Importance of the consumer community has once again being given another credence in the marketing space by Lampe Omoyele, stating that both the business owners and brand managers should first put themselves in the shoes of the consumers.
Lampe Omoyele, Managing Director, Nitro 121, a marketing and advertising firm, said, while quoting a Spanish saying that “for you to be a successful bull fighter, you must first understand how to be a bull” that “all of us in this room is actually a consumer. So as we go through this, I would like to suggest that we not only see ourselves both as business people, but also put ourselves in consumer shoes.”
Omoyele made this remarks while giving the lead lecture during the 6th edition of The Industry Summit and Awards themed “Understanding Changing Consumers Preference in Troubled FMCG’s Space”, adding that “If we are going to succeed as business owners, as brand managers in any space we need to put ourselves in consumers’ shoes. So understanding the changing consumers’ preferences requires us to put ourselves in consumers’ shoes.”
Omoyele noted that the topic is familiar terrain for him, said despite issues connected with “understanding and navigating changing consumers’ preferences in Nigeria’s FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry,” as he emphasized that “with the troubles, there are opportunities and there are business and brands that are navigating.”
Highlighting some evolving consumer trends and sharing a few case studies, in an overview of the FMCG industry in Nigeria, Omoyele said “Nigeria hosts one of Africa’s largest and most dynamic FMCG markets.
“It’s fueled by a growing population. We are told that we are over 200 million people, approaching 250 million people. There is an increasing urbanization, even though there are challenges in the economy. What is happening is that the rural urban migration ratio is increasing because people are looking for ways in terms of their making a living.”
He further said that “there’s a drive for essential consumer goods and services, and this market, this industry is crucial in terms of the economy. If FMCG is driven by manufacturing, there’s a lot of employment there. And when an industry such as FMCG is troubled, it has an impact in terms of employment levels and also the ability to spend, and that affects demand. And there is a vicious cycle, and therefore contributes to the growth or the rise of the country’s GDP.”
Toyin Nnodi, a marketing consultant, in her contribution, noted that consumers would not forever remain glued to a brand, saying that “loyalty will shift. If certain conditions are not met, consistent loyalty will shift.
“And what does that mean for you as a brand owner? As a brand owner, it means that you need to wear that mindset of consistently and continuously recruiting consumers into your loyalty bucket. Again, we understand in today’s world, consumers do not stay loyal to a brand. They have 12 brands that they consume. So as a brand owner, again, the job then becomes, how do I ensure that my brand is within the repertoire of my consumers?
“So if a consumer will consume milk, for instance, you probably have two, three brands, alternative that you will always go for. Now, your job now is not to be the brand. It’s to be one of those brands that if a consumer does not find A, doesn’t buy B, you would always sit within this consideration complex. Now the ultimate goal is to be that first brand that is considered but when you aim for the stars or when you aim for the moon or for the summer, and this probably land within this consideration. Now, how is your brand positioned to thrive in this climate? , This climate where we currently see the naira is constantly negotiated.
She added that “A couple of years ago, the middle class expanded. However, the recent statistics show that that middle class is now shrinking, especially in the last two to three years, as we saw inflation fighting deeper and deeper. But of course, for the growth of the middle class, that is something that grew the FMCG industry. There are challenges.”
Tony Eigbe, Vice President, Creative & Communications UAC Nigeria Plc, who delved into the digital essence of viewing consumers’ preferences, noted that “a response to the market, because sometimes you’re doing well, or you don’t want to rest on your laurels. So you try to introduce a new flavor, a bigger size. And usually when brands introduce this bigger service, it might be worth making more money because increases like pricing is structured in such a way that you actually make more money.
“You know, people do price increases. And again, sometimes you can risk it, because, you know, consumers are more willing, in some cases,” while making a clear shift between the analogue propelled brands and the digital driven brands, Eigbe said “there are so many strategies, but what I want to delve into its digital. This strategy is digital.”
Eigbe noted that while the traditional brands rely much old strategies of reaching the consumers, that “as an FMCG, most of how you will sell will be physical. It doesn’t have to really deal with digital in trade. All of this requires physical presence, adding that focusing on digital is the fact that he realized that the more time goes, the more time travels.
He said “Penetration in Nigeria, I think probably now, about 49 50%, if we reach a level where we’re at 90%. What that means is that we can exclusively do our communication on digital and reach practically almost every Nigerian. Because you don’t have to depend so much on TV, TV commercials that are so expensive.”
Eigbe said with social media the strategy is proverbially akin to chicken and corn, “Because if you take 15 million videos every day, what you need is something that keeps people engaged almost every time. What I mean is, if you want to draw a chicken into a trap, you only see that you’re dropping corn. You’ll be dropping corn. You’ll be dropping and the chicken will be following you. If you put one grain here, the chicken takes it, and you want to put the next grain 300 miles in, the chicken is not following it.
“So it means that you put one here, in another short period of time, you put something interesting, and something interesting there’s something interesting, there’s something interesting again, so your audience can consistently follow you. Because if you drop just one video or just one piece of content, because of this 15 million they are competing against your virality these days is three days,” Eigbe concluded.
Goddie Ofose, Publisher, The Industry Newspaper and Convener of the annual event in its sixth edition, earlier noted in his welcome address expressed his gratitude to those that were in attendance, brands that supported the event said that “we understand that we are here talking about the consumer preferences and how the sector is troubled, and that has reflected in the kind of support of what you see, we as a young business have also sealed bores at the impact of some of these dignity results in stability, let us use this platform to acknowledge the expert Knowledge inside best practice that help us drive to success.”
