Expert reels out trends to accelerate brand building post-COVID-19

The Group Marketing Director of Jotna Nigeria Limited (The La Casera Company), Emmanuel Agu has stated that neighbourhood stores, e-commerce and social media will accelerate the growth of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) in post-COVID-19.

Agu urged manufacturing companies to look into e-commerce to boost their marketing activities and as well look at neighbourhood stores because more people will prefer to patronise them than go far or to the open market because of social distancing and the new normal.

He explained further that with economic challenges looming as a result of the pandemic and its impacts on consumer purchasing power, he said consumers will be looking for goods that are affordable and manufacturers who source raw materials locally will be at advantage.

On a different note, he said the upsurge in social media traffic and engagement from brands at this period has to be done strategically. “Every brand has to have a very strong digital strategy where you can mimic what you have offline to online,” he stated.

Similarly, he said the new media is growing tremendously compared to other media. However, he explained that people now watch TV and listen to the radio than before.

He explained further that the growth of social media has a lot of opportunities for marketing and that cutting of marketing budget is not the best thing to do. He , therefore, urged brands to develop contents that will assure consumers that they are with them during and after COVID-19.

Speaking on client-agency relationships, he said how flexible both parties are will determine how their relationship going forward in the post-COVID-19 era, stating that agencies still operating in analogue may find it difficult to operate and survive.

Similarly, he added that agencies and brands have to rethink their business models inline with the current realities.

On a different, he said that Outdoor-of-home (OOH) subsector which is one of the worst-hit by COVID-19 in the integrated Marketing Communications industry will pick up once the lockdown is over across the country.