Is Dangote truly a killer brand? 2

This is hopefully the concluding part of last week’s piece on the Dangote brand. I had discussed some of the concerns of members of the public about the image of this brand. They presently perceive it as one which recklessly kills commuters, bystanders, drivers, and dwellers in areas the company operates and beyond. So I asked, Is Dangote truly a killer brand?

Interestingly, this doesn’t do justice to the wider reality on ground. The experience people have of Dangote brands, and how they perceive the master brand is overwhelming indeed. People have condemned the attitude of the killer drivers on their way to do groceries and have returned home later with Dangote sugar, salt, milk, juice, pasta, rice and tomato puree in their shopping bags. 

Obviously, the Dangote group keeps investing billions of naira in different sectors, to bring happiness to people, and you cannot but love the corporate brand: the efficiency of their problem-solving and need-satisfying sub-brands, the diligence of their hard-working team, and the effectiveness of their life-enhancing CSR initiatives have put the Dangote brand on the world map, well ahead a lot of others, and built for it an exceeding African business empire.  

When you have a business spanning Real Estate, Telecommunications, Steel, Oil & Gas, Poly products, Haulage, Packaging, amongst others, your acumen could never be in contention. And when you’re exchanging commodities of value, including every day staples like sugar, pasta, salt, sacks, water, milk, tomato paste, flour, and juices, let alone cement, all serving as reliable succor, you can be sure to stand on the shoulders of the people whose lives you continually impact.

But the issue as previously discussed bothered on the image of the Dangote brand, and how it is potentially being hurt by the activities of a few of the employees, this time, the drivers, some of which are graduates clutching multiple post-graduate degrees, and earning enviable salaries.

Continued positive perception of the Dangote brand in Nigeria, Africa and indeed the world, is critical to its survival. And all the efforts of advertising and marketing at building this positive brand image can be upset very quickly by some ill trend as that which has taken lives.

The Dangote master brand is widely seen as Nigerian, ‘ours’, a performing brand, interesting and a globally competing brand; and the sub-brands are essential brands that Nigerians encounter daily, accept heartily, and have come to depend on critically. And it’s easy to see how much and why they would defend it fiercely. 

Before you ask if I’m not a witness to the Dangote experience, I will remind you that I’m first a Nigerian who lives in Nigeria, born and raised here. And I have seen the brand soar and impact on major sectors of the economy, and on the lives of people, particularly the masses who depend on Dangote for those essential commodities.

But how can a brand be doing so much for us only for its employees to be going around recklessly maiming and killing people? This is my contention. And those who act so nonchalantly mauling down fellow human beings in flagrant disregard to road safety regulations, human lives, decency and common sense must be brought to book or justice, whichever comes first.

Take a trip around Nigerian highway Police Posts, there you will see several carcasses of wrecked trucks, branded Dangote; an experience giving people conflicting images of the brand, because when you operate in an emotional society like Nigeria, maintaining a positive perception is very important.

When you have a good, functional and effective brand, you should care about it, and what it represents in the eye of the public. It is not enough to please your customers’ or consumers’ physical and physiological needs without attempting to affect them emotionally. 

There are alternatives to quite a lot of brands today, and the reason most people are loyal to brands, repeatedly patronise and fiercely defend them transcends the satisfaction of needs, or wants, and solving of problems.

The manner in which consumers have the impression of your real and imaginary qualities is the same manner they might have real and imaginary impression of your inadequacies and shortcomings. The acknowledged experience of consumers accentuates the brand image of Dangote, but this driver attitude threatens to hurt the gains of heralding marketing, advertising and public relations campaigns.

Getting your brands into people’s minds and keeping them there is an endeavour that cannot be quantified. If brand builders will tell you that no single tool of marketing communication can independently build a brand, why does a single group of drivers at Dangote want to wreck that cherished brand?

The Dangote group needs to focus more on training its logistics team, not just on operating vehicles, but on how their mismanagement can hurt the brand, the business and corporate image. They can nurture and protect the Dangote corporate image across board and in the eyes of members of the public.

Wouldn’t you rather maintain a good brand image than contend with a brand damage?

Written by ‘Dele Dele-Olukoju, Marketing Communication strategist, and publisher of the online Marketing Communication Digest. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.