As Nigeria’s startup ecosystem matures, product marketing is shifting from a visibility function to a strategic growth discipline.
Increasingly, it sits at the intersection of product design, regulation, user behaviour and trust.
For Joba Ojelabi, whose work spans both healthtech and fintech, this evolution has been practical, not theoretical. Campaigns may attract attention, but alignment sustains growth.
In healthtech, the stakes are immediate. During his time working with Advantage Health Africa, a company focused on improving access to genuine medicines and strengthening pharmaceutical distribution, Ojelabi approached marketing as a credibility engine rather than merely a promotional tool.
The World Health Organization has consistently highlighted the risks posed by substandard and falsified medicines in parts of sub Saharan Africa. In such a context, communication cannot rely on aesthetics alone.
At Advantage Health Africa, his work centred on translating complex healthcare messages into a language that pharmacies, healthcare providers and last mile users could understand and trust. Rather than positioning the platform with aggressive growth rhetoric, he aligned communication with compliance realities and the guiding principles of the organization with respect to medications- access, quality and affordability.
The transition into fintech introduced a different but equally sensitive terrain. Nigeria remains one of Africa’s most active fintech markets, attracting significant venture funding while operating under regulatory scrutiny.
Advisories from the Securities and Exchange Commission and ongoing debates around digital assets reinforce the need for disciplined financial communication. Consumer skepticism, shaped by past disruptions and policy shifts, remains strong.
At FlashChange, where Ojelabi leads marketing, this environment required a recalibration of growth strategy.
Instead of optimising solely for downloads and impressions, his campaigns prioritised funded accounts, active transactions and repeat usage.
Initiatives such as structured referral programmes and community driven content were designed to link storytelling with measurable product interaction. The focus was not merely awareness but activation.
This approach aligns with broader global fintech insights from firms such as McKinsey, which highlight retention and customer lifetime value as more reliable indicators of sustainability than acquisition spikes.
At FlashChange, product marketing was structured to support these deeper metrics. Messaging around speed, transparency and cross-border convenience was tied directly to demonstrable product performance, reducing the gap between promise and experience.
Another defining feature of Ojelabi’s work at FlashChange has been the integration of community validation into growth strategy. DataReportal’s 2024 digital report underscores the expansion of social media usage in Nigeria, particularly short form video platforms. Consumers increasingly evaluate financial services on platforms like TikTok, where comment sections function as informal review systems.
Across both Advantage Health Africa and FlashChange, a consistent pattern emerges in Ojelabi’s perspective. Product marketing is not an isolated communications function. It is connective tissue between engineering, compliance, operations and growth. In emerging markets where infrastructure gaps, regulatory flux and economic volatility coexist, misalignment between product reality and marketing narrative can quickly erode trust.
By aligning communication closely with product capability in healthtech, and by structuring fintech campaigns around measurable engagement and community validation, Ojelabi’s work reflects a broader maturation within Nigeria’s startup ecosystem.
As the ecosystem grows more disciplined, moving beyond campaigns becomes less about reducing marketing activity and more about redefining its role. In emerging markets, sustainable growth depends not on louder messaging but on credible execution.
For Ojelabi, product marketing is not setting up ads and campaigns. It is strategy anchored in the principles the product itself embodies.
