AAAN President recommends co-branding for SMEs

The President, Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria who is also the Chief Executive of TBWA Concept Limited, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu has suggested the concept of co-branding as an impetus to drive Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs in the country.

He gave this postulation during a special interview on Inspirational FM this morning, adding that SMEs is yet to attain a tangible level in the country economic ladder because the operators had failed to engage advertising and communicator experts in the area of branding.

He stated, “It is about what you do, not what you say you are. It is a combination of how you have been able to build a business with the branding concept from the onset. Before you can start an SME business you have to conceptualise your brands.”

Nwosu explained that SMEs who do similar trade could come together and brand together, adding “It is called cluster that allows people in the same business to work together from complimentary point of view. I think co-branding is important. They do services complimentarily as a business and branding combination.”

He lamented that SMEs are usually weary of talking to experts and as a result most entrepreneurs had suffered various setbacks running their businesses.

“They must begin to do that now. It gives you the opportunity to know your scope from day one. What the experts do is to allow you define your brand coordinates from day one and allow you set up a strategy that will make your business grow and flourish. What experts communicator will put on the table for you is more than the fees you are running away from. You can even defer the payment until the business gets returns, depending on the arrangement you have with the experts,” he said.

He noted that most people opened shops without any knowledge of “below the lines or above the lines” advertising principles which they can then use to promote what they are doing. “No matter the one you choose, it just pays to understand what branding is. Today you can get many resources from the internet,” he added.

According to him, the below the line strategy includes the use of promotions, activations, one on one selling, posters and handbills while the above the line include the use of press, radio, television and the internet but both uses the same principle called, “Consistent Relevant Resonant Differentiation, CRRD.”

Calling on operators of SMEs to tap into internet facilities around them, Nwosu advised them to do serious market research and survey before they would embark on any business. He said, “Understand your target market and understand what do they need giving the context of competitors in that market space. Intending entrepreneur must do some research and market survey. You have to do some research. You don’t just jump into what others are doing. You need to think about how to do it differently. Is it in my delivery system, is it in my pricing, is it in my promotion, am I going to promote it differently.”