WE PRESENT MAPEMOND BUSINESS ACADEMY!
We realized that while sharing random business posts on social media was good for building the business acumen of Nigerian entrepreneurs, there was still a huge gap with easily accessible and well-structured business courses that will equip business owners to build bigger and better businesses.
After several months of doing the background work, we present to you MAPEMOND BUSINESS ACADEMY (Physical & Online options for all courses).
Discount currently applies to all courses for the next couple of days. We maintain a small class for physical classes, so book your seat right away!
#DoBusinessBetter
TOP 100 BRANDS IN AFRICA 2022
In 2020, when we came across the report by Brand Africa on the Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa, we published an article stating that African brands had all it takes to do better but we needed to take branding more seriously.
You can read the article here: TOP 100 BRANDS IN AFRICA 2020
Two years later, African brands are proving us right as their share in the Top 100 Most Admired Brand in Africa 2022 published by Brand Africa increased from a two-time 13% to 17%.
We had 9 African brands in the first 50 brands and 8 African brands in the second 50 brands.
Taking into consideration that Africa and the world at large are still recovering and adjusting from the effects of Covid-19, it is commendable that Africa increased its share in the Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa from 13% to 17%.
In this category, we had 7 South African Brands (10th, 37th, 51st, 52nd, 64th, 65th, 87th), 4 Nigerian Brands (22nd, 32nd, 42nd, 75th), 1 Ethiopia (24th), Ghana (31st), 1 Zimbabwe (50th), 1 Kenya (63rd), 1 Uganda (72nd), and 1 Tanzania (86th).
In another survey of the Top 25 Most Admired Finance Brands in Africa, Africa was leading with a share of 68%, proudly headed by GTB of Nigeria. There were 8 South African brands, 5 Nigerian brands, and 2 Kenyan brands.
The next category is the Top 10 Most Admired Media Brands in Africa. It was led by South African DSTV, but sadly only 2 African brands were listed.
The last category that we will discuss here is the Top 20 African Pride Brands. It was led by Dangote (Nigerian) followed by Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia), MTN and DSTV (South Africa). This category had 4 non- African brands.
In conclusion, this 4% increase is commendable but African brands should not rest as we need to put in more work to take our rightful place as the leading brands in Africa.
Sources: www.brandafrica.org
WHAT IS BRANDING? A SIMPLE WAY TO UNDERSTAND IT.
Our favourite synonym of the word branding is marking.
Marking on the surface level seems like the names, symbols, and physical attributes we use to identify one thing from another.
We see it in our villages how livestock owners mark their goats, chickens, etc. That is branding in its basic form.
We see it in the story of Eden how Adam marked the other creatures by name. What we know as a lion today could have as well been known as an ant if Adam named it so. That is branding in its basic form.
It is the same thing with the logos, colours, and designs on our phones, cars, gadgets, etc.
But then, marking goes beyond just physical attributes to internal characteristics.
Your voice is part of your mark.
Your belief system is part of your mark.
Your culture is part of your mark.
An Ijaw man cannot become an Ijebu man just by taking on the Ijebu tribal marks. There is more that defines an Ijebu person beyond the tribal marks.
An Asus laptop cannot become a Macbook by sticking an Apple logo on it.
A Keke napep cannot be Mercedes because one Keke Rider fixed a Mercedes Benz logo on it.
If no be Panadol, e no fit be like Panadol!
Some Chefs have a signature meal because of the mark they have given it (the recipe).
The Chinese and Japanese have an architectural system unique to them because of the mark they have given to it.
The face of the person in the image attached to this article is not clear but you can most certainly guess who it is…that is the power of a mark!
Points to note in summary:
1. Branding is the intentional marking of a product, service, city, person, etc
2. To give it a uniqueness and identity
3. That differentiates it from others and creates the right impression
4. In a manner that shapes the desired perception
5. And draws people towards it for patronage (as loyal customers, fans, tourists, etc)
The question for your business brand and even you as a personal brand is WHAT IS YOUR MARK?
Note: The mark is plural – the summation of everything internal and external that makes you different.
What makes you unique?
There are many bakers out there, what makes you different?
So many schools out there, what makes yours different?
Many hotels out there, what makes yours different?
A lot of service providers and contractors out there, what can stand you out?
Figuring it out may not be easy (we can help you), but it changes your course and yields better results once you get it right.
Take branding seriously.
#DoBusinessBetter
- Published in Branding
GRASPING THE RELATIONSHIP AND DIFFERENCE: BRANDING, MARKETING, AND SALES
5 MUST-HAVE QUALITIES TO CREATE A SUCCESSFUL LOGO
Written by Veronica Johnson
In this competitive digital arena, businesses have to do everything in their capacity to stay at the top. When you are trying to establish a new brand in the market and extend your products/services, you need to be ready with plenty of things.
Today, creating a unique brand identity has become more important than ever. How would you make your brand get recognized in the market? Will you start a marketing campaign? Will you create a website to attract online traffic or try to engage your audience through social media?
Yes, yes, and yes, you have to do it all eventually. However, the first thing you need to do before starting anything is creating your company’s logo.
Undoubtedly a logo is the first point of contact for any brand, and it is meant to identify. Your logo must be something that makes your audience instantly recognize you in the crowd.
Let’s take the example of Audi’s logo-the iconic four intertwined rings. You don’t need Audi written along with the logo to understand it is an Audi car. Well, that’s the power of a logo.
Image Credit: istock.com
What Is A Logo And Why Do You Need It?
A logo is basically a combo of text, images and sometimes animation. It is more of a symbolic representation of a brand that helps create an identity and attract customers.
A logo is the first impression of a company, and it has to be powerful. It should depict the core objective of the company, yet at the same time, it should be human-centric. Using emotion in logo design has also become a popular option for many companies to establish a human connection.
Without a logo, you would not be able to establish an identity in the market. Irrespective of the size, structure, and goal, every business needs a unique logo to stand apart. Without a logo, you will possibly get lost in the crowd, and all your efforts will go in vain.
#1 As Simple As It Can Be
You would not want your customers to get confused about your logo and not be able to register in their minds. If you want to make a lasting impact, you need to keep your logo as simple as possible.
You would notice that most of the successful and impactful logos in history are super simple. For instance, the single swoosh of Nike or the bitten apple design of Apple. These logos get instantly picked up in the crowd and become easy to remember.
Hence, simplicity should be the key ingredient while you are creating logo designs. Indeed, a simple design can depict your brand voice and become easily recognizable in the market.
#2 Make It Relevant
Apart from using simple text images and colors, relevance in your design is the most important characteristic. You cannot go with a design that is extremely opposite to what your brand does.
You need to communicate the personality and identity of your brand through the logo. Like the use of the right fonts and colors in the logo will compel the customers to connect with the brand.
For instance, if a company is selling kids’ toys, it should not create a logo with monochrome colors; they would need to use bright and multiple colors to depict the fun, energy and excitement of childhood.
Your logo is the visual anchor for your customer, and it is essential to make it relevant by adding appropriate font, symbols, texts, and colors.
#3 Unforgettable
Can you ever forget the logos of Windows, BMW or Starbucks? No, right? The designers have made these logos memorable for us, and that should be your next motive.
A key aspect of a successful logo is making the logo memorable. It should instantly register in your customers’ minds and stay there even after a quick glance.
Your aim should be to connect with customers and kindle their interest in the brand. When they are able to recognize and recall your logo, then it becomes instantly memorable.
You must use all the above-mentioned ingredients in the right way to make your logo stay afresh in your customers’ minds.
#4 Remain Timeless
A successful logo is something that remains relevant and fresh in the minds of your customers. Your logo should be timeless and remain effective for years and more.
The first instinct while designing a logo is to use current graphic trends, but it may not be effective always. You might have to redesign them in the future according to the changing scenario.
Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels
For instance, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola’s logos have remained unchanged all these years. These logos were timeless and able to connect with customers irrespective of the timeline.
Timeless logos generally include effective and quality ingredients. It does not focus more on quirky ideas that may easily get outdated. It should be timeless and unique.
#5 Versatile Like Anything
Last but not least, your logo must be versatile. It should be used in different varieties of formats and shapes. A logo that can be used in only one online size is not going to work.
Your logo must be flexible and expose your brand on different platforms. It should be compatible with printing resizing and ideal for different media.
Even your best logo can become useless if it shrinks or becomes illegible while resizing. The key is to keep it simple and save it in different formats.
The Bottom Line
Have you ever tried to shoot without a target? Running a company without a logo and expecting customers to pay attention to your brand is exactly the same way.
You cannot expect your customers to recognize your brand in the cut-throat competition without having a digital identity. Right, when you brainstorm ideas for your business, you need to formulate a logo design that will work amazingly for your brand.
Creating a logo is not a walk in the park. You need to consider some important factors to create an impact. The above mentioned were 5 must-have characteristics of a logo that you should keep in mind.
Veronica Johnson likes reading, writing and exploring through her travel. With her freelance guest writing, she hopes to achieve both her passion and career in online content marketing. She writes on topics like business, advertising and digital marketing.
THE 2022 OSCAR SLAP: WHEN ROCK GETS SMITHEN BY WILL
Written by Augustine Burutolu with contributions from Nneoma Chikeka
The dust is yet to settle over the unfortunate incident at the 94th Academy Awards (commonly referred to as the Oscars) on the 27th of March, 2022, which was held at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, USA, in which actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock over a joke about his wife which touched a raw nerve.
There have been numerous talks about the incident with many taking sides with one of the parties involved. While the talks continue, we believe that there are lessons in this incident that brands can take away as highlighted below:
1. There is always a better way to handle grievances.
Always weigh your options and choose the best option available, do not be solely driven by emotions or sentiments.
While slapping Chris Rock may be an option, choosing to wait and give a speech or a press conference addressing the issue would have been a better and more impactful approach.
As a brand, you must always think with a broader perspective, how will your response affect or portray the brand, how will it influence perception towards the brand and the reputation already built.
Brands should always seek the best option in addressing issues.
2. Choose in advance your preferred mode of addressing issues.
Brands should not fly off the handle to address issues concerning their brand. There should be an established order or mode of engaging the public and addressing issues. This is why having a good PR strategy in place is paramount for every brand.
3. Know your limits and don’t cross them.
In as much as you would want to exercise freely your rights, know that there are limits and when you cross them, you will receive blows (or slaps for them).
It takes a long time, blood sweat and tears to build a loved and respected brand, it takes only a silly mistake to smear all of the good works and effort.
There are rules that guide every game and profession, know them and play by them (using them to your own advantage).
4. Be skilled in defusing tense situations.
There may be some tense situations with clients, vendors, regulatory bodies, or a random person interfacing with your brand, be skilful and professional in handling such situations and de-escalating them. Training in customer relations, handling conflicts and emotional intelligence should be prioritized.
5. Be swift to get back on track.
Mistakes are part of the game and will happen. When they do, we should be quick to apologize and get things back on track.
The most noteworthy aspect of this whole issue between Chris Rock and Will Smith is the apology statement from both parties – knowing when you’ve crossed the line and accepting responsibility.
Do not allow pride and strong headedness to pull you further into the pit of infamy and cut you off from the goodwill of present and future clients and partners.
These are valuable brand lessons as well as life lessons that should be applied especially in handling crises and sensitive situations.
Share this with others to spread enlightenment.
#DoBusinessBetter
BRANDING LESSONS FROM PALAU PLEDGE
“Declare something worthwhile at customs.”
“Children of Palau,I take this Pledge,To preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home.I vow to tread lightly, act kindly, and explore mindfully.I shall not take what is not given.I shall not harm what does not harm me.The only footprints I shall leave are those that will wash away.”
THE BRAND TRIANGLE: THREE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Written by Maple Dappa
For a triangle to be formed, three straight lines and points must be aligned together in the proper way. It’s the same in branding. There are three core cardinal points that must align for your brand to stand out and last long. They are People, Process, and Perception.
People
This is very crucial to the successful building of a brand because people will have to bring the vision alive. You cannot build a solid brand without the right people, the right welfare and the right leadership.
Who are the people involved with your brand from the management to your employees to your clients and customers?
How does the management relate with employees?
How do they build the team?
Are the employees true believers of the brands?
Will they grow with the brand?
How do you treat your customers?
Does your brand satisfy their needs, cravings and expectation?
Always remember that people are the foundation of every brand.
Process
This involves the following:
• Setting up your organizational structure
• Defining your vision for the brand and having a direction for the brand
• Strategies you employ
• Your brand belief
• How you share your brand story
• Documenting your journey
• Your operational procedures
Perception
In building your brand, you must never make the mistake of leaving the perception of your business to chance. This is because it is very detrimental to your brand. You have to intentionally create and push the right perception of your brand consistently.
Starting from your brand name which should be simple and relatable, to your logo, to your font styles, to your brand colours which should align with what your brand represents, to your marketing materials, stationery, to the kind of adverts you put out, to your graphics, to your website and your pages on social media.
You must use every avenue available to you to influence the right perception for your brand.
Is your brand a luxury brand? Then you should make sure everybody coming in contact with your brand think and feel that way.
Grasping these three essential elements of brand development will most certainly set you on the right course if your goal is to build a profitable, sustainable, and reputable brand.
#DoBusinessBetter
THE WARS: DETERGENT BRANDS
On a daily basis, brands are in a battle for consumers’ pockets. This blog post focuses on the detergent market in Nigeria.
The laundry soap product line in Nigeria has two major categories: hand-wash and machine-wash. Powder detergents and bar detergents form major portions of the hand-wash segment. In the machine-wash segment, powder detergents and liquid detergents are the main types. Of the two categories, powder detergent seems to be more popular and highly patronized by households in Nigeria.
In the late 80s and 90s, OMO detergent (a household name which stands for “Old Mother Owl”) from the stables of Unilever was the king of detergent in the Nigerian market. In those days, the exploits of OMO as the detergent of choice dwarfed the performances of its rivals as it pushed the likes of Elephant, Surf detergent and other small players, into a tight corner.
Its supremacy in the market was such that the television adverts with the promise “Super Blue OMO washes brighter and it shows” became an anthem among children who grew up in the early 90s. Eventually, the arrival of So Klin, sometime in 1996 was the beginning of the fall of the “king”. So Klin came into the market with an innovation; white detergent which was the industry’s first. In addition, its offer as a detergent with a deep-washing function gave Nigerians reasons to switch their loyalty to the new brand.
With So Klin, they did not need to spend extra money to buy bleach for their white laundry, unlike the blue OMO which they suddenly noticed turned their white clothes, blue. Also, the fact that So Klin came in small affordable sachets was a plus to its handful of benefits. Initially, So Klin was more interested in marketing than brand-building, this was the deficiency that was leveraged by Ariel, which was first launched in 1998, to upstage the competition in the detergent market.
Seeing the stiff competition which was about knocking the ‘king’ OMO out of the market, Unilever Nigeria Plc., the manufacturers of OMO were unrelenting in their quest to dominate and hold the ace once again in the detergent market. They added more value to their product offerings, such as attractive fragrances to attract and retain consumers’ interest.
They re-branded, re-packaged, re-designed and reduced the sizes of their product to be more pocket-friendly for their consumers. These were some of the other strategies used by the OMO manufacturers to ensure that they capture more of the market for themselves.
In 2010, Ariel improved on its product with a technology that introduced more enzymes and polymers that remove tough stains in ‘one wash that most detergents can’t remove in two washes,’ which other detergent brands have tried to beat and are still trying. It is also noteworthy that Sunlight, another detergent from Unilever, has also gained market share.
As a growing brand, it is important to know that it is a war out there (the survival of the fittest). A brand that doesn’t grow will be outdated.
Do you wish to stay relevant as a brand?
Send us an email via wecare@mapemond.com
BURGER KING’S SUEZ CANAL AD: PUBLICITY STUNT GONE WRONG?
A couple of weeks ago, precisely on 23rd March 2021, a blockage occurred at the Suez Canal in Egypt when one of the biggest vessels in the world got stuck in the canal. This happened after the ship (Evergreen) was hit by a strong sand storm which made it run into the sidewall of the canal and became non-steerable. This became a major global challenge due to the high number of vessels that use the canal to cut down voyage time.
Seeing this, Burger King as a food brand decided to take advantage of the situation to market their burger. However, it appears the move was not welcome as many commentators found it distasteful and insensitive considering the hardship the situation was causing globally.
Most of the comments reflected the following concerns:“Your burger blocks arteries and veins”
“Burger King, the Artery clogger”
“For a blockade that caused loss of millions of dollars, this is a bad PR by Burger King”
“I get the humour but this makes me wonder what this does to my digestive system”
There were also some comments that reflected a common thought:
“Brilliant ad!”
When trying to leverage an event to promote your brand, pay attention to the nuances and emotions of people, so you can swing a really brilliant copy and advert.
We guess Burger King didn’t mean to disrespect the sensibilities of people but it is a lesson to look beyond ourselves when promoting our brands.
We are not sure if this affects the customer loyalty for the brand, and like it is widely believed that every publicity is good publicity but it is always better when the publicity wins the affection of more consumers. It improves your brand perception, loyalty, and equity.
#DoBusinessBetter