diverse industries. Also, stay curious!!! Curiosity is equally essential for driving progress and success in this field.

Do you have any advice for our sector?

Our industry should adopt more AI technologies to stay ahead as tech and AI continue to grow globally. One promising area is emotionally intelligent AI, which, while lacking the human touch, can provide deeper insights into understanding the ‘why’.

We can also innovate by making research more engaging through gamified surveys apps making participants enjoy taking surveys.

Additionally, to raise awareness of our field, market research should be a stand-alone course in universities, especially in places like Nigeria where many researchers enter the industry without prior knowledge of it barely knowing or heard about the industry. We need to lead and elevate our sector globally.

And do you have anyone who has helped your career so far that you’d like to acknowledge and say thanks or give a shout out to?

Yes of course I do, I would love to appreciate my current boss who is the CEO of Pierrine Consulting – a market research and strategy firm based in Nigeria. I appreciate his contributions in my career growth. He created an enabling environment that contributed to my growth. With all the consistent trainings, the room to make mistake while he gives his constructive feedbacks. I do not take those for granted.

I also want to thank Mr. Rotimi Shoyoola for sparking my passion for qualitative research through his expertise

My current manager, Victor Onofomi, balances friendship with leadership, allowing team members to feel comfortable yet professional while maintaining discipline

I appreciate the entire Pierrine Trybe Members (we call the team a trybe) for their family-like support and for making the workplace a fun place.