There are many successful brand engagement activities others can leverage to create customer experience. PZ Cussons Baby Moments competition is one activity that has created appeal among consumers, especially mothers. Daniel Obi looks at the customer experience drive and how Cussons Baby is connecting brand and consumers.
The idea behind Cussons Baby Moments, a competition which is open to babies within the ages of 1 – 24 months is simply to create more consumer experience.
This idea is with the understanding that for every brand, growing customer experience is key to business survival. Experts say customer experience is the product of an interaction between an organisation and a customer. This interaction comprises three parts: the customer journey, the brand touchpoints the customer interacts with, and the environment.
Underscoring this customer experience in his book, ‘The Seven Dimensions of Branding’, Muyiwa Kayode argues that for any relationship to stand a chance of survival, it has to be built on a symbiotic exchange of value. “This exchange of ideas derives its meaning from each party’s perception of the value being derived. For as long as each party continues to derive value, the relationship will subsist”
In the competitive Nigerian market, Cussons Baby Moments competition introduced about 6 years ago is therefore designed to enhance customer experience which “implies customer involvement at different levels – such as rational, emotional, sensorial, physical, and spiritual”. The brand is also creating value for its customers.
In the last six years, the competition has continued to gain momentum as the brand owners continue to enjoy brand loyalty with creation and sustaining of product value. In the 2019 edition of the competition, the programme witnessed a record-breaking 10,308 entries into the race to win the prestigious Baby of the Year award, during the course of 7 weeks. Over 400,000 votes were received during the voting stages. This was after the PZ revamped the competition to make it more engaging and rewarding following a year’s break.
Group Brand Development and Activation Manager, PZ Cussons Consumer, Charity Ilevbare-Adeniji, acknowledged the drive in the competition saying “The Cussons Baby Moments Competition has grown in leaps and bounds over the years and we can only be proud of it. The competition was incepted to create a platform for mothers and their babies to make, create and share magic memories and this year’s edition was perhaps our most successful yet.
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“Also, with the introduction of the new gift pack this year, we were able to demonstrate our commitment to putting babies first and providing the perfect solutions for their skin care needs. This edition of the Cussons Baby Moments competition not only showed our commitment to rewarding our consumers, but also creating unique, positive experiences for them.”
Speaking further on this year’s competition and the milestones of the Cussons Baby brand, Charity Ilevbare-Adeniji, said this year’s event also provided a unique opportunity for the Cussons Baby Moments Competition to further establish itself as the quintessential Nigerian baby competition.
Also sharing her excitement on yet another successful edition of the Cussons Baby Moments Competition, Yosola Nwachuckwu, Brand Manager, Cussons Baby, expressed delight saying she was “particularly pleased with the outcome of this year’s edition of Cussons Baby Moments because we set out to deliver on a transcendent competition and we achieved that, and even exceeded expectations. This year’s edition of the Cussons Baby Moments saw a record-breaking number of entries which is a testament to the trust and connection our consumers have with us.
“Through this edition, not only did we create magical memories, we also shared them with amazing families across the country, rewarding them at every opportunity in the process” Nwachuckwu said.
Brand and Activation Manager, Cussons Baby, Oluwabusayo John expressed her excitement at the prospect of the competition’s 6th edition: “I am particularly excited about this competition as it presents another opportunity for Cussons Baby to create unique connections with mothers and their babies and also celebrate memories between them.
“We took our participants’ feedback as regards the previous editions and decided to take a season’s break to review the competition mechanics, with the aim of improving on it and making it easier for many more to compete. We took into consideration the stress many participants go through in order to secure the needed votes for their babies, so we have reduced the voting stages to just one, after which the rest of the decisions are left to the judges.
As part of its activities to drive appeal for the competition, Cussons Baby toured major cities of the federation, which include Port Harcourt, Abuja, and of course, Lagos. Families had the opportunity to interact with the brand, play games and win prizes as well.
This year’s edition of the much-anticipated Cussons Baby Moments 6 competition witnessed a number of changes to the mechanics of the competition in a bid to ease the stress on the participants. These changes included the introduction of a multiple entry system in which participants were entitled to enter for the competition multiple times; as well as more opportunities for rewards.
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On December, 1, 2019, the 6th edition of the Competition came to an exciting conclusion as it crowned its Baby of the Year at the grand finale which held at Radisson Blu, Ikeja, Lagos.
Following tough deliberations by the independent panel of judges, comprising veteran Nollywood actress, Ufuoma McDermott; fast-rising Nollywood actor, Deyemi Okanlawon; and food and lifestyle blogger Yemisi Odusanya, popularly known as Sisi Yemmie, Baby Nathaniel Adeoye was crowned the Cussons Baby of the Year 2019, winning the grand prize of N1 million and a year’s supply of Cussons Baby products.
The 1st runner-up was Baby Lewis Grant, who won a prize of N750, 000 and a year’s of Cussons Baby products while the 2nd runner-up was Baby Einstein Durosimi, who won N500, 000 and a year’s supply of Cussons Baby products. In the Special Categories, Oluwadarasimi Olaniyan won the prize for Best Concept and Composition; Louisa Fabiyi won the prize for Best Candid Shot, and Praise Nsed-Ogar walked away with the Best Toothy Smile prize. These special category winners each received N50, 000 and a 3-month supply of Cussons Baby products.
Expressing her excitement on the outcome of the competition was the mother of the winner, who expressed her gratitude to the brand: “I would like to thank Cussons Baby for creating such a special moment for me and my family. I could not believe it when my baby was announced as the winner of the competition. Thanks to Cussons Baby, my baby is a little millionaire, and I am extremely grateful,” she said.
To enter for the competition, interested participants were required to purchase the Cussons Baby gift pack, register and upload a picture of their baby with the Cussons Baby Gift Pack, and submit the picture on the Photo Uploader App; and then get loved ones to vote for the baby’s picture if eventually shortlisted.
Cussons Baby, an international brand, is one of the strongest brands in the baby toiletries category in Africa. Cussons Baby has been in existence in the African/Nigerian market for more than five decades, providing solutions for mothers and the skincare needs of their babies. Cussons Baby is manufactured by PZ Cussons – established 120 years ago, this year.
Through the Cussons Baby Competition, the brand has been able to heighten consumer experience, an activity other brands can leverage to create traction to their brands.
