It is clear that there isn’t much more customer trust and goodwill to go around giving the hardship that the Nigerian people are going through. At the same time, businesses have faced growing pressure from politicians into how they conduct their operations and have been expected to operate on the basis of what’s considered fair – a notion that businesses should make the right moral choices and not simply rely on those that are legally required.
Well, there are no longer ‘off the shelf’ template solutions! The APC political brand need to be prepared to make bold decisions quickly and seek qualified advice from a combination of legal and communications consultants and ask for the way forward.
Economic Confidential findings reveal that what makes a brand is the ability of a brand to deliver on promise.
And this seems not to be the case with the ruling All Progressives Congress as a political brand. As a matter of fact, the brand APC before the 2015 general elections made lots of promises to Nigerians part of which include; N5, 000 for unemployed Nigerians graduates, one free meal daily for students in public schools among others. The degree of this promises most have formed the basis for which Nigeria gave APC brand their mandate.
Speaking on this development, the Managing Director of The Nielsen West Africa, a brands and marketing research company, Lampe Omolye, said: “Consumer confidence in the economy has dropped significantly, and it has dropped even further in the first quarter of 2016 due to nagging issues like devaluation, foreign exchange crisis, high inflation, budget delay and many others.”
He also noted that his company’s research revealed that there was a general decline in job prospects and a reduced willingness to spend by most consumers.
Because of these challenges, he explains further, most households now prioritise their expenditures and are consistently cutting down on what they spend on.
Lampe also noted that, as expected, the sector that has had the worst hit is the FMCG, which is usually a major indicator for consumer confidence in any country. Most of the companies in the FMCG, he stressed, have reported losses. On the other hand, alcoholic beverage brands, Telco brands and non-alcoholic beverage brands have all recorded some growth despite the drop in consumer confidence.
According to him, the growth in the alcoholic sector resulted from the natural tendency for alcoholic consumption during “down or low moments.”
Telco companies, from his research, recorded growth because of the general attitude of Nigerian to talk and connect with family and friends regardless of the economic situation.
However, from his study, the growth in the soft drink segment was primarily driven by Coca-Cola’s share a Coke campaign which was a highly successful and inspiring marketing drive. Likewise, growth in the alcoholic segment has been largely driven by Nigerian Breweries.
Diageo Nigeria was in a form of decline despite the acclaimed success of Orijin, the rave of the moment alcoholic brand.
Lampe explained further that the key factor responsible for the growth of NB Plc was their acquisition of Consolidated Breweries which had a host of value brands. “So, the growth was driven by the value brands.”
This study’s INDEX- an acronym for Information through Disguised Experimentation- was gathered each quarter via survey of households and consumers opinion on current conditions and future expectations of the economy. And the current reverses in the economy according to the research and marketing expert have been triggered by inflation and other macro-economic issues like fall in oil prices, delay in the passage of budget, static wages, loss of jobs etc.
Ultimately, Lampe warned that brands must begin to engage consumers in a positive way if they want to retain or even expand market share.
“They must ensure they remain in touch with people consuming their brands, and they should do so through quality engagement” he admonished.
Also speaking, Juliet Chiazor, Country Manager of Google Nigeria, stressed that it is time Brands started considering using digital platforms and tools for marketing if they don’t want to go into extinction.
Reinforcing this belief, she stated that whether brand owners liked it or not, digital communication had come to stay so brands must learn how to utilise it properly.