The Lagos Countdown, which ushers in a New Year, is not all about fun and razzmatazz. It is a tool designed by the state government to sell the Bar Beach to the world, reports ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI, who was at last weekend’s colourful events, which ushered in 2015.
A true brand experience is more than an interaction, say brand experts. It is that moment in time when a customer not only sees the brand promise but is able to live it in ways that drive deep affinity and loyalty.
At last Wednesday’s Lagos Countdown to usher in 2015 the state government explored this tool to market the Bar Beach waterfront in Victoria Island, Lagos, as a world destination brand.
To the event’s organiser, Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), there is more to the Lagos brand than the slogan, Eko O Ni Baje. Delivering the experience is what makes the slogan create an impact beyond the sloganeering. “When you ask executives this question, many say that branding is the best way to attract customers and foster loyalty. But there’s really more to the story. There’s actually a more effective way to attract and retain customers – and it has to do with the experience you deliver,” a brand expert who observe the Lagos Countdown, said.
With the use of social media, CNN and other media channels to relay the experience of audience live at the Lagos Countdown, whose grand finale was held at the Bar Beach on cross-over night, the impact of the countdown in delivering what participants called “the Lagos Experiential marketing” cannot be undermined. “These experiences don’t just impact those individual in Lagos but also those who watched it on CNN, social media and more; those who came tell their friends and family. As one study found, traditional marketing activities often can’t match the power of these word-of-mouth recommendations-experiantial,” says an expert.
As a result, the Bar Beach played host to an estimated 200,000 participants for 2014 edition of the countdown as against 100,000 recorded in 2013. According to LASAA, who put up the event for the Lagos State government, part of the aim of the countdown is to brand Lagos for global positioning in tourism with the aim of deepening its commerce.
This aim appeared to have been achieved with the just concluded Lagos Countdown which according to report made available to The Nation, recorded trade and commerce transactions in excess of N2 billion between December 1 to the crossover night, December 31 through January 1, 2015.
The experience
The event explored music, christmas and New Year festive seasons, musical artistes and celebs to create a good experience about Lagos using the Bar Beach as the setting. An enchanting cascade of lights, fireworks and pyrotechnics, all combining to transform the entire Bar Beach, in Victoria Island, Lagos, into a melting pot of culture, entertainment, leisure and commerce.
A participant in the countdown, Funmilayo Ademulegun, narrated her experience, saying she prayed to be alive, hale and hearty to witness the 2015 edition. Ademulegun said shortly after the crossover was announced with thunderous fireworks, she took some minutes to reverence God and thanked Him for all He has done for her in the course of the out gone year. Afterwards, she said she looked for a strategic location to enjoy the fireworks.
“The dark sky became lit. The fireworks were coming round after rounds and it was splendid to behold. I cannot forget in a hurry the excitement that came with the fireworks, the music performance and the entire merriment will linger in my memory for the rest of the year,” she said.
Also, a United State of America diplomat (name withheld) who was at the event described the grand finale of the countdown as “electric”. He said he would invite his family from to Nigeria to experience the next edition.
Fashola’s dream about Bar Beach
This, perhaps, informed the reason the Lagos State Governor Babtunde Raji Fashola’s clamour for repeat of the countdown every month. According to him, “for me, the work is not finished. What we have done here for about a month now must now happen here, every month; from then on, every day. That is when the story will be complete. When there will be commerce and sport, when there will be signing, when there will be buying and selling and when the whole world will fly into this city and the state and to this country and say that I am going to Lagos State Bar Beach water front. That is the dream.”
Fashola said the importance of the countdown is primarily to boost trade and commerce in the Bar Beach area where the annual event takes place and to make the area a globally acknowledged tourism destination not only for Nigerians, but for the entire people in the world.
The governor who participated in many of the countdown events, including the sea food festival and the festival of light, said the standard of the countdown and its potential continues to improve, noting that the Lagos State Government aims to improve on the annual event until it becomes a daily affair.
Sponsorship
Fashola expressed appreciation to all the sponsors of the annual festival who believe in the dream. “I must thank all our sponsors for their faith, for their trust and for their investment in our dream and this is an investment that I believe is yielding result not only by what I see but also by what is happening. A lot of enterprise, commerce is taking place on this 1.5km stretch and it’s been happening since the first day of December. We have had a fish festival here, we have had a big soccer event here and all of this is gone on. For me, this is a real economy. The economy, instead of giving our people a handout; through strategic thinking and partnership; we give them a hand up so that they can be whoever they want to be on their own efforts and their own initiatives. I want to thank all of you who have made it possible.”
Just as expected and as reflected in the slogan for the 2014 event, “Lagos Countdown Like Never Before,” the Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), Mr. George Noah, had in several interactions with journalists said the slogan was carefully chosen because 2014 event “will surpass those held previously.”
Noah noted: “When you put up a show of this magnitude, you consider the lighting, the fireworks, stage and the crowd. Our friends from the United States and the United Kingdom who partnered with us helped us with the lighting, stage setting and fireworks.”
Due to the hype, the frenzy and smooth organisation of the 2014 countdown, the international community included Lagos among the top 10 tourist destinations for crossover events; even as the ground finale of the countdown featured on CNN for the first time.
Lots of people travelled from far and wide to witness the crossover, even as they were thrilled with melodious music and great fireworks which lasted for about 25 minutes.
Justifying the volume of capital which changed hands during the countdown period, George Noah noted that though the money didn’t come directly into the coffers of the state, it exchanged hands among Lagos residents and helped improve their lots as they participated in trade and commerce during the countdown. Also, lots of cash, it was gathered, exchanged hands in advertisement, trade and commerce, hotels and accommodations, transportation and movements etc.
Speaking on the uniqueness of 2014 Countdown, Noah said: “Countdown is about commerce, it’s about brand development and the rest. 2014 is a unique countdown. We have almost four weeks to start our countdown but in other places, it is just once. New York does not feature 30 artistes; it is only in Lagos this happens.”
In addition to offering a viable platform for commerce, he said the event encouraged brand development, job creation, leisure, entertainment and tourism. 2014 Lagos Countdown served as institutionalisation of an enduring crossover tradition that signified the end of one year and the celebration of the beginning of another in a splendid fashion.
