Making a Mountain out of the Promo Molehill

Chuks Enwerm

Wetin person no know pass am, so it is said in Pidgin lingo. Nothing seems to illustrate this saying better than the crass ignorance displayed by some Nigerians, who actually should know, about the promotions run by Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) firms and other service organizations.
In recent times, the telecommunication companies appear to have come under heavy criticisms for the various promotions they are running. One of such critics alleges that the telcos have turned to lottery businesses in order to improve their fortunes with their new style of promos. He contends that a promo that does not depend on airtime usage is unfair, stressing that Nigerians are daily being fleeced by the telecommunication companies.
Another critic claims that the firms have abandoned thematic campaigns that build brands in preference for short term efforts like promos, citing MTN, Zain and Glo as leading examples. Yet another is worried that children are allegedly participating in the promos and forsaking hard work in the quest for the millions of naira on offer. For these reasons, the critics want the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Consumers Protection Council of Nigeria (CPC) and the Lottery Regulatory Commission to call the telecommunications companies to order.
The critics miss the point, unfortunately, and do so by a wide mile.
Product promotions in Nigeria comply with the largest number of regulatory controls in the world. They have to pass through the NCC, or NAFDAC in the case of food and drugs, then the strictures of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) about what should be said or promised and how it should be said, as well as the monitoring of the CPC. All of these are aimed at protecting the consumer.
All over the world, promotions are a recognised marketing activity employed by corporate bodies and others to communicate with their customers. Marketers look at promos as one of the tools for priming the market or creating a buzz around the brand for a defined period. Smart marketers continue their theme campaigns alongside their promotional efforts or return to it immediately after.
Most importantly, promotions are optional. Users have a choice to participate or not to participate. It is insulting to the majority of consumers to portray them as hapless or helpless persons who are easily beguiled into participating. Nothing can be further from the truth. Experience shows otherwise.
Winning in promotions draws on the principle of probability. It can thus be said to be scientific. Experienced or savvy participants in promos go to great extent to put in many entries knowing that the more their entries the better their chances of winning. A firm in the FMCG sector had many promos in the 90s for its food beverage and seasoning brands. They were short term efforts to create a buzz around the brands during historically dull seasons. Many winners kept recurring at regional and national levels. Questioned, they confessed their “secret”, as it were. A lady said she invested her money in buying 50 cartons of the seasoning once the promo started. She took her desired product wrappers, and sold the base product to restauranteurs at a discount. In return, she had thousands of entries. For each roll of the drum, therefore, she had a 35-in-100 chance or more whereas less strategic participants had a 1-in-a-1000 chance.
A critic in a letter to the editor of a newspaper claimed that a six-year old boy refused to go to school because he believed that he will soon win millions in a promo he entered for with his phone. It is either a fable or it also tells a story of crass parental irresponsibility and dereliction of duty. What does a six-year old child need a phone for? Certainly, it was not any of the telecommunication companies that bought the phone for the child but his parents who would turn round to blame marketers for encouraging his child to negate the virtue of hard work and honesty. In a bid to be seen as modern, many parents have placed phones, sometimes smart phones, in the hands of minors. Contrary to this, many a smart parent has bought phones for their children only as a reward for passing the School Certificate examinations and therefore becoming able young adults.
Promotions are a win-win proposition. Participants usually know the score and take part sometimes for the fun, for luck or as an investment, for the more strategic. Is that not the story of life itself? Some think life is a merry go round; others flow with any wind, while a few are driven by purpose and achieve excellent results.