Branding has been defined as
a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one
seller's goods or services as distinct from those of other sellers." Branding
has now become a common term used in marketing. Branding is essentially burning
your company or web site name or slogan into the minds of potential customers and
it creates a lasting value above and beyond all the other elements of your
business. A Brand is the one thing you can own that nobody can take away from
you. Everything else can be stolen.
Approaches to Branding and Effective Product Communication in
Nigeria are outlined as follows:
Define Target Audience: This is the starting point in the communication strategy
process. First of all it is important to convey a consistent message to your
target market. So consider what your target market is, because it may surprise
you to know that many businesses don’t! The factors to consider for consumer
targeted businesses and services include geographical location, age, sex,
income level and interest groups. In the Nigerian market, people are very
pessimistic about product with poor delivery or below set standard when branding your product in Nigeria
it is important to create a need for the product you are offering. This need
will be of great help during the advertising campaign. An example of a brand
that created a need while entering into the Nigerian Market newly is Renew Cold
Water Starch. Renew capitalized on the fact that everyone loves to look good in
properly starched and ironed clothes, but preparing hot water starch could be a
bit stressful, so they came up with the cold water starch and created a need
for it as it was faster to prepare and of course more pocket friendly as it was
cheaper than the raw starch and even its Spray Starch Counterparts. Everything
you do should at least create the beginning of a relationship.
Perceptions: The second ingredient in creating great communication is proper
understanding of perceptions. I believe there are two types of perceptions which
are Brand Perception and consumer Perception.
Consumer Perceptions: These are human truths. “Every human action or behaviour has a
motive”. It is the understanding of the motive or behaviour that leads to the Perception.
Brand Perceptions: They are deep personal views that consumer has about the
category and the brands that play in the category.
Proposition: The proposition or the BIG IDEA is the claim that the brand
makes about itself. This is when one needs to look for what makes a product
unique from another. If the idea is not differentiated, that is if your product
is not different from other products that have been seen before in the Nigerian
market, then the consumers will ignore your advert, even if it looks good. For
example, Nestle will have to tell the consuming public what makes Maggi
Seasoning Cubes uniquely different from Unilever’s Knorr Seasoning Cubes, and why
it should be patronized as against other brands of seasoning cubes.
Placement: The Final piece of planning process is determining the placement
communication. Determining which vehicle of communication will deliver the
message effectively can be vital to the success or failure of the campaign. In
Nigeria, there is presence of all major placements such as LED Advertising, BRT
Bus Branding, Fliers, Press Ad, All form of Mass media, SMS services and many
more. All this can be looked into when considering the best medium to advertise
your products in Nigeria.
Keep your brand fresh. No matter how good your
content is, you'll risk seeming stale and repetitive if you don’t continue
adding new elements to your brand. You can’t ride one idea forever. Keep adding
new layers to what you represent. A great example of this point is Dettol Soap
that has successfully made various brands of Dettol soap, and has recently
added Dettol Antiseptic cream into its growing Family.
We know that what matters most to you, is the influence and
positive impact your brand holds in your client's mind. Hence, we emphasis on
approaching and focusing on emotionally engaging concepts, at Poisemedia
Communications Limited we ensure that your audience connects with your brand
through creativity and business strategy.
