Olusesan Ogunyooye is the Head of Brands, Communications & Product Launches for AXA Mansard Insurance Plc. In this captivating piece, he explores the new era of the new piece, he explores the new era of the post-election Nigerian consumer and how professionals can navigate engagement with them.
Olusesan Ogunyooye
One unspoken rule in most brand management discourses is that the brand must never be seen on one side of the fence in sociocultural, social justice, civil right, or political matters. These are paths that should never be threaded; for fear of backlashes from the authorities or the wrath of consumers who sit on different sides of the fence. So, the rule of thumb is avoiding the “sticky issues”.
For a business function charged with the responsibilities of sticking in consumers’ minds, it is ironic that brand management, by all means, avoids the “sticky issues”.
While there have been audacious moves by brands like NIKE, BrewDog and a few other global brands to thread on this precarious path in recent history, there is still a lot of fence-sitting by brands globally. Depending on where you’re searching, these moves turned out to be a win for NIKE and BrewDog.
Back home in Nigeria, a cursory review of the “ads that never ran” category of the LAIF Awards will also give one a good dose of great ads that never saw the light of day because they there were creativity pushed too far. They ‘crossed’ the rubicon of the “sticky issues”.
While sticky issues never mattered much to consumers a few years ago, the EndSARS protest gave the first cue that a new type of consumer behaviour is brewing. It was about the first time when consumers attempted to put the cancel culture to the test. They unequivocally called out brands to take sides with them and speak against what they considered a social injustice. But for obvious reasons, the words from the major product and service brands were mute. The few who responded still sat on the fence.
Since then, the protest has served as the mother of all examples to dismiss the “cancel culture” in Nigerian consumers. These examples are under the illusion that consumers are not yet strong-willed or mature enough to boycott or protest with their purchasing power. While this may have been true, the 2023 elections have now put that argument to rest. These new breeds of consumers are not going to back down again.
Power is back to the People; and they will use it.
If consumers ever doubted their powers, the 2023 elections allowed them to test it. They have now validated it with their keypads and enjoyed the savoury spectacles of political actors groveling before them. Social Media was awash with politicians running back to the electorates with tails between their legs. Even the president-elect, in his acceptance speech, acknowledge this new power bloc and responded, ‘I have heard you Loud and Clear’.
Now that the elections are over, at least, the polling part of elections. We all know the official winners. But we also know the people’s winners.
So, the bottom line is, no brand will be too big to be cancelled in this new dispensation. Humans are indeed forgetful, but the internet as we have now seen, truly never forgets. For all the complaints in brands’ DMs that have been ignored, for all the brand promises broken, and for every time our brands shy away from what the consumers care about, we are creating materials for future consumer rage.
If anyone doubts these, such a person must look back at the number of years it took before people’s frustrations reached the boiling point. The difference is that it will take less time with these new consumers. As we have seen with the elections, a united front of consumers can make an underdog into an overlord overnight, and vice versa.
The people have tasted power; as we all know, power is sweet. So, they will test it again. Now that the political environment is winding down, where would Nigerians try this newly acquired power to make or break? Everywhere.
“The Genius of the ‘And” Or “The Tyranny of ‘Or”?
Before now, brands have shied away from taking a stand on sticky issues for the risk of alienating consumers who hold different views. I, however, doubt if that option is on the table any longer. This is because brands that remain silent on social justice issues now also risk being cancelled by consumers.
Therefore, it’s time for brand teams to review this election’s outcome not just as it will impact their P&L, but what it could mean for their brand equity. I suspect we are entering an era where brands will have to pick a side, where brands will have to be ideologically skewed, and positioning will be about brands finding their tribes and sticking with them rather than appealing to everybody.
As society gets more polarized, consumers, more than before, are compelled to make existential choices. And because choices reflect people’s identity and the identity of today is no longer about race, religion, and gender but about social justice, equity, and civil rights, brands would have no choice but to take a stand.
I have argued that existentialism rules the human world today. Although consumers are yet to find the right words to describe it, when you strike the chord, you can see the positive reactions. A recent survey I conducted among 24 to 35 years old residents of Lagos revealed that close to 80% of the over 400 respondents said they will ‘buy from brands that care about causes they (respondents) care about even if the price is slightly higher than competitors’, but the quality is the same’. This kind of position by consumer are signs of coming days for brand management in Africa.
At another level, before now, Nigerian youth have constantly been bashed for paying more attention to Big Brother reality show than the governance issues. But as providence will have it, an even bigger Big Brother reality TV show, Big Brother Titans, was going on at about the same period of these elections. I can only imagine the frustration of the organizers and sponsors of the show. I suspect, moving forward, the elections calendar will become a criterium for choosing a suitable period for the show.
My research and the Big Brother story are telling about what is to come in consumer behaviour. So, what needs to be done by brands now is to decide where to play and how to play in these emerging market realities of social justice and causes. Brands that wait till consumers call them out may have little control over the outcome. And with the power social media has placed in the hands of consumers, things can quickly spiral out of control.
If you want to stick in the minds of these new consumers, now is the time to plan to navigate the sticky issues.
Great read. Putting into words the insidious shift we’re currently witnessing. To the point about brands avoiding taking a stand on “sticky issues”, i’ll have to disagree with u on that. In spite of the survey conducted i’m still of the opinion that Brands are better off steering clear of these matters. Long after the matters have died out no one will remember CWAY failed to stand with EndSARS protesters, just an example. I think all brands enjoy a comfort of not having to speak up on issues outside of their industry and not be crucified for it. Only time will tell really. Just my thoughts.