Amiable Ezekiel Adamu is the brain behind Balmoral Group. In this interview, he spoke about what motivates him, his fashion and forthcoming event, the International Drinks Festival.
Balmoral Group is a multifaceted brand. Can you break it down for us?
Balmoral Group is a 360-event solutions company. We have four segments in Balmoral Group. We have the Balmoral Venues which is the very popular one; there is Balmoral Hospitality, Balmoral Live and Balmoral Exhibitions.
International Drinks Festival is a project you have been pushing for some years, under what aspect of the Balmoral brand does it falls?
It is actually a Balmoral Live concept. Balmoral Live is an agency that creates platforms for brands to be able to engage and plug in. By engagement, we mean meeting and educating customers. The biggest player in the events industry is drinks. We know this, so we decided to start off a project with the drinks industry. We also realised that there are a lot of unconfirmed data about Nigeria and Nigerians regarding drinks. People say a lot of loose things on the streets about Nigeria and drinks. They say Nigerians are the highest consumers of champagne in the world. Nigeria is this, Nigeria is that, but based on what data? There is no data. When we did our research, we found out that the data from which such claims are being made were obtained by Euro Monitor, from a survey of two thousand people in a country of about one hundred and eighty to two hundred million people. We found Euro Monitor’s data to be inaccurate and we needed to find a solution. We thought about major drinks countries like France, Germany, Australia, America and asked how they solved this kind of problem. The International Drinks Festival is actually a platform which you can actually use to capture data, educate people, measure trends and other industry indices.
Can you say categorically that this project has helped the drinks industry?
Someone once asked a question about identifying counterfeit drinks in one of our events. It is the industries that will give you tips on how to do that, but we are providing a platform for them to engage and plug in and educate their consumers.
How successful would you say Balmoral Live has been?
A lot of people come out with ideas, but its innovation and change that keeps us going, what we do is to come up with a unique way of how to sell different brands, a unique way of exhibition, a unique way of educating people. Nigerians love entertainment, so we fused entertainment and drinks together to come up with this concept. This is like a natural progression for us.
Has this concept been accepted by companies in Nigeria?
Balmoral Group is not a new brand, we have been in business for about 12 years before we came up with this concept. We have also been working with this drink brands for a while.
How international is this festival, is it basically a name thing?
We have gone around the whole world to see how this thing is being done, so we called it International Drinks Festival because it has to match the international standard.
What should we expect from this edition besides the fact that you have extended it by a day?
First, the event will hold at Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos between November 29th and December 2nd. Now to your question, food and drinks go together, you can’t separate them. So, this time around we have gotten our major celebrity chefs in Nigeria to talk about how to for instance mix beer and chicken, wine and food caring, what kind of food goes with different kind of wine? There are different kinds of wines, we have red wine, white wine, Palm wine and so on and so forth. So, how do you do that? You asked me what is going to be unique about this year’s event. We have distributors coming from all over the country. If you want to start up a drinks company in Nigeria, you will want to service the whole of the country and that means flying to every part of Nigeria. You have to fly to Aba to meet the distributors in Aba; you have to fly to Kano to meet the distributors in Kano. You have to meet them one-on-one. What we have done is to bridge all that gaps and bring all of the distributors together in one room, so you don’t have to fly to them. Those people will come and meet you and engage you here.
Are you working with regulators, what is your relationship with them?
It’s amazing. We can’t do this without them. I remember going for an event in Germany and we met Wines of Chili and the first thing they asked us was that they were looking at coming to Nigeria, but need data, and the data was not there. So, that is what we are trying to do now. This event is one with which you can use to determine trends. You can determine what genre likes what and what genre drinks what. So, your marketing then becomes targeted. You know people that want what. For instance, if you are into tiger nuts or palm wine, you can come into business, set up, grow your business and relate with Nigeria Breweries. If your business is good, it can be bought over. So, what we are putting together is a platform where a lot can happen.
Asides these set of events, what are you looking at doing in the nearest future?
We just concluded an event called ‘Russia In Lagos’, a World Cup viewing centre that was located at Eko Atlantic. We invited a lot of people. We had well over forty thousand people in attendance. What we do is create platforms. Next years, we have about five different platforms that we are introducing to the public. So, we are providing avenues where brands can engage, where governments can showcase themselves. Last year, we had Customs, Clearing and Forwarding Agents and others attending our events. So, it’s about finding solutions to current problems in the industry.
Very little is known about the man Ezekiel Adamu, why is this so?
I am a workaholic, but don’t get me wrong I get to have fun as well. I am a very private person. Starting this business about 12 years ago, I want to separate the business from myself. I always wanted Balmoral Group to be at the forefront while Amos Adamu is at the back. I didn’t want the case whereby you are more popular than the brand itself which is easy to do. However, I always wanted the brand to be a standalone. So, it doesn’t matter who is its Managing Director, who is the Chief Executive Officer, it’s the brand that sells. So, as much as possible, I keep my own life private, while the business speaks for itself. I am not a politician, so I am not supposed to be known, it’s the brand that needs to be known. The brand and the quality it stands for. To a very large extent, I think I am glad with the level that we have been able to get to in terms of that.
Don’t you think that it is necessary to put a face to the brand?
Absolutely, but I don’t think that my face is hidden from the brand, is it?
It is not very obvious
That was the idea, you feel like you need to build the brand to a certain level before you now start talking about you. You don’t want a case where something happens to you or there is a case of something about you going wrong and it affects the brand too. So, that is the strategy. There are several businesses that we know, but we don’t know the brain behind them. In my personal opinion, I think it’s an African thing; we want to be seen as a big man. Most times, I go for meetings and people ask if I am the manager or what, but I don’t bother to correct them because it is about the brand, it is not about me.
As much as you are a private person, what was growing up like?
I had a privileged childhood; I grew up in the north. I schooled in the United Kingdom and I came back home to work.
A lot of people would have chosen to remain in the United Kingdom, why did you return?
I didn’t want to stay, I wanted to return.
But there has to be a reason, what was it?
We are nation builders, I needed to come back home and build the nation. I can’t go and play second citizen in someone else country. I have gone to learn so I can make an impact in my country. That is partly what we are doing with International Drinks Festival.
Tell us about your fashion sense?
I definitely love to look good. I am not a brand person; it is all about looking good. I am not someone who would say I have to wear this particular brand.
CEO, Balmoral Group, Ezekiel Adamu
So what is your fashion then?
I am more of a native person. Our local designers are doing an amazing job right now.
Would you want to mention a couple of names who design for you?
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t want to do that because of the names I might forget to mention.
A lot of people who see you from afar would hastily conclude that Ezekiel Adamu is mean, do you get that?
Always.
Do you make any attempt at correcting this impression?
I feel that if you get to know me you will find out that I am a very humorous and jovial person. I laugh a lot. However, I am also a very serious person. I have quite a lot of business people to deal with and when I have some things on my mind and you look at me, you think I am mean. I am probably the easiest person you will ever meet.
Are you satisfied with where you are today?
We are getting there. I feel that on a scale of 10 we are probably on level three or four. So, it’s a long way to go. I measure myself on a very high standard. So, based on that I feel we have a long way to go. I don’t compare myself with people here. I compare myself with the best of the best.
What would you say influenced your high standards, your dad or mum?
I read a lot of books. Sometimes, I differ with my dad on issues. I read books, I read a lot of biographies and that is what I base my standards and values on. I don’t based them on a particular person or what has been done or written.
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