The Nation Newspaper

Category: Brand week

  • Star Lager rewards consumers

    Star Lager beer has kicked off the reward of 32, 179 lucky consumers with customised Ipads, DVDs and headphones. The winners emerged from its ‘Text and Play’ activation promo.

    The items will be delivered free at the doorsteps of winners.

    During the activation, the brand doled out N500 recharge cards each to over 7, 000 participants.

    The brand invited some of the league leaders across different states to exclusive gigs with international singing superstar, Tuface and other A-list music artistes.

    The exclusive party took place in Lagos, Abuja, Benin, Enugu and Port-Harcourt. The league leaders were able to have an interaction with Tuface and friends.

    While it lasted,the Star League ‘Text and Play’for many consumers across the 36 states, including Abuja to display their creativity while engaged in an exciting battle to accumulate the highest number of points on the specially created league table.

    Consumers were expected to look under the crown cork of their Star beer bottle for a code and SMS the code under with their full name, age and state of residence to a short code 30383.

    The consumer will receive a feedback, stating the number of points the consumer has earned. The SMS system worked with major telecoms operators.

    The mobile phone number used to send the code was used to register the consumer on the Star website. Consumers had the unique opportunity of checking their “standing” on the “Star League Table” at (www.star-nigeria.com), where they will see their position on the state League table compared to other consumers.

    Points were accumulated over the period of the promo, using the registered mobile number.

    The simplicity of the promo was, indeed, evident as everyone stood a good chance of winning something. The number of points accumulated was not necessarily based on the amount of Star lager beer a consumer consumed. For instance there were a lot of consumers who accumulated less than 10 points but still won headphones!

    Brand Manager, Star, Mr Omotunde Adenusi, said: “Star Lager Beer, the No.1 beer in the country has continued to keep its consumers actively engaged all year round through its exciting consumer engagement platforms that cut through music, football and exciting promotions and reward programmes.”

  • South Africa is destination of the year

    South Africa is destination of the year

    South Africa’s reputation as one of the world’s most sought-after offshoring destinations has received endorsement from the European Outsourcing Association (EOA), which named the country as its destination of the year.

    Last year’s winner was another African country, Morocco. It was honoured along with MEDZ Sourcing, which manages business parks in Morocco that are dedicated to offshoring.

    The EOA is Europe’s most important association of professionals and experts in the outsourcing industry, according to AbderrafieHanouf of MEDZ Sourcing. It has over 1,000 corporate members representing national trade associations from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, theUnited Kingdom.

    South Africa was a finalist last year, and this year saw off competition from Russia and Serbia to clinch the top spot, and put the continent of Africa on the global map. It also boosts the African brand

    The ceremony took place on in Amsterdam. South Africa was entered by the national association, Business Processing enabling South AfricaBusiness Processing enabling (BPeSA), and the award comes hot on the heels of its October, last year’s triumph at the London-based National Outsourcing Association’s yeraly ceremony, where it was voted the UK offshoring destination of the year.

    BPESA Western Cape Chief Executive Gareth Pritchard was delighted with the honour, saying it confirmed the quality of service that South Africa offered to its European clients. “Services in other languages, combined with a growing base of high-end skills in financial and legal services, have highlighted the country’s status as a world-class offshoring location,” he said.

    Offshoring contributes about $895-million to the province’s economy and employs thousands of people, according to the Western Cape’s minister of finance, economic development and tourism, Alan Winde.

    Statistics from the City of Cape Town reveal that the city’s outsourcing industry grew from 20,428 agents in 2007/8, to 27,552 in 2011/12 – a year on year increase of 10.5 per cent.

    During the same period, the offshoring sector increased from 2,963 to 4,727 agents. This represents a remarkable yearly growth of 16.9 per cent. Last year, the industry attracted investments of $57-million).

    A survey by the international research group Everest Consultancy named South Africa as one of the top three emerging offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) destinations in the world.

    Offshoring goes one step further than BPO, which relocates business processes that a company performs in-house, such as accounting or customer call centres, to a third-party service provider, to carry out on behalf of the company.

    Outsourcing becomes offshoring when the third-party service provider is located in another country.

    South Africa is expected to make steady progress in the offshoring sector in years to come, said senior analyst ParthaIyengar of technology research firm Gartner. He predicted the creation of 40,000 new jobs through offshoring by next year, while the local insourced sector would provide jobs for 120,000 people.

    Iyengar said by 2015, he expected offshore contact centre jobs in South Africa to grow toover three times the number in 2010.

    Firms making use of South African facilities include, among others, British Gas; Amazon; Switzerland’s Edelweiss Air; global outsourcing leader WNS; Bloomberg; Virgin Mobile; Everything Everywhere, which handles communications for the Orange and T-Mobile brands; and British retailer Asda, which has been running its contact centre from Cape Town since 2005.

  • Three ladies win in Legend promo

    Three ladies win in Legend promo

    The third raffle draw for the Legend Extra Stout National Consumer Promotion has produced three female winners of the grand prize for this year’s edition.

    They are: Tokunbo Bolanle Balogun, a trader; Oluchi Umunakwe and Roselyn Monday, ungraduates.

    They will travel to Dubai, where they will shop for gift items worth N1 million in 60 seconds. Luck shone on the ladies as their numbers were picked at the third raffle draw, at the Eldorado Hills, Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos, last Friday.

    The first draw did not produce any female winner, while a lone female consumer emerged for the big prize during the second raffle draw.

    Balogun said she was overjoyed at the news. The second lady, 25- year-old Oluchi Umunakwe, a 400 level part-time student of the Lagos State University (LASU), said she looked forward to the Legend Unique Shopping Experience, as it would afford her the opportunity of getting a passport as well as flying on a plane for the first time.

    Although Oluchi is unsure of the items she would pick for herself during the trip, she is targeting an ipad for her elder brother.

    While both Tokunbo and Oluchi emerged via the electronic raffle draw, Monday was picked at the venue of the draw.

    Roselyn said: “On Friday afternoon (the day of the raffle draw), I felt like clubbing and I told my friend, who then suggested we should hang out at M18 Night Club, where we then got to hear about the promo. We were curious and wanted to confirm whether the promo was true or not. Like every other person, we plugged in and tried our luck. A few hours later, I was shocked beyond words when I heard my name being called from the stage, saying that I have won a ticket for the trip to Dubai.”

    The Moshood Abiola Polytechnic student attributed her winning to the hostesses present at the raffle draw venue.

    She explained: “I wanted to order one of the ready-to-drink beers, but a particular hostess informed me about the promo and the fact that there were lots of fantastic prizes up for grabs, if only I tried Legend. I ordered for one, and they gave me a raffle ticket which I filled and submitted. I am delighted to be among the selected few who will travel to Dubai to shop for up to N1 million. I pray that the luck that won me this ticket will also see me through in Dubai. I am just excited and overwhelmed right now, and, honestly, I feel Legend is a great beer.”

    Other winners were Fisayo Abiodun Johnson, a student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure; Anosiri Chukwujejwu, a metal fabricator and Eduh Onuninya, a lawyer based in Nnewi, Anambra State.

    For Fisayo, who is a year-four student of Urban and Regional Planning, he never believed he could win, even when he kept sending the crown cork codes to the designated number.

    “I didn’t even believe I could win, not in a million years. I have tried participating in several promos in the past, but I have never been lucky. In fact, I still find it difficult to believe that I have won. I don’t even have an international passport; but I have been told that Legend will organise one for me. I just plan to go to Dubai and have fun.

    While Anosiri said he decided to partake in the promo after seeing the information on posters, Eduh said he was not convinced, until the Legend brand team visit him to inform him of his victory.

    When it dawned on him that he had won, he said: “I was shocked and shed tears of joy,” he said.

    Even though I didn’t believe in the promo, when I was sending the unique crown code, I believed for a miracle. I am overjoyed.

    Christopher Johnson and Peter Uvoh are also winners of the Dubai Shopping Experience. Christopher, who trades in food items, such as beans, rice and maize, plans to buy clothes, phones, laptops and plasma TV in Dubai.

    Peter Uvoh, a mechanical engineer, said he was confident of winning; hence he kept his crown cork for one month.

    He said: “You won’t believe I only sent in one crown cork to the code specified on the bottle. And later, I was informed that I had won the ticket.

    “Going to Dubai is a testimony. I’m very happy that, out of the hundreds of thousands of people who have been making entries, I emerged as one of the winners.”

  • ‘Cowbell competitions open to Nigerians’

    ‘Cowbell competitions open to Nigerians’

    Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell Milk, its Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (NASSMAC) is free to Nigerians, the firm’s Managing Director, Chief Keith Richards, has said.

    He spoke at the prize giving ceremony of the competition in Abuja, where he unveiled national champions of this year’s NASSMAC in both the Senior and Junior secondary schools.

    He said the objective of the initiative is to arouse interest in mathematics among secondary school students as a road map to nation building, adding that NASSMAC is open to secondary school pupils studying in Nigeria who are in JSS 3 (for the junior category) and SS2 (for the senior category), aged 10-18 years.

    Richards said the ‘current’ pass rates in Mathematics in West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) pose a challenge not only to teachers, schools and relevant government agencies, but also to parents, Nigerians and indeed well- meaning companies and organisations Promasidor, which have upon themselves to support relevant stakeholders in stemming the tide.

    “Promasidor sees this, not only as a fight to protect our future as individuals, but rather as a fight for the collective future of our beloved country, Nigeria. With the current growth in our economy, we urgently need to develop the human resource capability to drive, support, sustain and surpass our vision,” Richards said.

    The Director-General and Chief Executive of the National Mathematical Centre, Prof Adewale Solarin, in a keynote address, noted that the competition is Promasidor’s contribution to the efforts of the Federal Government to ensure the technological development of the country through the popularisation of mathematics and mathematical sciences, among the youth.

    Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Abbas Adebibu, who represented the Minister of Education, Prof Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, thanked the management of Promasidor for supporting the transformation agenda of the Federal Government through its sponsorship of the competition yearly.

    Winners emerged as national champions in the Cowbell NASSMAC. In the Senior category, Master Akindele Oyedele, an SS2 student of Iganmode Grammar School, Ojuore, Ota, Ogun State clinched the first position with 94 per cent in the objective and theory in the second stage exam conducted in May.

    He was followed by a female pupil, Miss Adegbohungbe Lois from Reality High School, Ilesa, Osun State with 83 per cent as the first runner-up while Master Obasi Nnamdi Peter from the University of Nigeria (UNN) Secondary School, Enugu who scored 81 per cent, took third position.

  • Maltina set for family dance

    Maltina, the premium non-alcoholic malt drink from the stable of Nigerian Breweries Plc has set the stage for Season Seven of the popular family dance show, Maltina Dance All (MDA).

    The show will be preceded by regional auditions, which will kick off in Port Harcourt from July 19 to 20; Lagos – National Theatre, Iganmu, July 25, 26 and 27 and Abuja – Nicon Luxury Hotel from August 2 to 3.

    This year edition titled: “The Evolution” will chronicle dance styles from 1960 to today.

    Renowned for promoting togetherness with friends and loved ones, the MDA is the consumer engagement and experiential marketing platform that the brand deploys to resonate with esteemed consumers.

    Speaking at the presentation of some dances, Mr Edem Vindah, Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager, who represented Mr Ageni Yusuf, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc, said: “The dance performance was a tip of the iceberg from this season of Maltina Dance All.

    “As we all know, it is the foremost experiential and sponsorship platform of the Maltina brand renowned for promoting togetherness with friends and loved ones. The TV show, which made its debut in 2007, has remained Nigeria’s first and only family dance TV show featuring families from various regions across the country.”

    He added that the show is “about the emotions, excitement, fun and the unbreakable bond that 10 families will showcase when they challenge themselves by learning and performing various dance styles from the 70s, 80s, 90s and today.

    “This is going to be evolution of dance from time past to the present. The winning family will go home with the grand prize of N6 million and of course, a brand new car.

    “The first and second runners up will also get N1 million and N500,000. The show will bring to the fore, the Nigerian’s essence and values of sharing, happiness unity, cooperation, vitality and creativity.”

    Mrs. Ngozi Nkwoji, Senior Brand Manager Maltina stated that building any brand is a very long journey, “We are glad with where we are with Maltina today. We are very excited about the seventh season of MDA, seven years is a long time for a show to still be relevant and we’re very glad Maltina through MDA continues to bring the brand experience of sharing happiness and fun to the consumer.

    The MDA Evolution is something not to be missed. We put a lot of work into it. Every year, there is something bigger and better. What we are doing with Maltina Dance All is to “share happiness” and to also create more emotional connection with consumers because families and dance are two winning components in the environment. Nigerians love to dance.”

  • Cadbury introduces 500g Bournvita

    Cadbury Nigeria Plc has introduced 500 gramme pack of Bournvita into the market.

    The pack, according to the organisation, will complement other sizes of the food drink.

    Speaking during the unveiling of the Cadbury Bournvita 500g, the Managing Director of Cadbury Nigeria Plc., Emil Moskofian, said: “This upsizing to 500g pack is aimed at adding more vitality to our consumers, giving more value with every purchase of Cadbury Bournvita 500g jar and 500g refill pack.”

    Cadbury Bournvita has been part of the fabric of the society over the last five decades, providing nourishment and vitality to generations. Recently after reconfirming its nutrition credentials, Cadbury Bournvita was endorsed by the Nutrition Society of Nigeria making it the only food drink endorsed by the society.

  • Benefits of Amstel Malta campus storm

    To ride on the growing union between music and youths’ development and tap into the achievements in the music industry and their impact in the international circle, brands have developed a strategy that combines entertainment and brands message to get the heart of their target audience.

    Over the years, Nigeria has produced some talented hip hop artistes who have represented the nation at the world stage, thereby creating the ground for acceptability which has been recognised as one the best platforms for brands, corporate organisations as well as individuals who desired to reach the target audience.

    One of such is the recently concluded Amstel Malta/Tuface Campus Connect Tour.  The event, which was sponsored by Amstel Malt, of Nigerian Breweries Plc. It hosted the country’s Afro hip hop singing sensation, Innocent Ujah Idibia, popularly called Tuface, and other musicians.

    The Indoor Sports Hall of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) was a beehive of activities as hip hop superstars, as many students turned out to witness the six campus music tour.

    The Campus Connect gig train, which made stops at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Port Harcourt, Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Enugu and the University of Abuja, Abuja had several budding and notable artistes thrilling their fans. They include: Ranson, Money B, Hype M.C, Efa, Young Grace, 2Sec, Rocksteady, Damy Crane, Sheyi Shay, Rough Coil, Vector, Solid Star, Phyno, Sound Sultan and the winner of Amstel Malta Show time in last year, Same.

    Music lovers in Lagos got more than they bargained for as these music acts offered interactive music renditions, which was applauded by guests and joyful moments from them. The crowd, comprising students from UNILAG, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State Polytechnic and Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education Lagos defied the downpour on that day to enjoy music performance by Tuface and friends.

     The Brand Manager, Amstel Malta, Miss Hannatu Ageni Yusuf, expressed her appreciation for the impressive turnout and the outstanding musical performances.

    “Amstel Malta has always championed and advanced the course of youths by encouraging them to be the best that they can be. Tonight’s performance is also a clear demonstration of being able to connect to the University students and the good people of Lagos”.

    She added: “The Amstel Malta brand has a penchant for promoting positive values in the youths to chart a good course for Nigeria as a nation. Tuface and his friends have been awesome and Amstel Malta, the low sugar premium brand from Nigerian Breweries is indeed delighted to be associated with them.”

     She promised that the next edition would be bigger and more exciting as the team would prepare for it to adjust and add on some ideas to create that moment of interaction with Nigerian hip hop stars and the students.

    The audience received Tuface with uncontrollable chants of excitement. Apart from churning out some his iconic music tracks, Tuface also pepped up his performance with a repertoire of chorographers while he perfected the act of singing as well as skillfully maneuvering his lanky gait. With cans of Amstel Malta in their hand, Tuface proved to his fans for the umpteenth time why he is unarguably one of Nigeria’s hottest musical exports to the global scene.

    The crowd cheered endlessly as Tuface recreated his popular tracks with improvisations. Tracks such as ‘For instance’, ‘Bush meat’, ‘Nfana Ibaga’, ‘U no holy pass’, ‘See me so’, ‘No shaking’, ‘Enter the place’, ‘Implication’, and his hit track from his recent‘ Away and Beyond’ album tagged ‘Ihe neme’.  Certainly, Tuface backed by his friends lived up to his billing as one of Nigeria’s top acts, he also provided the undergraduates with the opportunity to be the best they can be.

    Okodua Cosmos, a 300 Level Estate Management student, described the show as the best that has ever happened on the campus of UNILAG because it created an exciting moment between the students and the hip hop stars. He praised Amstel Malta for creating the platform for these music acts to perform, thereby contributing to extra-curricular activities in schools. “I believe the brand must have paid a huge amount to bring Tuface and his friends to UNILAG, if we were to pay the amount charged by organisers of such shows outside the campus we would have paid through our nose, but we came in almost free. They really encouraged us to be the best we can be.”

    Ogunsola Oluwakemi, a100 Level Psychology undergraduate also expressed her excitement and satisfaction on the show; “I cannot describe how happy I am to see some of the hip hop stars on stage, I am also getting the best time with best malt. The show has brought us relief from the bustle of lecture hall, this should happen often to help us reduce the stress of campus,” she said.

    Adukwu Ekene, a 300 Level Human Kinetic and Health Education student, praised the synergy between Tuface and Amstel Malta, calling for more of such gigs on campus.

    Nigeria has been called “the heart of African music” because of its role in the development of West African highlife and palm-wine music, which fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo for the development of several popular styles that were unique to Nigeria, such as Apala, fuji, jùjú, highlife, and Yo-pop.

    Subsequently, Nigerian musicians created their styles of United States hip hop music and Jamaican reggae. The musical output has achieved international acclaim not only in the fields of folk and popular music, but also Western art music written by composers.

    The new breed of musicians championed by Tuface and others has, indeed, taken music to unimaginable heights.

  • RyteDeals and online retail sales war

    THE online retail space in the country has become a gold mine as the electronic retailers are now jostling for market supremacy. The online stores that are competing for market share are RyteDeals, Jumia, Konga and Dealday etc with RyteDeals fiercely challenging the established ones for market domination. A wholly own indigenous firm, RyteDeals is the latest addition to Nigeria’s flourishing online retail space.

    To win the war of market dominance, a subtle price war has begun among online retailers and they are jostling for the attention of Nigeria’s online teeming shoppers. Already, RyteDeals offers up to 75 per cent discount on products and services purchased at www.rytedeals.com. The company has developed its strategy in alignment with the strong positive sentiment towards online shopping in Nigeria among the over 40 million Internet population, many of who live in the urban centres.

    Aside pricing strategy, RyteDeals and others offer flexible delivery regime, cash-on-delivery and discount in order to grab market share.  According to a statement from RyteDeals and signed by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Victor Alaofin, 57 per cent of the 40 million Internet population in Nigeria will continue to make purchases online, as long as “it offers the best value always”.

    Among products on offer at RyteDeals are cars, properties, gadgets, health & fitness. Others are food, electronics, clothings, medical services, trainings, events, tours, accessories. He said that there are opportunities in the country’s e-commerce space and more Nigerians are willing to shop locally owing to the fact that shopping online is “faster, convenient and cheaper”.

    An initiative of Ryte Internet Technology, a proudly indigenous IT company with a focus on using the internet to benefit its teeming customers, RyteDeals commenced operation on June 10.

    “RyteDeals is the most efficient customer acquisition open scheme to businesses anywhere in Nigeria. We assist companies to promote their products and services in the most cost efficient manner. We give products/services intense online expose for a minimum of seven days. This could be more depending on the value of the service or product in question,” he said.

    Concerning competition, he said RyteDeals is a value-driven company and that the company has a wide range of ideas and structure to serve its customers better. One of these ideas is ‘dial-a-deal’, through which customers can dial a phone number to get ‘enhanced, convenience service’. Business owners, he said, equally have opportunity to get the “Ryte customers, market recognition and reach for their products and services”.

    RyteDeals are promoted primarily online via subscriber-based daily emailed newsletter and it has reached several thousand of Nigerians daily with the best value deals in the country. It has very strong social media presence and offer offline sales via a strong nationwide agency network.

  • … As Funke Akindele emerges face of Qlichy.com

    … As Funke Akindele emerges face of Qlichy.com

    Fast growing online business networking platform, Qlichy.com has announced star actress, Funke Akindele, as brand ambassador. She was presented to a section of the media last Saturday at a ceremony at The Quadrant Company in Ikeja, Lagos.

    Her presentation came on the heels the launch in April and a town storm campaign in May by the brand.

    Qlichy.com is a multi site business portal, news service and e-commerce platform which is linked to the Interswitch platform for payment purposes. The platform has been enjoying growing patronage and traffic since its launch in April. Qlichy.com offers access to platforms such as Bizpoint, Talkpoint, Salespoint, Playpoint and Thoughtpoint for businesses and consumers to meet and interact.

    Akindele said: “I am delighted to be associated with Qlichy.com and consider it a honour to be the brand ambassador. The Qlichy brand besides being the ultimate virtual meeting point and resource center, it is the future. I say this because this new platform will empower a lot of people.”

    She added: “ I admire the thought process behind it and that’s why I am thrilled to be part of the Team Qlichy. It will empower a wide range of people and I enjoin all business operators, owners, content developers and resource persons to be part of it.

    Earlier, the Managing Director of The Quadrant Company, parent company of Qlichy.com, Bolaji Okusaga explained that with the unveil of Akindele as brand ambassador, the multimedia awareness campaign to further deepen the brand’s acceptance was set to roll out.

    “We’re launching the radio and online campaign next Monday to further avail more businesses and individuals the limitless opportunities that Qlichy.com offers enterprises across different sectors of the economy, be it consumer goods, oil and gas, real estate, telecoms and financial sectors among many others,” Okusaga said.

    He revealed that the projection of Qlichy.com within the next six months is to become a household name in business intelligence and social commerce given the ability of the platform to offer a seamless experience which cuts across business information, lifestyle and e-commerce. He added that the Qlichy platform is able to achieve its audacious targets through daily news feeds, crowd sourcing, networking and other varied opportunities which it provides.

    “Achieving this target will require luring businesses and consumer searching for opportunities to visit and explore possibilities which were before now fragmented in the Nigerian online space,” Okusaga added.

  • SPAN showcases creativity in Lagos

    THE Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN), a non-governmental organisation, has graduated its first set of 20 students.

    The event also created an opportunity for the association to reflect on the world-class standard of creativity among youths.

    Among those who attended were Mr Gabi Massoud, Mrs. Sandra Obiago, Pastor Wale Adefarasin and Mrs. Olufunmi Olajuyegbe.

    SPAN also showcased its students’ artistic prowess with a heightened sense of humanity and social responsibility. The branded students were, who were well dressed and full of skills thrilled the audience.

    The Founder of SPAN, Mrs Sarah Boulos, said: “Today, we are defined by what we do more than who we are and that is the rationale behind the education of youths to achieve greatness in all that concerns them, and create opportunities for them to dialogue, develop, and overcome limitations using the performing arts as a healing and transformational tool.”

    She stressed that the 2013-2014 season would be filled with education programmes, followed by rewards and awards to inspire excellence, so that more men from underprivileged communities can stand tall in the sunlight of achievements, contributing great impacts that affect and change society.

    Some of the patrons and sponsors of the trainings and creative abilities of SPAN, include Indomie, SCOA, Seven-Up Nigeria Bottling Company, Cool FM, Mountain Dew, I.T.B. Nigeria Limited, Tropic Ice, Audio Visual First (AVF), GEA, Chellarams, Aleeco Nader, CIS Group, Group Fadoul and Netcom.

    The students seized the opportunity to unveil their different stylish dance moves as they dance to the music of Eldee the Don – “Na Wash”.

    The highlight of the celebration was the launch of a Special Health Fund for students by the SPAN, and cutting of the giant cake by the students, parents and well-wishers.

    Two students – Emmanuel Da-Silva Ajanlekoko and Nneka Obiorah – were rewarded with a dance internship award in France.