Marketing Edge hosts Eat’N’Go Marketing Chief
It was meant to be a ‘THANK YOU’ visit to the corporate office of MARKETING EDGE PUBLICATIONS but it soon snowballed into an interview session. For a consummate marketer that knows his onions, the opportunity to tell the unique story of an innovative brand wasn’t going to be lost and indeed, he was a reporter’s delight. No sooner had he sat down after pleasantries than he started regaling the editorial team with his deep insight and knowledge of the highly competitive Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) market in Nigeria.
The upwardly mobile and suave Marketing Director of leading (QSR) brand, Eat ‘N’Go, Ilyas Kazeem was at his best when he spoke with the editorial team of MARKETING EDGE on the 8th of January, 2021. He was at the corporate office of the publication to express his appreciation on the award bestowed on Eat’N’Go and its MD/CEO at the 2020 MARKETING EDGE AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE. Recall that the leading QSR brand won the ’Outstanding QSR brand of the Year’ while the Eat’N’Go boss,Patrick McMichael, won the highly prestigious and competitive ‘Outstanding CEO of the Year’ at the last MARKETING EDGE Awards. Kazeem spoke about the QSR industry and other sundry matters.
For corporate brands around the globe, the year 2020 was a very tough year for their businesses and the Eat’N’Go brand was not insulated from it. Specifically, the Covid-19 pandemic, the #EndSARS protests crisis affected businesses in Nigeria. Responding to a question on how it survived the year, the Eat’N’Go marketing boss had this to say: “Last year was a very tough year for all businesses in Nigeria and across the globe due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other crises. Thankfully, we were prepared for it. As far back as January, 2020, we set up what we called a ‘crisis committee’. It was a risk management committee established to help us navigate the whole pandemic situation. We had plans to keep our staff and customers safe because safety was the first priority for us.
He continued:”We also looked at what other markets like Italy, U. K and the rest were doing in reacting to the situation. In fact, before government made wearing of masks compulsory, we had started doing that at our outlets as early as January last year. We then put up a lot of initiatives to ensure delivery without having contacts with customers. For instance, we had car service delivery where customers order would be delivered while their cars are parked outside our outlets. Overall, it was a good year for us as we expanded by opening new outlets in Kano, Aba, Asaba , Benin during the last quarter of the year(2020)”
Commenting on the phenomenal growth and penetration of the Eat’N’Go brand in barely eight years of its entrance into the competitive QSR industry in Nigeria, Kazeem noted that the hardworking team at the leading QSR brand, understanding of the market and leverage of technology have seen the brand achieve monumental success in less than a decade of its establishment. Hear him: “We have a leadership team that is passionate about the business. We also have a strong team of professionals who have worked in different sectors of the industry across the globe. Secondly, we have a good and regular understanding of the market. Thirdly, we keep driving innovation to ensure that we keep giving our consumers the best. Our success story is a function of having a smart team and being in tune with the demands of the market. We play in a mass tight segment where people want to go out and have fun with family and that is what is driving our growth”
On the collaborative CSR initiative of Eat’NGo and Slum2School, a non governmental organization focused on empowering and educating out-of-school children in Nigeria, kazeem noted that despite the company’s huge investment in the project, concerted efforts are needed to support the company’s initiative. His words:”In 2020,we sponsored about 1,100 kids and it cost us about 55 million Naira. The more we expand in our business, the more we expand our commitment to this initiative. This year(2021), our plan is to sponsor about 1300 kids to school. The kids that we have in the system, we keep supporting them. Last year, we had support from Globus international, a partner from to he United States. We also have donations from our staff from their payroll through the Voluntary Staff Donation. We have million of kids that are out of school and there is an urgent need for concerted efforts to support an initiative promoting education for these kids”.
Lending his two cents on the assessment and projection of the QSR industry in Nigeria, Kazeem expressed his optimism on growth and positive outlook for the burgeoning industry. Hear him:”In Nigeria,retail business is still underdeveloped. The QSR business in Nigeria is still coming up compared to markets like Kenya and South Africa. The habit of Nigerians still largely remains going out to eat snacks and going home to eat traditional food.
He continued: “I remember when i joined Eat’N’Go around 2018, one of my first objectives was to change the orientation of Nigerians about pizza being snacks and not food. I had to make them know that you don’t need to cook after you have taken pizza. Pizza is also food but it is a different thing in this part of the world.
In the foreseeable future, we see an expansion in the QSR business in Nigeria. There is a lot of change in the lifestyle of Nigerians. People go out more now than they used to do ten years ago. We also expect more players in the industry”.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.