Lagos traffic, killer instinct and marketing communication

Books fascinate me. Like the need for news-information, they inform, entertain and educate. And in this scary Ebola age, they do not require sanitizers to read, if they are from your shelf or fresh from the publisher’s press.

With a touch of mastery and, well, likely controversy, on matters of marketing, Kola Oyeyemi’s Kill or Get Killed: The Marketing Killer Instinct falls in the category of such books that fascinate as much as they educate. I had the privilege of reviewing the book as it landed fresh from the publishers in America. It was a worthy exercise seeing Oyeyemi, a General Manager at MTN and industry stalwart assume the role of the brands and marketing industry mouthpiece that chooses to debunk myths, clarify meanings and strip away the ambiguities that often surround issues in this consumer-driven sector.

At his disposal are 175 pages of riveting accounts of marketing trends that set forth the perspective that an afro-centric book of this type is a desirable tool to challenge the assertion that accessing marketing data is a near impossible exercise in most part of Africa. I do not seek to review the book a second time, but to stress the role that keen understanding of branding, marketing and public relations serve in an emerging economy like Nigeria. It should be of concern that at a time that telecommunications and media/motion picture industries are part of the reasons why Nigeria now ranks as the biggest economy in Africa, the government still considers it pertinent to engage foreign brand and PR agencies to manage its reputation, at an exorbitant price, of course.

Oyeyemi’s killer instinct, in 26 chapters and an epilogue, borne largely out of his research and personal industry experience of about 23 years, becomes necessary to show the strength of the marketing communications sector and how its professionals can be more relevant in the scheme of things.

The huge Nigerian marketing landscape, where mega brands, strugglers and pretenders battle daily for relevance and market share, as well as the economic exigencies that shape their operations are Oyeyemi’s focus. It is impressive that this beautifully crafted narrative came largely out of the numerous hours in the frustrating Lagos traffic, where the writer found himself on his way to and from work.

It is essentially the story of Nigerian and, to a very useful extent, popular African brands, in a case-study template. But it is also the story of the marketing communication industry and the theories around the concepts and ideas that have proven successful, for which the reader can ultimately learn.

Often, the reader encounters the tutor and the theorist in Oyeyemi,

and does not shy away from pungent even if controversial postulations. In discussing the issue of consistency and African consumers, Oyeyemi identifies Airtel as a notorious culprit of inconsistency as far as its change of ownership and image are concerned. From Econet Wireless to VMobile, then to Celtel, Zain and lately Airtel, the evolution of this brand over these years has made the company lost the trust of the customer, in the author’s strong views. Marketing, he posits, is warfare made up of several battles. And he ensures that the book is most faithful to its title in the copious case studies of several battles involving big brands in the milk, stout and telecommunications sectors. But he would not rush to his seeming destination, which is to show with insight and illustrations, some of the most ferocious battles of the big brands that have redefined the consumer marketing landscape in Nigeria over the years. The drums of brand wars would reverberate almost throughout this intriguing book. And how unbiased the writer can stay is evidently stretched to the limit in the areas where he discusses the battles involving MTN Nigeria. If he would cleverly escape accusations of betraying his interest, and indeed, prejudice, he manages to replace venom with privileged information which nevertheless opens itself to objective interrogation.

The section where he discusses Etisalat versus MTN over the issue of the former’s alleged desperation to rise to Number Two position by frontally engaging MTN, and the chapter where he revisits the ferocious war between the same Etisalat and MTN over mobile number portability, Oyeyemi makes some of the most audacious revelations that may rock the industry for some time. Near accusations of de-marketing and counter attacks that made MTN go for Etisalat’s jugular by ‘snatching’ its erstwhile brand ambassador popular actor are, for the first time, revealed in this book.

Not in a few times does the author appear to be deliberately courting controversy or wishes to be seen as representing a brand that does not suffer fools gladly. “Etisalat and all the potential aggressors like Globacom and Airtel, with plans to grow off the market leader’s share hadn’t bargained for such an aggressive posture, the market leader, and so were caught unawares,” he says of the contentious use of Hafiz Oyetoro (Saka) who purportedly ported from Etisalat to MTN.

An attempt to rub it in is gleaned when he summarizes the import of the lesson of that portability war by stating that “brand managers must change their casual approaches to talents engaged in brand marketing and marketing communication advertising productions.”

That might be Oyeyemi at his punchy, perhaps caustic best. But the reader will still see his analytical mien in his discourse on the other brand wars that have redefined marketing communications. The milk war – Promasidor’s Cowbell versus WAMCO’s Peak Milk; The war of the stouts – Legend extra stout versus Guinness FES and The detergent war – P & G’s Ariel versus Unilever’s Omo are expository reading beyond newspaper analyses that rely mainly on contrived releases from brand managers.

Measured and elevated language is employed throughout and this is one book that informs and edifies, whether it is discussing the future of the media and advertising or the extent that an agency can go in winning a pitch with MTN.

Steve Ayorinde