WIMCA 2026: Abisoye Oruye honoured as Media Manager of the Year

MMichael Olumide Alabi

Abisoye Oruye, a media and marketing communications professional with nearly two decades of experience across West and Central Africa, has been named Media Manager of the Year (Dairy) at the 2026 Women in Marketing and Communications Conference and Awards (WIMCA).

The award recognises Oruye’s outstanding contribution to media strategy, brand visibility, consumer engagement and the achievement of communication objectives for leading dairy brands during the 2025–2026 period.

According to the organisers, the award honours a media professional who has demonstrated excellence, strategic thinking, innovation and measurable impact in managing media strategy within the dairy sector.

The selection process considered several criteria, including strategic media planning and execution, integration of traditional and digital media, quality of media visibility, relationships with media stakeholders, consumer engagement and the ability to translate brand objectives into compelling media narratives.

Oruye currently serves as Media Manager for the full brand portfolio at FrieslandCampina WAMCO, where she provides strategic direction for media planning, optimisation and campaign execution across the company’s portfolio.

In the role, she oversees media strategies supporting major brands, including Peak and Three Crowns, helping the brands maintain relevance and strengthen connections with consumers in an increasingly fragmented media environment.

Her WIMCA recognition comes against the backdrop of an extensive career spanning media strategy, integrated marketing communications and business development.

Oruye began her professional career at MediaReach OMD in 2008, where she developed expertise in media planning and strategy. She later joined Algorithm Media, part of GroupM, in 2018.

At Algorithm Media, she played a significant role in business development and client acquisition, leading high-stakes pitches that secured major accounts, including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt, Twinings and Telemundo.

She also provided media strategy leadership for internationally recognised brands such as Ariel, Oral-B, Gillette and Always, further expanding her experience across fast-moving consumer goods and other major consumer categories.

Oruye holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos. She is also a member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria.

Her professional journey has increasingly focused on integrating consumer insights, media analytics and digital innovation to respond to changing audience behaviour and create stronger connections between brands and consumers.

The WIMCA 2026 recognition adds another milestone to a career defined by the continuous evolution of media strategy in response to a rapidly changing communications landscape.

It also underscores the growing importance of media professionals in helping brands navigate fragmented audiences, emerging digital platforms and increasingly sophisticated consumer expectations.

For Oruye, the award represents recognition of the strategic role effective media management plays in building brand relevance, visibility and sustained consumer engagement, particularly within Nigeria’s highly competitive consumer market.

The honour further highlights the contribution of skilled media professionals to the success of brands by combining strategic planning, creativity, analytics and innovation to deliver meaningful results.