Insight Publicis CEO leads global brands on how to engage African consumer
In a book The Villager: How Africans consume brands, to be launched mid this month, Feyi Olubodun, the CEO of Insight Publicis Nigeria takes a deep look into the character of African consumer and shared some insights that, especially international brands must deploy to win in the continent.
Justifying using Nigeria as a mirror or proxy to the understanding of African consumer, Feyi strongly believes that Africa with a population of about 1.216 billion out of which Nigeria accounts for about 180 million has a tremendous opportunity for business.
In the 147-page book which articulates framework on how to market to Africans – who have their own unique character and behaviours – Feyi who has witnessed some brands failing in the African marketplace, linked marketing gaffes often committed by brands to lack of understanding of the African people and their cultures.
He specifically said that “such marketing decisions by brands are often informed or misinformed by the belief that the African consumer market, especially in countries like Nigeria, is not sophisticated. This is very easy conclusion to arrive at, especially since it is assumed that ‘sophistication’ means ‘Westernisation’
According to him in the book, because African consumer market is perceived as not sophisticated, especially in the face of poor infrastructure, high rural level and Western low literacy level, “little effort is put into understanding the market and engaging profitably within it”
He believes that even with globalisation, culture underpins consumption patterns in Africa.
The other extreme decision by the brands is just to adapt global marketing approaches on the assumption that they will work. In the end, there are more ‘misses’ than ‘hits’, as certain things don’t apply to Africans, he said.
In the book just published in South Africa, Feyi demystified Africa and showed that the market is quite ‘sophisticated’ albeit not ‘Westernised’. He provided lenses to understanding the second most populous continent with its population expected to hit 5.3 billion in the next 30 years out of the World’s expected 9.7 billion in 2050.
He believes that those open- minded lenses of looking and understanding the character of African consumer, through Nigeria, will enable those international brands that are still hesitant about Africa and which has therefore limited their growth strategies, to take positions now.
Daniel Obi