By Akin Adewakun | Lagos
SEASONED marketing practitioner and President of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Mr. Osamede Uwubanmwen has counselled brands in Nigeria to devise necessary strategies that would make them adapt to the current economic situation, induced by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy on redesigned naira notes, and withdrawal limits.
The ADVAN boss, who gave the advice in an exclusive chat with Brands & Marketing, over the weekend, stated that the current naira redesign and its attendant crisis, had made it imperative for brand owners and owners of businesses to begin to think out of the box.
One of such strategies to adopt, the commercial though leader advised, should be hinged on how best to serve and remain relevant to consumers, likely to be negatively impacted by the current currency swap and withdrawal limits crises.
“Brands will have to think on how this is going to affect them, that is, their route to market, channels of distribution and others. For instance, if you distribute through all these big retail shops, you know you might really not have a problem since they already transact their businesses online.
“But not all brands are in that category. So that is why as a brand, you can begin to ask: how do I focus on the channels I wasn’t focusing on? How do I get my products now on the big payment channels? You have to begin to think about how such policy would affect you as a brand, and begin to plan towards your survival,” he argued.
He argued that though the new policy would not have the same effect on businesses and brands in Nigeria, he however expressed the fear that it might cripple a lot of SMEs, especially those in the fast moving consumer goods (FCMG) sector; servicing consumers at the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder.
Describing the policy as very desirable, Osamede, however, argued that it had not made the much-desired positive impact, due to poor implementation.
He argued that the apex bank should have implemented the policy in phases, and ensure the error rates of the payment channels Nigerians are reduced to the barest minimum.
“For me it’s not the policy that is the problem. But the CBN should have done this in phases, just like it did when it was introducing the cashless policy. It should have also ensured that the error rates, on those channels Nigerians are being pushed to, are significantly reduced to avoid the usual rancour that normally goes with failed online transactions,” he stated.
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