Yinka Adebayo made the statement in a keynote presentation at the second edition of Media Consortium Conference and Awards (MCCA) held Thursday September, 26, 2024 at the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Alausa, Ikeja. Adebayo spoke on the theme: “Meeting the Brands/Consumers Expectation in a Challenging Economy”.
The marketing communication egghead identified shifts in consumer behavior that come with economic strain, These shifts include changing priorities in how they value money, becoming more price sensitive and and are increasingly demanding for transparency, trusting brands to deliver promises and putting brand loyalty to test.
He posited that technology is playing a very active role as consumers are increasingly becoming digital savvy and seeking better deals with the boom in Ecommerce.
Adebayo proffered strategies that brands and brand managers must adopt in order to meet consumers’ expectations or risk losing patronage.
These strategies, he averred, are focusing on value creati on, maintaining brand consistency, strengthening digital engagement, investing in customer loyalty programs, leveraging local sourcing and production, and focusing on trust and purpose.
According to him, customers are looking to brands to come up with new things and trendy items, if it is not trendy one stands the risk of losing them which will eventually impact the brand negatively. For him, companies must constantly review their activities and give more attention to researching their consumers to be able to meet their needs.
“In a time when disposable income is shrinking, consumers expect brands to offer more than just products; they seek value, authenticity, and trust. Brands that understand the pulse of their consumers and deliver accordingly will be the ones to thrive,” he said.
Citing the telecom industry as an example, he said: “iphone will continue to be a phone of value to consumers because of the need it is meeting. Hence, you wonder why no matter how expensive the phone brand may be, the makers still make series of the models which may appear insane that despite buying an iphone 13 one may still want to buy an iphone 14 or 15.”
On the local scene, he used Indomie Noodles and Flutterwave as case studies.
“Despite rising costs, Indomie has continued to thrive by offering various package sizes at different price points, ensuring they cater to all economic classes without compromising product quality. Their localized marketing and consistent community engagement have helped sustain loyalty even in difficult times.
“As a fintech company, Flutterwave has grown rapidly by providing solutions tailored to the Nigerian market. By offering payment solutions that make online transactions easier and safer for small businesses, they’ve tapped into the shift towards digitalization, making them a leader in the fintech space.”
Differentiating between the marketing and selling concept, Adebayodescribed marketing is an action taken to bring attention to a business’ offerings; they can be physical goods for sale or services offered adding that, not all businesses need to market their goods and services the same way.
For the selling concept, he noted that this assumes that consumers are looking for aggressive sales and promotions from consumers. He pointed that many times, marketing tactics driven by the selling concept are based off the company’s need to sell rather than consumers’ need to purchase. Some of the tactic use include clearance sales.
“It may not be a needed purchase, but a consumer can be persuaded with strong marketing or advertising techniques,” he said.
“There is the need to constantly do research- so that you can produce brands that meet the desire of the people… You will have to constantly innovate in such a way that it will meet customers expectation.
“Often time they say customer is king and he is king for a reason.
When people say customer is always right, it is not often time they are right there are cases where the customer is wrong but, how dare you challenge them?
Because they hold the money which you are looking for- you value them in such a way that it makes sense” he summed.