How Refinery29's Effy Okogba creates content that echoes the real world

Growing up in inner-city London, Effy Okogba, 33, saw diversity and inequality all around her, but not in the advertising and media she consumed. When joining the industry, she wanted to ensure the content she created echoed the world around her. As the managing director of Refinery 29 Europe, Okogba leads commercial direction and leadership of Refinery29’s UK, French and German operations. Despite the difficulties of 2020, she oversaw Refinery29 moving into international profitability through work illuminating themes of diversity, inclusion and female empowerment. The launch of R29 Voices in partnership with Dove brought forth content that spoke to the experience of underserved groups. Okogba calls it one of the “most rewarding partnerships” of her career due to its mission “to ensure that women are fully represented in media and the advertising industry for the first time.” Meanwhile, editorial projects Unbothered and Unchartered Bodies revealed the nuances of the Black British experience for women and explored the gender health gap, respectively. See all of Ad Age's 2021 Leading Women U.S. and Europe here. What advice would you give your younger self? Don't be afraid to be yourself because everyone else is taken. I have found that everyone has their own unique point of view and value they can bring to the table. If you mute or filter yourself, then your true opinions, ideas and feelings are not being seen or heard. That can harm your enjoyment of your role and result in operating in an advertising echo chamber. What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken? I couldn't see how I could make impact within a "sales" role and felt it would hinder any future opportunities to make the transition over to working within and then leading brand, editorial teams. I'm glad to say with hindsight that my initial concerns were wrong and that my experience on the commercial side has only bolstered my knowledge, frame of references and experience as to what works and what doesn't work. If you weren’t doing your current job what would you be doing and why? If I couldn't help to progress equality, diversity and inclusivity via storytelling, content and advertising, I would want to do it via working for a non-for-profit organization. I definitely see myself working for Amnesty International or Stonewall in my professional parallel universe. What should the industry do to encourage more women and people of color into its ranks? There is no shortage of women and POC with the ambition to join the industry, the industry sadly fails to reflect that. The industry needs to create more ways to access work experience, internships and jobs in advertising, starting with initiatives reaching out to talent from college-age upwards. I myself had no idea of the variety of roles available in the advertising industry until I was in it in 2011. We need to demystify our industry in order to attract a wider pool of talent. Which campaign or other piece of work have you seen in the last year that you wish you had done? The best work always comes from a place of universal experience or truth. Dove & Ogilvy’s “Courage is Beautiful” campaign tapped into a moment in time which we will all remember and cuts through the noise to hold space for the true heroes of 2020 and 2021, whilst also cleverly feeling totally authentic to Dove's long-established purpose to expand representations of beauty. See all of Ad Age's 2021 Leading Women U.S. and Europe here.

How Refinery29's Effy Okogba creates content that echoes the real world

Featured Stories