Across Nigeria’s fast-changing business environment, brands are working harder than ever to stay visible, relevant, and within reach of consumers whose spending power keeps shifting.

As companies adjust to rising costs, unstable exchange rates, and changing buying habits, so marketers are now paying closer attention to one key responsibility, which making sure their brands remain among the options consumers think about when they are ready to buy.

It was against this shifting economic backdrop that Maureen Ifada, Marketing Director of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria PLC, spoke in a revealing one-on-one interview with MARKETING EDGE ONTV, where she clearly and firmly explained why staying inside the consumer’s consideration set remains the most important responsibility of modern marketing.

Speaking candidly about Nigeria’s evolving business climate, Ifada first acknowledged that the pressure facing companies today extends far beyond individual industries and instead cuts across the entire national ecosystem.

She explained that businesses, households, and institutions alike have all felt the sharp effects of macroeconomic shifts, particularly the dramatic movement of the foreign exchange rate.

Using her organization as a practical example, she pointed out that companies with strong import dependencies immediately faced dual financial shocks as the naira weakened, noting that,  on one hand, firms suddenly required more naira to purchase raw materials priced in foreign currencies while on the other hand, they simultaneously needed more naira again to remit obligations abroad.

Consequently, she described the situation as a “double impact” that rapidly squeezed margins and placed enormous strain on profitability.

As those pressures intensified, she further explained, companies were forced to make difficult pricing decisions. However, she emphasized that businesses could not simply transfer the full burden of increased costs to consumers.

Instead,  she observed that brands had to absorb significant portions internally, even while consumer purchasing power continued to weaken. As a result, she observed that many organizations experienced shrinking volumes, declining margins, and in several cases, complete market exits.

According to her, the ripple effects did not stop at the factory gate. Rather, they moved quickly through the entire consumption chain.

Consumers began reducing usage, switching to cheaper alternatives, or exiting product categories altogether. Consequently, companies that depended heavily on scale,  especially within essential commodity categories like dairy, found themselves navigating a tightening loop where declining affordability triggered declining volumes, which in turn further strained operations.

Beyond foreign exchange pressures, Ifada also stressed that rising logistics and distribution costs have significantly complicated route-to-market efficiency across Nigeria.

She explained that transporting products from production hubs to distant consumer locations now requires substantially higher energy expenditure, thereby increasing operational complexity and affecting national availability strategies.

Importantly, she noted that these realities do not only challenge profitability; they also directly affect mission delivery. She stated that her organization’s purpose is to nourish Nigerians with quality dairy nutrition.

Therefore, whenever economic conditions restrict consumer access to those products, the impact becomes not just commercial but also deeply strategic and emotional for the business.

Despite these structural pressures, Ifada observed that the marketing landscape showed encouraging signs of recovery in 2025. She explained that compared with the severe disruptions experienced in the previous year, the relative stabilization of the exchange rate improved planning visibility for many organizations.

As a result, brands gradually regained confidence and began restoring advertising and promotion investments.

More importantly, she highlighted that access to foreign exchange improved alongside stability. Consequently, marketers were once again able to activate communication platforms both above-the-line and below-the-line, thereby reconnecting with consumers more consistently and more strategically than before.

However, she strongly emphasized that the lessons from the difficult years preceding that recovery remain critical for marketing professionals. According to her, brands must now operate with multiple contingency plans and must remain ready to adjust quickly whenever economic conditions shift again.

At the same time, she pointed out that marketers must no longer rely exclusively on traditional advertising budgets to sustain brand visibility.

Instead, she explained that organizations must strengthen alternative engagement pathways by staying closer to consumers, gathering insights directly from markets and households, and collaborating more deeply with sales, finance, and supply-chain teams to sustain availability at the shelf.

Continuing further, she challenged the long-standing assumption that consumer loyalty alone drives brand growth. Rather than focusing narrowly on loyal users, she argued that marketers must deliberately address the wider population of category buyers who move between brands depending on need, convenience, and accessibility at specific moments.

Therefore, she stressed that marketing’s real responsibility is not to chase loyalty myths but instead to secure presence inside the consumer’s decision framework.

She explained that advertising exists primarily to ensure that a brand remains mentally available at the moment of purchase.

Then, working alongside sales teams, marketers must also guarantee that the product remains physically available at the point of purchase.

According to her, when either mental availability or physical availability disappears, growth immediately weakens. Conversely, when both operate together, brands strengthen penetration and expand their reach across the entire category.

Moving beyond availability alone, Ifada also highlighted the growing importance of emotional value in strengthening consumer relationships.

She explained that successful brands now go beyond product functionality to communicate purpose, relevance, and empathy in ways that resonate with everyday realities.

Illustrating this point, she described how brands within her organisation’s portfolio engage specific consumer segments with targeted value propositions designed to address real lifestyle needs.

Through this approach, she explained, communication shifts from simple messaging toward meaningful connection.

At the same time, she maintained that relevance and reach must operate together rather than compete against each other. While relevance strengthens brand meaning, she noted that reach ensures scale.

Therefore, marketers must consistently balance both elements if they intend to sustain long-term penetration and category leadership.

Reflecting on her company’s broader strategy, Ifada also emphasized the importance of continuous reinvention in maintaining brand strength across decades.

She explained that legacy brands remain successful not because of age alone but because they evolve in response to shifting consumer expectations while preserving their core identity.

By expanding across multiple dairy segments and addressing different life-stage needs, she noted that her organisation has strengthened its ability to remain present across diverse consumption moments, thereby sustaining long-term market relevance.

Beyond strategy and operations, Ifada also revealed that her personal marketing philosophy closely aligns with the organization’s mission.

She explained that her approach centers strongly on nurturing impact  both professionally and personally  particularly through the delivery of accessible nutrition across Nigerian households.

Ultimately, she reiterated that the responsibility of marketing today extends far beyond communication alone. Instead, she concluded, marketers must deliberately secure visibility, strengthen accessibility, deepen engagement, and most importantly ensure that when consumers arrive at the shelf, their brands are already part of the decision conversation.