Brands should invest more in brand building even in recession- Richard Iweanoge
By Kasim Bakare
For most brands, the need to reduce or halt their budget on brand building is usually the first proposition in surviving a major economic crisis like a recession.
Richard Iweanoge, General Manager,Brands & Communication at MTN Nigeria, however thinks differently as he considers the approach a wrong one, noting that “the real test for a brand actually comes during a recession”.
Speaking during MARKETING EDGE Inaugural Quarterly Virtual Summit held on March, 25th, 2021, the foremost marketer reiterated the need for brands to give priority to brand-building even during a crisis period.
Hear him: Brand building is a long investment. The temptation to think short term in terms of brand building could lead to a long-term damage for brands. In fact, the best time to invest more in brand-building is during recession. During a recession, brand building should be the last thing to take a fall”.
Recalling a similar situation on several brand-building campaigns by the foremost telco when a multi-billion dollar fine was imposed on MTN, Iweanoge noted that despite the huge toll the fine had on its business, the company has continued to invest in more in building the No.1 telco brand in Nigeria.
We lost quite some ground because of the fine. Before the fine, we had several campaigns like “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, “Project Fame” and all of that. Even though we momentarily paused on some of these campaigns, we still continued to invest in brand building in other ways. Just recently, we had the first season of our music reality show “MTN Y’ello Star”. We are also doing well in our CSR campaigns with the recent efforts in the fight against Covid-19”.
According to Iweanoge, consumers are more discerning in a recession, hence the need for brands to show loyalty during such periods. To do this effectively, he noted that brand managers should be impactful and focused in their approach.
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