Lagos: Exploring marketing communications for state building
By Tunde Animasaun
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital is known for trail blazing. Especially blessed with aquatic resources, dynamic political history, cultural and tourism potentials, human resource coupled with being the industrial/economic nerve-centre of Nigeria and indeed Africa, Lagos has continued to set the pace as far as development is concerned. This small parcel of land nestling between the African tropical forest and the Atlantic Ocean is generally regarded as the land of opportunity by almost every Nigerian and indeed every black African.
Since creation as a state in 1967, Lagos has been blessed with administrators and governors who knew their onions and have been instrumental to its development. Standing on the shoulders of giants like Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, Col. Muhammed Buba Marwa, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and Tunde Fashola, to mention a few, the incumbent, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is running a winner’s sprint with the Lagos baton in spite of the daunting challenges thrown his way.
The re-branding of Lagos and the mega city vision conceived by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been widened and crystallized by the incumbent. Having been close to the seat of power since 1999, Sanwo-Olu has an unsurpassed understanding and could easily run with the vision as he was part of the envisioning. Of particular interest to players in the integrated marketing communications industry, is Sanwo-Olu’s brand-centric approach to governance.
Right from the campaign period, the governor left no one in doubt that he was going to change the narrative in political leadership as his political campaign was the most celebrated, dynamic, result-oriented political campaign across media channels. It was the most electrifying and most avant-garde in creating top-of-the -mind awareness and transforming a hitherto quiet and unassuming political persona into the political personality rave. The highly organized, well planned political campaign packaged and delivered by seasoned professionals cutting across the broad spectrum of the IMC resonated very well with the Lagos State electorates who responded to the strategic marketing by voting him overwhelmingly at the polls.
Beyond the first buying into the brand Sanwo-Olu at the polls, the Governor has won brand loyalists and repeated buyers out of Lagosians through the continued deployment of marketing strategies in governance. This has led to a great turning-around in the fortunes of the state, the Centre of Excellence in Nigeria, as well as remarkable personality brand equity growth for the governor.
The state’s strategic response and sterling performance during the COVID-19 global pandemic which made Lagos State to emerge as a brand to watch in crisis management, responsiveness, responsibility and pro-activeness while the pandemic lasted is deserving of specific mentioning. It was such a brilliant success that the proactive, strategic and brilliant management of the pandemic became the template for national response.
Add these to Sanwo-Olu’s revolutionary credentials in Urban Renewal, infrastructure development and dogged commitment to the environment as a critical aspect of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda and you’ll begin to appreciate the import of the Lagos’ first citizen’s declaring and describing himself as the Chief Marketing Officer of Lagos during the recently held MARKETING EDGE Annual Awards of Excellence.
Acknowledging the primacy of marketing communications to the Mega City project and the Greater Lagos drive of the administration, the Governor in his speech, said, “This is to let you know that I am a part of the marketing/marketing communications family. I know the importance of the industry and I am committed to its continued growth. That is the reason we are building a resilient and livable city that you and your clients will someday be proud of. The communal understanding that sustains peaceful co-existence and interaction in our society also benefits from the know-how and advisory support of public relations experts, who are largely based in Lagos State.”
The Governor, who won the Political Brand Icon of the Year Award, fully identified with the marketing profession by describing himself as the Chief Marketing Officer of Lagos State and reiterated his reliance on the expertise of the Brand Creators and Marketing Communications Consultants to achieve his goals.
“When we were crafting the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, the creative industry where you play and the technology sector are some of the sectors we had in mind at the conception of our Fibre Optic Project. You are the group of professionals who need to send files and folders in terabytes and gigabytes from one part of the world to another. With the laying of 6000 km of Fibre Metro Network across Lagos, our government is surely giving your operations the needed leg to show up at the appropriate places at the right time.
“Also, let me assure you of our administration’s readiness to support the Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) Awards. Since our name is involved, we will provide the support to make it greater than ever before. Let us begin to use the platform of LAIF and similar initiatives to draw the attention of the world to Destination Lagos.
“Our readiness to support marketing-related initiatives is not limited to the Advertising sub-sector of the industry. It is open to various specialist areas that make up marketing. At the centre of what we do as marketing professionals is creativity. And that is what our government is committed to promoting and encouraging.”
Committed to fully exploring the potentials of the marketing communications profession, the Chief Marketing Officer of Lagos State enjoined the industry professionals to help tell the story of Lagos through the brands they manage saying, “ Every year, at the annual Cannes Festival, the winning campaigns are not the ones which tell the stories of commercial brands. They are the ones who tell the stories of people and places. They are the ones that tell the stories of the triumph of the human will and spirit above adversity. I appeal to you to help tell the story of Lagos as an amazing Destination Brand in your campaigns.”
Truly the MARKETING EDGE is promoting the brand idea in every sense of the word!
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.