Featured

Wow!!! So, this is Marketing!?!

Steve Tobak said marketing is like sex, everyone thinks they are good at it.’ and Peter Drucker said ‘business has only two functions, marketing, and innovation. Clearly, marketing is critical to business success. it is hard to ignore when in 2019, USD 15.2 billion was spent on marketing annually in the US Alone, matter of fact, the recommendation for marketing spend is between 8 – 12% of organizational revenue.

On average, we are exposed to about 10,000 marketing messages per day across multiple platforms. Evidently, marketing is no accident. It is a deliberate intricate science and Sophisticated Art.

Are you not fascinated by how marketing can create behavioral change? like in the De Beers ‘Diamonds are forever’ campaign that tied a diamond ring into a promise of longevity in love and changed marriage proposals forever. It also saw post-economic depression sales grow for the company.

Is it not riveting how it can create fundamental shifts in culture? like the Coca-Cola Santa that changed Christmas forever or the Share a Coke campaign that had a massive impact by personalizing the coke bottles with individual’s names.

Is it not amazing how an intervention like Display windows (Yes this was a marketing initiative) or using everyday people as models created an enormous impact on dove and started a movement of self-love and self-acceptance?

Despite there being so many myths about marketing, I was relieved to understand how straightforward and comprehensible marketing is, especially as someone to whom marketing is an innate passion.

My favorite definition of marketing is by the Chartered Institute of Marketing who defined marketing as the management process of anticipating, creating and meeting demand profitably.

Simply put, Marketing ultimately traverses all actions and efforts that oversee the creation of products all the way to how they reach the consumer, right from conceptualization and creation and of the product and how its priced. From how and where the products are distributed or displayed, to how promotion is done. It also encompasses the people involved in the entire process and the process of how the consumer interacts with the product.

Marketers are no strangers to conflict with other departments like Finance as they are usually perceived as the money spenders of the organization, yet marketing has a huge bearing on all functions of the business. An oversight in the supply chain could create a marketing disaster, For example, if the organization is found to have unfavorable working conditions or one of the company’s distribution vehicles is involved in bad driving. Lack of synchronization could ultimately create a reputational mess and endanger the brand.

Good marketing will stimulate demand and literally open the revenue tap and that is the lifeblood of the organization and a requisite for business success. There has to be a top-line for there to be a bottom-line.

Email us and let us talk about marketing.

Sources: Marketing Management by Philip and Kotler, Statista.com, ms mojo – http://www.youtube.com/c/MsMojo?sub_confirmation=1,

Featured

CSR is not as complex as it is made out to be.

He had developed a knack for lending his hand around communities. This time, the outreach led him to a refugee camp in Nakivale. He had the uncanny ability to make a laugh out of any situation, but no sort of humor could dilute what he saw. They arrived at the primary school at 10:45 am, Two lessons into the day, About the time when the children who began started the day sitting upright on bricks are starting to tire and change position to enable them take notes more comfortably, and by the time the visit was done, about 2 thirds of the class now took notes while lying flat on their bellies in the dusty floor of the classroom.

As an architecture student at Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, Arnold always believed contrary to his peers that architecture as a discipline should be geared towards creating products that ease people’s lives. And there’s no wonder that he left convinced that he MUST do something to help these children. This desire for a solution gave birth to a lightweight bag that can be transformed into a chair. The bag was designed to be light enough for a 6-year-old to carry for 5 miles. It came with a writing pad and a reflective strip to ensure visibility from car drivers in the wee hours of the morning when their journeys to school start. >> http://www.zetuafrica.org

In an attempt to empower young entrepreneurs, Total extended financial support, training and exposure to Arnold and this enabled him scale up and appreciate this societal solution as a boost to literacy in areas that have nomadic schools and a solution to deforestation, because trees won’t have to be cut for traditional desks.

6 out of 10 people asked randomly about what CSR is to them will say it is about donations, health camps, and visits to orphanages, these initiatives are indeed helpful in the community but however, CSR is way deeper than that. >>https://startupper.total.com/en/challenges/startupper-total

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is defined by Investopedia as is a self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public. By practicing corporate social responsibility, also called corporate citizenship, companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society, including economic, social, and environmental.

CSR is a business model that integrates the Commitment of Companies to be Responsible Corporate Citizens. It underpins the need to work ethically with Stakeholders to undertake initiatives that contribute to Socio Economic Development and Environmental preservation in order to bring about sustainable change. Considering that a stakeholder is anyone who is or can be affected and can affect the operations of a business, this commitment is to staff members, customers, neighboring communities, authorities, business entities and civil society among others.

Sustainability is the ability of a community to maintain its potential to provide for itself in future generations despite activities in current times. The current operations should not affect the ability of the communities to fend for themselves in future. It is key in every CSR strategy and it is highly critical that organizations support initiatives that are characterized by sustainability. In as much as the sporadic initiatives also help the community, philanthropy without consideration of sustainability creates a risk of dependence.

In as much as companies owe their host communities a helping hand. It is advisable for companies to have a CSR strategy that details their priorities and has KPIs for performance and reports as well. Matter of fact a company that is well integrated will have the basic CSR principles of Safety, Ethics, Human Rights embedded in all their policies and operations, for example in the supply chain, care should be taken to ensure suppliers do not employ underage labour.

Sustainability also involves the environment as trade activities naturally take a toll on the cardinal provider, Mother Nature, It is said that we are the last generation that knows how long we have to face the effects of climate change, but also probably the last generation that can do anything about it. Meaning effectively that environmental conservation and climate change are a priority or an emergency.

However, Fret not if you do not have a strategy on CSR, the best place to begin from is solving a societal problem especially that affects your key stakeholders. The other way is managing the impact of your activities, a look at the 17 sustainable development goals could also be a great place to start. >>https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300

A number of guides can help to create direction to CSR efforts like feasibility studies but ultimately it all starts with understanding that CSR is not a number of sporadic activities but an integrated business model. CSR is not what is done with a company’s profits but is embedded in how an organization makes its profits and it is critical to listen to the stakeholders.

The Part of marketing marketers hate.

Phrases like Pakalast, Kyusa Levo and Mpola enjoyments have made their way into our cultures and are an integral part of our urban dictionaries,

As they launched in the UK, Red bull dropped off thousands of empty cans at most rubbish collections points creating a perception that its been highly consumed recently, This of course unlocked thousands of orders and millions of pounds in sales. Making it one of the most successful guerilla marketing tactics.

Say the word marketing and minds will naturally rush to the exciting clever campaigns, controversial taglines and edgy posts on social media, the glamorous events that bring brands to life. Some people will go as far as to call them gimmicks. And the misconceived stereotype that marketers are flashy loud extroverts that love the limelight doesn’thelp either.

I have said this before, The exciting part of marketing, The part you will usually see is about 10% of what marketing realistically is, It is basically a derivative of endless, thankless hard work that goes on behind the curtain or under the covers,

Just like an iceberg, the comic commercials, witty social media engagements and creative posters are only a small part of the entire operation. However, Below the cover, you might not be able to see the days of consumer behavioral analysis, the endless number crunching across the different matrices and KPIs, the comparing and contrasting, going through slides and slides of research. The reverts to the previous reverts before going to market.

This is the part of marketing most marketers hate, and it is easily the most critical. Most marketers have learned to love this part or simply made peace with it. If you are marketing without this part, it is akin to shooting in the dark. You might ‘somehow’ get some targets right. But there are higher chances of missing, and in so doing miss invest marketing resources.

The numbers are critical for understanding consumer behavior, The consumers are the cardinal stakeholder in marketing, It is also important to understand and simulate the impact to the bottom line, KPIs like return on marketing investment, and objective setting in terms of trial, awareness, business development and salience among others

To calculate and analyze big data to the most granular details to enable them tell a story of how consumers perceive you and your brand, How and when or where the consume, and what triggers this behavior, What they like or not like to do, What shifts in perception they have experienced and what is driving the perception. What story do your most detailed sales, equity, and distribution numbers tell. And how do customers feel about your brand, what feelings and actions does your brand evoke.

As a marketer, the business is also your customer. It is important that you gun for solving their problems and achieving key business objectives like sales growth, Margin, and even behavioral change.

Matching the numbers against your consumers and the business concerns in pursuit of solutions while maintaining what this means for your brand, its purpose, persona, growth trajectory and customer promise will be the right foundation for successful marketing campaigns and optimizing resources.

Dear fellow marketer, this is not the most pleasurable or invigorating part of our work, but in the words of the Marketing Manager of Spirits at Uganda Breweries, Rhona Namanya, you will always deliver better if you are one with your numbers.

Don’t post about Women’s day… be about it!!!

An international company posted on Facebook, as their women’s day message: “Look like a girl, Act like a lady, Think like a man, Work like a boss “. Needless to say, there was international rebuttal for their message being sexist and out of touch.

There is a tendency for organizations to craft iconic messages during international observatories, and the International Women’s Day is no exception.

Organizations will often share well-meaning messages about the strength in femininity and the power of the woman.

Some organizations will go a step further and arrange physical engagements, give gifts or arrange a ceremony.

There’s nothing against this, if anything, this well-meaning range of actions is encouraged. What draws the line between a facade and meaningful interventions is the spirit behind the efforts.

Some organizations do this to ride the trend and to cash in on the massive communication and visibility opportunity. Others look at it as a way of scoring reputation points from the public.

Other than making women’s day a once-in-a-year bubble, organizations MUST deliberately incorporate efforts to create inclusion. To call out any gender-targeted injustices and promote equality and inclusivity.

The theme this year is #ChooseToChallenge which denotes the need to speak up, go against the tide and deliberately champion change to create a fair, just and inclusive society.

Organizations, countries, religions, and societies need to start, by NOT being sexist in their operations and communications, create a standard of communication guide that ensures messages are sensitive to gender fairness, representing women in an empowered light. considering a long-term behavioral change campaign over a one-day message.

“It is important that efforts towards creating gender equality aren’t a box ticking exercise. Rather, it should be the norm and a collective responsibility” Hadiza Abba. There is a need to deliberately incorporate policies and actions that promote equality in everyday operations, HR policies, value chain process, women representation in the workforce and management. Organizations should purpose to foster genuine development and empowerment of women and other minorities.

Happy Womens day to the architects of society, the queens that build and bind society.

Weird but these are common myths in Marketing.

A friend of mine, An avid marketer as well asked me to call this article ‘Crap they say about marketers’ but I figured it is prudent to give a benefit of doubt because whether or not we like to acknowledge it, Marketing has a marketing problem.

We as marketers probably have not done enough to improve the reputation of our profession even though one of our core jobs is to make sure that our customers or clients maintain reputations as clean as a whistle.

Is it then surprising that marketers have been called all sorts of things like snake oil salesmen, crooks, liars? You at times hear statements like Let marketing find a way of twisting this, or what’s the catch? Howard Luck is known to have said ‘Advertising is propaganda and marketing is exploitation.’

Marketing is in fact like an iceberg, most of the work happens under the surface, hence the common tendency to mistake marketing for its ‘visible’ outcomes like advertising.

Marketing has been responsible for blazing the trail for major cultural shifts including the way we celebrate Christmas as a result of a legendary marketing campaign by Coca-Cola, What engagement for marriage is as a result of a marketing campaign by DeBeers. But is it time, to do for ourselves what we do for others?

Marketing is and has been key in solving business problems and clearly, with such power comes a lot of skepticism. So, let’s briefly explore a few myths about marketing. A critical business function that is marred by a huge comprehension gap.

Myth 1: Marketing is advertising,

The marketing mix consists of 7 elements that include Product, Price, Place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. Well as one of the loudest manifestations of the marketing mix is promotion by virtue of its role, it is only a tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing. Under the promotion lies another cluster of activities, including PR, sales promotions sponsorships, events, and advertising among others. Advertising is only a subset of promotion

Myth 2: Marketing is sales.

There is a misconception that marketing is selling, Yet marketing in its wholesomeness encompasses all the efforts to anticipate, create and satisfy demand profitably. In as much as marketing will ensure galvanize and facilitate the sale, Marketing and Sales are two distinctive functions.

Myth 3: Marketing is about the flashy graphics and shiny tactics.

David Ogilvy, considered the father of advertising said creativity is just entertainment until it brings in a sale, Marketing’s main obligation is to the bottom line, Even the best written adverts and flashiest graphics will not mean a thing until they inspire a call to action. Some marketers erroneously focus a lot more on the humour, or other extrinsic aesthetics and not on the call to action as they should. In fact, Word of mouth, or direct referral in digital interfaces and testimonials are the most effective forms of promotion

Myth 4: Marketing is for marketers;

Marketing is an organization-wide function. All members of the organization contribute to marketing efforts in their roles in product formulation, packaging, customer relations, among others. Tell me what role you perform in the organization, and I will tell you how you contribute to marketing. It is therefore important for the entire organization to not only be aware of but aligned to the organization’s overall and marketing strategy

Myth 5: Everyone is your customer:

It is tempting to imagine that you can get a sale from each and every one, However, When you target everyone, you attract no one, marketing campaigns with wide unspecified target audiences for example, ‘We are targeting men, youth, or women’ rarely achieve success because the target audience is not specific. More specific audiences help to create more clarity when segmenting and conceptualizing strategies, An example of a good target audience profile is: Married working-class ladies living within 20 Kilometers of Kampala, Aged between 25 and 35 – earning take home over UGX 1.5 M. You could consider geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral factors when profiling your target audience.

Now that you have more clarity on what marketing really is, What other myths have you encountered?

Send an email and let’s discuss more about marketing.

About the Mix in Marketing.

After breaking down how comprehensible marketing is in the previous blog and bursting several myths about marketing, I came across this quote by Walter Landor “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.” Such a conclusive and accurate summary, the question though is how?

Truth is good marketing makes the company look smart, great marketing makes the customer feel smart as Joe Chernov said. This takes deliberate concerted effort. Jerome McCarthy summarized these efforts into a theory that highlighted major decisions to achieve great marketing: the marketing mix, which includes the 4 Ps. Product, price, place, and promotion. Boons and Bitner suggested an extension that included Physical Evidence, People, and Process that would cater to services.

The marketing mix: (7Ps)

Product: This involves identifying the problem that will be solved, and then availing the solution through a product or service, this is referred to as the value proposition. When UgaChick came into business in 1992, They were aiming at empowering farmers and uplifting their standards with high quality chicks and feeds, they also wanted to avail chicken conveniently to Ugandans. The objective of product in the marketing mix is to provide choice for the customer.

Stop selling, Start helping, as Zig Ziglar said.

Price: Selecting the right price, and how to come up with that price, or choosing when to offer discounts. Consumers ideally look out for affordability; this is the only element in the marketing mix that brings in revenue.

Place: Availing the product and services in the right places where customers will access them. This includes distribution as a key component. Whether to avail your products directly or indirectly through intermediaries like retailers, distributors, agents, wholesalers, and the like, Online channels have also taken up a dominant position with companies like Jumia, Kikuu, and Amazon availing products and services to consumers. A good manager must select an optimal distribution channel(s) for their brand and manage it or them effectively

Promotion: The efforts to publicize and make the product or service known, As Seth Godin rightly said, Marketing is a contest for people’s attention. Promotion involves an array of tactics that include Direct marketing, Advertising, Public Relations communicated either by above the line or mass promotion, like use of radio, TV, and billboards and below the line promotion, which is more targeted, like activations and promotional offers among others. The role of promotion has evolved into dialogue, there is a need for customers to speak with and rather than at their audiences for example The Rolex Initiative interacted with their audiences through Facebook, and Youtube to innovatively counter the COVID19 crisis. Many people often confuse marketing for promotion, and yet promotion is only but a small part of it.

“A flower is a weed with an advertising budget” Rory Sutherland

People: The people involved in availing this product/service or solution, ranging from the HR units to the individuals that support marketing efforts, represent organizational values and how they interact with the target market. Partnerships are a critical part of getting marketing right as evidenced in the growth of affiliate marketing. An organization aiming at marketing success should ensure to attract, train and retain talent, partners, staff, and people that will see to achievement of their objectives

Process: The flow of activities regarding how the product/service is delivered. This involves all the touchpoints related to the use of a product or service, right from the value chain to every interaction the consumer has with the product, including shopping, testing, and paying for the product, The aim should be to avail convenience. with the advent of more online and remote options, marketers are finding more ways of delivering convenience to their customers, For example, Total Uganda now has a delivery service for shop and Gas customers to complement their presence on Jumia.

Physical evidence: Just like in life, You never get a second chance to make a first impression, The physical elements related to your product or service constitute physical evidence, including the environment in which the service is offered. It adds an element of tangibility to the service and confirmation that the service has indeed been provided. However, also in as much as first impressions last, a perceptive marketer should focus on making a lasting impression on the customer with their brands’ physical element.

And a Bonus P just for you!

Performance: Well as it’s not widely accepted as the 8th P, a big part of marketing is tracking and managing performance. Marketing plans and objectives must be appraised since the return on marketing investment has to be managed and justified.

According to theories by Lauterborn and Shimizu, marketing‘s key decisions ought to be customer-focused. To give the 7Ps a customer’s lens; they are summarized as, commodity markets or consumer’s wants and needs, cost, convenience, communication, channel, and communication

Targeting customers is key in marketing and this enables the organization better to segment the products and services. This simply means to modify the product or service to suit a given group of customers.

This further helps in how they are positioned to guarantee access to these goods and services.

The most important consideration in every element is to create a relationship with the consumer. because as Michael LeBoeuf said, A satisfied customer is the best strategy. Marketing therefore is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make; It is the art of creating genuine customer value – Philip Kotler.

send an email and let’s talk about marketing.

Marketing Vs Branding.

I will start today’s revelation with a confession. I am not an ardent boxing fan, Nonetheless, I will slackly follow the big stars’ interesting developments. Floyd Mayweather is Feuding with 50 Cent, Mike Tyson is coming back into the ring, Tyson Fury has written a book and Anthony Joshua made a big donation.

It is a whole lot different though if there is a big match. May 2nd, 2015, Floyd Mayweather Vs Manny Pacquiao. For about 2 weeks, I closely followed all proceedings to the Tee, I waited with millions of others till the wee hours of the night to watch the biggest match of the century. For the first time ever, I watched even the curtain-raisers.

If Branding and Marketing were ever to face off, the showdown would be bigger than what was dubbed the fight of the century.

As seen in previous articles about understanding Marketing and Branding, there is an excusably frequent coincidence to overlap, mistake or substitute marketing and branding. In as much as branding is a marketing function, each on their own is a very important and fundamental discipline in the success of a business.

Branding is basically the identity of a business, the look and feel of the product, service, and entity. A number of marketers often forget that this extends to the emotional as well as physical experience of customers while relating with the product service or entity, Whether it be the look of the logo, the arrangement at the head office receptio or of the products on the shelf to the navigation of the website, It is basically regarded as the soul and persona of the entity, service or product.

Branding is the foundation. Before getting a Product, Service, or entity into the consumer’s space, it has to be a reliable representation of what you want customers to like, know, feel, or remember about your brand. I could relate it to the underlying content that is deeper than external beauty. Brand Master Academy defines Branding as the art of expressing a brand to attract the target audience to become or remain a customer.

However, to truly understand the character, there must be a standout quality that gets one noticed, to notice how intelligent someone is, I would have to get to know and speak to them first. That is how marketing works.

Marketing is the spark that helps get the soul, persona, and foundation noticed, it will get the right brand into the heart, the fridge, or shopping bag of the right consumer.

Philip Kotler, who is widely regarded as the father of Marketing defines it as the science and art of creating, exploring, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market profitably. Marketing gets the product, entity, and service to the customer. It answers the question, why this specific brand? And just like a pretty face, marketing will get the brand noticed and admired, regardless of how pretty the face is, the rest of the package must match, otherwise, the appeal will soon diminish,

Marketing without branding is like the proverbial pretty face without the rest of the package, or a house that is beautiful on the outside but untidy and rugged on the inside. It might get customers through your door fast, only for them to get out faster or never come back. For example, when another Boda Boda hailing company came to the Ugandan market, their pricing strategy made them a quick darling. They were tipped to break Safeboda’s monopoly. Soon they were riddled by internal fraud, inconsistent charges, customer complaints among other issues that affected their public perception even before they closed shop.

Perfect branding without marketing however is comparable to having the complete package that no one knows about.

Marketing and Branding are different but complementary. They should always work together. In the analogy of the boxing match, they should be a tag team facing off against the unforgiving murky market. Matter of fact one is the right and the other the left hand.

You ought to get the branding right before going to market. The background work must be done first and done well, otherwise marketing a poorly branded product is a recipe for disaster. Just like Telex Free a multi level networking concept that a big number of people subscribed to, only to discover that it was a Ponzi scheme. If however it were backed by an actually solid model, It would have probably been a massive success. Also, perfect Brading with no marketing will stunt a very good product, for example, Ugandan food, everyone who has traveled out of or into Uganda will testify to the fact that the food in Uganda is nothing short of a fairytale. You will often hear statements like, Uganda has the sweetest Pineapples, or Ugandan bananas are how bananas are truly supposed to taste. With such a great product, If backed by good marketing. Ugandan food would feature in rap songs and high-end movies. Ugandan food would be like Cigars are to Cuba or reggae is to Jamaica.

A good mix of branding and marketing will present a ubiquitous well-appreciated product and a healthy relationship between customers and brands. To ensure that this is done well, speak to a professional to get your branding and marketing strategy done.

Entanglement from a Marketer’s lens.

If you live in this green planet called earth, you have probably heard about the Entanglement and are about as close to getting tired of the memes… but once you are done laughing at a marriage at breaking point. A man in visible pain and woman coming to terms with her decisions. You’ll probably be guided to view it from the perspective of a marketer.

Part 1

The reveal

August Alsina brought to light past infidelities with wife to Willard Smith – Jada Pinkett Smith. The couple’s stand on this was not public interest until the great reveal.

Now, this reveal just happened to come at about the same time August was releasing his new album entitled ‘The Product III: State of Emergency’. Coincidence? I think not! Having slid into near oblivion, perhaps this was the card he felt he had to play to gain relevance which is clearly a prerequisite for album sales. It is important to note that he categorically expressed his deep genuine love for the Smith’s as a family and confessed that having to walk away broke him. In an interview with Angella Yee, he says that the reveal was to honor his authenticity among flying rumors and accusations.

Marketing Pro Tip:

Timing and spectacle are very important when launching a product or managing a crisis, in as much as mainstream promotion seems like the obvious channel. It is important to incorporate guerrilla marketing in your strategy especially if it will get you into the Public Relation space (News and coverage)

Part 2

The reaction.

Of course, social media went crazy… awash with memes and jokes as the haters, lovers, defenders, and keyboard warriors are always in worrisome proximity to their atomic weapon, the internet. Even 50 Cent jumped into the fray ferociously trolling his peer.

At this point, this was definitely bound to solicit a response from the concerned couple.

Marketing Pro Tip:

Sometimes the best way to react to a crisis is to ignore it, let the dust settle and the ashes get swept off, but there are also moments when opportunity can arise out of addressing the crisis, controlling and channeling the narrative

Part 3

The Red Table Talk.

The Red Table talk is Mrs. Jada Pinket Smith’s Facebook show that commands a following of 9.5 Million followers over the 62 episodes. There is also a youtube channel titled the Red Table talk that has 35.2 thousand subscribers despite not having a single video. With guests like Snoop Dogg and Ciara among others, the show is bound to get a lot of traffic. The most viewed episode with over 30 Million views however was the episode where they addressed the ‘August situation’. She revealed and justified her ’Entanglement’ with August.

This has made them the most famous couple. Obviously this is an asset in Hollywood

Marketing Pro Tip:

Social media has a number of advantages including the traceability that makes its impact measurable. It is possible to target your audience with way more accuracy and enables interactivity that is essential for marketing decisions and insights. You also have control over the information being put out with an influential digital presence.

However, you must communicate through the right channels. It is important to build your social media resources with consistent, engaging, relevant content, and to innovate in order to keep the engagement with your target audience.

Part 4

Wait, Back Up a little.

Mr. Willard Smith enjoys a followership of 46.9 Million on Instagram, 8.4 Million on YouTube, and 95 Million on Facebook. He predominantly mirrors his personal life and experiences to share uplifting and educational stories. Among which feature family moments, views on social issues, and revelations about happiness, healing, marriage, and happiness.

This iconic couple has been said to admit to being in an open marriage. These have been aggravated by stories of his infidelity. This has elicited the question, why is it a big deal?

Marketing Pro Tip:

Ride the trend wave smartly,

It was a wise move to cash in on a crisis that wasn’t going to change, was already viral, and that Mr. Alsina seemed to already be riding on. Cheers to them for being strategically Savvy enough to make the most of the trend.

Part 5

Before your react

These aren’t the first couple or the first people to benefit from relationship controversy. Eddy Kenzo and Bebe Cool of Uganda after a period of publicly grieving put pen to paper and produced hit songs, Adele’s broken heart not only propelled her to levels of fame she’d never dreamed about, it also exposed us to very compelling music.

Marketing Pro Tip:

In a crisis, see through the smoke of challenges to discover opportunity

Episode 6

Why am I telling you all this?

As a marketer, it is important to pick a few key lessons on managing crisis from this situation.

Among them are:

Choosing the right time and medium.

Well thought out strategy protects you from opportunities emotion and perception may blind you from.

Often times crisis is entangled with or can be turned to opportunity.

Ride the trend but smartly.

Understand your situation well and develop a pinpoint crisis management strategy that should always be in line with your marketing strategy.

Hillary BAGUMA

Is branding a big deal?

‘Trust me, if you are looking for the tastiest lunch this side of town, Mama Nanfunka is the place’ Brian said as we slithered into the room. ‘You are lucky, two months ago, we would not even be able to get seats here. Andrew Said. We made it past the dusty curtain and skipped over a few dirty plates in line to be hand-washed.

The waiter, A shabby young scrawny man wrestled up three chairs and improvised a table for us. He soon delivered our orders and apologized for the eternity of a delay. He explained that they had reduced production since the number of patrons had been plummeting since their iconic launch three months ago.

I leaned back into the chair like you would after exceeding your fill with the most remarkable, most delightful beef stew, matooke and chapati you will ever have. The food was heavenly at the most modest, it tasted like I imagine a rainbow would. The food more than compensated for what was lacking in ambiance, on bringing the bill, I realized that there was a stark difference between the food and the ambiance, The product and the presentation.

My inquiries nearly reduced me to tears as I learned the story of Mama Nanfuka’s rise from a house maid in her previous life to a renegade entrepreneur, I was even more saddened to realize that her impeding fall was all down to branding. She was bound to lose her life’s savings and her blood, sweat and tears would be in vain.

To understand branding, you must first understand what a brand is, Wikipedia defines a brand as a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. It is basically the business, or product’s identity.

BrandingingMag.com defines branding as a marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol, or design that is easily identifiable as belonging to the company. In simple terms, Branding, therefore, is basically the look and feel of any entity, product, or service.

It is a common misconception that branding is about the logo and the font in which the company or product name is written, Realistically, a brand helps to identify a product, service, or entity and differentiate it from others. Branding is critical as an avenue for creating a notable impression on consumers and forms the basis of how your company and entity will be perceived.

A brand is what shows how unique you are from the competition and is an opportunity to express what sets you apart. Your brand is your identity as a business portrayed in the form of its look, Feel, and persona. It will be the foundation of how your brand advertises, communicates, segments, positions, basically, it is the soul to the life of an entity. As a foundation to the building marketing and operations would be. It has everything to do with how the brand communicates, How the product is arranged on the shelves or on the plate, How the front lawns are mowed and how you it will get you feeling after consumption.

Mama Nanfunka, made a statement with a magnanimous launch as she set up in an affluent neighborhood. A well-deserved ceremony considering her fairy tale rise from a housemaid, to a chef in a restaurant and now an optimistic entrepreneur. She was certain that the neighborhood would love her prices and no competitor would beat them.

The consequences of her ineptitude in building her brand cost the future of her business. Which was unfortunate since she had such immense catering talent and an ability to whip up a meal that would drive one’s taste buds into a frenzy.

I couldn’t help but imagine how it would have turned out if Mama Nanfunka had set up an ambient restaurant, or a highly specialized delivery service. What if she had considered branding? It would have enabled her to pick up a better, and more deserved price for her culinary masterclass than the Five Thousand Shillings (UGX 5000/-) she was currently getting,

What if she had created a look and feel that makes customers feel like they treasured her talent, after all, they say trust is the currency of a brand.

A brand is important to create recognition, perception, enhance business value, generates customers, creates employee and customer satisfaction, creates trust for the business a basis for advertising and communication.

Usually, finances are cited as a constraint, however, there are ways to circumnavigate it when rebranding or setting up a proper brand. More benefits of branding will be explored in the next article.

The costs of ineffective branding are as immense as the returnson effective branding. It would benefit every business to consult a trusted professional when it comes to building, formulating and modifying your brand.

Here’s a surprise, COVID19 comms don’t have to be boring.

If I had UGX 1000 for every time, I heard Corona Virus related messaging, my bank account would be busier than that of a Ugandan Member of Parliament. When did you last hear COVID related communication that you cannot wait to forget? Not to undermine their efforts, if anything, it is important to appreciate the private sector for their active involvement in educating the masses and exerting efforts in the fight against this unprecedented pandemic. We have seen a message unification drive towards a common cause like has never been seen before, For the sake of this article, allow me to call them COVID adverts.

If you watch, listen to or come across mainstream and digital media, You probably have the prevention tips, Social distancing and handwashing messages engrained at the back of your mind, I bet you could close your eyes and see the handwashing advice by Lifebuoy, Skin guard, Movit and a myriad of other companies.

In as much as this information has a noble origin, great potential for publicity and reputational enhancement during this period. It is a wonder why good-willed advice ends up seeming mentally exhausting despite the inimitable potential to score highly on relevance points. Well, I know you will not believe what I am going to say next despite that the fact that you have probably found yourself thinking about it. WHY DO THESE MESSAGES HAVE TO BE SO MONOTONOUS?

Ranging from the official statements when the Pandemic started to take effect, to the best practice adverts, they only defer in background color and sequence of words. Whether it is Racers Bar restaurant, Roofings or MTN.

However, The monotonous nature of these ‘COVID adverts’ should not take away from the fact that information ought to be disseminated, Companies have to communicate and to be relevant to the context, here is how your COVID comms can achieve the above and still be interesting, Or at least not boring.

1. Empathize with your target audience. Aim to solve the problem first, and put yourself in the mind frame of your potential audience and feed them information they would relate to. For example, just before the first cases were reported in Uganda, Lifebuoy put out a print ad whose copy (wording) literally stuck on my memory. Every brand interaction, no matter how subtle has a grand significance on brand perception, if we believe that you care about what we are going through, we would be happy to listen, for example DSTV offered a package top up during lock down and Cafe Javas offered free delivery.

a. You could also communicate to solve other resultant problems, like working out from home, Solving car care issues from Idling, Mental health, Gender Based Violence.

2. Incorporate the communications within your product like Coca Cola has done on their bottles and MTN with the network display.

3. Communicate solutions that will solve problems related to the Pandemic and its context, companies have embraced delivery and others have leveraged partnerships like Safe Boda and Jumia to seamlessly attend customer needs from the safety and comfort of their homes, For example, Total Uganda is now providing delivery services and Digital payment solutions for LPG (Gas), Shop items and other products,

4. Embrace social marketing, They say a friend in deed is a friend indeed, that applies to companies as well, you could donate to the task force, Community, offer discounts on essential products like soap, masks and sanitizers as Citi Bank Uganda did with a donation of over UGX 270 Million to operationalize an operation theatre at Kajjansi Health center , You could waive functional fees like delivery costs or Money transfer charges in the case of Airtel and MTN. Either way, It is a profound way of creating a sentimental and usually permanent bond and putting your brand at the hearts of your customers. Brands that have come out to support social causes like mental and physical health will be appreciated by consumers long after the pandemic or lock down are gone, and so will brands that have given us hope in life after lockdown like Uganda Tourism Board.

5. Make the comms funky, Hip, Popping, Lit, regardless of what generation you are from, we all remember the messages that are captivating. Fascinating graphics, use of comedy or emotion, and Right casting will make your comms stand out, Consider the use of motion graphics like Videos or GIFs like Africell has or be bold and explore memes. Let’s face it, the messaging during this period is largely similar, However, A little creativity could keep your brand in the minds of your customers. Who will easily forget the UTB advert telling us that we shall tour the pearl of Africa soon or the comedy in the Ministry of Health supported mini-dramas will bring a memorable light-hearted education to audiences. And casting Bad Black to speak to ladies distancing from drivers was pure marketing genius.

Despite the beginning of easing lockdown, the Pandemic is still a reality and as we head towards the new normal, We hope to see more interesting or at the very least, Less boring, Monotonous comms that we cant wait to forget when we turn on the TV, Radio or on our timelines.

Hillary BAGUMA