The Nation Newspaper

Category: Brand week

  • SO&U chief gets national honour

    The Group Managing Director of, SO&U Group, Mr.Uffot Udeme, is the first advertising practitioner to receive the National Honour, The Nation has learnt.

    Udeme was recently conferred with a national honour of Member of the order of the Federal Republic (MFR) by President Goodluck Jonathan government.

    “This is the first time anyone from the advertising industry will be so honoured. Udeme Ufot is in full advertising practice as at date, and the very first in his generation of practitioners. His recent is a testament to his hardwork and contribution to the marketing communications industry,” an industry player said.

    Within the advertising industry, he co-founded one of Nigeria’s most successful and respected marketing communications group which has endured and continues as a key player for nearly 25 years.

    He started agency from a humble start of two bricks and a plank but today SO&U group has metamorphosed into a strong brand with the following subsidiaries: SO&U Advertising, Publicis Consultants/Soulcomm, Maximedia and Lucid Audio visuals thereby making it a fully fledged marketing communications group.

    The agency has been associated with some of the most outstanding brand building campaigns in Nigeria, thus contributing significantly to the growth of the Nigerian economy. Quite a number of the new emerging industry leaders cut their teeth at SO&U.

    He has been a director of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Nigeria’s leading public/private sector partnership economic think tank for over seven years. He was joint chairman of the organising committee of Summit 12 in 2006, having worked as a key member of, and later subcommittee chair, in the planning committees of Summits 8, 9, 10 and 11. Board members of NESG sacrifice both time and financial resources in the service of the nation in tandem with the slogan “we pay to serve”.

     

  • Are customers really kings/queens?

    Are customers really kings/queens?

    Many business outfits pay lip service to the refrain: ‘The customer is king’. But the way they treat their customers shows that they are only interested in what they get from them. For the banking industry, this is more pronounced as the lenders are interested in the customers’ deposits and interest on loans, among others. But when the customers need the banks, they are hardly there. A new marketing campaign by FirstBank of Nigeria, You First, is determined to change this trend, ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI writes.

    TREATING customers as king is a new marketing concept. It is a management orientation which maintains that firms establish relationships with selected target customers for whom superior values are designed, offered, redefined and realised in close cooperation with other partners in the marketing system to realise long-term profits through customer satisfaction.

    According to experts, the new thinking in marketing is making firms to embark on broader reinterpretation of their marketing approach, hence, placing the customer in a pivotal role.

    In the Nigerian banking sector, customers hardly enjoy any good service or benefit and they have continued to suffer great abuse.

    Some years ago, reports indicated that customer confidence in Nigerian banks was low as most of them reportedly lacked respect for their customers. However, considering the harsh environment under which the banks operate, experts believe the path to achieving customer centricity can be long and difficult, especially for well-established companies.

    “The challenge is creating business models that deliver what customers want, and developing the critical new capabilities to enable transformation,” Forbes magazine stated.

    But in a new campaign, You First, unveiled by FirstBank of Nigeria, the oldest bank is raising a hope for customers. The 120-year-old bank has signaled its new marketing concept when it rebranded its logo and redesigned its brand story early in the year.

    With the slogan, You First, campaign critics have argued that FirstBank has seen that today’s customers are more discerning and they don’t want to be caught in the web of their fury.

    While some old banks are failing because they could not connect with the new upwardly mobile customers, FirstBank’s You First, it’s believed, would change customers’ psyche through new brand architecture, such as new logo, colour, redesigned elephants, coupled with improved services which are enhanced by technology.

    The GMD/CEO of FirstBank, Bisi Onasanya, said the lender was committed to putting the customer first and would continuously generate initiatives that resonate with customer needs and aspirations while delivering the ultimate gold standard of service always.

    He said: “At FirstBank, we recognise the immutable merits of maintaining a You first mindset and culture, as a critical component of our business strategy. Our brand has evolved over the years, with strengthened brand muscles to match the constantly evolving expectations of today’s increasingly discerning stakeholders.”

    Its Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said the bank would continue to deliver memorable customer experience that is consistent, deliberate and differentiated; one that delights and surprises to fulfill the campaign promise, You First.

    She said: “We must remain dynamic by continuously innovating in line with the consumers’ changing preferences while re-aligning our operations in response to market trends. As a major player in the Nigerian economy, it is only logical that we must be the change leader and adapt to meet the needs of our consumers.

    “For those desirous of taking advantage of the growth opportunities in Nigeria, there can be no substitute for our on-the-ground presence in Africa’s biggest economy. “FirstBank has been investing continuously in Nigerian for the better part of 120 years. This experience has yielded many lessons that have continued to help us in developing and implementing strategies and initiatives for sustainable growth.”

    Ani-Mumuney, who gave an insight into the logo, said the body of the elephant has evolved as the bank’s name signifing that customers of the bank drive the brand.  The new trend has positioned the bank as a consumer-centric bank with service excellence built on a new direction.

    Analysing the new brand icon of the bank, Ani-Mumuney said, the elephant’s raised head, forward raised-leg and eyes raised signify a focused and forward-looking bank. She, however, said the refreshed identity reiterates the bank’s new commitment to serving customers better, and also to expanding its service to other countries as a global brand that has operated in the sector for 120 years.

    She said: “We have re-ignited this iconic symbol with a number of enhancements that communicates a robust evolution relevant to today’s banking business. The raised head of the elephant in our refreshed identity is our promise to all customers that with the bank by them every financial challenge they face, they can face with their head held high. The deep blue colour according her represents momentum, innovation and evolution. The raised foot of the elephant according to her is a promise that the bank will always put its foot forward for each and every one of its customers.”

    Meanwhile, analyst at Forbes Magazine listed three essential steps to customer centricity. The global business magazine urged firms to create customer-centric operating models. “An organisation focused on the consumer builds an operating model around a deep understanding of what they value and the contribution each makes to the profitability of the company,” the magazine stated.

    It also urged firms to use data analytics as a tool for designing effective customer experience. “Data analytics has become critical to designing an effective customer experience. Companies need to understand the true drivers of customer satisfaction — for every segment. What aspects of their experience (price, personal attention, response time, service, etc.) will have the most positive impact?

    “Equally, companies must identify what is not driving value, as this presents an opportunity to reduce costs,” analyst said.

    Companies are also urged to get social through effective integration of digital channels across sales and service activities in order to deliver a positive, brand-reinforcing customer experience at every touch-point in the customer relationship life cycle. “It enables you to harness real-time feedback at a lower cost than traditional customer service channels,” said analyst.

    However, a recent survey showed that Nigerian bank customers have the highest level of trust for their preferred financial services providers (PFSP).

    The Ernst & Young (EY) 2014 global consumer banking survey released April 28th in Lagos, showed that 69 per cent of Nigerian banking customers had confidence in their banks, the highest in Africa and second highest globally, behind India.

    The You First campaign it’s believed must have reckoned with this trend to communicate clearly to the customers that, despite that the bank is the oldest, it is still in touch with the desires of the new generation of bank customers.

     

  • ‘Why Spar is major tenant in Abia Mall’

    The choice of Spar as the maintenant in the new Abia Mall in Umuahia has been attributed to global rating which placed the retail chain as the world best the retail business.

    This assertion was made by the Abia Commissioner for Informa-tion, Hon. Chikamayo Eze during a meeting with key stakeholders and retailers in Lagos.

    He said having a great retail chain, such as Spar, in the mall, will  reposition the state capital as a commercial hub.

    The mall, which is the newest addition to the growing retail space in Nigeria, is set to open for business in April 2015.  The fully-digital mall, with 24-hour power supply and free parking space, considered a one-stop destination for dining, shopping, entertainment, banking and telecommunications, would boost the economy of Abia State in the region of 10 per cent to 15 per cent, said Eze.

    According to the property developer, Pro-M Limited, the convenience of a fully air-conditioned mall housed within an area of 11,557 square metres will soon be within the reach of everyone in Abia. The mall is set to contribute to the continuous economic growth in the East such as provision of jobs to its immediate environs.

    Recently, there has been renaissance of mall culture around the country. Started with Palm Shopping Mall in 2004, which was commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the major state capitals and cities have experienced the establishment of mega shopping acres.

    According to Eze, the government has no reason in the management of businesses but would create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state. Government has no business in running this, the beauty of government today is to provide enabling environment for private people to operate and to provide amenity to the community, because the essence of governance is welfare of the people, is not management of business.”

    Explaining the economic viability of the project in the state, Director, Abia Retail Company, Chuka Okoye said that the mall alone would generate over 1600 direct and indirect jobs in the state capital. He, however, assured tenants that the mall management has put in place arrangement to promote good business relationship hence to encourage growing businesses.

    “We have over 60 per cent of the mall occupied already, we have dragged global brands like SPAR and others to Abia State,” Okoye said.

     

  • Rising profile of consumer activation

    Experiential marketing connects consumers with brands via face-to-face engagement and leaves personal memories that enhance high level of brand recall.

    Though with consumers still inundated with traditional advertising platforms, such as Tv, radio, billboards, newspapers and magazines, among other above-the-lines, last year proved to be an embryonic year for experiential marketing as it laid the foundation for the future of the emerging aspect of marketing communication and bonding with consumers.

    In what appeared as a boom last year, the use of consumer activation or what might be termed as brand activations in experiential marketing is already showing a good yield for the emerging marketing communication aspect in 2014. It is estimated that so far over 20,000 experiential marketing activities were implemented in Nigeria.

    After overcoming a piece meal attention from brands handlers, it is swiftly becoming a key tactic in campaigns. From reports, its budget increased by 7.6 per cent in 2013, against economic growth of 1.6 per cent, and it is predicted to skyrocket even further this year.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Oracle Agency, Felix Eiremiokhae, reflects of the rising profile on experiential marketing. “Experiential marketing is the real conversations and meaningful impressions you can count. On the surface, it looks like experiential produces smaller numbers, but experiential is about quality over quantity, and they’re authentic numbers. This is the difference between big data and real data,” he said.

    Also, an experiential marketing expert, Ororo Azemhobor said the emerging marketing tactics could deliver more audience than traditional advertising, “Half a million people could read a newspaper, but does that mean half a million people read the advert inside? No. Traditional has a larger potential reach but experiential gives a realistic impression count based on direct engagements.”

    When building brand activation, experts said experiential marketers must understand that storytelling is key to delivering return on investment for brand owners. “You must have a good story; when you have a good story, you now talk of production,” Azemhobor said.

    For instance, the past three editions of Amstel Malta ShowTime hardly made any impact with storytelling. Consumers’ opinion on the activation generally was poor as many of them wanted the show yanked off even before it began.

    But after understanding the importance of storytelling in experiential marketing, the 2014 edition of the ShowTime appealed to the right audience. “This year’s Amstel Malta ShowTime featured entertainers like Sound Sultan, Phyno, Gordons, and others who took Lagos by storm with superb performances at the finale in the indoor sports hall of the University of Lagos. The entertainers featured in the Lagos edition of the concert drama directed by Ice Nweke, tagged “The Rush” – which fused artistry by ballerinas, singers, actors, fire eaters, jugglers, dancers, rappers, instrumentalists, comedians, et al – told the story of a young man’s journey to success in brilliant theatre,” said a brand analyst.

    With the good story-telling for the activation, a musical star, Sound Sultan, who also served as a judge and mentor on ShowTime this season, said “the experience has been worth every single hype.”

    Amstel Malta Brand Manager, Hannatu Ageni-Yusuf, expressed pleasure at the success of the 2014 edition of ShowTime expressed his delight, “this edition has been the most explosive we’ve ever had and we are very glad as a brand that we decided to do this. We thought of a way to give young talents a better opportunity to showcase them, rather than just compete and walk home with cash prizes”.

  • StarTimes’ Hausa channel comes on stream

    Despite the insurgency rocking the northeastern part of the country, driving away many brands, some by nature of the service they offer have continued to include the market in their offerings.

    The residents of the regional market were surprised recently when StarTimes, a digital terrestrial television (DTT) pay TV operator, announced that it was offering a channel named Dadin Kowa to cater for its audience who speak Hausa.

    The channel  is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural attributes of the Hausas, whose language is one of the major languages in the country and spoken by the majority in the northern fringe of Nigeria.

    The Content Manager of the NTA-Star TV Network Ayokunle Idowu, , said that Dadin Kowa has a rich outlook into the Hausa lifestyle. “The channel, which is currently targeted at the whole family, is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural attributes of the Hausa people. The content of new channel will include some Hausa-dubbed Chinese drama series. These drama series were translated from Chinese into Hausa by Nigerians, who acted as voice-overs in the Chinese drama series; as such, our customers would be watching Chinese actors speak in Hausa.”

    He reiterated that StarTimes would not relent in its efforts to ensure that its customers get quality content. “We recently unveiled our new sports channel, Star Sport 2, to meet up with the demands of our clients for more sports content particularly exclusive content. While the channel would be offering a wide range of sports including soccer, rugby, tennis, car race and extreme sports, StarTimes has the exclusive rights to air some soccer competitions of the on-going European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO Cup, which is currently being aired on the channel.”

    Idowu added that StarTimes is committed to ensuring that its customers enjoy the best of digital television at an affordable price. “We would not relent in ensuring that we meet the demands of our customers for quality content as we have done with the launch of Dadin Kowa. Besides we, as a platform for digital migration, are ever committed to helping Nigerians actualise the 2015 deadline by ensuring that Nigerians get the best of digital television at an affordable price.

    “Nigerians can confidently migrate into digital space with StarTimes as we provide the latest technology in DTT operations – DVB-T2 technology – which will give over 80 channels and quality digital entertainment. Our DVB-T2 decoder gathers over 80 channels of great sports, music, movies, news, kids and teens’ entertainment, documentary, religion and lots more,” he said.

     

  • X3M Ideas bags ‘Telecom Marketing Company’ award

    Lagos marketing communications agency, X3M Ideas has won the coveted award of the “Telecom Marketing Company of the Year” at the 10th edition of the Nigerian Telecom Awards which held last Saturday in Lagos.

    Top contenders for the popular award and their relevant portfolios include 141-Worldwide (for Etisalat Portfolio); DDB Lagos (for MTN Portfolio) and X3M Ideas  (Etisalat Portfolio). All three agencies were shortlisted on the nomination list for the ‘Telecoms Marketing Company of the Year” award under the telecom & Allied products segment.

    At the end of the judging session, X3M Ideas defiled book makers’ predictions  to beat the more experienced agencies to cart home the landmark 10th edition award in “Telecoms Marketing Company of the Year” category.

    According to the organisers, the rationale for the nomination and judgment parameters are very clear and independently carried out by an autonomous panel of Assessors & Judges. These include analysing available statistics, creative portfolio submitted and the rationale behind them, researches are conducted while we also interviewed relevant contacts.

    Speaking on the awards, Secretary General, Nigerian Telecoms Awards, Otunba Biodun Ajiboye said the awards organised by TelecomNews has passed the litmus test having been on for 10 years and known for its credible evaluation process.

    “If we have got to this stage, it means that the award has sailed through the tides of time and has come to stay as an elixir for the telecoms industry and allied service providers.”

    Steve Babaeko, Creative Director/CEO, X3M Ideas, speaking on the Telecom Marketing company of the year award won by his agency, said: “we are grateful to God and our clients for giving us the opportunity”.

    He, however, noted that as an agency, the intention is to create ads that work for our clients by moving their stocks. If awards are won along the way, “we are happy but will never get carried away by the euphoria. We will always have our eyes on the ball – our client’s marketing objectives and our reason for being their agency”

     

  • Why we are sponsoring ‘Facetime’ on CNN, by Dangote

    Dangote Industries Limited has said its sponsorship of ‘Facetime’ on the Cable News Network (CNN) offers it a unique window into African business.

    The programme, which made its debut on September 19, would feature Dangote’s expansion drive across the continent.

    ‘Facetime’ is a high-profile segment within CNN Marketplace Africa, where each week a major player from the continent’s business community is interviewed. CNN Marketplace Africa is the destination for access to movers and shakers at the forefront of African business.

    The show goes beyond bringing viewers the new business solutions and industry trends redefining African business. On-air content is complemented by distinctive online editorial at a CNN Marketplace Africa micro site, where popular and innovative content is shared across social channels.

    While announcing the deal, Vice President, Regional Ad Sales, EMEA, CNN International, Antonio Canto, said: “We are delighted that Dangote Industries Limited is working with CNN to promote its brand internationally in a TV sponsorship across all CNN International global feeds. The ‘Facetime’ segment in CNN Marketplace Africa is an important programming strand to be associated with because the content reflects the dynamic nature of African business. Dangote’s expansion, underpinned by this bespoke advertising campaign with CNN, is a brand-builder for African business as a whole,” he added.

    Explaining the group’s decision to sponsor the programme, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, said his company was supporting the programme to clear the misconception about Africa. Besides, the lack of information on Africa was holding back foreign investment, he added.

    “Africa also offers one of the highest rates of return on investment in the world, a fact that discerning foreign investors have since acknowledged. Indeed, Africa has turned the corner and is catching up with the rest of the world in the race for development. Dangote Industries Limited is delighted to sponsor the ‘Facetime’ segment in CNN’s Marketplace Africa because it tells compelling success stories about Africa. Such content can, ultimately, position Africa as an attractive investment destination and foster development that lift communities and nations into prosperity. This is Africa’s time,” he said.

    According to him, some investors still have stereotypical images of Africa etched on their minds. A new Africa is emerging from the ashes of her dark past, and is fast rising and is gaining accelerated speed, in all indices of human development. Many appear to have taken little notice of this silent revolution that is sweeping across Africa like a tornado. There is growing optimism everywhere about Africa, on a scale never before imagined.

    “For instance, Rwanda, which was only two decades ago, devastated by war, is one of the success stories of this African renaissance. Rwanda is fast becoming Africa’s investors’ delight, and currently ranks 45th in the World Bank’s ease of doing business. Similarly, the economy of Ethiopia, once a global metaphor for famine, has been growing at a double-digit for the past five years. This growth has attracted Ethiopians abroad, who are coming home with expertise and capital to develop their country currently ranked the 10th largest livestock producer in the world.

    Dangote said there is growth in the middle class, with increased purchasing power, across Africa. This has provided an incentive for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) firms, which are scrambling to invest in Africa. The increase in population growth of Africa (estimated at one billion), abundance of natural resources, and clement weather, also make Africa a viable proposition for investors.

    “The Chinese, who have been smart to move in early enough, are reaping the fruits, especially in the construction industry, in which they possess considerable expertise. They are building factories, roads and railway lines across Africa. In the last eight years alone, foreign direct investment (FDI) has helped create 1.6 million new jobs in Africa. Capital investments are projected to reach $150 billion in 2015.

    Determined not to be outdone by the Chinese, Western companies are now taking more interest in Africa. General Electric (GE), the world’s largest infrastructure company, recently declared its intention to invest in Africa.

    African companies are not sitting back idly as they are behind a growing percentage of FDI, which has been going to sectors such as manufacturing and services, in recent years. South African big retail shops, such as Shoprite, Massmart and Spar, and telecoms company, MTN Group; Etisalat of the Middle East; and Airtel of India, have all gained a foothold in Nigeria, which has witnessed an unprecedented growth in number of subscriber base from 500,000 fixed lines in 2001 to 98.4 million as at October 2011.

    “This growth is the fastest anywhere in the world! African markets must re-position themselves to key into this economic revolution.

    In 2010, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) of the United States named 40 African Companies that have the potential to rival Fortune 500 Companies based on their size, geographical spread and turnover. Dangote Group is one of them. Dangote Cement Plc is also the only Nigerian Company on Forbes Global 2000 Companies.

    In the last few years, we have invested close to $4 billion in various projects across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We are setting up new cement plants in eight African countries, namely: Senegal, Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon, and Benin Republic. We are also developing import terminals in the following African countries: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin Republic, Togo and Guinea (Conakry).

    “All these projects, which are largely driven by huge deficit in local supply of cement in the countries listed, are at different stages of progress, and will be completed between 2012 and 2014. Our ultimate goal is to rank among the top eight cement producers in the world by 2014. Our aspiration to be the leading cement producer in Africa is a logical step after we have achieved domestic dominance and have become self-sufficient in cement production as a nation. In Nigeria, Dangote cement accounts for more than 60 per cent of market share. We will start exporting cement to neighbouring countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote D Ívoire, as from this year.’’

     

     

  • Firm unveils online portal

    To infuse new standards  into shopping, a fashion e-commerce platform, Traclist, has upgraded its portal to provide its customers with unique online experiences.

    The platform, designed to ease   fashion shopping, would create seamless connections between merchants and buyers of local and international labels.

    The portal shows customers can register and log into personal accounts with opportunities to add various products from diverse fashion merchants into one shopping cart. The e-commerce platform also provides customers with an all-in-one comprehensive two to  five days’ delivery service via its logistics partners to destinations nationwide.

    Traclist’s Managing Director, Traclist, Mr. Emotu Balogun, said: “We are introducing a unique and superior customer experience to lovers of fashion, which will deliver a proper online marketplace with a guaranteed return policy like never before.”

    It provides a rounded service where customers, subscribers and followers of the brand can access a self-styled fashion professional for tips on mixing colors and dress combinations.

    The portal is a niche online fashion marketplace, which supports local and international products from Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in the industry.

    Other offerings on Traclist include products ranging from sport gears to fragrances, shoes and flats, shirts, accessories, fashion adjacent in men and women clothing among others.

    Adolescents and children also have colourful varieties of casuals and sport collections provided on the Traclist e-commerce platform.

  • Confusion in indigenous languages’ adverts

    As the world celebrates International Languages Day, a lead translator at XML Language Services Limited, Olugboyega Adebanjo, examines the use and misuse of indigenous languages in advert copies.

    The bedrock of ads in languages is translation. As the copywriter writes the copy in English, the translator writes the copy in Nigerian languages. Suffice to say: what a copywriter is to the English-Nigerian audience, is what a translator is to the non-English Nigerian audience. For emphasis, what a copywriter is to the English-Nigerian audience, glish Nigerian audience.

    Moreover, a translator “must, therefore, have a mastery of the two languages and of the subject matter of the work, thus expressing his own personality in it. It follows that to translate is to create,” Translation Rights and Translators’ Rights by The World Intellectual Property Organisation et al. It is the expression of “his own personality” that equates him with a copywriter.

    And the icing on the cake, as postulated by Tsehai Wada of the Addis Ababa University (AAU), is: “Translators as mediators between cultures have much responsibilities than authors (copywriters) (bracket added).” It is the dearth of this understanding that ruins ads in Nigerian languages. Such ruins are the translations of ‘SIM’ as ‘phone’, ‘registration of SIM’ as ‘registration of name’, ‘scratch’ as ‘peel’ etc. by the telecom operators.

    Another of such ruin is the translation of a popular brand of phone slogan – Be Original, Buy Original. A Yoruba radio ad of the phone simply translates and renders the slogan as an-an la n rin, Ra Ojulowo. The first thing to note is the inconsistency in the translation of the word ‘original’ as an-an la n rin and Ojulowo. While Ojulowo is apt translation of the word ‘original’, an-an la n rin is ‘to walk in a straight direction’. In context, the translation reads ‘Walk in a Straight Direction, Buy Original’.

    Absolutely, no correlation, and it is sheer confusion – no clarity. Besides, would J Ojulowo be apt translation of Be Original? But that would be the Yoruba of a non-Yoruba stock. Be Original is best translated as Fran Nnkan Ojulowo which means ‘to like something original’. If you like something original, then you can be said to Be Original. Absurdity of this nature is bounteous in ads in Nigerian languages. The absurdity is in sync with Fred Allen’s (a late American humourist) witticism that “An advertising agency is 85 per cent confusion and 15 per cent commission.” Indeed, the agencies (in connivance with the advertisers) sell 85 per cent confusion to us in order to line their pockets with 15 per cent commission.

     

    Why the confusion?

    Deliberate evasion of translation process by advertisers and advertising agencies. Proof reading – a second person and independent perspective to translation – completes the cycle of the process. The process would remain detracted, just as it is today, if the services of mavens are not employed. A voice over artist, a radio or TV presenter, or a Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa orator is not a translator.

    A translator is first a linguist, and native speaker of a language. It is only a linguist who has the knowledge and depth on the grammar and stylistic usage of a language. Native speaker? Yes! A Yoruba or Edo man who speaks Hausa is inapt to do Hausa voice over. If anything, his pronunciations will betray him. Could the N20,000 (or less in some cases) being paid as the price of translation of a script in the advertising sector be justifiable? Based on my earlier assertion, if translation is seen as a copy in another language, and that is what it is, the question is: Would N20,000 be paid for a copy of any sort in English?

    The price defies economic logic in relation to the Advertising Standard Panel’s vetting approval of a script at N20,000 – the least. Come to think of it, you never know when you will be paid the money (for translation). Based on comments from at least two different A-rating agencies, it takes between three months and one year. The disinclination of the Nigerian state to regulate and protect this form of art remains a concern.

     

    Who is vetting what?

    I really find it difficult to believe that Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) – Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) statutory committee – empower to vet ads do vet ads in Nigerian languages. If it does, one thing is clear: the linguistic incompetence of its members in Nigerian languages. Page 3 of the Vetting Guideline says, “The Vetting Guidelines apply to the entire contents of an advertisement, including words….” There is an urgent need for ASP to employ the service of experienced linguists and translators to help them take ‘care of words’ in Nigerian languages.

     

  • Beer’s loss wine’s gain

    Beer’s loss wine’s gain

    With the reported drop in beer sales and consumption, the wine and spirit market is booming, raking in over $350 million, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    By October 23, Nigeria will host 30 wine and spirit exhibitors from over 10 countries, including Spain, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, United States (US), Argentina, Chile, Italy and France, at an international fair.

    For Nigeria, the event is expected to bring investors willing to operate in the liquor market,  valued at over N280 billion.

    Besides coming for the exhibition, the global players are expected to tap directly into the Nigerian market against the usual back door importation which is believed to be aiding importers and producers of fake foreign wines, and  killing the local liquor market.

    The efforts by global wine and spirit producers to play in the fast growing sector are coming at a time the beer industry is struggling with sales. Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), a diversified financial institution, said the nation’s beer market has seen a decline in the super-premium and mainstream brands.

    “From our analysis, we conclude that the industry is attractive. We note that though the barriers to entry are high, the bargaining power of suppliers is moderate, while the bargaining power of buyers is low. There is little threat of substitutes for the products produced in the industry and favourable complements for the products,” FDC said.

    This appears to be a gain to the wine and spirit market in Nigeria. According to Euromonitor International, a global market intelligence organisation, Nigeria spends an average of N41.41 billion on champagne yearly and was rated the second fastest growing market in the world for champagne. It noted that between 2006 and 2011, it achieved a compound annual growth of 22 per cent.

    Accordingly, the total champagne consumption reached 752,879 bottles (75cl) in 2011, higher than consumption in Russia and Mexico, thereby placing Nigeria among the top 20 champagne markets in the world.

    Further investigation showed that the country, in 2010, consumed about 593,000 bottles, the highest in Africa. The closest to this figure was South Africa, another country that has been identified as an emerging market for luxury goods, besides Nigeria. South Africa’s champagne consumption was 384,000 bottles in 2010.

    The markets are also expected to be among the countries to post the strongest gains in total champagne volume. France topped the list followed by the United Kingdom. Brazil, China, United States  and Australia, are in toe.

    According to the Senior alcoholic drinks analyst at Euromonitor International, Spiros Malandrakis, during a keynote presentation at the 2012 Champagne Assembly held in London, “ what did come as a surprise was Nigeria’s second place in these global rankings.”

    Apart from Champaign, the country is becoming the target of Europe’s wine and spirit makers. According to the Euromonitor International data, wine consumption in Nigeria grew from 18.8 million litres in 2006 to 44.3 million litres in 2011. This is expected to increase by 80.4 per cent, that is, 79.9 million litres by 2016.

    As it plans to host about 30 global wine and spirit makers later in the year, the Managing Director, Spronks Creations Limited, the  organiser International Wine & Spirit Fair (NIWSF) of the wine and spirit fair in Nigeria, Aderonke Sobodu, said:  “The growth and acceptance of wine and spirit into our social lifestyle has made the country one of the fast-emerging markets in the world, which in turn offers great opportunity for tourism, trade and commerce.

    This also created the need to expose indigenous wine and spirit producers to the global trade environment, with Nigeria ranking as a fast growing market. Currently consumption figure of wine and spirit in the country is valued at over $350 million based on export figures.

    She said: “The team of the Nigeria International Wine and Spirit Fair, in partnership with the International Oenologists, is exploring the possibility of growing and producing the first commercial wine range in West Africa. Obudu Plateau, found on the Oshie Ridge of the Sankwala Mountain range has been identified as a potential location to explore wine production based on the landscape and altitude of this region. We are seeking the help of the Cross River State Government to achieve this feat.”

    With the growth of the industry, the activities of illegal importers have come under hammer of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE).  With an estimated N700 million loss annually to influx of illegal wine, spirits and alcoholic beverages, distillers and blenders are afraid of another dangerous signal that saw textile industries income to Gross Domestic Product out of the nation’s trade balance sheet.

    The group believed that the illegal influx of alcoholic beverages, wines and spirits into the country is an ominous threat to the market.

    Currently, Nigeria’s wine imports are increasing by 16 per cent annually. A new report from New Zealand’s Rabobank, said Nigeria has the potential to become a lucrative export market for wine, but some New Zealand winemakers are yet to be convinced.

    The report, titled, ‘A new wine frontier,’ said that while China and South Korea are probably the most attractive emerging wine markets, Mexico, Poland, Brazil and Nigeria are “hidden gems” that could offer rich rewards, over the medium to long-term, to ambitious exporters. Early exposure to these nascent markets would give firms hard-won experience and a head-start on their competition, said Rabobank Food and Agribusiness Analyst, Stephen Rannekleiv.

    Meanwhile, Industry analysts say the burgeoning Nigerian market has been the attraction for foreign labels which are flocking into the country. Reports showed that Hennessy is trying its best to exploit the market, as it has increased its global revenues from $24.23 billion in 2008 to $37.14 billion in 2012, while net profit increased from $3.27 billion to $4.52 billion.

    The Marketing Manager, Moet Hennessy, Nigeria,  Lere Awokoya, said Nigeria is one of the fastest-growing markets for whiskey and champagne, as the Hennessy brand has experienced a 12 per cent growth in the Nigerian market year-on-year since 2011.

    “The figure is about right,” saidAwokoya, while responding to Hennessy’s champagne market share. “We estimated about a 12 per cent yearly increase in growth since 2011. This just means to us that the relationship between Nigeria and our brands is becoming more meaningful. We are very aware of that and consequently, we are doing what we can to maintain this growing relationship and make it a lasting one,” Awokoya,  said.