MARKETING COMMUNICATION DIGEST

KFC, yes, the one you know, has closed down hundreds of its outlets in the UK. And it is for no other reason than – don’t wait for it – chicken! Rather, and more accurately, the outlets are being shut down for the shortage of chicken, an integral item of the chicken-based offerings. This is unlike the reasons for having lately closed down some outlets in Nigeria. The UK problem only arose because KFC switched its Delivery Contract over to DHL, who’s had some teething problems delivering fresh chicken to all of the 900 KFC outlets; with some of the remainder outlets now having to close down, operate reduced hours or limited menu, more because KFC says “it would not compromise on quality”. On the lighter side, should we then resort to a name change to save the business? How about Kentucky Fried All? Or Kentucky Possibly Chicken? Or even Kentucky May-Not-Have Chicken? Or do we just say Kentucky Fried Choice, if only to keep the renowned KFC acronym. More seriously,...

Every advertising person has stories about how their agencies have blown new business pitches, often because someone said or did something stupid.  There is a classic story about an agency which pitched a car account but not one person showed up at the client’s office driving the client’s brand. There is another story of an agency pitching a watch account, but the Agency President showed up wearing a Rolex. I had to start drinking Stout though, first as Octagon Marathon Account Director for the Legend Extra Stout brand in 2001, and further as Chief Executive of a Guinness Nigeria-Retained Agency, R&B, in 2005. I would love to collect your stories if you can top the one that follows. I know quite a lot of them can be very funny, even in the telling.  When new business prospects come to visit a prospective agency, they can always sense and feel whether there is good chemistry among the agency participants. In many cases, even agency principals who do not ...

Ad agencies often fire their best employees Not long ago, a Director of Human Resources sent me a person she called a star. I asked why she would be sending me such a high quality employee. Her response was startling - this person’s account was leaving the agency and she was so good that she wanted to help her find new work quickly. The person she sent me was an account supervisor; she was at a large agency where there were actually many, many people at her level. Surely she was better than others with her same level and title. When I asked why a star would not be placed on another account, I was told that that kind of move required too much effort. About two weeks ago the same thing happened with a much more senior person. He had been with his agency, one of the top ten, for about twelve years. He was promoted about every two years and was responsible for running several major accounts and had been rotated to run a new business pitch; the assumption w...

The duo of Kola Ayanwale, Executive Vice Chairman, Centrespread Advertising, and Jimi Awosika, Managing Director, Troyka Holdings are reportedly in the final run-in for the vacant position of Council Chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). Information gathered by this medium sated that the Information Ministry has already sent in the names of Ayanwale and Awosika to the President for final selection. Kola Ayanwale The announcement of APCON Chairman, which, we learnt, will be made any time soon, will end the leadership vacuum created by the absence of a Council Chairman for the advertising regulator for over a year now. Jimi Awosika Mr Udeme Ufot, Managing Director of SO&U had been appointed to Chair the Council by the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration shortly before the elections and handing over of 2015, but he was removed from office when the then new government of Muhammadu Buhari dissolved the boards of agencies...

Here is the concluding part of the article "Is PR preferable to Advertising when launching a product?" 4. Product Modification Feedback is an important element in a PR launch. By launching the PR program ahead of the actual product introduction, there is enough time to modify the product or its price before it goes on sale. Supermarkets and other distribution outlets like to participate in the brand-building process. They will often make many good suggestions you can use to modify the product, the packaging, the pricing and even the PR. Advertising is different . Once a big-bang advertising programme is launched, a company is committed. There is little feedback and no time to change the product or service before it's introduced to consumers. 5.  Message Modification Feedback from a PR programme also allows a company to modify the brand's message for greater consumer appeal. The media looks at your PR messages from the consumer's point of vi...

Six steps for launching­ a brand via PR In the past, almost every new brand was launched with a big advertising campaign. In today's media environment, that's not a very good idea. Advertising is expensive and not very credible, especially when used on behalf of a new brand. That's why many of the most successful new brands were launched with PR; brands like Google , Facebook , Snapchat,   Twitter and of course, Mirinda (of the three orange men fame) here in Nigeria . Launching a new brand with PR, however, raises a number of questions. If no advertising is involved, what changes, if any, need to be made in the overall launch? If no advertising agency is involved, who does the positioning strategy? To stimulate your thinking about these and other questions, here is an outline of six steps a PR launch might take: 1     1.  The Leak A PR program usually starts with a leak to key reporters and editors. Internet sites are often favourite targe...

Let me be clear upfront, it’s not me that thinks so; I am a firm believer in the power of advertising, more so, good advertising rather than the pedestrian communications you see so much of this day. No, it’s not me thinking so, but the many businesses that advertise and the agencies that help them to do so. Of course, there should be howls of protest at this from the advertising industry. Who in their right mind would say that the N97.9b Nigerian advertisers spent in 2015 would be spent if they thought advertising made no difference? Well, first let’s not assume that I am right. Second, let me start to count the reasons why, and please if I have missed any, feel free to include it in the list. So here we go: ·          Very few people, agencies and clients set marketing and communication objectives for the activity they undertake. Except for a sales result, marketing matrix do not seem to matter. And interestingly enough, over th...