Made in Nigeria
September - Made in Nigeria Edition
September - Made in Nigeria Edition
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The Spark | Ignite / Connect / Achieve<br />
www.thesparkng.com<br />
START-UP<br />
<strong>Made</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong> brands are literally<br />
catch<strong>in</strong>g on and displac<strong>in</strong>g foreign<br />
brands <strong>in</strong> the m<strong>in</strong>ds of <strong>Nigeria</strong>n<br />
consumers. A cursory glance at<br />
trends <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong>’s creative <strong>in</strong>dustry justifies this<br />
reality. <strong>Nigeria</strong> is currently the second-largest<br />
producer of movies <strong>in</strong> the world. <strong>Nigeria</strong>n<br />
music is also <strong>in</strong>credibly popular with<strong>in</strong> the<br />
country, <strong>in</strong> most parts of Africa and <strong>in</strong> the Caribbean.<br />
The <strong>Nigeria</strong>n art market is fast becom<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a premium market for art lovers <strong>in</strong> the world.<br />
Put together, these trends suggest that <strong>Nigeria</strong><br />
has the potential to build, project and export<br />
strong <strong>in</strong>digenous brands.<br />
However, it is puzzl<strong>in</strong>g to note that none of<br />
Africa’s <strong>in</strong>digenous brands made it to Africa’s<br />
top ten lists of consumer brands <strong>in</strong> 2018.<br />
Another excit<strong>in</strong>g puzzle is that no <strong>Nigeria</strong>n<br />
brand or personality made it to the top three<br />
most searched celebrities <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong> on Google<br />
<strong>in</strong> 2018. Instead, Alexis Sanchez, a famous<br />
football star, was the most searched personality<br />
on Google <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong> last year. These puzzl<strong>in</strong>g<br />
trends demonstrate that <strong>Nigeria</strong> has a mostly<br />
young demographic audience that is enthused<br />
by global sports, music and fashion brands.<br />
The excit<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>sight that one could draw from<br />
this reality is that <strong>in</strong>digenous and foreign<br />
brands are compet<strong>in</strong>g for a share of the <strong>Nigeria</strong>n<br />
consumer’s m<strong>in</strong>d. <strong>Nigeria</strong>n consumers want<br />
brands that offer value for money, whether<br />
local or <strong>in</strong>ternational. The implication is that<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g domestic is not enough to w<strong>in</strong> a share of<br />
the <strong>Nigeria</strong>n consumer’s wallet. A lot of effort<br />
needs to go <strong>in</strong>to build<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>digenous brands<br />
that can stand the test of time <strong>in</strong> the m<strong>in</strong>ds of<br />
<strong>Nigeria</strong>n consumers.<br />
A few tips would help local brand builders to<br />
grow stronger made <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong> brands. First,<br />
builders of <strong>in</strong>digenous brands must th<strong>in</strong>k<br />
global when creat<strong>in</strong>g local brands. In other<br />
words, it is essential from the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to aim<br />
towards build<strong>in</strong>g a brand that will have a universal<br />
appeal. The way to achieve this objective<br />
is to carefully select brand values that appeal<br />
across cultures rather than one region. Local<br />
brands that are limited to project<strong>in</strong>g narrow<br />
cultural values of a particular area run the risk<br />
of stagnat<strong>in</strong>g rather<br />
than grow<strong>in</strong>g. For<br />
example, the makers<br />
of a famous noodles<br />
brand <strong>in</strong> <strong>Nigeria</strong> found<br />
that the brand could<br />
not <strong>in</strong>crease market<br />
penetration <strong>in</strong> Northern<br />
<strong>Nigeria</strong>. The situation<br />
was mostly because the<br />
brand projected values<br />
that were acceptable<br />
<strong>in</strong> Southern <strong>Nigeria</strong><br />
but not acceptable<br />
<strong>in</strong> Northern <strong>Nigeria</strong>.<br />
Th<strong>in</strong>gs changed when<br />
the company decided<br />
to reposition the message<br />
of the brand to<br />
have a broader appeal.<br />
Indigenous brands can also acquire robust<br />
appeal when the brand values l<strong>in</strong>k up with the<br />
values of subcultures. Subcultures are groups of<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividuals that share a common <strong>in</strong>terest that<br />
they express through social media activities.<br />
Examples of such groups <strong>in</strong>clude cheese lovers<br />
groups, music enthusiasts, food recipe groups,<br />
etc. Brands that associate their values with the<br />
positive values of subcultures re<strong>in</strong>force their<br />
presence <strong>in</strong> consumer’s m<strong>in</strong>ds. An <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g<br />
example is the case of Onga season<strong>in</strong>g, an<br />
<strong>in</strong>digenous food season<strong>in</strong>g brand. This brand<br />
made a strong come back to the market by<br />
craft<strong>in</strong>g its brand campaign around a social<br />
media celebrity that appealed to the recipe<br />
subculture.<br />
Indigenous brands will only grow to have a universal<br />
appeal if they are credible and consistent.<br />
Brands must walk the talk. There is noth<strong>in</strong>g<br />
more deceitful to a consumer than f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g that<br />
a brand does not live up to its promise. The<br />
experience of patronis<strong>in</strong>g a brand must match<br />
up to the campaign messages that support that<br />
brand. Several times, <strong>Nigeria</strong>n consumers get<br />
disappo<strong>in</strong>ted with local brands because of <strong>in</strong>ferior<br />
product and service quality. Attempts to<br />
address these problems would offer a massive<br />
advantage to <strong>in</strong>digenous brands.<br />
Globalis<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Local Brands<br />
When foreign brands are easily<br />
accessible, local brands must do<br />
more work<br />
F<strong>in</strong>ally, <strong>in</strong>digenous brands can acquire a<br />
stronger local and global appeal when there is<br />
substantial <strong>in</strong>vestment <strong>in</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g the brands<br />
available and accessible. Consumers remember<br />
what they see and hear frequently. The<br />
implication is that local brand builders must be<br />
ready to <strong>in</strong>vest <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g a robust distribution<br />
channel to support the efforts of advertis<strong>in</strong>g<br />
campaigns.<br />
As <strong>Nigeria</strong> prepares to celebrate 59 years of<br />
democracy, it is an ideal time for brand builders<br />
to reflect on what it would take to globalise<br />
their brands. Be<strong>in</strong>g local alone would not<br />
susta<strong>in</strong>ably attract <strong>Nigeria</strong>n consumers. More<br />
work is required to secure a larger share of the<br />
consumers’ m<strong>in</strong>ds when foreign brands are<br />
easily accessible.<br />
The experience of patronis<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a brand must<br />
match up to the campaign<br />
messages that support<br />
that brand.<br />
Uchenna Uzo<br />
fli<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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