In a bid to create a lasting symbolic status and impression in the minds of consumers, marketing experts have stressed the need for brands to strive consciously with intentional effort in creating brand solutions that are compelling, distinctive and differentiating. This was the crux of the message by speakers at the ADVAN Marketing Master class 2021, put together by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN).
During his presentation, Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Transformation Officer, MTN Nigeria, stressed the need for an end-to-end solution that will help consumers to survive. “There is a need to think beyond what you sell; it is not just about your brand, be intentional about the needs of your consumers by thinking beyond the adverts, whether television or print. Brands must look beyond their products by viewing a business from a solution perspective to creating emotional connection.”
Adekanmbi argued that adding value to customers through embedded CSR is a distinct way of providing a solution. He urged brands to think of brand solutions on the entire value chain of the consumer for optimal service. The marketer and researcher emphasized that brands must understand the importance of their roles in the life of low-cost retailers by studying the buying behavior to help inventory planning. The Executive Director, Retail Banking, FCMB, Olu Akanmu, focusing his central message on customer insights, as the heart of strategy for scale and precise targeting, stated that customer insights and brands solutions are critical for business scaling. He noted that every category of communication has its meaning to the consumer.
According to the executive director, “The foundation of scaling a business or product is product-market fit. There are fundamental motivation and incentives that drive customers’ action in their choices and behaviors. Marketing insights depend on the marketer’s unique concept or perspective in doing things in an unusual way”. Speaking further, he pointed out that there is no need for the same kind of variables in selling, but having a unique diagnostic variable to what others are not seeing, which he said depends on the function of the lens.
Mr. Akanmu highlighted three lenses for viewing customers’ insights from a design perspective are: ‘look closely’, ‘look from afar’ and ‘ask the customers’. These, he stated, help in viewing the context of the marketing problem. The seasoned marketer averred that the best result is in combining the three.
