Of Local Champions, Purposeful Advertising and Global Icons.
I am putting ink to the sheet for this article on May 25 - ‘Africa Day’ as it’s come to annually commemorate. A couple of days ago, poring over the latest listing of top 100 global brands recently published by Interbrand, I could not help finding it somewhat disheartening to note that not a single name on that list originated from or was even remotely associated with Africa.
While at the verge of despair, I later stumbled upon another article earlier published by the same consultancy, in which, howbeit comfortingly, a number of proudly African brands were given prominent mention alongside notable Western brands as reference points as far as soaring global influence is concerned.
Personally, I have severally pondered reasons why it increasingly seems that Africa (and particularly Nigeria) has appeared to be somewhat far-flung backwards in the scheme of things as far as reckoning in the global marketplace is concerned, while other hitherto ‘fellow third-world economies’ are rapidly increasing their spheres of influence in the global picture.
Giving some more incisive thought to this topically crucial issue of building global and enduring brands out of Africa, I at this juncture suggest it may be expedient for us to pause for a moment and look South for some inspiration in this regard .(This, no doubt, is one thorny issue that borders on ‘national pride’ and indeed still remains a subject of debacle, as most Nigerian practitioners will typically be swift to defensively react that the South Africans are not necessarily better than we are, but are just more exposed or have access to more opportunities. Some others argue that it should be traced to the British/Dutch influence, indeed there abound a thousand and one rationalizations on this topic and I honestly do not intend to join the fray. It is only my opinion that developments in that economy, and indeed some other African economies can be instructive for us in no small measure.
Among other promising icons, Nando’s has been described as one of the very few examples of commercial brand-based globalization to emerge from this continent called Africa.
The intriguing story dates back to the year 1987, in the tiny Johannesburg suburb of Rosettenville, when Robbie(Robert) Brozin was invited by his good friend Fernando Duarte to a small Portuguese-style restaurant then known as Chickenland in downtown Johannesburg. Duarte’s sole objective then was to introduce his friend to something really special – Flame-grilled Portuguese-style peri-peri chicken.
Alas! Brozin ended up being hooked. Collectively, they decided to acquire this obscure restaurant with a vision to change the way the world thinks about chicken! Now, some 19 years down the line, Nando’s has unarguably become one of SA’s most successful and most talked-about food brands. As a matter of fact, its sometime pretty difficult to reconcile the fact this brand traces its very roots to Africa. It’s come to be reckoned with globally as an iconic and classic South African brand synonymous with attitude, energy, irreverence, as well as, among other things, extra soft toilet paper, if you’re daring enough to go for extra hot, that is!!
Now, the real lesson herein is that this young company, a couple of years into its existence consciously took the very bold step of focusing on global expansion which has been resolutely and aggressively pursued over the past few years, and this has paid off handsomely by any standards, resulting in over 600 stores worldwide, with about 205 in SA alone and the remaining nearly 400 taunting and teasing countless taste buds across locations that the founders in their wildest dreams may never even have imagined – the Far East, Australia and the UK being focal points of the expansion drive.
One equally noteworthy realization about the Nando’s story is that the approach effectively punctured the myth that you’ve got to break the bank and outspend competition in order to be able to make any meaningful impact in the market. Faced with intensely stiff and unrelenting competition from big-spending KFC, and against the constraint of lean budgets (estimated then to be just about a mere 17% of the Colonel’s hefty globalization chequebook), Nando’s had no choice but to make big noise to stand a chance of being noticed in the market! This invariably set the tone and essential framework for a very unique brand construct and personality. Ever since, Nando’s advertising has always been challenging, fun, topical, markedly provocative and decidedly irreverent! As a matter of fact, practically nothing has been spared as there’re no sacred cows…just chickens as far as Nando’s is concerned. Everything from sex, old people, drugs, gays, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela have so far featured.
This inspiring story lends further credence to the potency of purposeful advertising, as Nando’s has become one of the best examples of an ‘obscure’ African restaurant that successfully employed advertising, albeit, among other tools in the mix to literally force the world to look its way!
Other globally attested examples, still from down south abound in the likes of De Beers, shaking things up in the global mining market, while SAB Miller is also comfortably holding it down in the competitively cut-throat world beer market.
Suddenly, a startling poser flashes across my mind….could it be a skin pigmentation thing…is black Africa jinxed or something??
Probably not! Interestingly, some of our Nigerian ‘superbrands’ are not doing so badly afterall, considering those futuristic ad spots on CNN, huge sponsorships and events etc .. we can only hope things continue to get better. However at this juncture, knowing that we already RULE OUR WORLDS, We’ve since been THINKING POSSIBLE, We’re already SHARING THE BRIGHTER LIFE and doing loads of other stuff, Isn’t it expedient, perhaps, that we stop in our tracks , draw deep breaths in and pause to ask….. Where goeth we from here?
Tomi Ogunlesi is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is presently an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Multiple Personality Disorder??
Personality is a very fundamental element of the human make-up, and each one of us, as individual constituents of a mass population, is clearly distinguished by our unique identities. When a person loses grip on his identity, psychological issues definitely set in, which attendantly have adverse impact on their perception of life as well as behavioral disposition. This consequently has negative implications on how they’re perceived by society and other individuals.
There’s no doubt that a good number of our product/service offerings are struggling with the problem of identity as far as our brands are concerned in these climes. More often than not , we endeavor to say too much – about ourselves, about what we stand for, about our offering e.t.c in grossly limited communication space and within ridiculously short time frames – A case of aspiring to be “all things to all men”, one might say.
Again, as marketers/marketing communicators, we encounter this conflict of whether to focus on product sales in the short term or to devote precious resources towards a pain-staking, apparently not-immediately-rewarding brand positioning and building process in the longer term. A fundamental truth we must realize, however, is that a company’s (or product’s or service’s brand) is derived from the value that it offers to not only consumer’s but the entirety of its target publics –the consumer, of course remains king, but then a host of other stakeholders also do exist!
Of course, the realization that bills have got to be paid is paramount on the entrepreneur’s objectives…..which necessitates that the marketer’s carefully conceived marketing campaign must instantly set the cash register ringing with dispatch.
We however need to take some crucial considerations into cognizance. This leads us again, at this juncture to underscore the holistic definition of what a brand is. It encapsulates the roles that particular offering plays in its stakeholders lives, the values it represents and stands for.
The brand image refers to the comprehensive verbal, visual and digital display of the brand (which, of course comprises of vital elements such as the logo, colours, type-faces and other iconography) and the challenge all brands have to constantly surmount is that these must necessarily provide a consistent appearance that resonates with the target community and they can identify and connect with these elements.
The Value proposition is a foundational element that is constantly subjected to testing and evaluation and must be periodically measured and refined.
Brand Presence is also another very integral factor. Where does your brand meet its target consumer? It is essentially imperative that the brand be represented in advertising/communication media that reflect the essence of its personality, whether in consumer or Business-to-Business contexts.
A brand’s identity is the framework on which all other variables rest. The identity informs the outlook of the entire brand construct. It guides the brand iconography, copy and communication tone, ad layouts, campaign look and feel e.t.c.
The possession of a strong identity is without doubt an important asset for a brand and will become increasingly important in the future. it is however ironic that the need to have a strong identity and the attendant nurturing of same is ignored in almost every discussion on branding. Moreover, we notice that in practice a relatively large number of brands change their identity in order to "reconnect" with the consumer, howbeit often without success. What then usually happens as a consequence is that the consumer does not recognize its brand anymore, simply because the brand has embarked on a volte-face and changed its identity! It’s consumer simply does not know what the brand stands for and as a consequence of this he has difficulties to trust the brand. And trust, as we all know, is the basis for every relationship
Truth is, Once a brand is struggling with identity issues, all other elements are no doubt resting on a shaky foundation.
It is not contestable that archetypes play pivotal roles in cultural identity. It is therefore rather unfortunate to realize that very few brand/marketing strategists have made the integral connection between brands and archetypes - or at least worked to incorporate the notion of archetypes in their operational brand-building methodology.
One realization is that Brands are complex, abstract and difficult to pin down. However, in endeavoring to define them, it appears we oftentimes forget this. With techniques such as brand pyramids and a thousand and one other varied, complex ‘proprietary tools’ of different orientation ,we attempt to constrain and control them. Rather than trying to understand brands in their natural habitat, we box them in enclosures-turning them into guinea pigs of sorts. We do recognize, of course that pyramids, onions, mappings, brand wheels, master brand keys and other myriad techniques indeed can prove to be useful tools/disciplines that help in the distillation process – But a key and objective question remains that ‘do they really help define the unchanging core values of a brand?’ We spend ages debating and rationalizing the nuances of synonyms, performing semantic gymnastics to prove that Brand X is different from Brand Y, and ceaselessly agonizing over whether something is an Emotional Benefit or a Brand Value or in fact the selling proposition – a distinction we struggle to understand in the first place. At the end of the day,where does all of this get us in real terms? More often than not, a pile of disjointed words that look like little less than explosions in a bombed-out thesaurus factory. Unfortunately, when we eventually succeed in building our pyramids and agreeing that our brand is contemporary, stylish, relevant, inclusive and other usual suspects, we fall into the trap of thinking our job is finished. In reality, though, we are no closer to articulating ‘core essence’ than when we began – even if that particular box has been filled in. What should be rich, complex and, by definition, pain-staking to articulate only ends up more confusing and sadly subjected to assisted suicide by a thousand adjectives and buzzwords., by no means helped in the least by the phenomenon called Microsoft Power-Point (As if we strong brands had not been successfully built before its advent!)
Frankly, Pondering on all of this, I reckon It definitely was not intended to be this complicated.
Permit me to quote Scott Bedbury, who, at different points in time was head of marketing at Nike and Starbucks respectively, He opines that: ‘a brand is a metaphorical story that … connects with something very deep — a fundamental human appreciation of mythology … Companies that manifest this sensibility … invoke something very powerful’. Talking about deep metaphors…….Very insightful and thought-provoking, in my perspective.
Now, those very factors that appear like the seemingly "intangible" elements of a brand are really very precise sets of contextual values, emotions, aspirations and projections that can quite easily be not only identified but plotted, graphed, and inserted into a brand's identity. It’s been said that the key lies in the actual archetypes of the brand(s) in question, and relatedly, a very clear understanding of the pivotal role they play in the psyches and expectations of those folks whose culture you are trying to intertwine your brand with.
The above underscores the imperativeness of extensive and incisive research targeted at obtaining deep consumer insight….the knowledge of what motivates your target and makes them tick.
Some brands are even able to achieve this without actually realizing it. They instinctively tap into something primal and culturally relevant without really knowing or understanding why or how they did it. BRAND STRATEGY intrinsically involves employing archetypes to build stronger brands
A classic example in this case is the Nike Brand: The brand appeals to the "champion/hero" and uses sports as the medium for its allegorical language. The very choice of names - "Nike" the Greek Goddess of victory - has immediate Archetypal implications and goes a long way in moulding consumer perception of the brand.
The Virgin brand, which has become a huge success globally is archetypally a ‘jester’ brand…irreverent , light-heartedand exciting. This has gone on to inform the positioning as well as tonality of the entire brand communication.
A strong identity rooted in a well-fitting archetypal forte is very integral to the brand-building effort.This is the key reason why brands with a strong identity, like Apple, Nike, Guinness, IKEA and BMW, among others have a relatively large group of loyal consumers, employees and ambassadors. These represent brands with strong beliefs and a set of consistent values with which not only their consumers, but also employees , investors and other stakeholders feel connected and are willing to identity with.
It’s about time we, particularly in Nigeria, and Africa, by extension began to have a serious look at the way in which strong and meaningful brand identity can be developed and nurtured, starting from the point of asking these fundamental questions. And, just before I toss my pen away for now……………..Ye marketers, Hearken to Gospel truth ………..”Seek ye first the building of the brand, and all other returns shall be added unto you!”
Tomi Ogunlesi is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is presently an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.
Personality is a very fundamental element of the human make-up, and each one of us, as individual constituents of a mass population, is clearly distinguished by our unique identities. When a person loses grip on his identity, psychological issues definitely set in, which attendantly have adverse impact on their perception of life as well as behavioral disposition. This consequently has negative implications on how they’re perceived by society and other individuals.
There’s no doubt that a good number of our product/service offerings are struggling with the problem of identity as far as our brands are concerned in these climes. More often than not , we endeavor to say too much – about ourselves, about what we stand for, about our offering e.t.c in grossly limited communication space and within ridiculously short time frames – A case of aspiring to be “all things to all men”, one might say.
Again, as marketers/marketing communicators, we encounter this conflict of whether to focus on product sales in the short term or to devote precious resources towards a pain-staking, apparently not-immediately-rewarding brand positioning and building process in the longer term. A fundamental truth we must realize, however, is that a company’s (or product’s or service’s brand) is derived from the value that it offers to not only consumer’s but the entirety of its target publics –the consumer, of course remains king, but then a host of other stakeholders also do exist!
Of course, the realization that bills have got to be paid is paramount on the entrepreneur’s objectives…..which necessitates that the marketer’s carefully conceived marketing campaign must instantly set the cash register ringing with dispatch.
We however need to take some crucial considerations into cognizance. This leads us again, at this juncture to underscore the holistic definition of what a brand is. It encapsulates the roles that particular offering plays in its stakeholders lives, the values it represents and stands for.
The brand image refers to the comprehensive verbal, visual and digital display of the brand (which, of course comprises of vital elements such as the logo, colours, type-faces and other iconography) and the challenge all brands have to constantly surmount is that these must necessarily provide a consistent appearance that resonates with the target community and they can identify and connect with these elements.
The Value proposition is a foundational element that is constantly subjected to testing and evaluation and must be periodically measured and refined.
Brand Presence is also another very integral factor. Where does your brand meet its target consumer? It is essentially imperative that the brand be represented in advertising/communication media that reflect the essence of its personality, whether in consumer or Business-to-Business contexts.
A brand’s identity is the framework on which all other variables rest. The identity informs the outlook of the entire brand construct. It guides the brand iconography, copy and communication tone, ad layouts, campaign look and feel e.t.c.
The possession of a strong identity is without doubt an important asset for a brand and will become increasingly important in the future. it is however ironic that the need to have a strong identity and the attendant nurturing of same is ignored in almost every discussion on branding. Moreover, we notice that in practice a relatively large number of brands change their identity in order to "reconnect" with the consumer, howbeit often without success. What then usually happens as a consequence is that the consumer does not recognize its brand anymore, simply because the brand has embarked on a volte-face and changed its identity! It’s consumer simply does not know what the brand stands for and as a consequence of this he has difficulties to trust the brand. And trust, as we all know, is the basis for every relationship
Truth is, Once a brand is struggling with identity issues, all other elements are no doubt resting on a shaky foundation.
It is not contestable that archetypes play pivotal roles in cultural identity. It is therefore rather unfortunate to realize that very few brand/marketing strategists have made the integral connection between brands and archetypes - or at least worked to incorporate the notion of archetypes in their operational brand-building methodology.
One realization is that Brands are complex, abstract and difficult to pin down. However, in endeavoring to define them, it appears we oftentimes forget this. With techniques such as brand pyramids and a thousand and one other varied, complex ‘proprietary tools’ of different orientation ,we attempt to constrain and control them. Rather than trying to understand brands in their natural habitat, we box them in enclosures-turning them into guinea pigs of sorts. We do recognize, of course that pyramids, onions, mappings, brand wheels, master brand keys and other myriad techniques indeed can prove to be useful tools/disciplines that help in the distillation process – But a key and objective question remains that ‘do they really help define the unchanging core values of a brand?’ We spend ages debating and rationalizing the nuances of synonyms, performing semantic gymnastics to prove that Brand X is different from Brand Y, and ceaselessly agonizing over whether something is an Emotional Benefit or a Brand Value or in fact the selling proposition – a distinction we struggle to understand in the first place. At the end of the day,where does all of this get us in real terms? More often than not, a pile of disjointed words that look like little less than explosions in a bombed-out thesaurus factory. Unfortunately, when we eventually succeed in building our pyramids and agreeing that our brand is contemporary, stylish, relevant, inclusive and other usual suspects, we fall into the trap of thinking our job is finished. In reality, though, we are no closer to articulating ‘core essence’ than when we began – even if that particular box has been filled in. What should be rich, complex and, by definition, pain-staking to articulate only ends up more confusing and sadly subjected to assisted suicide by a thousand adjectives and buzzwords., by no means helped in the least by the phenomenon called Microsoft Power-Point (As if we strong brands had not been successfully built before its advent!)
Frankly, Pondering on all of this, I reckon It definitely was not intended to be this complicated.
Permit me to quote Scott Bedbury, who, at different points in time was head of marketing at Nike and Starbucks respectively, He opines that: ‘a brand is a metaphorical story that … connects with something very deep — a fundamental human appreciation of mythology … Companies that manifest this sensibility … invoke something very powerful’. Talking about deep metaphors…….Very insightful and thought-provoking, in my perspective.
Now, those very factors that appear like the seemingly "intangible" elements of a brand are really very precise sets of contextual values, emotions, aspirations and projections that can quite easily be not only identified but plotted, graphed, and inserted into a brand's identity. It’s been said that the key lies in the actual archetypes of the brand(s) in question, and relatedly, a very clear understanding of the pivotal role they play in the psyches and expectations of those folks whose culture you are trying to intertwine your brand with.
The above underscores the imperativeness of extensive and incisive research targeted at obtaining deep consumer insight….the knowledge of what motivates your target and makes them tick.
Some brands are even able to achieve this without actually realizing it. They instinctively tap into something primal and culturally relevant without really knowing or understanding why or how they did it. BRAND STRATEGY intrinsically involves employing archetypes to build stronger brands
A classic example in this case is the Nike Brand: The brand appeals to the "champion/hero" and uses sports as the medium for its allegorical language. The very choice of names - "Nike" the Greek Goddess of victory - has immediate Archetypal implications and goes a long way in moulding consumer perception of the brand.
The Virgin brand, which has become a huge success globally is archetypally a ‘jester’ brand…irreverent , light-heartedand exciting. This has gone on to inform the positioning as well as tonality of the entire brand communication.
A strong identity rooted in a well-fitting archetypal forte is very integral to the brand-building effort.This is the key reason why brands with a strong identity, like Apple, Nike, Guinness, IKEA and BMW, among others have a relatively large group of loyal consumers, employees and ambassadors. These represent brands with strong beliefs and a set of consistent values with which not only their consumers, but also employees , investors and other stakeholders feel connected and are willing to identity with.
It’s about time we, particularly in Nigeria, and Africa, by extension began to have a serious look at the way in which strong and meaningful brand identity can be developed and nurtured, starting from the point of asking these fundamental questions. And, just before I toss my pen away for now……………..Ye marketers, Hearken to Gospel truth ………..”Seek ye first the building of the brand, and all other returns shall be added unto you!”
Tomi Ogunlesi is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is presently an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.
THE BRAND AS THE BOTTOM-LINE
THE BRAND AS THE BOTTOM-LINE.
The practice of marketing, as we know it has over time come to be inundated with a thousand and one definitions of strategy. However, put in basic terms, a strategy is the means through which one plans to achieve set objectives. It then follows that within a competitive marketspace, the marketer’s ultimate goal will be to earn the preference of the consumer above competition.
Now, the poser is raised at this juncture; how is this preference achievable? It has become established that differentiation is the key in this regard; either by introducing added-value offerings or benefits that competition is failing to offer, on the one hand, or by delivering utility to your consumers in a remarkably dissimilar manner, thereby giving the consumer practical reasons to not only want your offering more, but desire your offering and nothing else!
Dan Herman describes three (3) orientations of differentiation, but only one is touted as holding the key to a long-lasting and competitive advantage that has tremendous potential to be mined and exploited towards lasting consumer preference, and this is described as STRATEGIC differentiation. The other types are circumstantial differentiation, where such factors as a historical monopoly or what is known as “First-mover” advantage play pivotal roles. Differentiation could also be Transient, in which case products and services compete using promotional activity – price reductions, sales, Buy X get Y free, et al.
This is where the concept of Branding comes to bear on marketing strategy. It is imperative to note however that this subject of branding has come to represent one of the most misconstrued concepts in marketing in recent time.
A Brand is an encapsulation of the consumers’ anticipation for a unique and defined experience, or for a certain unique benefit derivable solely through consuming or owning a specific product/service. Now, this consumer anticipation is constantly evoked by the marketer’s careful and consistent execution of a well thought-out business model that delivers this benefit to his consumer in a novel way – This in itself is what qualifies to be termed the BRAND STRATEGY.
Now why did I choose to recap this brand ‘epistle’? The question of who owns the brand has raged on as an age-long subject of debate which has appeared particularly endemic to the peculiar marketing landscape in which we find ourselves as far as the Nigerian market is concerned. As a matter of fact, not a few Client-Agency relationships are unfortunately marred by the monsters of subservience, on one hand and/or mutual suspicion, among a host of other deplorable factors.
However, the truth is that truly great brands are owned by the consumer, as such our dear clients (the so-called brand owners) as well as our creative agencies (so-called brand strategists) are, in a real sense custodians, to whom guardianship of the brand is entrusted! Unfortunately, one school of thought opines that ‘he who pays the piper must, as a given, dictate the tune’. Another school of thought postulates that Agency should be given the ultimate license from both creative and strategic viewpoints to chart the brand’s course, given that Pray!a patient does not dictate to his physician on any account…. Well, different strokes for different folks, you may say!
These factors probably account for why, for instance taking a cursory glance through any of the major dailies at any given time, one is assailed by a barrage of generic communication material promoting homogenous product/service offerings, without any meaningful hint of differentiation. I reckon that one reason for this is that more often than not,in our contemporary marketing landscape, the approach to communication is more reactive than proactive, as players in most sectors resort to breaking campaigns in reaction to competition’s ‘onslaught’ rather than based on incisive market and consumer research through which market gaps can be identified and plugged appropriately.
It can also be argued, with considerable measure of merit, that for obvious reasons, the key decision makers in terms of campaign look, feel and orientation at the client end up, in many cases, being senior operating personnel/business owners who are not core marketing professionals in the real sense.
However, I strongly believe, and with good reason too, that today’s brand marketing solutions must emanate from a collective process of teamwork and synergy, internally within the agency of course, but particularly through the combination of skill, expertise and germane insights available at the disposal of our clients. I propose mutual problem/gap identification, and collective strategic input towards meaningful mitigation of these brand challenges.
The Agency can not expect to be a sole repository of strategic or creative input by any standards whatsoever. Whoever says the winning idea can not emanate from professionals on the client side? Unfortunately however, not a few practitioners on that side believe their call stops at sending out agency briefs and as such, it is the responsibility of the agencies/consultants, as the case may be to come up with the required marketing solutions, for the client to then sit in ‘judgment’ over these, after all, “why are they paid all those ‘hefty’ retainers and fees, anyway??”
Herein is where the value of Brand Teams that consist of professionals from both the client and the Agency sides comes to the fore. This way, marketing challenges can be mutually appraised following which a strategic course of action can be agreed upon.
The reality is that truly successful brands, by any standards, resonate and grow with their consumers’ (and their aspirations), thereby creating equity which transcends generational shift and is thus guaranteed to continuously improve ROI. This, indeed, is the bottom-line, as far as establishing meaningful connection with the consumers (the real brand owners) are concerned. This ultimately will guarantee profit and shore up brand image in the long term.
Tomi Ogunlesi is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is presently an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.
The practice of marketing, as we know it has over time come to be inundated with a thousand and one definitions of strategy. However, put in basic terms, a strategy is the means through which one plans to achieve set objectives. It then follows that within a competitive marketspace, the marketer’s ultimate goal will be to earn the preference of the consumer above competition.
Now, the poser is raised at this juncture; how is this preference achievable? It has become established that differentiation is the key in this regard; either by introducing added-value offerings or benefits that competition is failing to offer, on the one hand, or by delivering utility to your consumers in a remarkably dissimilar manner, thereby giving the consumer practical reasons to not only want your offering more, but desire your offering and nothing else!
Dan Herman describes three (3) orientations of differentiation, but only one is touted as holding the key to a long-lasting and competitive advantage that has tremendous potential to be mined and exploited towards lasting consumer preference, and this is described as STRATEGIC differentiation. The other types are circumstantial differentiation, where such factors as a historical monopoly or what is known as “First-mover” advantage play pivotal roles. Differentiation could also be Transient, in which case products and services compete using promotional activity – price reductions, sales, Buy X get Y free, et al.
This is where the concept of Branding comes to bear on marketing strategy. It is imperative to note however that this subject of branding has come to represent one of the most misconstrued concepts in marketing in recent time.
A Brand is an encapsulation of the consumers’ anticipation for a unique and defined experience, or for a certain unique benefit derivable solely through consuming or owning a specific product/service. Now, this consumer anticipation is constantly evoked by the marketer’s careful and consistent execution of a well thought-out business model that delivers this benefit to his consumer in a novel way – This in itself is what qualifies to be termed the BRAND STRATEGY.
Now why did I choose to recap this brand ‘epistle’? The question of who owns the brand has raged on as an age-long subject of debate which has appeared particularly endemic to the peculiar marketing landscape in which we find ourselves as far as the Nigerian market is concerned. As a matter of fact, not a few Client-Agency relationships are unfortunately marred by the monsters of subservience, on one hand and/or mutual suspicion, among a host of other deplorable factors.
However, the truth is that truly great brands are owned by the consumer, as such our dear clients (the so-called brand owners) as well as our creative agencies (so-called brand strategists) are, in a real sense custodians, to whom guardianship of the brand is entrusted! Unfortunately, one school of thought opines that ‘he who pays the piper must, as a given, dictate the tune’. Another school of thought postulates that Agency should be given the ultimate license from both creative and strategic viewpoints to chart the brand’s course, given that Pray!a patient does not dictate to his physician on any account…. Well, different strokes for different folks, you may say!
These factors probably account for why, for instance taking a cursory glance through any of the major dailies at any given time, one is assailed by a barrage of generic communication material promoting homogenous product/service offerings, without any meaningful hint of differentiation. I reckon that one reason for this is that more often than not,in our contemporary marketing landscape, the approach to communication is more reactive than proactive, as players in most sectors resort to breaking campaigns in reaction to competition’s ‘onslaught’ rather than based on incisive market and consumer research through which market gaps can be identified and plugged appropriately.
It can also be argued, with considerable measure of merit, that for obvious reasons, the key decision makers in terms of campaign look, feel and orientation at the client end up, in many cases, being senior operating personnel/business owners who are not core marketing professionals in the real sense.
However, I strongly believe, and with good reason too, that today’s brand marketing solutions must emanate from a collective process of teamwork and synergy, internally within the agency of course, but particularly through the combination of skill, expertise and germane insights available at the disposal of our clients. I propose mutual problem/gap identification, and collective strategic input towards meaningful mitigation of these brand challenges.
The Agency can not expect to be a sole repository of strategic or creative input by any standards whatsoever. Whoever says the winning idea can not emanate from professionals on the client side? Unfortunately however, not a few practitioners on that side believe their call stops at sending out agency briefs and as such, it is the responsibility of the agencies/consultants, as the case may be to come up with the required marketing solutions, for the client to then sit in ‘judgment’ over these, after all, “why are they paid all those ‘hefty’ retainers and fees, anyway??”
Herein is where the value of Brand Teams that consist of professionals from both the client and the Agency sides comes to the fore. This way, marketing challenges can be mutually appraised following which a strategic course of action can be agreed upon.
The reality is that truly successful brands, by any standards, resonate and grow with their consumers’ (and their aspirations), thereby creating equity which transcends generational shift and is thus guaranteed to continuously improve ROI. This, indeed, is the bottom-line, as far as establishing meaningful connection with the consumers (the real brand owners) are concerned. This ultimately will guarantee profit and shore up brand image in the long term.
Tomi Ogunlesi is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is presently an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.
GlobaLAIFation! - The time is Now
The time for GlobaLAIFation is now!
The next time you’re online, which I guess is probably right now or anytime from now, cut and paste this link into your browser http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/sharpie_permanent_marker_fiery_fries.
It’s an amusing albeit somehow ‘heart-wrenching’ discourse I stumbled upon in the course of my numerous traversings on the webpages of http://www.adsoftheworld.com/ a popular website that most of us creative suckers flock to every now and again.
I’ll leave you to follow the exchanges yourself, a scenario in which painful reality is once again rubbed right into our faces following the airing of a ‘harmless’ critique by an ‘overzealous’ Nigerian creative(name withheld). Our naija dude exercise his freedom of speech without reservation and spares no vocabulary in rubbishing a particular creative work from North Africa (incidentally from an agency within his own network). Our guy had proceeded to give the originators of the work a good piece of his mind, trailing off with the line ”……………… I work with XYZ agency Lagos (name withheld) and we don’t do stuffs (sic) like this”.
I personally didn’t see anything untoward about a creative guy airing his honest opinion about an ad that I didn’t seem to buy into myself. Unfortunately, other ‘citizens of the world’ apparently did not find it funny, evidenced by the nature of reactions in the wake of this ‘unguarded’ comment!
The torrent of comments that trailed his did not spare Nigerian advertising in the least. As a matter of fact, one guy tersely drove his point home with this sarcastic laugh-line “hahaha…….that’s probably why we don’t see your names at Cannes”
But true! With every deserving iota of merit…..so on a lighter note folks, be just extra careful when embarking on the next critique of that foreign ad!!
Back to the issue which prompted me to pick up my pen this time around. In a recent column, the focal point of my writing essentially centred around how hitherto obscure African brands are forcing the world to reckon with them by way of purpose-driven and focused advertising. This time we turn the spotlight on African agencies. Let’s introspect.
Really, the question of the standing of our local advertising industry in the committee of nations has become markedly topical issue, drawing a flurry of frenzied reactions in recent time – I guess it was about 3 editions ago in which M2 devoted almost the entirety of that issue to this topic!
More questions and answers, thoughts and non-thoughts keep steadily streaming in by the day, even as the world excitedly anticipates the coming of Cannes once again in 2009. Questions like… ‘As a matter of fact, Must we even aim for Cannes?”, “Why, after over 70years of organized ad practice are the prestigious lions still painfully elusive?”, “Do cultural contexts constitute barriers to our winning these coveted trophies?”, “Are our clients allowing us to churn out the kind of work that will win us (and them, come to think of it) the much coveted and so far elusive lions?” ……..Indeed the list of questions are endless.
Truth be told, the industries in places like South Africa, India and Brazil for instance have clearly managed to become potent forces to reckon with in the global scheme of things. South African work have been comfortably winning at all manner of internationally credible award shows for practically ages. As a matter of fact, the now glamorous Loerie Awards have successfully captured global attention and earned international recognition that can match up with any other in any part of the world!
Now, I put it to you that this is because these folks consciously made it a point of duty at some point in time to raise their game and thereby compete on the global stage. The prestigious Loeries earned their credibility not by ignoring what was going on on the global stage, but by making a credible statement first at Cannes and other international shows, and then finally consolidating on these by developing their local awards to world-class standards. These guys simply gauged where the game was at and raised theirs commensurately!
We quite frankly appreciate the vision behind LAIF, and all hands must remain on deck to ensure that the lofty ideals thereof are consolidated and given further impetus to raise it to the next level.
Quite interestingly, a couple of days ago, I was discussing on-line with an acquaintance who’s a junior art director at the acclaimed global creative shop, Wieden+Kennedy, London. Somehow fortuitously the discussion veered towards the fringes of creative work, awards, clients and other familiar elements in that mix. I,of course aired my opinions regarding how I felt about the industry here, as well as the axe(s) I had to grind with the foreign industry as well. My argument was steeped in the realization that more often than not,most of the widely acclaimed and much hyped award-winning creative work coming from the West in reality failed to have any measurable impact on the bottom-line of the business in fiscal terms, or do any much good to the particular client’s marketing initiative.
Our dude was surprisingly objective enough to concede the fact that most of their contemporary work had slipped into what he described as a somewhat lethargic state….too visual oriented with nice illustration, obscure copies somewhere on the edge and logos in the bottom corner! According to him, the increasing challenge over there equally lies in finding new and different ideas and strategies.
One other intriguing point he made that struck me in the course of our discourse was that about widespread incidence of ‘scam ads’ that have often only run somewhere and are specifically produced to win awards, without much consideration for the requirements of the client’s marketing challenges.This, according to him is another unfortunate consequence of the proliferation of award shows in our industry.
As creative people in these climes, I guess there’s no better time to start asking ourselves incisive questions than now. W e hear about the exploits of John Hunt of TBWA Hunt/Lascaris, which is acclaimed as the first South African agency to focus on competing in the International arena. Hunt it was who spearheaded the release of an unashamedly South African style which was, according to observers, not based on ripping off what we saw in international ad annuals, but rather celebrating true local essence according to international standards.
Other noteworthy names exist in the ilk of Matthew Bull’s Lowe Bull, Net#Work BBDO and of course the inimitable Jupiter Drawing room, all African agencies that are playing it out comfortably in the big league of global creative solutions!
If anything, I say we need more MTNs, Virgin Nigerias and Bank PHBs in these climes of ours. Our clients simply must allow the kind of work that will collectively win us the elusive lions to fly. For so long, We’ve been undoubtedly big fish in our own rights, but shouldn’t we be tired of still wading in tiny ponds???
A resounding passionate appeal to our partners in progress ….Mr. Client, kindly globalise! As for us on this side, we’re ready to globalaif!!!
I rest my case till next time!
The next time you’re online, which I guess is probably right now or anytime from now, cut and paste this link into your browser http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/sharpie_permanent_marker_fiery_fries.
It’s an amusing albeit somehow ‘heart-wrenching’ discourse I stumbled upon in the course of my numerous traversings on the webpages of http://www.adsoftheworld.com/ a popular website that most of us creative suckers flock to every now and again.
I’ll leave you to follow the exchanges yourself, a scenario in which painful reality is once again rubbed right into our faces following the airing of a ‘harmless’ critique by an ‘overzealous’ Nigerian creative(name withheld). Our naija dude exercise his freedom of speech without reservation and spares no vocabulary in rubbishing a particular creative work from North Africa (incidentally from an agency within his own network). Our guy had proceeded to give the originators of the work a good piece of his mind, trailing off with the line ”……………… I work with XYZ agency Lagos (name withheld) and we don’t do stuffs (sic) like this”.
I personally didn’t see anything untoward about a creative guy airing his honest opinion about an ad that I didn’t seem to buy into myself. Unfortunately, other ‘citizens of the world’ apparently did not find it funny, evidenced by the nature of reactions in the wake of this ‘unguarded’ comment!
The torrent of comments that trailed his did not spare Nigerian advertising in the least. As a matter of fact, one guy tersely drove his point home with this sarcastic laugh-line “hahaha…….that’s probably why we don’t see your names at Cannes”
But true! With every deserving iota of merit…..so on a lighter note folks, be just extra careful when embarking on the next critique of that foreign ad!!
Back to the issue which prompted me to pick up my pen this time around. In a recent column, the focal point of my writing essentially centred around how hitherto obscure African brands are forcing the world to reckon with them by way of purpose-driven and focused advertising. This time we turn the spotlight on African agencies. Let’s introspect.
Really, the question of the standing of our local advertising industry in the committee of nations has become markedly topical issue, drawing a flurry of frenzied reactions in recent time – I guess it was about 3 editions ago in which M2 devoted almost the entirety of that issue to this topic!
More questions and answers, thoughts and non-thoughts keep steadily streaming in by the day, even as the world excitedly anticipates the coming of Cannes once again in 2009. Questions like… ‘As a matter of fact, Must we even aim for Cannes?”, “Why, after over 70years of organized ad practice are the prestigious lions still painfully elusive?”, “Do cultural contexts constitute barriers to our winning these coveted trophies?”, “Are our clients allowing us to churn out the kind of work that will win us (and them, come to think of it) the much coveted and so far elusive lions?” ……..Indeed the list of questions are endless.
Truth be told, the industries in places like South Africa, India and Brazil for instance have clearly managed to become potent forces to reckon with in the global scheme of things. South African work have been comfortably winning at all manner of internationally credible award shows for practically ages. As a matter of fact, the now glamorous Loerie Awards have successfully captured global attention and earned international recognition that can match up with any other in any part of the world!
Now, I put it to you that this is because these folks consciously made it a point of duty at some point in time to raise their game and thereby compete on the global stage. The prestigious Loeries earned their credibility not by ignoring what was going on on the global stage, but by making a credible statement first at Cannes and other international shows, and then finally consolidating on these by developing their local awards to world-class standards. These guys simply gauged where the game was at and raised theirs commensurately!
We quite frankly appreciate the vision behind LAIF, and all hands must remain on deck to ensure that the lofty ideals thereof are consolidated and given further impetus to raise it to the next level.
Quite interestingly, a couple of days ago, I was discussing on-line with an acquaintance who’s a junior art director at the acclaimed global creative shop, Wieden+Kennedy, London. Somehow fortuitously the discussion veered towards the fringes of creative work, awards, clients and other familiar elements in that mix. I,of course aired my opinions regarding how I felt about the industry here, as well as the axe(s) I had to grind with the foreign industry as well. My argument was steeped in the realization that more often than not,most of the widely acclaimed and much hyped award-winning creative work coming from the West in reality failed to have any measurable impact on the bottom-line of the business in fiscal terms, or do any much good to the particular client’s marketing initiative.
Our dude was surprisingly objective enough to concede the fact that most of their contemporary work had slipped into what he described as a somewhat lethargic state….too visual oriented with nice illustration, obscure copies somewhere on the edge and logos in the bottom corner! According to him, the increasing challenge over there equally lies in finding new and different ideas and strategies.
One other intriguing point he made that struck me in the course of our discourse was that about widespread incidence of ‘scam ads’ that have often only run somewhere and are specifically produced to win awards, without much consideration for the requirements of the client’s marketing challenges.This, according to him is another unfortunate consequence of the proliferation of award shows in our industry.
As creative people in these climes, I guess there’s no better time to start asking ourselves incisive questions than now. W e hear about the exploits of John Hunt of TBWA Hunt/Lascaris, which is acclaimed as the first South African agency to focus on competing in the International arena. Hunt it was who spearheaded the release of an unashamedly South African style which was, according to observers, not based on ripping off what we saw in international ad annuals, but rather celebrating true local essence according to international standards.
Other noteworthy names exist in the ilk of Matthew Bull’s Lowe Bull, Net#Work BBDO and of course the inimitable Jupiter Drawing room, all African agencies that are playing it out comfortably in the big league of global creative solutions!
If anything, I say we need more MTNs, Virgin Nigerias and Bank PHBs in these climes of ours. Our clients simply must allow the kind of work that will collectively win us the elusive lions to fly. For so long, We’ve been undoubtedly big fish in our own rights, but shouldn’t we be tired of still wading in tiny ponds???
A resounding passionate appeal to our partners in progress ….Mr. Client, kindly globalise! As for us on this side, we’re ready to globalaif!!!
I rest my case till next time!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATION!!!
Now, practically every Tomiwa, Dike and Haruna(So much for FEDERAL CHARACTER!!) knows that Nigerians are a bunch of resolute, hard-working, industrious, never-say-die......(i can go on and on) folks, who are leaving indelible marks across many different fields of endeavour world over.
I mean, among numerous other examples, the name of legendary Nigerian-born American star basket-baller, Shakiru Oni (now popularly known as Shaquille O'Neal) readily comes to mind.
One can not forget to mention Mukaila Tiamiyu (known to many as Mike Tyson), reverred for his heavyweight boxing prowess.
Another 'citizen of the world' who continues to do his fatherland proud on the global stage is Nigerian export, eclectic fashion designer Raufu Olurin (a humble Lagos Tailor who went on to nurture the Ralph Lauren brand to global reckoning as a SuperBrand)
Infact, rumour has it that trail-blazing designer Tommy Hilfiger has his roots in the world's most populous black nation. Christened Tomisin Olu-Fayiga at birth, after which he later naturalised in search of the golden fleece, Fayiga has unarguably become a force to be reckoned with globally.
As a matter of fact, this list of Nigerians that have gone on to play on the global turf is indeed endless!!
These are practical examples of Good people from a great nation, and their success stories should by no small measure inspire and motivate you and I to strive to attain similar, if not higher achievement(s).
I mean, among numerous other examples, the name of legendary Nigerian-born American star basket-baller, Shakiru Oni (now popularly known as Shaquille O'Neal) readily comes to mind.
One can not forget to mention Mukaila Tiamiyu (known to many as Mike Tyson), reverred for his heavyweight boxing prowess.
Another 'citizen of the world' who continues to do his fatherland proud on the global stage is Nigerian export, eclectic fashion designer Raufu Olurin (a humble Lagos Tailor who went on to nurture the Ralph Lauren brand to global reckoning as a SuperBrand)
Infact, rumour has it that trail-blazing designer Tommy Hilfiger has his roots in the world's most populous black nation. Christened Tomisin Olu-Fayiga at birth, after which he later naturalised in search of the golden fleece, Fayiga has unarguably become a force to be reckoned with globally.
As a matter of fact, this list of Nigerians that have gone on to play on the global turf is indeed endless!!
These are practical examples of Good people from a great nation, and their success stories should by no small measure inspire and motivate you and I to strive to attain similar, if not higher achievement(s).
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!
Every blessed day,at work in the course of duty and even at leisure, I use WORDS for loads of purposes....as if we all don't. However, I've realised that more consciously, I'm forced to consider my choice of words in different situations.
Actually was typing a mail earlier in the day and this realisation strayed back into mind....
I remembered, at that instant, the story of the 'big man' whose house was suddenly unfortunate engulfed in flames.
The despondent fellow frantically placed a call to the fire department in Lagos.
the call was answered by the semi-lettered fireman on duty that night.
"Hello!is that the Lagos state fire department??" He hollered.
"Yes Sir", replied the voice at the other end."Sir, how we fit help you sir" (sic)
Our big man blurted out calculatedly in patent 'King James' English'
"A magnanimous conflagrational inferno is consuming my domicialliary edifice!!!"
which in layman's language( i.e for people like my humble self, who unfortunately did not attend grammar schools) should ordinarily be translated to mean "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE"
'Wetin you talk. sir???", stuttered the hapless fireman at the other end, abeg oga make i try find thesaurus.................................
I'm Sure you can tell how the story ended.
different strokes for different folks!!!
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