Integration of new media in marketing vital to brand building – experts
Speakers at the Advertisers Association of Nigeria, ADVAN workshop in Lagos have counseled Nigerian marketers who heavily rely on traditional media for marketing purposes because of the significant benefits which include trust source of information and achieving targeted reach, to also consider the value of new media in their marketing efforts.
They believe that digital and social media have opened new channels of communication and it is important that marketers understand this and embrace the platforms for brand building.
The world is going digital and every marketer needs to understand how to apply and use it in order to remain relevant, Onyekachi Onubogu, executive commercial director of Promasidor and ex-officio member of ADVAN said at the workshop.
Nigeria is moving faster in terms of digitalization, use of social media and e-commerce. Making the platform a fundamental part of the marketing mix at this time is crucial, he said.
He explained that the Peer to Pear learning workshop with the theme ‘The changing role of marketing in digital economy’ is a platform provided by the association for knowledge sharing with different experts on various subjects with the objective to build marketing industry and marketing expertise among marketers that will help grow Nigerian economy.
In his comments, David Okeme, the brand building director, Unilever Nigeria said the company has a manifesto that captures how it wants to engage consumers and build brands in Nigeria.
He said the manifesto includes “Unlocking the magic which is the way we bring science and technology together with the insights we have in a way that we create powerful consumer experience. In order to do that we need to leverage all the tools that digital marketing offers. Therefore digital marketing is not an activity for us, it is part of the way we operate to win and satisfy the consumers in Nigeria”.
On content development which appears to be a challenge in digital marketing, Okeme said there is golden rule. The rule is content plus paid media equals reach. “If you have a successful content, you can drive the traffic and the necessary reach. Content is at the heart of it and it comes with proper understanding of target consumers. It is that insight that enables marketing professionals to build the content that is engaging”, he said.
Also speaking, Clara Okoro, a marketing analyst who spoke on ‘the rise of reputation economy’ said research shows that digital build up can increase reputation. Citing the power of Google she said for instance ‘You are who Google says you are’
According to her, companies who understand the importance of digital and its power in brand building invest heavily on deleting negative things about them online.
Daniel Obi