A marketing communication practitioner and Chief Executive Officer of Nosak Ltd, Mr Nosa Uwadiae, has stated that  brands in the country  must be ready to think out of the box and differentiate themselves in the market place to enable them survive the harsh effects of oil subsidy removal  in the country.

 In an exclusive interview with Brands & Marketing, Uwadiae argued that since consumers are expected to cut down on their expenditure, and  impulsive buying expected to be on the decline, as a result of the oil subsidy removal, there is the need for brands to study the real needs of their target consumers, with the aim of providing  products and services that would adequately meet those needs at affordable costs.

“In this situation, brands must stand out to really differentiate themselves more. They  must have a better parameter because the economic power for the consumers may no longer be there. You need to show that you can deliver as a brand before you can have access to today’s consumers’ pockets.

The brand that will survive in that terrain should be able to understand their customers and their lifestyles,” he added.

He noted that  the nation’s marketing communication industry is becoming increasingly fragmented, giving room for players in the industry  to have niche products.

“The idea of one person monopolising everything in any particular area is becoming  more difficult now, resulting in  more specialist’s activities,” he said.  

The development, he stated, had given rise to an upsurge in  experiential marketing, especially direct marketing, because clients are increasingly imbibing trader mentality now.   “They want to put money and get result immediately. 

Most brand owners are no longer engaging in marketing activities that would sustain their brands for long. And the flip side is that it does not give room for brand building. What they are doing is to simply transfer products and make money.

The desire to build a relationship with the brand is not there. That is why everybody now seems to be going the promo way,” he added.  

He however believes market fragmentation would give room for activities of some players in the industry, who have not been trained in the whole Integrated Marketing Communication process to blossom.

 “These are the people who have not gone round the entirety of the whole IMC process. It allows them to poach for jobs, dazzle the brand owners with beautiful presentations and get paid. 

But with that, you are no longer  building relationship, with the brand; since the only way of doing that is to see practitioners  working on a brand for some quite a time to enable them understand the brand so as to devise the necessary marketing communications strategy for such brand,” he added.