Chinedum Okereke is Managing Director, Suntory Beverage and Food Nigeria Limited (SBFN), a subsidiary of the Japanese food and beverage company, Suntory Beverage & Food Limited, which set up shop in Nigeria in 2016. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, Okereke gives insights on the operating business climate vis-à-vis challenges and opportunities in one of their biggest markets. Excerpts:
Your company unveiled N200m instant airtime promo recently with a lot of fanfare. What are the key deliverables, What would you like to see in terms of scale in your business, patronage and bottom-line?
We are really proud to announce the return of the successful Lucozade Airtime Promotion for the third time since its launch in 2016. The promotion is an avenue for us to attain nationwide reach as far as rewarding our consumers is concerned, and the modality of the promotion gives us a great opportunity to target millions of consumers. I recalled that the first time we did it in 2016, we had prize for N100million and the way that promo performed and delivered we were encouraged to do the second edition which was in 2017, when we launched out N200million prize to be won. This year been the third time, we have actually tried to do a lot of learning from the past, and so we are launching N200million. And we actually want all these gifts to be won. And for us, it’s basically about rewarding our consumers; especially those who have been with us over the years. These are consumers who have kept faith with us, consumers who have consistently had Lucozade as their choice energy drink. Also we want to equally encourage new consumers to be part of this as well. So for us, it’s about reward and secondly, it’s also about our integrity. We are a company of high integrity, transparency, credibility and pedigree. We are a company that is very customer and consumer-focused. So for us again it’s about leading from the front when you talk about doing something and you want to do it well. That’s why today, we openly called all the regulators: the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), and all others to be part of this, to witness this epoch-making event. We want to do it and show Nigerians that you can do a promo and do it in such a way that people actually see that what you claim is what they get. The third part for us is about the growth of the business and the business thankfully has been consistently growing. The Lucozade brand is the No. 1 energy drink in the country. So, obviously we want to continue to sustain our market position as the No. 1 energy drink in Nigeria.
Who are your target audience for this promo?
Life in Nigeria I’ll say is interesting. I don’t want to say it’s tough. But Lucozade tries to target those we call the daily strivers. You see that a lot of Nigerians are very energetic, doing and combining different jobs all at the same time. Take a typical student , he vends recharge cards, he is into photography, you name it. We therefore strongly recommend Lucozade drink to such categories of consumers because it is a very healthy drink because here is one drink that gives you energy, and it’s a reliable partner in your daily strives when you move around trying to get one thing or the other done. In fact, Lucozade helps you to be the best you can be. There is no doubt about that at all. Again, let me emphasis here that the whole idea behind this promo for us is our own little way of thanking our esteemed consumers for their loyalty and patronage over the past years and also to restate our commitment to ensure people feels refreshed and nourished. We want also use this platform to reach out and encourage patronage from new customers.
Can we therefore infer that you’re using the Lucozade brand to grow the company given the fact that you’re relatively new in Nigeria?
I think it’s on the contrary. While we are using this opportunity to create more awareness using Lucozade brand, the brand has been in Nigeria for over four decades. Remember Lucozade has come in different shapes, sizes and different packs and have actually offered great satisfaction to Nigerians. We have got our Lucozade energy, Lucozade Boost and we have equally got the Lucozade Sports. Lucozade is a household name; it’s a product that actually cuts across different ages. So are we using the promo to introduce Lucozade to people? Not entirely. Are we using that to create awareness and remind people about what Lucozade stands for as their energy companion? Yes, in that sense.
How do you think the Lucozade brand can help to further push the Suntory brand into the minds and hearts of Nigerians?
Yes you’re right. Suntory who are the current owners of the Lucozade brand is a Japanese company. However, Suntory has been in Nigeria since October 2016 precisely when they bought over the drinks business from GlaxoSmithkline, who were the original owners of the Lucozade brand. I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that we have done a lot of work in terms of building brand equity, PR, media launches in terms telling our stories about who Suntory are. By the way, Suntory is actually he third biggest beverage company in the world after Coca-Cola and Pepsi. It’s a journey but I think Nigerians are beginning to know what Suntory stands for in terms of quality, expertise which has to do with the production, distribution as well as marketing of household products. That’s why every opportunity we have we want to remind the public and Nigerians about what we stand for as a company.
Do you hope to be in the market for the long haul or are you just trying to test the market?
Suntory is very interested in sustainable growth and long-term investment. For a company that came into the country in 2016, when you know that the country was passing through some tension and very tough times for a company that made investment at that time; that speaks volume and sends a strong message about their vision and the vision of Suntory is to come and stay in this country and grow their business in this country.
This is a clear demonstration of Suntory’s confidence in the Nigerian economy. The company relies on the strong connection between the Nigerian consumers and its Lucozade and Ribena brands and is especially confident of the nation’s immense potential for economic growth and the impressive productivity level of its people. Our conviction in the Nigerian market is responsible for the company’s decision to invest in the country and contribute to human resource empowerment to run the business as a wholly Nigerian company.
As a company, our desire is to consistently provide some of the country’s best quality drinks through well-researched market insight, expertise and dedication and to also deliver high-quality innovative products. Lucozade and Ribena have enjoyed impressive patronage over the years, so with a promise of continuous improvement and providing better value to our consumers, we are convinced of an improved and more rewarding relationship. Innovation, research and development will play a big part in the foundation of our operations in Nigeria.
Suntory Beverage & Food Nigeria is a wholly Nigerian Company both in its operations and its people, we are glad to take off with a dedicated and committed team of Nigerians that will be consistently challenged to create bigger and better brand ideas for our loyal consumers. Suntory sees great opportunities in the crisis. Nigeria remains a huge market that cannot be ignored with the strong economic indications. We decided to seize the opportunity to backwards integrate.
By the way, it might interest you to know that in Africa and emerging markets, including Asia, Middle East, Caribbean, and Nigeria is their biggest market today.
Are there plans to come up with new product lines so as to give consumers a variety of choice?
The answer is yes. Remember we currently have Lucozade and Ribena and we have them in different flavours and formats. However there is a plan in the medium to long term to bring more products into the basket. As soon as that starts happening, we will engage the public appropriately.
As the pioneer Chief Executive Officer of Suntory in the last two years, could you give us a peep into your style of management? What works for you?
I think you must remember that management style and management approach is a factor of your operating environment. When we took up this business in September 2016, it was a very tough time in the history of this country in the middle of recession, with the devaluation of the naira, difficulty in sourcing raw materials and survival of the business under these pressures was a big challenge. But for me what we have done as a team is that we managed to run an inclusive leadership which has enabled us communicate better with the people about what the organisation stands for, we commend performance, share our little success together. At the same time we have also been very cost-conscious. So it’s a combination of all these things. But basically, as I said we encouraged inclusive leadership at all levels, followed commercial aggressiveness. I daresay it’s a tough journey but it’s been a very exciting one indeed.