Well, everything! Obviouslybrands have become veritable tools for economic dominance and diplomacy among nations. According to Cee Cee Soludo, Anambra will seek to be part of world trade beginning from Africa with brands fit for the world. He implies that with the formalisation of the state’s hugely informal sector, Anambra will move away from selling undifferentiated commodities or ‘me-too’ brands to marketing winning brands in different categories. Quality that excites and delights consumers is the anvil for this Economic Transformation agenda of the Governor- Elect
Without delving much into the arcane territory of brand building, brands can be briefly explained as products with good functional and emotional features which consumers buy and use over and over again. Repeat purchase is central in making a brand stick. In the market place, a good brand speaks with one voice by not attempting to be everything to everybody. So leading brands differentiate their value proposition and segment their markets. The soul, personality and tone of voice peculiar to the Anambra brands based on their essence or DNA need to be well thought through and implemented from the beginning.
The functional features of a brand is the building block of successful brands. They do not just happen. They go through the intricate processes of quality formulations, standardisation and assurance. While help can be gotten from federal regulators such as SON, NAFDAC etc, the made- in – Anambra brands must take some higher steps to partake in the highly saturated global market with rapidly emerging global consumers whose tastes and preferences know no bounds.
Robust quality infrastructure and policy frameworks are key in making the Anambra brands stand out in the battle for the hearts of the global consumers whose tastes change in split seconds. The state government together with the private sector will, in view of the paucity of quality infrastructure, take actions to implement standardisation, accreditation and conformity assessment services; these include inspection, testing, metrology, laboratory, market surveillance, technical regulations and product certification that support the aspiration of the state in having brands that will delight the global consumers.
The pursuit of the foregoing admittedly will not be a tea party, but with a resourceful private sector and a strong political backing by the Governor- Elect who will be the Chief Marketing Officer, Anambra will partake noticeably in the lucrative global market.
It is ennobling that the Transition Team is working out the finer details of implementation mechanism and that the world is waiting to happily invest more in Anambra. Isn’t it exiharating?
Be of good cheer!!
*Joe C Anatune*
Writes from Awa.