Why are you in Nigeria?
The formal reason I am in Nigeria is for a board meeting of TNSRMS. We have a regular board meeting and that is the main reason I’m here this time. Secondly, I need to see how the business is doing. Nigeria is the fastest growing business in the whole of our region. I come to discuss with some people and meet some clients.
How is the business of research doing in Nigeria?
We think the business is growing very well. Nigeria is the fastest growing business and that is a major achievement. This is a region of growth and we are getting real growth across the region. We have double-digit growth in the whole of our region, and Nigeria has the strongest growth rate. Nigeria is top on our league table in the region. We are very proud of what Adeola Tejumola, the CEO of West East and Central Africa for TNSRMS and his team are doing.
When you look at the entire African research market, what do you see?
First, Nigeria is the second biggest market and the fastest growing. South Africa is the biggest market. We have a bigger market in the Middle East. If you classify the markets, it will be the Middle East, South Africa and Nigeria in terms of size. We are growing market share. Research is an industry that is growing in proportion with the development of the Nigerian economy that is fuelled by the growth of local businesses that have seen the benefits of doing market research to grow their businesses. Some multinationals are investing in Nigeria and they are coming with their skills, and techniques with them. When we talk to multinational partners in London or New York who are not in Nigeria, we are proud to refer them to our team in Nigeria.
Has the recent growth in research in Africa improved the continent’s contribution to the volume and value of global research?
It has not changed materially because Africa and the Middle East are still about 2 per cent of the global market research. The value of market research in Africa and the Middle East is about $550 million. Africa is about 65 per cent of that in value. But the region is growing. I see that increasing as more companies embrace market research. Africa is seen globally as the last growth frontier. China remains an opportunity, but in the last decade, people invested heavily in China. Latin America is going through difficult times and Europe is static. There is a great opportunity in Africa.
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Why is the region low in market research?
There are a couple of reasons. Some companies think they can get growth simply by being in Africa instead of investing in marketing research. That was about 10 years ago. Now, many have realised that Africa is not one market and if they get an effective distribution system in various countries in Africa, the business will grow. What you need is to make your product available. Distribution and availability are the priority going into a new virgin market.
There is a huge spectrum of markets in Africa from unsophisticated to sophisticated markets. As you go into those spectrums, competition increases, availability of products is no more a competitive advantage as everybody is there. Therefore, as a manufacturer, you must compete in marketing terms and this will demand more spending. In some countries in Africa in 10 years will become more sophisticated markets. Nigeria will be if you believe the statistics, a bigger economy than South Africa in 10 years. Therefore, there is a huge opportunity for brand positioning and a good market.
Some organisations may lack an understanding of market research, so what are the benefits of market research to organisations?
It comes back to the core of marketing and brands. It is about differentiating your products and your brands. What does the consumer want? How does your brand measure up with what the consumers want, and how can you position your brand to tell the consumer that your brand is exactly what the consumer needs. All these are found in normal market research and how the brand is performing in the market, and even how and where to distribute your products.
Could you link this to why African brands are not making the top 100 global brands?
It is probably the reason. Presently, the only one in the 100 global brands is MTN, but watch the space, in 10 years, the top 100 brands will have up to 10 African brands. This is because the progress is being made in Africa on marketing. I promise you the quality of advertising, promotion work and activation works at Cannes is outstanding. We should be proud of what we are doing, and as many African companies realise the value and the RoI in marketing they will improve. Making pretty commercials is not what marketing is all about, marketing is about RoI putting ineffective communication and packaging and positioning and reaching out to target markets. This is when CEOs look at CMOs and ask questions. CMOS is being held responsible for the RoI.
With difficulty in measuring market research, how do you convince a businessman/woman to embrace market research?
Part of TNS’s global strategy is to position ourselves as partners for growth for a client. At the end of the day, what market research is doing is talking to CEOs, CMOs and brand people and trying to understand what the real business issues are, and the single business issue is growth. They are asking how they can grow their business. What we have done is develop a simple growth tool for clients to use. So, the question is whether the business is growing as a result of the insights and advice we offered. There are some specific tools in the market to measure impact. There are a lot of tools for measuring the RoI in advertising. You need market research to direct the CMO on where the company should be spending on marketing for RoI.
How do you deal with the human capacity to execute your jobs in your region?
It is a good question because if your business is growing, at what point will you put the additional machine in anticipation of selling more. Investing ahead of the growth curve or on the growth curve is a judgement we will make. All is about technology and people. Our industry throughout the world is changed radically through technology. It is about data collection through technology. We have invested heavily in technology for data collection. Electronic data collection is one of our strategic priorities for the two years. We are investing in technology and people. Machines will help collect data quickly and efficiently, and the software will help us turn them into charts, which need the human brain to interpret them. We will continue to invest in humans and technology. Technology has assisted in speed, quality of work and cost-effectiveness.
Should government involve market research to improve governance?
In Europe, a lot more money is spent by the government on research. Across the Middle East, governments have been sensitised on the need to understand what their constituencies are thinking. This followed the Arab springs. In Nigeria, we do work with some state governments, which informs their policy decisions. It is like the FMCG, governments need to understand what their constituencies want and what they are saying and what their priorities are.
Since you acquired RMS, what has it been about the fusion?
The first year was a difficult one. Bringing two companies together was not easy, but RMS was a big business. We have been delighted with the growth.
