The Nation Newspaper

Tag: brand

  • 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.

  • 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.”

  • 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.

  • X-raying the diaper brand war in Nigeria

    X-raying the diaper brand war in Nigeria

    Pampers, owning 60 per cent of the diaper market share, is a brand hinged on functionality, affordability and availability. With the largest distribution network and a N4.8 billion plant, Pampers is seriously defending its market leadership position. To increase market share, its manufacturer, Procter & Gamble (P&G), has added Pampers Baby Dry and Pampers Premium to the product portfolio.  P & G is taking its competitive drive ahead of the market by exploring below–the-line promotion, engaging moms with product towards experiential marketing.

    Pampers is the dominant brand in this market, however, the competition is daring. Therefore the brand keeps defending the current market by using advertising, maternity wards engagement and promotions. In addition to this, Pampers must expand total market by promoting product-brands and expand market share. For a leader to protect its position against challengers, it requires innovation, choices, price cuts, expansion distribution channel, and intense promotional efforts. Pampers has a lot to do.

    Huggies is a major competitor of Pampers. The Huggies brand sells intrinsic value, driving a unique proposition that goes beyond form and functionality. For Huggies, functionality is the basics, while the “feeling” is the product. Huggies sells “self-esteem” to moms as a product. Huggies flew over Physiological Needs in the Maslow’s Hierarchy and offers the baby “class” and the mother, “pride”. As a blogger puts it: “Huggies babies were more posh… a thing of class”. Because of this, those who use Huggies have so much affinity for the brand and they are always pleased to show off the diaper at every opportunity.

    These moms are proud to change their baby’s diapers in the public, they paid for it! Huggies is a nicher and a strong brand in this market. It is therefore exposed to less threat. Huggies does not control this market and it cannot be controlled by it. The target of the brand is a segment of the market with a strategic profiling: middle-upper class, business-professional moms. As long as Huggies remain a quasi-luxury brand, they would keep buying. Huggies’ brand statement: “let the second hug come from us” has said enough that all you get is a diaper that emote. As a nicher, Huggies is an end-user specialist and is focused on wallet share, rather than market share. The concept is “having 100 per cent of few pockets rather than having one per cent of many households”.

    Molfix is a low-cost diaper brand, produced by Hayat Kimya Nigeria Ltd. Molfix is cheaper and significantly offers quality products. It is also presently competing with Pampers in terms of national distribution and is positioned as a challenger. To be able to challenge the market leader, Molfix invested $100 million dollars into production, erecting an ultra modern diaper/tissue factory in Agbara Industrial Layout, Ogun State – a facility that was inaugurated on June 1, 2017.

    The challenger brand is expected to choose general attack strategies as well as specific attack strategies. In terms of price strategy, Molfix is doing well in offering lower prices for quality products. The best way to challenge a leader is to drag it into a price war, while initiating backward integration to cut cost. With the cutting edge technology of Molfix, plus the fact that the company generates its own power, cost of production is lower and there is more control on pricing. This is competition!

    Luvs have been introduced into Nigeria through the online shopping stores. The brand was created in 1976 in the United States, as a premium diaper. Presently Luv is being positioned as the cheapest anti leaking diaper. Nigerians are yet to understand this product and it is not being promoted to the mainstream. The positioning of Luvs in the market is yet to be understood. There is another product being merchandised online, Chocco Diaper, a product imported from India.

    Forecasting the future

    P&G’s new brands – both the Pampers Baby Dry and the Pampers Premium – could have raised the cost of production. We should also note that cost of raw materials rose as a result of forex instability. For the leader, the proposition of “low-cost efficient brands” must have been challenging. Euro-monitor’s research shows that Pampers had loses in volume and value last year but was able to keep 60% of the market share. Pampers will soon be attracting new users; new moms who had no previous experience of diapers. Frequency of use is another approach to increasing volume; the demographic of moms who reuse diapers will offer low volume. Thus, the Leader will less likely explore price cut; the brand is an asset for market share expansion.

    Huggies will always remain what it is – a diaper that hugs tight, and makes the mother proud. The manufacturer, Kimberly-Clark, will eventually extend Huggies rewards to Nigeria. And the brand may soon be involved in events, sponsorships and promotions. Nichers are exposed to two threats – the fact that a Follower may clone the product-brand of the Nicher and also the fact that the Leader may expand its product portfolio to include that particular niche. What happened to Alomo bitters was that new entrants came into the niche it pioneered. That was possible because the Nicher did not defend the niche; there was no promotion, no advertising and no events. Huggies will take steps to become synonymous to the niche and grow its wallet share. When you leave a gap, others come in to fill it.

    Molfix has taken a bold investment decision, and it can only continue to be daring. The brand is engaging moms on social media and may soon initiate promotions that will drive loyalty and frequency of use. Obviously, Molfix refrains from being a Follower – unlike Techno is to Nokia and Infinix is to Samsung. Being a Follower is also a strategy but a Challenger is a brand ready to take Market Leadership. In challenging the Leader, the manufacturer of Molfix will eventually start promoting its hygienic pad, Molped, as the Leader also has product line for hygienic pads. Expect some event sponsorships and celebrity endorsement from the Challenger.

     

    Conclusion

    Competitiveness will bring new product developments, choices for consumers and prosperity for humanity. The diaper market will grow bigger in potentials and value, due to urbanization and globalization. Change is what is constant and the future is full of uncertainty. As P & G set out in 1950s to change the culture, converting cloth-diaper to disposable diaper, so also more brands are setting new trends with new products. However, culture is setting the pace for innovations in the 21st century, and we can only expect smart diapers!

  • Leventis Motors to distribute Lovol brand

    Leventis Motors, a division of A.G Leventis (Nigeria) Plc,

    has sealed a deal with Lovol Heavy Industries Company Limited of China for the distribution of the Lovol brand in Nigeria.

    The auto firm also announced that it would no longer distribute the JCB construction equipment but concentrate on the Lovol range of products.

    Its General Manager Mr Nikolaos Giannousas, stated this at a pre-launch dinner in Lagos, adding that the firm would continue to carry out maintenance service and other related support on the JCB products already sold to its customers.

    According to him, Leventis Motors has over the years shown that it is customer-oriented, adding that it is an organised company that works on systems and not sentiments of individuals to support its numerous customers.

    The Lovol products were also unveiled to a cross session of Leventis customers and other stakeholders.

    Giannousas expressed confidence that the Lovol products would be successful in Nigeria, stressing that many customers were enthusiastic about the coming of the brand to the country.

    Lovol Heavy Industries Company Limited Sales Manager for Africa, Mr. Andy Liu, who recalled that his company’s search for a suitable distributor in Nigeria began in 2015, said it settled for Leventis Motors having found the latter to be reliable and strong in after-sales support.

    “We chose Leventis Motors because it has a long history and good after-sales,” he said.

    According to him, Lovol is one of the fastest growing brands in construction machinery industry, providing users with a full range of products of loaders, excavators and rotary drilling rigs.

    Liu said the Chinese brand also benefited from Original Equipment Manufacturers from other reputable auto manufacturing countries, such as Germany and Italy.

  • Ikpeazu as good brand ambassador

    Ikpeazu as good brand ambassador

    SIR: Brand ambassadors, also known as Corporate Ambassadors, are hired by organisations to represent brands positively as well assisting companies to increase the awareness of brands to promote sales.  Few characteristics mark out brand ambassadors. One is that they should have an appreciable knowledge of the core principles of marketing. Another is that they should reach out to a wide range of people.

    Also, brand ambassadors have the capacity to influence people’s perception of products as well encourage them to patronise the product. Another important function of brand ambassadors is to foster strong relationships between the customers and the brand. They also gather feedback from customers about a product. This will enable the firm to improve on their products and services.

    These and more are what Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State is doing for the made -in- Aba wears as brand ambassador. The governor has not relented in his efforts to ensure that these products capture the global market and attract huge patronage. He has taken advantage of every opportunity to market the made-in – Aba wears. One of the occasions is the 2016 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Forum held in Lagos recently where Ikpeazu did not take chances to launch made-in -Aba shoes. This excited former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who served as one of the panelists, to place an order for pairs of shoes.

    This also prompted the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to urge other military and paramilitary outfits in the country to emulate the army by immediately banning the purchase of all imported foot wears in preference for locally produced ones.

    While Governor Ikpeazu is fulfilling his beat in marketing the brand “Aba”, the federal government should not hesitate in fulfilling its own beat. There have been calls from several quarters on the federal government to ban importation of all goods that Nigerians have the capacity to produce locally.

    The former Senate President, David Mark in 2013 during a trade fair to launch made-in Aba products in Abuja described Aba as the “catalyst of industrial revolution in Nigeria” and urged the federal government to discourage importation of foreign goods because Nigeria has no business importing those goods which do not measure to the quality being produced in the country.

    Abians have no other option than to  assist this great brand ambassador (Ikpeazu) in this his marketing efforts, especially now that serious pressure is exerted on our currency (the naira) because of import dependency .This situation is necessitated by weak, narrow export base where revenues generated from oil and gas account for over 70 percent of our foreign exchange earnings.

    The time is ripe for us to encourage made-in-Aba goods. This effort if implemented will go a long way in ameliorating the economic woes of the country by saving the nation the foreign currencies expended on importation of good and services( even those we have the capacity of producing).

    • Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu,

    Umuahia, Abia State.

  • MTN Nigeria is ‘most valued brand’

    MTN Nigeria is ‘most valued brand’

    Despite facing numerous challenges in the year, telecommunication giant MTN Nigeria is the best and most valuable brand in Nigeria according to the 2016 Top 50 Brands survey.

    The telecoms brand came first with a rating of 90.1, which bettered Coca-Cola Nigeria, 84.7, and Guaranty Trust Bank, 81.8.

    The model that was used in arriving at the result included consumer’s familiarity with the brand, quality element a brand possesses, market/category leadership, innovation, spread, corporate social responsibility initiatives and several other factors.

    “The summations of the values from these variables are keyed into the Brand Strength Measurement (BSM) Index,” said the Chief Exeutive Officer (CEO), Top 50 Brands Nigeria, Taiwo Oluboyede.

    “We started with the top on the mind survey where we engaged members of the public. They were made to list out brands they were familiar with. This also tests people’s knowledge of brands and affinity. We particularly focused on the corporate class from manager’s level and above. Respondents listed brands that they can easily recall or they are familiar with. It was observed that people easily recall brands they recently relate with or they see often,” he said.

    According Oluboyede, the brand strength measurement is a specially-designed model which uses basic qualitative factors to test the strength or weakness of a brand.

  • Timaya now Glo brand ambassador

    Timaya now Glo brand ambassador

    Bayelsa State-born dancehall star, Timaya, has been signed on by the telecommunication giant, Globacom, as a brand ambassador.

    A statement from Globacom said the popular artiste (real name, Inetimi Alfred Odon) was signed last week to become one of its brand ambassadors.

    The company said Timaya’s diligence, creativity and success in the music industry were factors considered in selecting him. Globacom said Timaya has been a source of inspiration to millions of Nigerian youths, especially in the South-South part of the country.

    Timaya joins other accomplished stars as Patience Ozokwor, popularly called Mama G, Omawumi, Ego, Yvonne Nelson, Nadia Buhari, MI., Basketmouth, Bovi Ugboma, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello and Hadizah Blell (Di’ja) who are Glo ambassadors.  Other accomplished personalities include Funke Akindele, Ime Bishop, Odunlade Adekola, Bovi, Bimbo Oloyede, Ego Ogbaro and Flavour, among others.

    Timaya’s hits include  De Rebirth, LLNP and Upgrade True Story, Gift and Grace. He founded the South-South hip hop group, Dem Mama Soldiers. The artiste who has won many awards including the Nigerian Music Award and four Headies Awards has also been a Peace Ambassador for the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) since 2011.

  • GOtv starts customer fair brand activation

    GOtv starts customer fair brand activation

    GOtv has kicked off its customer fair brand activation in Port Harcourt to commemorate its fifth anniversary.

    Beyond the entertainment created for the event, GOtv also used the occasion to attend to customers’ complaints relating to hardware or service issues, using its GOtv clinic to provide such services at the venue of the event.

    The pay TV led its brand ambassadors, Daddy Showkey, Mr Ibu, Aki, Pawpaw, Helen Paul and Oritshefemi, to make the fair exciting and fun-filled.

    Also, it recognised dealers and sales agents at the event.

    With music provided by Naija FM’s DJ Kentalky, comedians Helen Paul and MC Acapella were the hostess and host.

    GOtv subscribers could not help, but hit the dance floor when Oritshefemi and Daddy Showkey took the stage at different times during the event and performed their older and newest songs.

    “One striking thing about GOtv is the refreshing and exciting content. The picture quality and sound clarity are outstanding. Customer relationship is superb. You feel loved when a customer care representative calls you to serve you,” a subscriber, Ada Obi said.

    According to the brand handlers, the customer fair train will move to Enugu on October 15, Ibadan on October 22, Abuja on October 29 and Lagos on November 5.

  • Deepening brand’s influence in Southwest

    Deepening brand’s influence in Southwest

    With market indices reflecting bad business for premium beers across all brands  in Nigeria, leading brewers have been striving to remain on top in critical touch points. Goldberg is leveraging Fuji music as a springboard, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    AMID dwindling patronage because of recession, many brands in the beer market have been finding it tough to stay afloat. In the last two years, the recession, according to sources, has forced some brands to stop their campaigns while some have not been able to start new ones.

    However, while some premium brands cannot sustain the budget to continue brand activations targeting heavy spenders, some players have resorted to pushing valued brands, which are cheaper through activations targeted at some regional markets.

    For instance, Nigerian Breweries’ Goldberg Lager Beer has consistently explored a Southwest musical genre, Fuji, to push its brand to edge competitors to the corner.

    To remain a top-of-the-mind brand in the Southwest market, Goldberg in the last four years has sustained its Fuji t’o Bam campaign to checkmate other affordable brands  through the promotion of the culture of the people of the Southwest Nigeria.

    Launched in 2012 to discover and celebrate budding Fuji talents, the brand campaign has led to the discovery of many talents. For instance, a Fuji talent, Tope Ajani, after months of thrills and frills, emerged the Wura1 for the 2016 contest.

    The campaign has also brought to the limelight young musicians, such as Akeem Okiki from Osogbo in Osun State, who won the 2015 edition; Twinzobia Twins from Ibadan, Oyo State (2014); and Antenna, winner of the first edition in 2013. The initiative identifies and celebrates the rich musical tradition that contributes to sustaining the cultural values of the people of the region.

    The campaign was launched at a time the perception of people about the music genre was at its lowest ebb. According to brand analysts, the concept has lived up to expectation as many budding artistes have been discovered through the platform, thus, building the brand’s popularity and acceptability.

    Some of the promising Fuji artistes, who spoke with The Nation at an audition in Ibadan, for this year’s contest, said the credibility of the brand activation motivated them to participate. According to them, the annual activation has served as an impetus for young artistes who, hitherto, had lost hope in building career in Fuji music. They said the brand had carved a niche for itself with the annual talent hunt, which has placed Fuji music in the spotlight in Nigeria and beyond.

    One of them, Oritoke Adija (a.k.a Africa Selidon), who has been singing since 1998, said Fuji musicians in Ibadan appreciated the contribution Goldberg was making to develop the music genre.

    Oritoke, the only woman contestant, who participated in the race in Ibadan, said any time Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria (FUMAN) called for meetings,  artistes were always asked to pray for Nigerian Breweries.

    During  a Goldberg maiden Fuji Roundtable in Lagos, the Corporate Media & Brand Public Relation Manager, Nigerian Breweries, Patrick Olowookere, said Nigerian Breweries respected the socio-cultural values of its host communities.

    “As part of our efforts towards community development anywhere we operate, Goldberg, in 2012, inaugurated Fuji t’o Bam; we respect people’s cultures and values and this forum is a testament of our resolute determination to contribute to the socio-cultural development of the people in the western part of our nation,” he said.

    Impressed by the support the brewer is giving to Fuji music, Chairman, National Project Committee of the Fuji Musicians Association of Nigeria, Sikiru Ayinde Agboola (a.k.a SK Sensation),  commended Goldberg Lager Beer.

    Agboola said the support by Goldberg was second to none and should be emulated by other companies in the country.

    He said Fuji was the only surviving genre of music that has its origin in Nigeria, and stakeholders needed to seek ways through which the genre could be further developed.

    The Portfolio Manager, Mainstream Lager and Stout brands, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Emmanuel Agu, said the brewer always tried to champion, promote and associate with the culture of its host communities.