The Nation Newspaper

Category: Brand week

  • Airtel’s Unlimited Data plans to empower consumers, boost internet connectivity

    Airtel’s Unlimited Data plans to empower consumers, boost internet connectivity

    Airtel Nigeria has said that its newly introduced Unlimited Data plans will empower and create more prosperity opportunities for telecoms consumers as well as boost mobile broadband connectivity. Airtel recently rolled out the Home Broadband Service, which allows customers to share data with colleagues, friends and family members with a promise that the new package will empower telecoms consumers to have access to unlimited internet service at reasonable cost.

    The new Airtel Home Broadband delivers superfast broadband service via data terminals such as dongle, MiFi and routers as it comes in various packages and affordable price range to suit the lifestyles of different customer segments. Customers can get unlimited data on packages such as Unlimited 10, Unlimited 15 and Unlimited 20, which are offered at N10,000, N15,000 and N20,000 respectively and valid for 30 days.

    According to the Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Ahmad Mohkles, the telco is changing the paradigm, breaking new frontiers and inspiring new behaviour in relation to data sharing and delivering seamless data to improve customer lifestyle and enable them take charge. “Airtel is committed to pioneering innovation, superior data experience and affordability. Our new Unlimited is truly unlimited as we have stretched the threshold to deliver up to 100GB to telecoms consumers so that they can empower more people within their circle of influence,” he said.

    Airtel brand ambassador, Gabriel Afolayan, who played the role of Bayo in the Unlimited Home Broadband TVC, while speaking at the launch, commended Airtel Nigeria for bring affordable data to customers. In his words: “Data is life. And Airtel has just made life better for all customers through Home Broadband. It is a breath of fresh air and I must thank Airtel for making data more affordable and accessible to us all. Now, no more fear of sharing data with family and friends.”

    Upon activating any of the unlimited plans, customers enjoy superfast data experience until a threshold is reached. After this, the data speed is throttled to a lower speed in line with the Fair Usage policy. According to this policy, the threshold for Unlimited 10 is 40GB; unlimited 15 come with 65GB while unlimited 20 is 100GB, after which the speed comes to 256kpbs. However, customers can continue to enjoy unlimited browsing until plan expires.

  • Goldberg reiterates commitment to cultural development

    Goldberg reiterates commitment to cultural development

    As part of efforts aimed at a continuous promotion of the culture and traditions of the people of Southwest Nigeria, Goldberg, Nigeria’s leading culture-centric beer brand, has announced plans to sponsor various cultural festivals across the region. The festivals, which include Osun Osogbo, Udiroko, Oranyan, Ojude Oba, Olojo and Oyemekun, are scheduled to hold between the months of August and November.

    Commenting on the plans for the sponsorship, the Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout Brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Emmanuel Agu, said with the sponsorships, the brand is reiterating its commitment to supporting the promotion of Yoruba culture and traditions, in line with its three-point agenda of culture, respect and enjoyment. These age-old festivals are among the elements that bind the Yoruba together, and they represent the norms and values which are highly cherished in Yorubaland.

    Agu recalled that Goldberg has been a lead sponsor of cultural festivals in the Southwest, which was the brand’s way of displaying respect for the people. Across the different cities of the Southwest where these festivals hold, Goldberg’s sponsorship positively impacts economic activities, apart from the colour, grandeur and enjoyment it adds to the festivals.

  • TV ads on the brink of extinction

    It is still news that Facebook made $9.16 billion advertising revenue in the second quarter of the year. Last year was also interesting for global advertising.

    Zenith, an international data and analysis agency, puts the revenue of Google and Facebook at $79.4 billion and $26.9 billion, surpassing the advertising revenue growth for television, radio and print media.

    Magna Intelligence, another research and analysis agency, forecasts that digital ad sales will eclipse TV ad sales this year, and will consequently gain a market share of 50 per cent by 2021. How true can this be?

     

    Advertisers’ perspective

    TV used to be the leader in generating ad sales, but all of these started changing with digital marketing and digitilisation. Digital marketing brought more scientific opportunities to advertisers – in that they can measure end-users impact statistically. Metrics, such as clicks, views, engagements, total web visits, average duration per visits, trends, followership, and impressions are customer-centric information for the advertisers and they are needful for strategic planning. Besides the end-user statistics, Facebook gives the advertiser the opportunity to narrowcast, while traditional TV broadcasts. In the age of limited resources, advertisers want to select the gender, age bracket, demo-graphics and psychogra-phics of the target audience. This is made possible only with digital. And to make things exciting, results of ads are monitored real-time, in graphs, maps, and charts!

     

    Consumers’ perspective

    People spend more time on smart phones than on TV. The most recent “Total Audience Report” of Nielsen, a research company, shows: “Traditional TV viewing by 18-24-year-olds in US dropped by almost 12 hours weekly, or by roughly one hour and 40 minutes per day”.

    Same report also highlighted the fact that Q4 traditional TV viewing by 18-24-year-olds has down-sloped to 41.3 per cent since 2012, and this implies that 40 per cent of the age bracket would have edged away to mobile completely by 2022. This analysis reinforces Magna’s forecast that Digital ad sales will take 50 per cent of the market by 2021. The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF)’s report – Nigeria’s Mobile Consumers last year – revealed that consumers invest in data to get access to “downloading apps (64 per cent) and watching video (52 per cent)”. Thus, most of those who used to watch TV are investing data to view online video contents and adverts are also migrating to the online platforms.

     

    Market outlook

    The biggest threat to TV is not the growth of digital media, but the change in the business model of digital media. Now, video is the new viral and digital marketing is mostly about videos! Google’s Youtube, Twitter’s Periscope, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat have all taken over the video niche. Facebook announced early in the year that adverts will be slotted within popular videos and creators of such videos can have 55 per cent of the ad sales.

    Also, digital media provides ad platforms at cost effective rates compared to TV; advertisers can pay per click or pay per impression. The most innovative proposition of digital ads is the opportunity for consumers to buy online by clicking the ads.

     

    Conclusion

    The obvious argument against this projection is that Television is still relevant in Nigeria and that its TV stations earned N357.9 billion ad revenue between 2006 and last year (Mediafacts Nigeria). That is a paltry $941.8 million in 10 years by a whole sector of an economy! A TV ad sale of $941.8 million for 10 years is an average of $94.18 million yearly.  Facebook’s average revenue per user as of fourth quarter of last year was $4.83, according to Statistica, a leading online statistics company.

    Sixteen million Nigerian users of Facebook amount to an estimated ad revenue of $77.28 million. This means the ratio of Facebook’s estimated revenue in the country to Nigeria’s TV ad revenue is about 4:5. This gives a picture of what would happen to the ad industry locally and globally in the next five years – the dearth of ads on TV!

  • Access Bank’s 42% increase in gross earning: PR strategy at work

    Access Bank’s 42% increase in gross earning: PR strategy at work

    In 2013, when Access Bank decided to reposition its brand, it did not choose to create a new product but chose to use a public relation strategy – build a community! The father of modern Public Relations, Ivy Lee, defined Public Relations as a “process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics”.

    Brand strategy will birth great products, but PR’s strategy will birth great community. This is better defined by Access Bank’s women initiative, known as W Community.

    Launched in 2013, W Community focuses on young professionals; women and families; women in business and also give maternal health service support.  At present, Access Bank is focused on banking women, families and children. That is an innovative brand positioning. Who will not bank with a financial institution that have been giving women and their families access to finance, credit facility, mentorship and business trainings?

    This is why the 42 per cent increase in gross earning the bank reported for first half of the year is an expected result.

    This growth may not be unconnected to the W Community being built across the nation by the bank.

  • Gala Sausage Roll and competitors: Brand Vs price

    Produced by UAC Foods, Gala Sausage is an on-the-go snack, taken by many as a lunch-meal when with a chilled drink. However, the market experienced new entrants some years back, as it is evidenced that the product category has the demand and volume that drives millions of naira in revenue daily.

    The product category gets value from millions of Nigerians who budget N100 for a mid-day snack-meal: N50 for sausage roll and N50 for bottle water. This market is about wallet share and thrives on low price and big sizes.

    For some of the target consumers, what matters is for the sausage roll to fill their stomachs while they are on their way home from work or to serve as in-between-work meal. Thus, price matters and not the brand.

    Biggy, produced by Rite Foods, is actually big in size, its proposition would be the satisfaction of the hungry man. Super Bite, produced by Chi is very tasty and spicy.

    Meaty fills the gap for those consumers who are missing the original size of the beef inside of Gala. Biggy, Super Bite and Meaty sell for N50 each. Gala sausage rolls come in two packages, Gala Mini and Gala Mega; and they sell for N50 and N100 respectively. Thus the target of Gala Mega would be the consumers who are willing to spend N200 on a snack meal: N100 for the sausage roll and N100 for a bottle of soft drink.

    Gala chose to reinforce its brand essence, rather than engaging competitors in a price war. This seems to have kept Gala shielded from competition.

  • Pepsi, Coke: Who’s got the right clap-back?

    Recently, Pepsi, to increase market share, reduced the price of its 50CL bottle to N100 from N120, while Coke’s 50CL bottle remains at N150. Pepsi is following this up seriously with the #NoShakingCarryGo campaign. To clap back, Coca-cola has returned the Solo Coke – a 35CL bottle – and it sells for N100.

    Coke is reinforcing the “Share a Coke” idea and has made over 1, 000 songs featuring names of various people. This is getting emotional! Besides, coke is advertising the Solo Coke, hoping that a 35CL coke bottle can compete with a 50CL Pepsi bottle! Pepsi has really dared to be different by cutting price, a path Coke is unwilling to tow.

    However, consumers are excited about Pepsi’s price cut and now they are realising that Pepsi’s got a great taste too. LOL.

    The Solo Coke as a clapback may not be sufficient. Coke has to find another strategy to ensure this market does not slip away to Pepsi.

  • Brand blunders due to cultural differences

    In 2003, MTN came up with a TV Commercial in which a man announced the birth of his child: “Mama na boy!” and a whole village went into electric dances in celebration. The ad came off as sexist and pro-gender equality groups protested against it and the ad was pulled down.

    “Gerber came to Africa to sell baby foods using the same packaging they were using in the USA. Later they found that in Africa companies routinely put pictures on the label of what is inside the package, since most people cannot read.

    “Coca-Cola’s retailers in China tried to name the product something that when pronounced, sounded like, “Cola-Cola”. The only problem was that the characters used meant “Bite the Wax Tadpole”. When they learned of their blunder, they later changed to a set of characters that mean “Happiness in the Mouth”.

    “Vicks was introducing its cough drops in the German market, when they learned that the German pronunciation of “v” is “f” which in Germany is the guttural equivalent of “sexual penetration”.

    “When Puffs tissues tried to introduce its product, they were quick to learn that “Puff” in German is a colloquial term for a whorehouse. The CMO behind that brand must have been sleeping.

    “Pepsi Cola lost its dominant market share to Coke in South East Asia when Pepsi changed the color of its vending machines and coolers from deep “Regal” blue to light “Ice” blue as light blue is associated with death and mourning in their region.

    “The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, “Salem – Feeling Free,” was translated in the Japanese market as “When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty.”

  • Indomie’s latest campaign is hilariously damage control

    Indomie is known for exciting television and radio campaigns and we cannot forget “Mama Do Good o” in 2010. Presently, Dufil Prima, producer of Indomie, is running a campaign with the theme “the taste is in the noodle; the noodle is in the taste”. This is obviously a bold and ethical way of checking what seems to be unfavourable competitiveness. Unfavourable because what should be an edge for indomie is now aiding rival brands. Indomie has achieved the top-of-the-mind brand staus and thus, its brand name has now become the generic name for the product category. The product category is “noodles” but this has been displaced by “Indomie” and what happens is the consumer asking mallam (the retailer) to give him/her “Indomie” when he/she actually meant “noodles”. Therefore, the unpopular brands are riding on this development to sell their products. And there is really a need to make a statement that will reinforce the fact that “not all noodles are Indomie”.

    Becoming top-of-the-mind brand is what every brand aspires to attain. It gives you a result-driven brand recall, repeat purchases, and market dominance. For toothpastes the generic name has become “Close up”; for diapers the generic name has become “Pampers”; for SUVs the generic name has become “Jeep”; for pens the generic name has become “Biro”; and for t-shirts the generic name has become “Polo” .

  • UBERisation of Ridesharing: Brand trust, phone-space share and partners’ loyalty

    UBERisation of Ridesharing: Brand trust, phone-space share and partners’ loyalty

    Named the 89th most-valuable brand in the world, Uber is the leading e-hailing app in Lagos. Uber is not on the route to market leadership; it is the leader of the ridesharing market. The brand is so prominent such that the word “uber” is fast replacing the word “taxi”; taxi drivers in Lagos said Uber is taking them out of business.

    Uber understands the three key drivers of this business. The first is Brand Trust, the possibility of people trusting your app to be real and effective. The second is the phone-space share; which is the likelihood that someone will give his/her memory space to an app. And the third is the loyalty of the partner-drivers. Uber has the biggest brand in the industry globally, and this has translated to a level of brand affinity for the app in Nigeria. It has been observed that some young social media savvy guys would use Uber and post about using uber to boost their status. Uber is a thing of status, and not just for convenience. Someone once tweeted: “Is it poverty when you jump buses?”. If it is about speedy transportation, BRT buses would beat Uber. Uber buses ply same roads with the yellow buses and thus the proposition cannot be speed. Let’s say it’s the chauffeur for the middle class. However, without brand trust, only few people will download the rival e-hailing apps, irrespective of marketing.

    The second market driver is the phone-space share, the likelihood that a mobile phone user will share his/her memory space with an app. Whatsapp, BBM, Facebook, Facebook messagers, Instagram, Twitter and Slack are apps already competing for space in most smart phones. In addition to these, the mobile phone user needs a good reserve for Gallery – to save pictures downloaded and taken with phone camera. Thus, it becomes a rational decision-making whether to download an app or not. This is why Uber’s approach of pre-loading new phones with its app is strategic, and you may just need to install the app after purchase. The third market driver – loyalty of the partner-driver, is actually working for Uber. Uber drivers in Lagos earn an average income of N40,000 monthly; some private individuals have given up their private cars for Uber to make additional imcome. Uber has got that loyal movement, even as rivals increase the incentives for their own partner-drivers.

    There are some other five (5) e-hailing apps in Lagos but all you hear is “Get me Uber!” In February 2017, Smart Cab was introduced to Nigeria by Jubril Arogundade, and the propositions of the brand were supposed to challenge Uber and compete favourably. They include wifi for passengers, and packages tailored for different market segment. However, the traction for Smart Cab has not been competitive enough and it is struggling to have brand recall despite using social media and celebrity endorsement. The reality is that this market is Uberised – Uber being the market leader, with an indisputable top-of-the-mind (TOP), and loyal partner-drivers – until there is a brand capable of taking control of the market drivers as much as Uber does.

  • BrandNotes: Does PDP need rebranding or a change of name?

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  is a political brand that has existed for 18 years, and was the ruling party until 2015 when it lost the  presidency to All Progressive Congress (APC). That loss was followed by allegations of corruption against the PDP-led regime and also internal crisis within the party. Now that the internal crisis is over, some still believe that PDP as a name does not have the goodwill to attract votes come 2019.

    This reminds one of Obama’s dilemmas in 2008 when he was aspiring as the President of the United States and his PR Consultant advised him to change his name, because his surname and the first name of the late terrorist, Osama Bin Laden, are homonyms. The PR Consultant saw the 9/11 attack as a basis of sentiment against Barack Obama’s name. However, Obama proceeded to campaign with his name and won the election.

    PDP as a brand will survive, if the brand statement can be redesigned. The tagline of “power to the people” may no longer get traction, as the public perception of the brand does not match that statement. Thus, the party may look into finding a brand statement that will resonate with the masses, current challenges of governance and aspirations of the populace.

    The APC brought broom as the brand meme and it easily communicated the mission of the party while it was in the opposition. It practically swept off the incumbent and birthed a government which is spearheading anti-corruption fight. That party really knows how to sweep! LOL. In the same way, we expect PDP to look into the umbrella meme and decide whether to retain it or change it to something revolutionary.  Once PDP get its brand, brand statement and brand meme all together in alignment with its strategic mission for 2019, the brand will get interest and desire of its target citizens. The change of name is not a necessity.

    As a contrarian view, the best brand strategy for PDP may be to “let PDP be PDP”. This will mean that the name, brand statement, and brand meme will not be changed. President Donald Trump’s campaign was hinged on the principle: “let Trump be Trump” and it worked! As long as PDP can present candidates with acceptable personality brands, does the brand of the party really matter?