Unpopular marketing approach or de-marketing of rival brands has become a ritual, especially in major cities, such as Lagos. WALE AJETUNMOBI writes that players must obey the rules to avoid making consumers panic unnecessarily
It started with a video. And the impression any unsuspecting viewer of the video went away with was that he should avoid Amstel Malta, a malt drink produced by the Nigerian Breweries. Consumers, such as Mrs Tosin Kesington, a teacher in Igbogbo, a suburb of Lagos, truly believed there was a fake Amstel Malta in town. But the truth is: there was nothing of such.
While experts say there have been instances of faking of popular products, such as Close Up and Seaman Schnapps, the new tactic is to create the illusion of a faked product when there is nothing of such, which saw not a few consumers avoiding the product because of the fear that they could end up consuming the faked version.
What is clear, following investigations, is that competitors were only looking for ways to cut rivals to size.
Amstel’s trouble has a root in a campaign it launched last August. The credential campaign #WhyAddMore# was to reflect the new NIS logo of the by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON). The difference in logos was all the makers of the video latched on to make consumers believe they should flee from Amstel.
Soon after this, consumers were greeted with another offensive video of an Amstel Malta can drink allegedly containing a strange object. A faceless consumer recorded an alleged contaminated drink and circulated it on social media.
Nigerian Breweries reported the defamation attempt to the security agencies for further investigation. The SON, the statutory body that is vested with the responsibility of standardising and regulating the quality of all products in Nigeria, debunked the fake Amstel Malta claims. Its Deputy Director, Mr. Fred Akingbesote, who represented the Director-General, told reporters in Lagos that Nigerian Breweries met all SON safety and quality requirements and complied with all requirements of the new National Industrial Standard (NIS) logo. He added that the people behind the defamation were playing on the intelligence of Nigerians.
“We have a web site (www.son.gov.ng) which contains all information on our standards and quality regulations. Every Nigerian who has doubts about any product certified by SON should crosscheck the facts,” he said.
Forensic and marketing analysts have also observed that it is very clear that the same source that initially created a video of a purported ‘fake ’ or ‘original’ Amstel is the source of the video of discovery of foreign content in an Amstel Malta can.
Analysts and observers agreed that this might be coming from the enemy’s camp as the recording left many gaps to cast a doubt on the genuineness of the video. For instance, the can was opened before the video recording, thus failing the basic test of validity.
Experts’ summations on the video are: “The can was not transparent for a consumer to see the content before pouring it. It is technical impossible to have a foreign object in non-reusable container like a can. The content was poured into a bowl instead of a cup ready for drinking. The content was not foaming like the normal Amstel Malta. All the persons in the video were faceless. The video camera was targeted severally at the can to flash the logo of the product to cause more damage to the premium brand. The ‘consumer’ did not tell us how he got to know that there was an object in the can. There was no mention of where it was bought or any intention to confront the retailer.”
A Lagos-based marketing analyst submitted last week: “The video is nothing but another dimension to our usual ‘PHD’ (pull him /her down) attempt characteristic of people on the floor. Let us spoil a good name if we can’t be as good. It is therefore surprising that anybody would want to attack the reputation of one of our premium products whose market leadership is undisputable in its segment.”
Nigerian Breweries Plc Corporate Affairs Adviser Kufre Ekanem explained that the Amstel Malta was one of the first brands to comply with SON directives. He added that the brand revised its packaging in line with the guidelines and approval of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and in compliance with the new mandatory NIS quality logo from the SON.
“In the normal course of product and packaging renovation, old packaging and the new introduction co-exist in the market until the old one dries out. In view of the twelve month shelf life, we currently have Amstel Malta with both the old and new packaging in some parts of the market,” Ekanem said.
He maintained that Nigerian Breweries is a world class multinational company that has operated in Nigeria for over 70 years and that the quality of its brands has been one of the key success factors of the company across these decades.
“Every pack of Amstel Malta is produced to the highest quality-control standards of Nigerian Breweries,” he said.
Also, the company through the hash tag; #stillthesame# sensitised the public. In one of its facebook posts, it explained that “As per NAFDAC & SON regulates, our pack has changed slightly. But don’t worry; it’s the same premium Amstel Malta You Love.”
That was after the first video. The second video later surfaced, giving the impression that a competitor just chose not to play by the rules.
A marketing lecturer at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr. Farouk Abubakar, said: “Brand wars are not alien to this part of the world. Brand promoters are known to fight dirty when their brands are at the receiving ends. Could this be as a result of that?”
An industry observer, Mr. Aniete Udoh, said Nigerians must be careful about believing everything on the social media, especially when it has to do with consumers’ interest.
Udoh said: “Sadly, social media has become a dumping ground because access to it is unregulated and free. Looking at the recent video used to spread the adverse campaign against Amstel Malta, one would observe that it was a calculated attempt to give a negative image to Amstel Malta, which is known to currently occupies the leadership of its segment in the market.”
