Rebranding Nigeria – The Soludo Example

Joe Anatune

Commodity versus Brand

A colleague, who from all indications has lost faith and hope in the Nigerian project, wondered the other day, whether Nigeria is a brand in the first instance and how come everybody is shouting to the high heavens about rebranding. As far as he is concerned, Nigeria is yet to begin the journey of transforming from a commodity to a brand. He argued that Nigeria has never at any time kept her promise; neither would anybody still trust her to do so. He said that if Nigeria is a product, he would not buy it and even contended that many others would not. He reminded us that what makes a commodity a brand is the ability to consistently keep its promise both in rational and emotional dimensions which will in turn, make its patrons want to experience it over and over again and where necessary, pay a little more to sustain the relationship. True, good brands come at a premium and their believers can go the extra mile to buy or even defend them when there are manufacturing, service or any other defects.

My stand is that Nigeria is a brand. We are a sovereign state.. We have all the manifestations of one – our flag, national anthem, coat of arms, national currency etc; and on the rational platform, we have abundant resources controlled by the central government. We have the various institutions needed to make us stand out and, most importantly, we have vast human resources that can drive the process of building a great nation. But as brand, Nigeria defies the conventional marketing product lifecycle theory. Here brands are expected to move from introduction to maturity through growth and finally decline. Brand managers will tell you that rebranding becomes necessary at maturity when signs of decline start showing up or at the growth stage when the red alert is pointing to a bad outing in the marketplace. On this score, Nigeria can be regarded as a weak brand that has refused to grow, mature or die. So how do you rescue a weak brand?

Rescueing A Weak Brand

The temptation in some quarters usually is to ask designers and writers to come up with new packaging designs and slogans on the mistaken belief that the symptoms are the cause. A quick dash to the market with this type of cosmetic rebranding is an invitation to further failure. Even rookies in marketing know that the quickest way to kill a bad or weak brand is to sew a new clothe, dress it up once more and run to town with big communication support. What usually happens is that people come in contact with the brand again, discover that nothing has changed and lose interest completely. I am of the well considered professional opinion that this has been the lot of brand Nigeria over the years – that is the practice where one information minister after the other goes to town with pretty pictures in the name of rebranding, without the gruelling efforts required from other ministries and institutions. I am equally worried that all the efforts at rebranding now and in the past has been at the brand managers’ level, or, to put it in the proper context, at the level of the minister of information. This has never worked in product branding or in nation branding.. Why? Because determining a brand vision and the numerous resources needed to attain that vision demands the total commitment of the highest leadership of an organisation or country. In this regard, the president is the chief brand builder and every other thing trickles down from him. The bad news is that it is not a quick fix but a tortuous process that demands focus, commitment and energy.

Hallmark Of Succesful Brands

Over time the hallmark of successful brands has been their functions – their reason for being, which may be either rational or emotional, their differentiators, personality and their source of authority – that is, what make patrons trust or at least believe in the brand. Of all these, the function of the brand is the most critical for success. In the case of brand Nigeria , the total and vigorous implementation of the 7- point agenda and the vision 2020 goals, to me, should be the starting point. For now, the ‘good people, great nation’ slogan can be a statement of vision or purpose or, as my friend Prince Tony Momoh told me the other day on phone, a sacred commitment or covenant with Nigerians. Aspiration, no doubt, is a good thing, and that is the great thing in that slogan.

Now, I do not want to join the army of professionals who, in pointing the way forward for the current rebranding experiments, turn to other countries for case studies as there are empirical experiences we can richly draw from within. For sure, there have been hugely successful cases of rebranding in some sectors of our economy. The banking, the food and drug, the telecom and, depending on the side of the fence you sit, the anti-graft war are good examples. The significant and positive changes seen in the foregoing sectors are fallouts of imagination and courage in implementation – critical ingredients for seeing through the branding or if you like, the rebranding process.

The Banking Sector Example

Take the banking sector for instance. After anchoring the NEEDS blueprints, Professor Chukwuma Soludo – then The Economic Adviser to former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was appointed the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria . Though the NEEDS document identified serious structural defects in the sector, there were no major red alert at the time under review – what with a motley crowd of ninety something organisations parading as banks. After all, the sage tells us that there is strength in number. But the professor of economics, who has a trait of coming first in anything he puts his fingers on, would not have it. Instead, he believes that size is more important than numbers and he was quick to tell bank chiefs so in his first meeting with them. He asked them to raise their capital base to 25 billion naira from the previous 2 billion benchmark. Many thought he was nuts, but a combination of vision, courage and strong political backing made Soludo stay his course.

Eighteen months down the line, 25 bigger and better banks emerged. Contrary to initial fears that the exercise would result in massive job cuts, it on the other hand created huge employment openings especially at the entry level points. The banks rapidly expanded their branch networks, making it easier for customers to avail their services. Our banks, for first time, made the list of 1000 globally rated banks and begun contending with South African banks for leadership in Africa .

For Nigerians, the exercise restored confidence in the sector and many started sleeping with their two eyes closed with the assurance that their monies in the banks are safe. The renewed confidence started rubbing off in the system as monies hitherto stacked away in pits and pillows found their ways to the banking halls. The challenge today is to keep faith as the situation would have been terrible if Soludo had chickened out when those who, while standing could not see what he saw sitting down, literally took him to the cleaners – what with the current global meltdown that has thrown banks in the developed world into chaos. There is no doubt that a Soludo is still needed to guide this sub brand through the tortuous path of growth and maturity.

Weapons Of Economic Diplomacy

And what consolidation has done for brand Nigeria is what brands such as Samsung, Kia, LG, Hyundai and others are doing for South Korea or what Sony, Nissan, Toyota and others are doing for Japan . I have had cause to articulate in another write up that brands are increasingly becoming the new weapon for economic diplomacy and domination. There is no Nigerian who can not attest to the current reality that a visit to a supermarket can be likened to a subconscious tour of factories in China , Indonesia , Japan , and South Africa , among others, as brands from these countries battle for the share of our minds. Our perceptions of these countries indirectly derive, to a great extent, from our experiences of their products. Over time, some short sighted producers even resort to using such countries as their source of authority or reason to believe that their products are good by deceiving consumers that their products are made in Japan or whichever country catches their fancy.

Now the beauty of Soludo’s consolidation apart from catapulting our bank chiefs into the billionaire club is exporting banking made in Nigeria to other countries. A visit to Ghana will certainly make even the pessimistic believer in brand Nigeria proud as the landmarks are dotted with Nigerian mega banks. Ditto for Gambia , South Africa and Britain . We are also in the process of exporting skills as the key management staff in the off shore operations of banks are Nigerians. In turn, huge foreign exchange inflow accrues from these activities. I hear that a number of countries are seeking the help of our professionals to stabilise their financial systems based on the relative success we have recorded in that sector. In the new world order, the winners are countries that export knowledge and innovations.

On A Last Note

In summary, individuals can play pivotal roles in nation branding through focused leadership of institutions. It is just sheer waste of resources for us as a country to play leading roles in peace keeping operations and thereafter leave the stage without getting full benefits by exploiting the economic opportunities through made in Nigeria brands. Professor Chukwuma Soludo has shown that this is possible just as other patriots like Alhaji Sanni Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Ikem Odumodu, Raji Fashola and many others are doing in their respective sectors. But these builders of brand Nigeria need more enabling climate to optimally give their best and this is why the rapid and vigorous implementation of the 7- point agenda is central to the rebranding effort being championed by the well acknowledged energetic and passionate Minister of Information whose reputation for getting results many would not want blemished. For sure, we shall all be good people that will join hands to build a great nation if only government will lead and show the way.

Joe Anatune is the MD/CEO of B3 Communications