Made in Nigeria

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BRAND SPARK
On Patriotism and Patronage
The battle between buying local and supposedly
better foreign brands
Ayo Moses
On September 6, 2019, I had an
experience unique to locals as I went
to get groceries for my family at a
supermarket.
After buying most of the things I wanted, I
spotted a mouthwash - a Made in Nigeria
product. Sitting next to it was a Colgate mouthwash
that had a price tag in American dollars.
The Nigerian brand was N750 while the foreign
one, Colgate, had $1.99 confidently written on
it. Then the dilemma “Made in Nigeria” Versus
“Made in USA” came up within me.
It was a serious moral battle for me, especially
as I remembered the fact that I had only recently
designed a Patriotic Buying Campaign and
driven it to some measure of public knowledge.
It was a battle between my responsibility as a
citizen and the general negative perception of
most things Made in Nigeria.
My thoughts were overwhelmed with a
dialogue that can best be captured by the
exchanges below:
Patriotic Buying Ayo Moses: How can you buy
that foreign brand when you can see a Made In
Nigeria product?
Brand Conscious Ayo Moses: Colgate is a
reputable brand that has grown tremendous
economies of scale to manufacture the best
mouthwash in the world.
Patriotic Buying Ayo Moses: But this Nigerian
Brand must start somewhere too and needs
your patronage to fight this foreign brand.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is with sadness that
I announce that Colgate Mouthwash won the
battle. I mean, before I could conclude the
mental dialogue, the well packaged bottle was
in the cart.
Upon getting home, I didn’t open the bottle.
I spent about ten minutes looking at the product
packaging and reading everything written
on it.
Then I got to the point where I saw the boldly
written price of $ 1.99. I looked at it for about
one minute, questioning the rationale for leaving
the dollar price tag in the Nigerian market.
Eureka!
I found what they used to help defeat my patriotic
buying sentiment. The product promoters
definitely know the power of leaving the dollar
price tag on the bottle.
What does the American dollar represent?
It represents everything America, as a
Nation-state Brand, projects. Narratives like
Freedom, Innovation and Originality naturally
comes to mind upon sighting a product backed
by the American dollar.
Talking about the story of Nigeria as a panacea,
we must look at how people get to trust their
fellow citizens and governments, before taking
that trust outside to win by gaining the respect
of foreigners.
The best nation state, when it comes to
branding, is the United States of America. The
American Story is one that has been used to
position the country as the greatest in the
world to Americans and the rest of the world,
and I believe that the same thing is what we
need to do for Nigeria, leveraging on the power
of Nollywood.
The American movie industry, by deliberate
commission and structure, plays a critical role
in selling MADE IN AMERICA to the world and
Nollywood can be used for that purpose as well
in Nigeria.
In telling the stories of anything American, all
efforts are made to ensure that the country is
projected in a positive light. They don’t leave
that to chance at all and there are countless
movies sponsored by the governments of the
United States for strategic image and reputation
shaping.
For Nigeria, I believe very strongly that the various
story elements at our very socio-political
and economic crossroads brings a rare opportunity
that we have not fully and deliberately
utilised to position our country right, at home
and abroad.
The real problem before “Made in Nigeria” is the
image and perception-challenges that the Nigerian
nomenclature presents. The issue is that
we have not defined who we truly are, and are
yet to raise the characters among us that best
typifies that dream personality for celebration
and elevation.
Just as it is for product, idea or service brands
that have not been defined for a clear personality,
so it is for nation state brands. Indeed, it
is when a brand has a valuable personality that
its story can begin to make sense and catch
attention.
What can the government do?
• Redesign the Mandate of the National
Film Videos and Censors board to project
a Greater Nigeria.
• Redesign the Policy for National
Education and citizen Indoctrination to
integrate every aspect of Nigerian history
with the strategic intent to project New
Nigeria and relegate tribal and ethnic
elements to the federating units
• Incentivise the production and promotion
of great stories that position Nigeria as
the hope of Africa by Nollywood.
• All stories and movies that do not put Nigeria
on the narrative path for the desired
intent and purpose must be commercially
and economically stifled.
• Develop a policy on child education and
orientation that functions on the Nigerian
story, getting all our people to have a
common shared vision and interest.
• Develop a digital channel that will cover
all epochs and carry Nigeria’s many victories
and get all state public and private
entities to connect for expeditious and
sustainable dissemination of the Nigerian
story.
• Above all, public purchases and consumption
must prioritise Made In Nigeria and
only buy from outside where we have no
immediate capacity.
I believe that the many troubles of enterprise
development in Nigeria and its attendant desire
for foreign and ostentatious consumption
is a sign of a deep-rooted zero knowledge of
self among Nigerians.
Any society where people cannot trust themselves
is bound for perpetual poverty. The
key to gaining trust can only be unlocked by
an effective and strategic story approach for
national rebirth, rebranding and repositioning.
It is when a brand has a
personality that its story
can begin to make sense
and catch attention.
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fli @thesparkng