Brandish

A brand is not made in a day; its name and fame come with years of expertise in the industry. Many of the companies put in diligent efforts to shoot them to popularity, while for many others it is a cakewalk. Every company is born to generate as many customers as possible in the shortest time. But no part of the marketing process can be done with ease, making it strenuous for many of these companies to achieve their goal. Hitting the marketing strategies at the right spot will certainly increase the chances for your company to take the ladder to premier positions. Learning the market and its trends is essential before you step into the business zone, most of which is linked to the Internet these days. Promoting your brand necessitates the use of the Web to weave your seamless network.

Here are a few methods that have been proven to be effective in promoting brands.

1.      Consistency

Marketing demands consistency the most, a lack of which leads to debacles. Being persistent in your opinion about a plan gets half of the work done. It always doesn’t yield splendid results; strategies have to be changed when the trends of your business are not going as per the plan. Speculations make your company hit either the top or bottom, but when the practicalities come your way decisions might have to shift to a lower or topper gear. But always make sure to stick to a well-devised plan as long as it brings penny into your account. Never adopt an entirely different strategy the next day; keep away from contradicting your previous brilliant ideas.

2.      Quality of Content and its Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, as almost everyone into marketing might know, is the key to rocketing your brand. But try not to lose focus on optimizing the content on your website because it is those words and appealing visuals that gradually increase the footfalls at your company. A marriage of relevancy and quality is what every customer looks for on your website. You have to ensure that all these factors are appropriately checked before posting them online. Learn all about seo by clicking the link.

3.      Social Media is the New Street

Everything from shopping to conversations has shifted to online platforms, making the social media a necessary evil of these times. Leverage the social media platforms to promote your product and familiarize them with your logo that they go searching for your exclusive merchandises. Creating an account doesn’t get the job done; keeping your accounts active to post relevant content is crucial.

4.      Video Marketing

Moving visuals and vibrancy create a more significant impact than written content and imagery. Even if you are running a small company, a video can make a lot of difference. So make sure to produce a unique video that appeals to your potential customers. Adding the video to your social media profile is also a good way of reaching out to a wider target audience.

Success and big money is the bright end of the path paved by large sums of investment. Believing in that prospective boom with huge funds put into marketing often turns out into a form of misspending. Such unexpected results could come your way even if smaller amounts are invested initially. But when you have mammoth ideas backed by a low budget, plans will be mixed with perplexions that seem unsolvable. In this age of unlimited possibilities, no problem comes without a solution. Cheap or free marketing strategies can be adopted for bringing your company to the forefront. Here are a few low-budget marketing ideas for your small business.

1.      Content Publishing

Online marketing is the modern-age technique that rakes in huge revenue. Relevant content that serves the purpose of every customer should be your priority when devising strategies to market your product. Check for the quality each time before you publish it online. Making content by yourself will cut down the expense of outsourcing it to a writer. If not you, someone on your team will have writing as their forte who could help you complete that job.

2.      Video Marketing

Video marketing on a low-budget marketing ideas list would seem bizarre. It surely is an expensive process to produce a high-quality professional YouTube video, which need not necessarily be your style of making it happen. Hiring a student intern for the video production can substantially reduce the expenses. Having a team with members who are versed with the various departments of making a video can also help you, which in many cases would be impractical. When video marketing is out of your budget, slide decks can be made and posted on SlideShare.

3.      Ad Promos

Paid promos and ad campaigns come under the section of expensive marketing, which need not be your best marketing strategy. Many of these campaigning services can also be availed at a low amount with the numerous discounts and coupons on the Internet. While Facebook or Google ads could be created using these promo codes, some others are exclusively for the web hosting services that offer these promotions as part of their membership bonus.

4.      Reddit- Antenna to Marketing

Although posting on Reddit has to be an intelligent move, it is often the best way to promote your product. Adding bogus content will not help since Reddit contains a tech-savvy audience who can differentiate between genuine and tactical marketing strategies. Make sure to share only great content that pertains to the niche through Reddit.

5.      Revitalize the Forgotten

Content is king on every online marketing platform, so when you face a crisis of good content and money to hire quality writers, scour through the previous relevant posts on the Web to extract ideas. Select among the hundreds of pages that lay in the forgotten or oblivious zone to feed for content. Remould it in your unique style and breathe back life into it with your creativity.

Twenty five organisations have been penciled down to win the Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria (IBMN) Made in Nigeria brands awards and 55 brands and marketing practitioners and professionals also scheduled for fellowship investiture on 17^th August 2018 in Lagos.

Some of the categories include food brand of the year, table water of the year, Biscuit brand of the year, cooking oil of the year, automobile brand, noodles/pasta, HMO, Toothpaste, fast foods/restaurant and cereal brand among others.

Goddie Ofose, Chairman of Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria and 54 others will be conferred with fellowship same day.

According to the IBMN’s Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Desmond Esorougwe, as the competitive environment becomes increasingly hostile, strong brand building and branding will be required to thrive and succeed.

He said, “Branding has become a strategic asset as a company source of competitive advantage. The Institute of Brand Management of Nigeria will be holding this edition of the Made in Nigeria Brands at identifying recognizing and rewarding companies that apply branding culture and branding management best practices to the analyses, planning, implementation and control of policies, designed to achieve cooperate objectives in both profit and non-profit organisation in Nigeria.”

Esorougwe said, the award will be conferred on few deserving companies while brands and individuals who have made impacts on the lives of Nigeria consumers through their innovations, inventions and ideas.

Apart from investiture and awards, this year edition themed: Made in Nigeria Brands Prospects for Manufacturing in Nigeria has some distinguished professionals to speak and discuss the topic.

Some of the invited guests include Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Osita Anthony Aboloma, Director General/General Executive Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Prof. Moji Adeyeye, DG, NAFDAC, laoye Jaiyeola, DG NESG, Janet Omisore, Acting Director General, NACCIMA, Mr. Segun Ajayi Kadir, DG MAN, Patrick Ezeagu, Chairman, Association of Stockbroking House of Nigeria, Igwe Achese, National President, NUPENG and Debola Agunbaide, President, Finance House Association of Nigeria.

The conversation that preceded the launch of new pay-tv company, TSTV on October 1, 2017 was one of the heaviest in the Nigerian market . From a consumer point of view, what generated the conversation was not so much of how well the company orchestrated it as it was about the hopes and expectations of Nigerians that at last competition has eventually come to dilute what has been perceived to be a near monopolistic hold of Multichoice Nigeria on the pay-tv business in the country.

Across market segments, it has been widely, sometimes wildly, held that Multichoice has not been fair to the country, especially with its pricing. Many ordinary Nigerians believe that DSTV could costs a lot less than Multichoice is charging. Those who hold this view also believe that with competition, there will be an opportunity to extract greater value from Multichoice Nigeria.

Conversations around this issue have been on for many years and each time, Multichoice would come out with facts to suggest that the price regime in the country was the lowest in Africa.

But this story is essentially not about the Multichoice. On the contrary, it is about the new comer, its launch and what it should have done differently. Below are 10 things we believe TSTV could have approached differently before announcing its entry into the pay-tv fray:

1. Going to market with nothing to sell. If you are not a buyer of products or services, your trip to the market, the only reason you go to a market, would be because you have something you are selling. There is this other category of widow-shoppers and, you may add, thieves. But these are not factors we should take seriously as constituting the critical population of a market.

It is either you are buying or you are selling. In the pay-tv business, TSTV is a seller. Therefore, when news was going around the digital and Social Media spaces about the new comer, everyone thought that on the day of launch, there’d be decoders and technical staff on ground.

The promise was huge: N5,000 decoders, free 20 gigabytes of data, sports (Nigerians love football!). But as people gathered in Abuja, with government officials present and granting tax holidays, it became clear that there was nothing on the shelf for people to pick up. No decoders. No dishes. No nothing! To make the whole thing sound funny, TSTV announced that service would become available one month later, on November 1. This is a major marketing crime, the consequence of which is marketshare loss – marketshare the company does not have yet.

When you say that you are launching a product or service, the very first thing that must be done is to ensure the product is ready along with all service platforms. This is usually done long before preparing for the press conference and event activations. I said this same thing on a post I made on Facebook: You cannot organize a party, invite guests and when they are singing, dancing and in various degrees of delirious revelry, you pick the microphone and announce that food and drinks would be served the next day. People will walk away and next time you stage a show, I am not sure any one of these will return.

2. The name, TSTV is too close to competition. People often loosely ask, What is in a name? In marketing, where differentiation might just mean everything, a name is a whole lot. Except you are selling a commodity, the name is as important, if not even more important than all the value propositions you are putting forward.

Have you tried mentioning “TSTV” to someone of late? Except those very familiar with the conversations, once you mention TSTV, you are 90 percent of the time likely to get a retort like, “You mean DSTV?” This is phonetically explainable. TSTV sounds very much like DSTV when pronounced. What this does is that at any point this new comer is mentioned, chances are that people will immediately begin to first think DSTV before they process it and tune their brains to recognize it is another brand that is being talked about.

Implication: TSTV will continue to reinforce the brand identity of DSTV in all oral communications around its brand. This means that it must work hard to either kill DSTV and usurp its identity completely or continue to walk under the shadow of competition with over 20 years of experience and equity under its belt.

3. Announcing channels it cannot realistically and legitimately offer: There are rules guiding the global pay-tv market. For any channel you are adding to your bouquet of offering, there are licenses required to make them happen. As it were, these licenses are granted on regional and national jurisdictions.

I speak about the announcement by TSTV that it was going to broadcast an endless stream of sports, especially football channels to its Nigerian audience. It claimed, so I read, that it was going to take its feed from the beIN platform.

Now, how is this possible? beIN Sports, according to Wikipedia, is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by beIN Media Group, a spinoff of Al Jazeera Media Network. It has no operations in Europe. It is licensed to broadcast the Premier League and some other European football leagues only for Middle East countries where its feed comes in the Arabic language. It is not licensed for the West African market.

The beer segment in the Nigerian alcoholic beverages market has been projected to sustain significant growths in the year 2018 thanks to an expected improvement in the national economy that is very likely going to be driven by increased sending power ahead of election year 2019.

But as analysts make projections on what is likely going to be a boom year for brands in this segment, most people are very likely not going to be talking about positioning statements and other marketing activities that have been responsible for the growth of this segment especially against the background of the economic recession that the country is emerging from.

That some of these brands, a few years ago were off the shelves of many stores is also something of significance. Some years ago, many of the brands, most especially in the beer category of this segment, were in the throes of virtual extinction.

In south west Nigeria, one such beer brand is Trophy, a beer that most local people held on to for years until demand patterns shifted and adversely affected regional brands across the country. Back in those days, Trophy as a brand, though occupying an identifiable niche in the regional value beer segment, was struggling. Efforts by International Breweries Plc to raise the brand didn’t quite achieve much until SABmiller took over the brand aand asked a new agency to charge of the management of the brand.

Before this time, all the successes around the brand’s credentials were always shy of Lagos, the country’s capital of just about everything. Lagos has remained the trend setter for the country in music, fashion and lifestyle and the brand that cuts a hole in the sprawling bustling city is sure to reach the rest of the country and with much more ease.

No one really knows what AbInBev, the global brewing behemoth that bought SABMiller (the former owners of the brand) wants to do to spin the brand Skywards and although the former marketing Manager, Kunle Ogidi, insists amongst other things product reformulation and superior brewing excellence were reasons the brand became a beer of choice for many, it is a known fact that most times, especially for consumers in this segment, certain other emotions tend to decide and determine brand preferences.

Back in 2012, the brand had begun the journey that has significantly raised its credentials in the market with the adoption of the vastly aspirational nickname, “Honourable.” The idea was to raise the emotional value of the brand among its core C-to-D market segment, creating a feel-good aspirational emotion around the brand.

Ogidi said this emotional benefit was designed to reinforce the rational values the brand already possessed, although most will think the emotional side became a stronger proposition than the rational.

Driving this overwhelmingly success became the lot of Yomi Benson and his brand “Babalawos” at Culture Communications and it was here that the idea of infusing cultural elements as a means of upping the Trophy drinking culture was cooked and served.

Yomi Benson and his team apparently had read through the Yoruba culture and folklore and reasoned that connecting to the core of the people’s value systems of honouring their icons and emulating those who stand out could become a pillar the brand could stand on and be strong.

That, according to him was reason the moniker, “Honourable” was adopted for the brand.  It became so strong that consumers started calling the brand honorable, that was why we had to infuse into the label. For Culture communications, consumers determine the path our brands take.

Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC) celebrated with members of the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) at the commissioning of the 2^nd phase of the Food Union Hotels and Suites, on August 12, 2016 in Ojodu-Berger, Lagos State. The project which is a brainchild of the NUFBTE was officially commissioned by Honorable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, alongside the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade. Dr. Ayuba Wabba.

Speaking at the project Commissioning, Distinguished Senator and Honorable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, commended NBC for its production of the most popular soft drink, Coca-Cola, with a significant number of employees and supporting employment challenges in Nigeria. Dr. Ngige also applauded the NUFBTE, stating that the Union has transformed from becoming a Union of Employees to a Union of Employers, by gainfully employing Nigerian as it diversifies its revenue base to the new hospitality business of hoteling and production of quality foods.

NBC Managing Director, George Polymenakos, while giving his remarks at the event, expressed his pleasure that the NUFBTE took the initiative to come up with the Food Union Hotel project, which is very beneficial to all members, and creating more employment opportunities. The National President of the NUFBTE, Comrade Lateef Oyelekan, while addressing guests present at the event, highlighted the urgent need for all stakeholders to come together and tackle the challenges of youth unemployment, hence the diversification of the Union to areas of interest with sustainable returns. Oyelekan also encouraged member companies to emulate NBC that has constantly been investing in and supporting youth entrepreneuring, community empowerment and leaving a legacy through the various Company initiatives.

NBC provided a wide range of refreshing Coca-Cola products to all delegates, comrades and guests of member companies of the prestigious union from the food and beverage industry that were present at the grand commissioning.

The National Union of Food beverage and Tobacco Employees in a bid to cater for the welfare of its members, have been diversifying its revenue base, with long term investments that would yield returns to improve financing of the Unions projects, programmes and initiatives, while also supporting employees and collaborating with management of organisations to achieve their goals and support industrial peace and harmony.

Tosin Eniolorunda, the CEO of TeamApt, a fintech startup, assessed the current regulatory environment and disclosed how the company aims to provide financial happiness for banks, businesses and the people.

Excerpt   

Assessing current regulatory environment

The banking and finance industry is the backbone of the nation’s commerce and regulation is very important. Regulation should foster growth and control malpractices that will hinder the growth of the industry. One of the ways regulation does this is by licensing players activities. The Apex bank is doing a good work in protecting the industry and ensuring that only serious players with value to offer are allowed in the industry. The methodology today is cash deposit for the period while the license is being granted. This often filters a lot of unserious players but it unfortunately also precludes otherwise nascent companies who do not have the financial muscle. I believe the position of protecting the industry should not be compromised however other ways to encourage serious players without the financial muscle can be encouraged.

Startups can, for example, make a case for an exception if they satisfy these conditions: a year old company and employs more than five Nigerians in the period of 12 months, that can demonstrate that industry players (e.g banks) are using their solution in a different capacity other than one that requires licensing and can get the bank to attest to this fact, that can show evidence of tax payment and revenues in books, a fidelity guarantee and professional indemnity from a reputable insurance firm to guarantee against losses dues to fraud and errors. If an intention of licensing regulation is to ensure only serious players are licensed, these steps can achieve the same objective without the financial hurdle.

What should we expect from TeamApt in, say, five years?   

Our mission is to facilitate financial happiness for banks, people and businesses. We believe happiness is the goal in life and money helps people to be happy. Banks are at the centre of money in the world and this is why we set out with serving banks. We help banks to deploy web and mobile banking applications for their customers so that the customers can find it easier to pay, collect, manage or grow their money. In the next few months, we will be serving businesses and we will allow them to do same. In the next five years, we would have connected all the banks, businesses and people in a symbiotic and frictionless ecosystem. Our vision is to see that the friction of people dealing with money is gone completely, the bottom of the pyramids are financially included and people are generally happier by using our systems and infrastructure to deal with their finances.

Reasons for leaving Interswitch to start TeamApt

Entrepreneurs are usually restless people. They are not usually after money but they thirst greatly on making an impact. They know the money will follow. I needed to make an impact in my life and it was becoming harder to do so with my employer so I left. I figured that the worst that would happen will be that I would fail, and I could always get another job even with the startup on my resume.  I, however, knew I was not going to fail. I had planned to do this all my life and I knew it was time. I was 29 years old then. While in school, I had acquired entrepreneurial experience while studying Mechanical Engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University. I had a consultancy business for students, while helping them with various hardware and software projects. I was single and I knew it would only get harder if I didn’t do it then. It was then or never. So I had to leave Interswitch in just under three years after. I could not have made a better decision.

Expectations in 2018  

Any company that is thoroughly focused on customer success has a high chance of succeeding. Our experience has helped us to see the needs, and this allow us to envision a better future where banks, businesses, people and governments can be connected in a seamless end to end digital financial ecosystem to improve efficiency for the banks, reduce financial friction for the businesses and increase financial inclusion for the people. So far we have reached a milestone of providing digital web and mobile banking for 16 banks and about 50,000 businesses. Our banks are delighting their retail and corporate customers with our solutions. Banks have approached us when they heard of the exploits we have done for other banks. The banking industry should expect more of this in 2018. We are also providing solution to a serious financial problem that all businesses in Nigeria are facing. We are experiencing this challenges too while running our business. It is estimated that billions of naira are lost annually to this operational problem. Presently, we are building a solution to address this while working with our partner banks. This year, we will consolidate our ecosystem of banks and include businesses in it for our mission of providing frictionless digital finance.

Challenge of getting good programmers

This is a real challenge. Good programmers are few and there is a competition for them in and outside the country. The country’s brain drain is alarming as many experienced developers can get jobs outside the country. They can get jobs in Dubai, Ireland, and Estonia with far greater compensation compared to what they would get in the country. To foster innovation and develop the country, a lot of engineers will always be needed and I think it’s high time the industry and the nation banded together to solve this epidemic.

I think the challenge can be resolved fundamentally in two ways. The first is to increase the supply of good quality software engineers and to make the industry more lucrative for them. Supply of good programmers can be improved through internship programmes for secondary and university students to catch and mentor them while they are young. The second solution is slightly harder as it is tied to the macroeconomic performance of the nation. The recent naira devaluation, for instance, has led to increased emigration of experienced software engineers. The industry can however try and raise rates for the engineers.

Adapt or Die, that is the single most important rule in business. Regardless of the industry, businesses must evolve to remain relevant. This is even more important in the new media industry where technology is ever evolving. The way content is being consumed now is not how it was consumed few months ago, talk less of years ago.

As a marketing communications company we understand the need to continually seek out ways to keep up with the changing tides or get lost in obscurity.

This is the secret to our success and we want to share this ideal with all of Africa. We believe that the Dinosaurs were great creatures in their time, top of the food chain, giant predators that no other could challenge, but then something changed, the earth began to change and they needed to evolve. Some dinosaurs succumbed to the changing tides, understanding that this was the only route to survival. They evolved and became Dragons. The others who were late to the evolution party had no choice but to become preys to the larger, fire breathing creatures.

When discussing the reasoning behind such a massive PR stunt,  X3M C.E.O, Steve Babaeko  spoke of the lesson we can take from the prehistoric times – “We like to believe there is a lot to learn from the dinosaurs. How could a creature so powerful become extinct? While the reasons why these dinosaurs erased off the face of the earth is open to interpretation, we are of the school of thought that they got devoured by bigger, better equipped creatures – Dragons. These creature who also were dinosaurs evolved and took over and the dinosaurs who couldn’t, or rather, didn’t evolve became prey. Hence the mantra, Adapt or Die.”

The Dinosaurs represent most agencies and media houses who are still stuck up on old ways. Refusing to embrace technology, social media, or the changing tides in media either out of ignorance or doggedness.

This is the most ideal depiction of modern business landscape and we have come to spread the message – Adapt or die. The success or failure of  Nigerian businesses  is hinged on their ability to evolve.

“When we started 6 years ago we knew what we wanted to do but we always kept an open mind of how we could evolve with the ever changing business landscape. Both from a business and creative standpoint, we always give room to adapt, room to evolve.” – Said Mr Babaeko.

We at X3M, have gone through great lengths to make our point and it isn’t just about the message, the execution too highlights how controlling the narrative is different now compared to just a few years ago. Some of the channels that would have been previously considered when doing a PR stunt are now obsolete. Back in the day, print was the medium of choice to spread information. Now print gets its news from social media.

Mr. Olasunkanmi Atolagbe, X3M Ideas, Group Head, HR/Admin echoed X3M’s shape shifting strategy. – “we know the business we’re in but sometimes we forget to continually learn. We get caught up trying to run a business that we forget to study the industry. Steve has been doing this for a long time, he has seen it all, from the era of Print, to Tv, to social media. He knows how the industry has evolved and how its consumers have adjusted accordingly. An ad that would have been brilliant 5 years ago may strike a wrong cord now. This keen eye for observing trends and adjusting accordingly is what has set X3M apart.”

As a content provider, a business owner, or consumer, you must stay ahead of the game, anticipating changes and adjusting your strategies to allow your business thrive because of these changes not in spite of them.

“It’s not easy to predict the future of media. Technology often plays a huge part in these changes. It also isn’t easy to adapt but nobody said being successful was going to be easy.

If there is a trick to it, it is being grounded enough to understand that tomorrow is never given. Once you become safe in the achievements that you have and refuse to continually innovate, you will be left behind as the game evolves.” –   Said Mr. Babaeko.

After numerous awards, after stunning numbers in revenue, and a hugely impressive clientele including some of  Nigeria’s biggest brands, X3M remains the leader of Marketing communications in Nigeria because we are constantly evolving, constantly winning.

So our message to African Businesses is simple – Adapt or Die.

A discerning marketer would tell you that this year (at least for Nigeria) is predominantly divided into two phases. Phase one being Football, a language that plays an integral role in constituting the fabrics of our society.

It is not uncommon to see people of seemingly different ethnic backgrounds argue passionately about the teams

they support and even go the extra mile to settle rift over football.

Football possesses a strong unifying power that permeates into the hearts of many and often times evokes a spirit of patriotism and nationalism. Many still grin when they remember the miss of Aiyegbeni or RashidiYekini’s goal celebration in 1994

One of such game is the 2018 world cup hosted by Russia. This year would see a number of entrants particular from Africa who has about 5 teams representing them including our dear Nigeria. This would be a great time for fans across the world to see their countries and club players battle on a global scale for the top prize. But also a time for brands to speak the football language.

The second phase needs no introduction, as acts and actions are daily surfacing with all of them pointing towards the 2019 Nigeria election, hindsight has shown us that politics plays a pivotal part in Africa.

Plans are already in motion by political parties and candidates to win Aso Rock. While brands might be able to secure equity during the first phase, the second is at the very least a danger zone, any thoughtless association, a careless tweet, an unguided comment, can crumble a brand’s equity in no time.

The only entity constant through these phases is the audience, the consumer, the one who brands would jostle for his attention, whom politicians would fight for his vote. He is the end user whose major concern is how the team he supports would win the world cup, how Nigeria can be a better place irrespective of who is in power.

The world cup is a good opportunity for brands to creatively leverage on the game and get their messages to their target audience without going out of the rules if you’re an official sponsor.

A key element that would be going through the war rooms would be how to gatecrash the world cup, dominate the conversation and win both online and offline.

It is worthy of note that official sponsors of the world cup with a presence in the Nigeria market, you could tell, already have a playbook devoted to the world cup, they couldn’t wait for the new year.

But hey you don’t pay that lump sum only to keep quiet. In all these brand shenanigans that would be happening, few things should be borne in mind.

First is to Put your consumers First, don’t be swayed by the assumptions that because it is the world cup, your consumers would automatically be interested in it. Football is a powerful entity no doubt, but what does your brand stand for. “The whole world will be watching the game”, is hyperbole that when unpacked would show you the specific audience it appeals too. Before you invest in creative efforts asks yourself if your consumers would be the most interested to see your communication materials during the games.

Next is to leverage with purpose, it’s a given that globally, the spotlight would be shone on Russia, most of the conversations on social and peer to peer interactions would largely be about the activities on the pitch but let your brand not be the bandwagon who hops in aimlessly. Let it be guided by empathy and a goal at the end. A clearly defined purpose would determine if you actually need to associate your brand with the big game or not.

Be Creative but don’t be a Joke. Agreed, your audience might be watching but don’t because of you trying to do something different, you turn out to be the joke in the room, an ongoing ad on BBNaija can attest to that. Stretch your boundaries of creativity, explore the uncharted areas (if any ?) but ensure your output is not dead on arrival. And before you spend that much money on media make sure it is worth it.

As the 2018 World Cup approaches, should every brand really leverage on it?

MTN Nigeria (“MTN”), today announced the signing of a seven-year N200 billion Medium Term Facility with a consortium of twelve (12) local banks, with FBN Quest acting as Facility Agent.

The 12 banks include:

1. Citibank Nigeria Limited
2. Diamond Bank Plc.
3. Ecobank Nigeria Plc.
4. Fidelity Bank Plc.
5. First Bank of Nigeria Plc.
6. First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited
7. FSDH Merchant Bank Limited
8. Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) Nigeria Limited
9. Standard Chartered Bank Plc.
10. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc.
11. United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.
12. Union Bank Of Nigeria Plc.

The agreement was formally signed at a ceremony at the law offices of Aluko & Oyebode in Ikoyi, Lagos, in the presence of key partners, stakeholders and the media. The Medium Term Facility will enable MTN to fund its Capital Expenditure, Working Capital along with evolving business opportunities.

Speaking at the signing, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, expressed enthusiasm at the completion of the agreement, saying it signposts MTN’s commitment to and confidence in Nigeria, and the strength of the strategic collaboration between MTN Nigeria and local financial institutions, that will help deepen and broaden the provision of ICT services in Nigeria:

“The signing of this loan facility is a major landmark in our expansion programme in which we are making significant investments. The facility will enable us evolve the network to deliver convergent and superior quality, drive voice capacity expansion and data service penetration, maintain optimal capital structure and funding level that support growth and expansion.

“Making it possible for people to connect to each other and the world, find and share information and ideas,  create and access new digital services and reimagine old services. This partnership puts in place infrastructure that empowers commerce, industry and the provision of public services.” Moolman said. 

Moolman lauded the participating financial institutions for staying committed to MTN, stressing that the loan syndication showcases the strength of the Nigerian financial institutions and their confidence in MTN’s vision, as well the joint ability of the parties to stimulate significant economic growth.

The facility is structured with a two-year moratorium and a repayment plan of five years and is denominated in Naira. It is provided by a syndicate of banks made up of:

This bold step will assist MTN Nigeria to continue to provide optimum services and products for its over 55 million and ever-growing customer base.

Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality industry might overtake the downstream sector by 2021 if the recently launched African Union (AU) passport is adopted by the country’s legislators. This is according to Mr. Kushal Dutta, the Country Manager of Africa’s number one hotel booking portal Jumia Travel Nigeria, who further said the Pan-African Passport will allow free movement of domestic tourists into the country.

Kushal made the remark last weekend while fielding questions from journalists on the potential of the Nigerian tourism and hospitality industry as an alternative to boosting the country’s economy. According to him, the opportunities presented by the unified African passport supersede the threats, especially now that Nigeria’s mainstay which is oil might not be sufficient to grow the economy; if the country’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved.

He also noted that the reality of the dwindling oil prices as a result of the fall in foreign exchange is now being felt across all sectors and as such, many industry experts are daily brainstorming on diversification opportunities to prevent the country from going on recession.

“In Nigeria, industry leaders have highlighted the hospitality industry among the sectors with the most opportunities for growth in the next five years. Breaking the barrier of free travel for other African countries to come to Nigeria is a potent way of enhancing the growth of the hospitality industry. Although, there is no gainsaying that the unified AU passport will also have some demerits such as unmonitored inflow of migrants and perhaps criminals from one country to another,” he said.

Kushal also touched on the opportunities the AU passport will bring for the African continent, stating that, there will be an increase in domestic tourism in the continent and this will pave way for increase in job creation. He cited the 2015 report on Travel and Tourism Industry in Africa which indicated that the industry generated approximately 9 million jobs directly (3.0% of total employment) and a growth forecast of 0.3% in 2016 (2.9% of total employment). This includes employment by hotels, restaurants, travel agents such as Jumia Travel and airlines among others. It is predicted that by 2026, the industry will account for about 11.7 million jobs directly in Africa – an increase of 2.5% per annum over the next decade.

It will be recalled that the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) recently rolled out a number of measures, including technical assistance, capacity building and the revision of the country’s Tourism Master Plan, as part of efforts to ensure the development of tourism in Nigeria. The UN Agency made the announcement at the end of a two-day meeting between the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the global tourism agency in Madrid, Spain.

In the same vein, President Muhammadu Buhari, at the 2016 National Summit on Culture and Tourism in Abuja, stated that Tourism and Culture, which had been neglected in the past, would soon be the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy.

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa and MTV Base (DStv channel 322) are once again highlighting the “gold standard” in music, creativity and achievement at the sixth edition of the MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA).

The MTV Africa Music Awards Johannesburg 2016, brought to you by Joburg Tourism in association with Absolut will broadcast live from The Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg, South Africa at 20:00 WAT/21:00 CAT on Saturday 22 October 2016.

The definitive annual celebration of African and international talent and achievement, MAMA 2016 recognises and rewards musicians and achievers who have made the most impact on African music and youth culture over the previous year. The ceremony will feature stunning performances from African and international artists along with the show’s signature cross-genre and cross-border collaborations

MAMA 2016 will celebrate African talent across 17 award categories, including Best Male, Best Female, Best Song and Best Collaboration by Absolut. The contribution of artists from Portuguese and French-speaking Africa will also be recognised in the Best Lusophone and Best Francophone categories. Additional categories include the Africa Re-Imagined Award and Personality of the Year. The nominations for the awards will be revealed in September 2016.

Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks Africa, “We are thrilled that the MTV Africa Music Awards will be taking place in Johannesburg, City of Gold, for the first time on 22 October.  We are looking forward to staging the largest awards show in Africa, in one of the continent’s most vibrant cities.  Noted for its exciting youth culture and rich music scene, Joburg will make the perfect backdrop for our biggest MAMA ever.”