Usp Brand2wealth seminar impacts 200 smes

The 2014 edition of the Annual USP Brand2Wealth Seminar for SMEs, held recently at Muson Centre and attended by more than 200 SMEs, has been hailed as an invaluable contribution to the development of SMEs in the country.

Established in 2007 by USP Brand Management, the program aims to equip SMEs with the branding knowledge they need to build globally competitive brands.

The first edition was held at the Fidelity Bank Training Centre with 55 participants in attendance.

Since then the program has been held annually in partnership with Fate Foundation and other corporate partners. The past two editions have been sponsored by Bank of Industry and Emzor Pharmaceuticals. Other organizations with interest in the development of SMEs have also played various roles in the seminar.

The program aims to empower SMEs with branding knowledge and ability to develop strong product and service brands while contributing significantly to the wealth creation capabilities of entrepreneurs with the attendant transformational impact this can have on the economy.

Speaking at the Seminar, the Chief Executive Officer of USP, Muyiwa Kayode says “Most great brands we know today started out as SMEs, so it is important for our SMEs to understand that with vision there is no limit to how big they can grow”.

The Program featured A Keynote Lecture, delivered by Sola Salako, Chief Executive Officer at Purpples Consult and a leading Consumer Rights Advocate. There was also a Brand Fair, with several companies exhibiting their product and service brands. To round off the program, was a Brand Clinic where a panel of experts answered questions from the participants and offered advice on some of the challenges being faced by the SMEs.

The program ended with a raffle draw which gave many participants several gifts to take away. One of the participants, Ebis T. Ebiesuwa, Managing Director of Muebi Industries has this to say about the program, “This is a fantastic initiative. What I have learnt here today will help me improve the way I do my business, how I position my company and market my products. The organisers are doing a great work.

One of the media partners to the program, Amira Obi Okoye, a director at Classic Fm, describes the program as ‘a huge success’ and says ‘we are glad to be a part of this success’.