Nutricima opens juice bar in Lagos
By
Akin Adewakin, Lagos - updated: Tuesday 24-06-2008
Garba Bichi,
Minister of State
for
CommerceNutricima, a
subsidiary of
PZ Cussons, recently blazed the trail in juice mercantilism when it officially commissioned its juice bar, situated in the expansive HT PZ Cool World, located on the eyebrow Victoria Island, Lagos. HT Cool World is another subsidiary of the parent company, PZ Cussons.
˜It is an innovation, something very pioneering in Nigeria, the first full-fledged juice bar in Nigeria, designed to enhance the nutritional intake of Nigerians" said Mr. Tope Ayedun, the company’s Marketing Manager.
He argued that Nigerians need fruits to complement their diet which are, in most cases short of nutrients useful to the body adding that the decision of the company to open a juice bar in Lagos, is to give Nigerians access to quality nutrition, by taking fresh fruit juices.
In the mould of the famous US smoothie purveyor, the Jamba Juice, the new juice bar will offer consumers, a wide variety of fruit juices such as coconut juice, cashew juice, and others, to choose from. ˜Consumers will also have the opportunity to order for the smoothies, made up of different kinds of fruits blended together, with their roughages, which are equally nutritious, with the fruits enjoyed with their fibres" he said.
A unique benefit of the new initiative is that unlike the normal fruit juices which contain additives, the juice is ordered for and prepared fresh, while the customer waits. Besides, the preservations are done in such a way that the fruits still maintain their freshness, Mr. yedun explained.
While describing the decision of the company to start from Victoria Island as a way of test-running the market, he added that the company intends to set more branches in other parts of the city very soon.
As part of its strategies to attract consumers to the new initiative, the company, he stated presently runs a promo where the consumer takes nine cups of juice and gets one free. Besides, the consumer gets some free cups of the product if he brings in a friend to make a purchase.
˜It is a way of encouraging consumers to bring in their friends and at the same time create visibility and awareness for the new initiative" Ayedun explained.
He said as part of plans to raise the brand visibility, Nutricima has commenced a loyalty promotion which qualifies a consumer with the loyalty card to win a free cup of the product after every nine purchases made at the Boost Juice Bar.
The company also introduced the buy-one-and-get-one free (Bogof) promo, which qualifies couples and friends to buy a cup of juice or smoothies and instantly win a free cup of juice or smoothies.
Nutricima is a joint venture between PZ Cussons UK and Glanbia Ireland. Its Nigerian factory was officially inaugurated in 2005 by former president Olusegun Obasanjo. From then till now, Nutricima has introduced several successful brands such as Coast Milk, Nunu Milk and Power Fist energy drink.
Etisalat partners mediaReach on innovation
Akin Adewakun, Lagos
Etisalat's careful
selection of strategic
partners recently yielded another result as the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a leading media independent company, mediaReach OMD, with an objective to receive the best and most innovative message spread in Nigerian media.
At the signing ceremony in Lagos, Etisalat, the fifth entrant into the Nigerian telecom market, reiterated its commitment to its values of care, optimism and simplicity and emphasized that these values will always drive its dealings in the Nigerian market and expressed the hope that Nigerians would begin to relate with them.
Saoud Al Shamsi, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria represented by Wael Ammar, Vice President Marketing, said, ''we are commencing this timely and strategic partnership with mediaReach OMD as our media buying agency and we use this opportunity to restate that customer needs are at the centre of our services, they are always at the heart of what Etisalat provides.''
He added that Etisalat's choice of mediaReach OMD was in consonance with the company's reputation for transparency in identifying and selecting its strategic business partners. The relationship with mediaReach OMD is a reinforcement of mutual benefit of each other's strengths, Al Shamsi said.
Tolu Ogunkoya, Managing Director of mediaReach OMD, said Etisalat selection of his agency was an exciting experience and the company was poised to deliver cutting edge and innovative service to the telecom giant. He said, ''We are enthused by Etisalat's pedigree of successful roll-out of networks in 15 countries across Africa, Middle East and Asia. It's exciting for us to add this brand to our portfolio."
He revealed that the agency already has a dedicated team for Etisalat business. The team is quite excited and reveling the Etisalat brand and all it will mean to consumers, he said while noting that Etisalat’s vision for Nigeria provided mediaReach OMD with a clear sense of direction to deliver on many aspects of marketing and media communications.
