BusinessDay 07 Nov 2017

18 BUSINESS DAY
C002D5556 Tuesday 07 November 2017
BRANDING
Nation branding: Industry experts seek
strong, positive narrative for Nigeria
Daniel Obi
Brandzone Consulting
in collaboration with
the Centre for Values
in Leadership held
the inaugural National
Branding Conference 2017 recently
in Lagos. This edition of the Brand
Innovation Conference, with the
theme “Branding: A Catalyst for
Development and Growth, was
flagged off with the objective of creating
a strong and positive brand
narrative for the nation.
The conference which was
broadly inclusive recorded attendance
by prominent Nigerians
from diverse backgrounds that cut
across the public sector, private
sector, corporations, enterprise
owners, visionary Board Directors
and policymakers from diverse
sectors. The conference had a rich
line up of speakers and resource
persons that included some of
the nations most accomplished
thought leaders, subject matter experts,
business trailblazers, policy
makers, catalysts, entrepreneurs
and investors.
In her welcome address, the
Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting
LLC and the Convener, National
Branding Conference, Chizor
Malize, stated that the conference
was birthed out of a burning desire
to stir the nation towards adopting
a deliberate approach in promoting
a positive national narrative. She
noted that the National Branding
Conference 2017, brings to the fore
the need to be deliberate and strategic
about building a strong, positive,
unified public narrative for Nigeria
that the citizens can own and be
proud of.
Malize said “This year’s National
Branding Conference comes in recognition
of the need to take ownership
of and promote more positive
narratives around our Nation’s
brand. It is a strategic response to
the need to consistently convey an
appropriate and progressive public
narrative that ensures our diversity,
strengths and attributes as a nation
are projected positively and consistently
around the world”
Speaking further Malize noted,
“We must be systematic about
building a strong national brand
by seeking to promote the commonalities
that unify us. We must
evolve and embrace a uniformity
of message as a nation, that projects
our strengths, diversity and
capabilities positively. We must
play our roles as great citizens in
our various capacities. As a people
we must imbibe a positive mindset,
develop and be driven by positive
value systems, we must consistently
demonstrate love for nation
through our words and actions, we
must be intentional about selling
to the world our brand story rather
than allow the world tell our stories
as they find suitable. We need
to collectively rise to the challenge
and take ownership of our story”,
she enthused.
In his welcome address, Pat
Utomi, Founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Centre for Values in
Leadership and Co-Convener, National
Branding Conference 2017
urged participants to take interest
in the matters that affect the brand
of our nation: “Every citizen of Nigeria
must take keen interest in and
participate actively in the national
branding process by projecting
a positive image of the nation in
ways that attract tourism, foreign
capital, and other investments that
lead to growth and development
of the economy. We must consistently
promote the external image
of the nation to the world and also
the internal image to ourselves. Just
the same way that businesses attempt
to influence their customers’
perceptions of their brands through
strategic brand positioning, we as
a nation must attempt to influence
the perception of both the internal
and external stakeholders of this
great nation”, he remarked.
In her address, the Conference
Chairperson and Keynote Speaker,
Ibukun Awosika, Chairman,
First Bank of Nigeria Limited, enjoined
participants and Nigerians
as a whole to embrace love for nation
and demonstrate passion and
commitment to building a Nigerian
brand of high value and equity. According
to Awosika, “Our citizens
must play an active role in promoting
the nation’s brand through our
positive actions. Like products,
countries should be deliberate and
strategic about cultivating a strong
and positive image because how
they are perceived by both the citizens,
visitors and the world at large
can have impact on both the economy
of the nation and the people of
that nation. Visionary countries are
transforming the way that people
perceive them. They are deliberate
about becoming points of destination
for tourism, business hubs and
foreign investment points. Nigeria
is not an exception; as a nation we
must purposefully work towards
attracting economic value to our
nation through nation branding”
The highlight of the conference
was the extensive knowledge
exchange by the various speakers
through the different plenary sessions
and the highly interactive engagement
by the delegates.
Speakers at the first conference
plenary session titled Beyond the
age of Oil: Finding Growth Opportunities
in Diversification were
the Former Minister of Solid Mineral/
Education and Co-founder,
Transparency International, Oby
Ezekwesili; former Governor,
Cross River State, Senator Liyel
Imoke; FS Advisory Leader and
Chief Economist, PwC West Africa,
Andrew S. Nevin; Senior Special
Assistant to the Minister of Mines
and Steel Development, Akin
Rotimi, representing Kayode Fayemi.
Moderating the plenary was
Executive Director, Sterling Bank
PLC , Abubakar Suleiman,. The
panel evaluated the potentials in
the diversification of the nation’s
economy across other key sectors
beyond oil such as mining, agriculture,
travel and tourism etc. It evaluated
the impediments to growth
and evaluated the key success factors
inherent in the sectors as well
as the opportunities in building
positive national brand narrative
leveraging the milestones achieved
across the sectors.
The Second plenary session
entitled ‘From Local to Global:
Harnessing growth opportunities
through brand export’ had thought
leaders and subject matter experts
cutting across the public sector, corporations
and brand strategists who
shared insights on the opportunities
in creating positive national engagements
abroad through brands
exported out of Nigeria. This plenary
was led by Chizor Malize, Managing
Partner, Brandzone Consulting
and Converner, National Brand
Conference.
Ndidi Nwuneli, Co-Founder
of AACE Foods led the discussion
on the the third plenary titled:
Breaking New Grounds: SMEs as
Economic Growth Engine. She
provided insight on the challenges
faced by SMEs in the Nigerian environment,
the growth opportunities
and key steps for maximizing
SME growth. The plenary explored
the contribution of the SMEs to
national growth and development
through job creation, brand export
and economic progression. Other
speakers on the plenary included
Tara Fela-Durotoye, Founder
& CEO House of Tara, Seyi Abolaji,
Co-Founder, Wilson’s Juice
Company, Toyosi Kolawole, CEO,
AUDEO Clothing Line, Mike Oye,
Head, SME Funds, Bank of Industry.
The moderator for the SME-focused
plenary was Laoye Jaiyeola,
Managing Director, Nigeria Economic
Summit Group (NESG).
The fourth plenary session focused
on the Entertainment, Media
and Arts sector. The plenary topic
was The Business of Entertainment:
Maximizing Opportunities in Entertainment,
Media, Fashion and
Lifestyle. The plenary examined
these sub-sectors as key opportunity
areas for economic growth, brand
export and positive public and national
narrative.
The speakers on this plenary
included Obi Asika, Atunyota Akpobome
(Alibaba) and Henry Bassey,
Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling
Bank Plc. The plenary session
was led by Femi Osinubi, Partner
& Head, ICT and Entertainment
Group, PwC West Africa and the
plenary was moderated by Biola
Alabi, Founder/Managing Director,
Biola Alabi Media.
Speaking on the conference,
Lampe Omoleye, Chief Executive
Officer, 141 Worldwide Agency and
Member, Brand Innovation Conference
Advisory Board, said “The National
Branding Conference 2017
exceeded expectations. The Speakers
line up was broad and made
up of individuals of good pedigree,
strong track records and repute.
L-R: Fela Dorutoye, chief executive officer, Gemstone Group, Chizor Malize, managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting
LLC and Convener, National Branding Conference; Seun Onigbunde, co-founder & CEO, BudgIT; Aisha Waziri Umar,
founder, The Revive Nigeria Group, and Ugo Obi-Chukwu, chief executive officer, Nairametrics, during the launch of the
#ReThinkNigeria/IAmTheBrand campaign for Nigeria by Nigerians Launched by Brandzone Consulting LLC at the National
Branding Conference recently in Lagos.
Elo Umeh
Elo Umeh emerges
one of IESE Business
School’s 40 under40
Elo Umeh, Terragon Group’s
Founder and Managing Director,
has made the 40under40
list of entrepreneurs
by IESE Business School from over
46,000 alumni across 129 countries,
according to a statement.
Through its Entrepreneurship
and Innovation Center (EIC), IESE
launched the “IESE 40under40”
programme, selecting the 40 former
students under 40 who have excelled
in the development of new business
projects. This selection was made
among the over 46,000 students
who have participated in some of
the training programmes taught by
the School.
These 40 projects have allowed
the creation of 2,197 jobs in 12 countries,
from 4 continents, receiving €
544 million in external investment,
and generating € 251 million in annual
revenue for the economy. Half
of these start-ups were born during
the last 5 years, and 17% of them began
their activity by bootstrapping,
without using external investment,
the statement said.
The selection of the “IESE 40under40”
was done by a jury of international
experts, based on a rigorous
analysis of the projects, especially
their impact on society in terms of
social contribution and job creation,
in addition to the growth and
the level of innovation, among other
criteria.
The jury is composed of national
and international experts in the development
of new business projects,
such as Lucas Carné, Co-Founder
of Privalia; Brian Cohen, Founding
Partner and President of New York
Venture Angels; Jonathan Moules,
Journalist specialized in entrepreneurship
at the Financial Times;
Pedro Nueno, Emeritus Professor
of Entrepreneurship at IESE; Raimundo
Sala, General Manager of
PayPal and Ignasi Salvador, Director
of Innovation of Celsa Group.
Commenting on this achievement,
Umeh in the statement commended
the initiative stating that
it will inspire new entrepreneurs
in their ventures and will foster the
growth of the community of IESE
entrepreneurs globally. “I am both
excited and humbled at this feat and
would like to thank my colleagues,
clients, partners and all who have
been with me on this journey. I
would never have been able to make
this list without their tremendous
support and cooperation” he said.