Should brands be looking to play a role in vaccinating Africa? We certainly think so and on this Impolite Banter post, we’re sharing a guide to using your brand’s resources for social good and PR advantage.
International Women’s Day 2021: How your favourite brands are “Choosing to Challenge”
Over the years, we’ve seen brands celebrate International Women’s Day in a variety of ways and this year is no exception.
In this banter post, we review some of the most impactful brand campaigns from special women’s day discounts to inspirational films, brands celebrating exceptional female talent to launching new initiatives and donating to charities. We share lessons along the way on what brands should and should not do.
Your Business Needs More Negative Reviews
Bald is the new head, hairy is the new face, hand sanitiser is the new face of fear, veganism is the new “tastes like chicken,” texting is the new talking and embracing a mix of negative and positive reviews is the new face of business authenticity.
If you’re a business owner or brand custodian, you’ve probably been raised on the idea that positive 5-star reviews are all your business needs. It’s not hard to imagine why. Afterall, before you buy something online– whether it’s food at a restaurant, clothes or downloading a service application, you probably check the reviews to see if it’s worth the try.
So you should do everything in your power to try and get 5-star reviews across the board and prevent any negative reviews, right?
Valentine’s 2021 Campaigns: Reviewing the highlights
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
We’re reviewing the ads that we dread,
And the ones that held true.
Gorilla Glue and a guide to turning unexpected PR “crisis” to your brands advantage
This week on “Impolite Banter,” we discuss Gorilla Glue and other unexpected PR moments: a guide to turning unexpected events to your brands and businesses advantage.
Valentine’s is coming, barely.
I’ve been thinking very much about how there are barely any good platforms to just catch up on marketing related updates in Africa.
So I thought, i’d start one. And who better to do this with than my good friend Didi, a marketing expert in her own right and just a really, really fun person to talk with. Together, we’ll be hosting a weekly, or bi-weekly (let’s face it, we’ll get a bit lazy sometimes) column here where we’ll dissect the week in marketing and talk about everything from released ads to new product updates, rebrands, influencer marketing campaigns and everything in-between.
We’re just making this up as we go along, but if you’re a fan of a good conversation and you enjoy checking out cool ideas, you should enjoy the read.
How Nigerians are taking over Clubhouse and lessons for Marketers
With topics ranging anywhere from “Nigerian women ask Nigerian men hard questions,” to “Why do fools fall in love,” “diaspora wars,” and a viral clubhouse chat room that had the salacious title “Dangote’s bum bum,” Clubhouse is fast becoming the hottest new social app and no one is having more fun with it like Nigerians are. It also helps that Clubhouse seems to be taking note of this and appears to be giving more invites to Nigerians than many other countries are getting.
The wrap up: 7 Nigerian brands that have had incredible moments in 2020
From the COVID-19 pandemic to Big Brother Nigeria, the #EndSars protests and beyond, 2020 has been quite an interesting year for the world of marketing and branding in Nigeria and Africa at large.
In this final blog post of the year and ranked in no particular order, here are 7 of the most iconic and memorable moments that have played a role in pushing marketing as a discipline forward in what has already been a historic year in Nigeria’s marketing space:
Brand extension failures: 3 times brands got it horribly wrong
I can’t help but think that some people– many people, take sadistic delight in overextending themselves. Far too many people exist in the intersection between humble bragging about how much they work and running on fumes stretching themselves for all they are worth– piling on one responsibility after the other until even the things they do really well start to suffer.
Brands do this too.
Spotting bogus deals this Black Friday
Over the weekend, Nigerian musician 9ice released an “apology” video asking fans to intervene in his 3rd marriage by pleading with his wife to forgive his infidelity.
Outside of my initial shock at the sheer manipulativeness of the entire situation, my next thought was just how dodgy it all was– the background music, the trademark patriarchal selfishness of the apology, the camera angles.
Bogus. Like many of the Black Friday deals you’ll be seeing this week.
With all the hype around Black Friday, you’ll be tempted to operate under the impression that every offer is worth trampling over fellow shoppers to get in on– both online and offline with retailers and grocers slashing prices to ‘rock bottom’ levels for one day only.
But research has found that that’s rarely the case.