Marketing book: Kola Oyeyemi empowers marketers on brand building
A new book, ‘Kill or Get killed, The Marketing Killer Instinct,’ by Kola Oyeyemi, a general manager at MTN Nigeria, an attempt by an African marketing practitioner to document real life case studies that characterise the rise and fall of brands in Nigerian and African theatres, has been launched in Lagos.
The 26-chapter book is believed to be a skill improvement instrument for marketers, students and academics in marketing and management and business leaders, as the book offers marketing experience in Africa and Nigeria in particular.
It is worthy to note that the Nigerian marketing landscape and the emerging markets in Africa have long before now been short of accessible knowledge, experience banks and academic resources that take into consideration, the peculiarities of the African environment.
The strength of this book lies in its wealth of practical experiences, drawn from Africa’s emerging markets, most especially Nigeria and Kenya. The book is, therefore, a deviation from the norm noticeable in so many marketing books, where references and situations used to back up theories propounded are mostly those derived from the more advanced economies of the Western world.
Reviewing the book, Kachi Onubogu, the commercial director of Promasidor, maker of Cowbell Milk, says the book “Kill or Get Killed” is an answer to those clamouring for materials or academic resources that give robust insight into the marketing world with special reference to Nigeria.
Armed with over 20 years marketing experience, the rich repertoire of cases, events, situations and scenarios cited by the writer in the book will come in handy for all marketing practitioners, especially green horns, who are about to cut their teeth in a discipline globally acknowledged as one of the most challenging.
“Kill or Get Killed” delves into the nitty-gritty of various occurrences in the marketing battle field, and tells tales of marketing battles won and lost, while sharing lessons learnt and making logical inferences from them.
The versatility of the experiences shared also makes it a must read for marketing practitioners, as the writer’s knowledge and practical experience from various sectors like the FMCG and telecoms was tactfully brought to the fore.
Of worthy mention are the logical inferences made from the writer’s experiences at various points in time.
According to George Thorpe, a leading marketing practitioner, “students and academics in marketing and management, professional marketers and business leaders will agree it is yet the best work on marketing in Africa.”
For Kola Oyeyemi, as the name implies, the book presents a series of masterfully written case studies depicting a multitude of brands fighting for market space and the dynamics that shape the success or failure in different African markets.
Oyeyemi made efforts to identify the key differentiating factors affecting or determining mode of operations in African environment, excluding South Africa and Africa North of the Sahara, which have fundamentally different tendencies in terms of culture, human psychology, climate and history.
The book is replete with many case studies of marketers’ wars which shook the Nigerian consumer landscape, spanning many industries, including manufacturing, telecoms industry, he said.
This book, expectedly will be helpful to practitioners, investors, students of marketing and entrepreneurs as some will find the novel useful for developing their verbal abilities, others for improving their focus and concentration, others will see it as a solution to surmounting challenges of consumer patronage, while others will value it for the entertainment value.
Daniel Obi