If there was a time marketers in Nigeria have had to learn a new approach to getting shoppers/consumer’s attention in Nigeria, it is now. Spending power has been challenged and there has been general apathy towards the brands of today. Many companies have been experiencing very low bottom line results whilst customer warehouses are fully stocked. The frenzy and human traffic characteristic of open markets is not visible.These are some of the signs that there are issues in the horizon.
A visit to one of the bigger modern trade outlets will give you an indication as to how desperate and aggressive companies and their marketers have become to seek the attention of shoppers. It is no longer sufficient to run your television, radio and outdoor campaigns with a dash of digital, because guess what, your products will continue to remain untouched on the supermarket shelves.
This poses the question “what is the winning business strategy?”
- Push sales
- Enhance brand building
- Protect financial KPIs?
On the marketing side, a lot of what you implement will depend on what marketing efforts had been implemented. Persistence and consistency in brand building continues to sustain businesses. If you had been pulling the oxygen from your brand in the past, you should not expect much from the consumers or shoppers. Sustaining and strengthening brand building should be an ongoing effort with or without a crisis.
Back to the issue of Consumer insight, a few questions to think about are:
- Shouldn’t we stop to investigate consumer behaviour rather than invest funds and administer the “same pill” that has proven not to yield results?
- Is the consumer really excited about that offer of a return trip to Dubaior would she/he rather have a voucher for monthly grocery shopping?
- Is she/he influenced by the engaging commercial on TV or would she/he rather you talk face to face?
- Do you have the right pack size for the shopper today or are you stuck in your own available factory technology world and therefore trying to sell him/her what they do not need?
Thinking completely outside the box and walking in the Consumer’s shoes at this time is what could help businesses see drastic turnarounds in shopper patronage in the short to medium term.
Author: Iquo Ukoh
Entod Marketing Communications 