Experts and other stakeholders at a conference are convinced that the country is yet to fully recover from the effects of the recession it plunged into few years ago. This is evident in the relatively low economic growth recorded in the country. They warned that except urgent steps are taken, Brands’ survival under the prevailing situation will become more challenging. JANE CHIJIOKE reports.
There are growing concerns over the continued survival of brands in the country. This is predicated upon the unfavourable economic climate that pervades the country. The situation, which experts say, dates back to the recession era, has sent brand owners and managers back to the planning table with the aim of ensuring their brands remain not only alive but also visible.
Indeed, the need for brands to re-strategise at certain period becomes imperative for them to not only boost their customer base but also remain relevant in the market place.
This was the summation of eggheads and other stakeholders in the marketing communication sector, who converged on Lagos for the Seventh Brands and Marketing conference organised by the Brands Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN).
They submitted that consistency in research and innovation are critical for brands to scale through at any lean times.
Speaking on the conference theme: “Survival amid harsh economy: Inside stories of top brands”, the Chief Executive Officer, X3M Ideas, Mr. Steve Babaeko, explained that opportunities abound in every challenge, hence, brands need to be on the lookout for such opportunities and avail themselves of such rather than resigning themselves to fate or to the vagaries of an economy.
“In every trying economic period, everybody is affected. The brands and the clients are not immune. The challenge we have is that we tend to dwell on the challenges for too long that we allow some of those opportunities to pass unnoticed. But if well utilised, challenges present an opportunity for brands to re launch themselves and seize the limelight,” he said.
Babaeko, represented by the Director, Brands Management and Strategy, X3M, Mr. Tunde Olaifa, warned that as the market place becomes more competitive, brands need to explore deeper creativity to enable them weather the storm and remain relevant.
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He advised that instead of reducing marketing budget – a practice that has become a norm, especially during economic downturn, brands should diversify their markets and packages to speak the language of the common man because consumers are no longer passive, but active, a factor he attributed to increased scarcity of resources.
Similarly, the Sustainability and Public Affairs Manager, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Ifeoma Okoye, said during economic lulls, brands need listen to understand and be able to speak the language of common man and come up with products that best satisfy their yearnings.
“For instance, we never at a time cut down on marketing budgets, during those hard times.What we did was to be more innovative in how we spend the budget. Besides, we also came up with other products, such as water, juice and other products to ensure our consumers have a wide range of choices,” she said.
The Managing Director, Modion Communications, Mr. Odion Aleobua, noted that the advent of social media has made accessibility of data easier for brands to work with. As a strategy to save cost, he advised brands and marketing professionals to leverage opportunities the digital space portends to create for their brands.
The Chairman of BJAN, Princewill Ekwujuru, said the choice of topic was for brands who have kept on innovating and creating value tell their survival stories.
“For a nation that has over the years depended on a mono-product economic model, the persistent crash in commodity prices and the attendant consequences we now see in our declining economic fortunes have affected virtually every brand existing in the economic eco-system,” he added.
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