Divergent views trail alleged sack of security guards at Chicken Republic for dancing
By Oghale Mafuru
Brand management is a technique for increasing brand perception translating customers to loyal followers. It also involves turning unpleasant situations in favour of the brand. To sustain relevance in a highly competitive business landscape, it is imperative that brand managers stay ahead through disruptive ideas and must adopt a flexible approach to be able to optimise any unplanned occurrences to achieve brand objectives.
This is the view held by some marketing experts in reaction to the trending video of Chicken Republic staff dancing at their duty post who were alleged to have been sacked by the Quick Service Restaurant for misconduct.
Marketing Communication expert Adebanke Falade expressing her thoughts via her LinkedIn page said: “I would have integrated the two guards into my content strategy if I had been on the Communications team at Chicken Republic. Dance competitions, giveaways – make a whole campaign around “happiness with every bite” or “happiness with every meal”.
Similarly, Oluwaseun Magreola, Multi-Assets Portfolio Manager FBNQuest while affirming that the company should have leveraged the opportunity for brand positioning noted that “The Chicken Republic is just being a bit harsh. I don’t see anything unusual in what they have done. They should have capitalised on it to use it as a marketing or branding strategy to the company’s advantage”.
On his part, Osemu Aimiosior, a data Analyst opined that “Given that I have limited information on the strategy behind the “security guards” at the door; might be that the company (chicken republic) needs the security personnel to show up as professionals and provide a sense of safety because it is correlated to a certain degree to return customers, and in turn, revenue, and now they failed the company on that front.
“If that was not the case, it is good content for marketing which they failed to optimize. it might not do much since the brand wasn’t showing in the background” he concluded.
Matanmi Olawale, Sales & Business Operations Management Professional condemned the security guards for acting contrary to the code of conduct expected of them. He however said businesses should start thinking outside the box by allowing some dynamism in their operations.
“The business world is dynamic. Thus, employees and people’s dynamism should be considered. Entrainment is part of hospitality and these guys have been influenced positively. This is where the art of managing people plays out. Rather than sleeping at work, they motivate themselves to dance and still do the needful. Instead of gisting unnecessarily at work, they braced themselves to be cheerful. Rather than bearing strong faces and burnout, they look forward to betterment. They didn’t beg for tips from customers.
“These guards are not robots to be stationed in a place. The organisation deemed it fit to sack, even in that, they continue with what stimulates them” he said.
For Moses Okesola, Registrar/CEO, Institute of Operational Research & Management Science of Nigeria, Oludoy Dynamix Consulting Ltd, there is the need for brands to adopt a communication strategy that aligns with the brand offering. “It is not every communication strategy that aligns with or is suitable for every business offering. It will be an act of ‘hammer’s rule’ to bring dancing into an eatery environment when the place is not booked for an event that involves entertainment of such.
“Even if an eatery is booked for such an event, it is unethical for the security guards to be engaged in it. The duty of security guards in such a place is not just to open the door but to observe the ongoing activities within the premises.
The communication strategy formulation and deployment are a function of the nature of the business, the class of customers, the environment, the message to pass across, and the medium of communication.
According to him, using the wrong communication medium and mode of presentation to reach consumers can hurt the brand’s strategic positioning.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.