ADVAN Conference: Lampe Omoyele Urges Brands to Creatively Engage Consumers

Brands have been urged not to succumb to the temptation of cutting down on their marketing budget despite the difficult economic climate in Nigeria, rather they must innovatively engage them in a positive and sustained manner while the crisis lasts.

The admonition was handed down this morning by Nigeria’s frontline branding and consumerism expert Lampe Omoyele when he spoke this morning at the maiden edition of Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) Marketers Conference.

At the conference which attracted major marketers in Nigeria and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alahaji Lai Mohammed, Lampe noted that since third quarter of 2015, consumer confidence in the economy has dropped significantly and it has dropped even further in the first quarter of 2016 due to nagging forex crisis, high inflation etal.

Lampe who is the Managing Director of The Nielsen West Africa, a brands and marketing research company, noted that his company’s research discovered that there was a general decline in job prospect and a reduced willingness to spend by most consumers. These were critical considerations in arriving at the conclusion.

Because of these challenges, most households now prioritise their expenditures and will begin to cut down on what they spend money on.
Lampe noted that, as expected, the sector that has had the worst hit is the FMCG, which is usually a major indicator for consumer confidence in any country. Most of the companies in the FMCG have reported losses. On the other hand, Alcoholic beverage brands, telco brands and non-alcoholic beverage brands have all recorded some growth despite the drop in consumer confidence.

The growth in the alcoholic sector have resulted from the natural tendency for alcoholic consumption during the down moments, in the same vein the telcos have recorded growth because of the general attitude of Nigerian to talk and connect with family and friends regardless of the economy, he said.

However, the growth in the soft drink segment was primarily driven by Coca-Cola’s share a Coke campaign which was highly successful and inspiring marketing drive. Likewise, growth in the alcoholic segment has been largely driven by Nigerian Breweries. Diageo Nigeria was in decline despite the acclaimed success of its top brand, Orijin.

And the key factor responsible for NB Plc growth was their acquisition of Consolidated Breweries which had a host of value brands. “So the growth was driven by the value brands,” he said.

The index is calculated each quarter on the basis of household survey of consumer opinion on current conditions and future expectations of the economy. And the current reverse according to the branding and marketing expert have been triggered by inflation and other macro-economic issues like fall in oil prices, delay in the passage of budget, static wages, loss of job etc.

Now, Lampe has warned that the FMCG must begin to engage consumers in a positive way in other to hold market share. They must ensure that people currently consuming their brands continue to do so by quality engagement, he admonished.

The Nielson consumer confidence index benchmark has been benchmarked at 100, and as at fourth quarter of 2015, it was hovering at about 104, down from close to 200 in the first quarter of 2014. This is a course for concern for economic because any figure below 100 will suggest depression.

Also speaking at the conference Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need for ADVAN and government to work as a team so that government can learn from the professional marketers on how best to build consumer/citizens’ confidence in a difficult situation and galvanise them to rally behind government and support its policies.