Brands must be ten times ahead of consumers – Mobolaji Caxton-Martins
By Felicia Nwosu
The Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has altered consumers’ behaviour across all spheres of life. This evolution has stimulated a boost in digital consumption, transforming the consumer to a savvier, energetic, dynamic and evolving being.
It is against this backdrop that Mobolaji Caxton-Martins, the Executive Creative Director/ Chief Operating Officer, Slice Media Solutions, a seasoned brand and innovation management professional, charged brands to be ten times faster ahead of the consumer with their marketing strategies. The erudite speaker made this charge during an interview with MARKETINGEDGE.
Mr. Caxton-Martins noted that the emergence of the pandemic has led to a digital surge, which has completely altered the relationship between brands and consumers. He, therefore, averred that, to be in tune with this new reality, brands and other players in the industry should be prepared to follow consumers in their new decision journeys as the future is now.
“Technology plays a huge role in fostering and ensuring that we rapidly scale our businesses as well as adjust our operating models. For me, it has always been the scenario where you evolve along with the consumer. The issues have always been around certain things like not understanding the consumer or where your consumer is, what lifestyle/ habit they have changed.
“As long as you are a brand owner, there has to be real investment in understanding where your consumers are, who they are, and what they are doing at this point in time. Brands just need to be able to see what the future looks like. Don’t just continue looking at the past state of consumers, think of what the future demands; that is where innovation comes into play. Think about where the consumers are going to be in the next five to ten years,” he said.
Commenting on what brands can do to ensure that creative solutions are at par with evolving consumer behaviour, the agency boss stated that brands must ensure that they plays impactful roles in the lives of consumers, while taking time and efforts to study their behavioural changes.
“Take into consideration, yourself as a consumer. It is always easy to use yourself as an example, but it is also important to go into the market to see what new trends are going on within that space, not just in marketing but in every other sector where you have human life. As long as brands keep paying attention to that, growth will be great; but if they don’t, it is sure going to decline – it is not even a question.
The marketing expert, while relating some of the challenges that industry practitioners had to grapple with during the heat of the pandemic, reaffirmed that it was an unpredictable era for a lot of businesses. The brand and business Strategist recalled that brands had to readjust, and also reform their model through the help of in-house, as they did not need as much input from marketing agencies. This, he mentioned, was basically from the point of just being able to control their businesses better and more efficiently.
“As a business with brands, when you think about it, if our agency is not going to be available to you 24/7, it is best you have an employee whom you can hold accountable – employees who work directly with your organisation, who understand what the realities of that business would be. There is a lot learning to do. For agencies, there is a lot of learning that need to take place,” he stated.
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