Author: Spartakussug

Brand Variants as Brand Recruiters

Brand Variants as Brand Recruiters

With today’s digital landscape teeming with influencers and new brand releases, distinguishing your product from the noise has become increasingly challenging. A recent promotional stint of Smirnoff Ice’s Pineapple Punch variant piqued my interest, illustrating a marked departure from the typical sleek, clean. black branding of Smirnoff we’ve come to recognize. This scenario got me contemplating the role of brand variants in the broader framework of marketing strategy, particularly in diverse African markets.

Unusual but catchy

Brand variants, essentially, are distinctive versions of a master product bearing different attributes – this could be unique scents, colors, pricing, materials, or other characteristic features. Think of them as siblings within a family, sharing a common lineage (the parent product) but each bringing something unique to the table. In the African context, where consumer preferences are marked by significant regional variation, brand variants serve as an effective strategy for a nuanced, localized marketing approach.

Recruiting Power of Variants

Brand variants function as strategic tools in brand building, acting as ambassadors or recruiters for the mother brand. They offer the opportunity to extend the reach of the mother brand and captivate new audience segments without compromising the fundamental brand identity.

Examples worth noting:

Smirnoff: The various ready-to-drink variants of Smirnoff Ice like Black Ice, Red Ice, Guarana, and Pineapple Punch serve to induct consumers into the world of vodka without a potentially harsh first experience. Targeted towards a younger, lively demographic, these variants not only cater to diverse consumer preferences but also bolster the image of the mother brand. If you stay within the same family (Diageo) you can see this is also what happened to the Uganda Waragi (Premium, Coconut and Pineapple) gin.

A lineup of the Smirnoff variants in Uganda

Unilever: Unilever’s Sunlight, a staple household name across Africa, provides a perfect example. The brand introduced multiple product variants like Sunlight dishwashing liquid, laundry bar soap, and washing powder to cater to varying household cleaning needs, each variant underscoring the mother brand’s promise of effective cleaning.

Tusker: The Tusker story showcases successful brand extension. Despite the mother brand’s strong performance, Tusker introduced variants such as Keg, Can, Lite, Cider, and Malt, each catering to different consumer needs without alienating the core target audience.

Key Considerations for Success:

  1. Market Segmentation: Understanding your target market is crucial to prevent cannibalization. Ensuring the variant caters to a distinct, unmet need in the market will prevent it from competing with the core product.
  2. Brand Consistency: Variants must uphold the mother brand’s essence to avoid confusing consumers. Each variant should reinforce, not diminish, the primary brand’s image.
  3. Opportunity Cost: Brands must consider the potential consequences of variant pricing. If lower-priced variants are introduced, consumers may eventually gravitate towards these options, potentially undermining the brand’s equity and revenue.

The strategic introduction of brand variants has proven an effective recruitment tool for some brands. By catering to distinct needs, preferences, and niches, these variants not only amplify the brand’s reach but also reinforce its core identity. Brands such as Smirnoff, Unilever, Tusker and many others have successfully harnessed this strategy to consolidate their market presence. However, the implementation of brand variants requires careful consideration of market segmentation, brand consistency, and opportunity costs. By successfully navigating these considerations, marketers can create a diversified yet unified brand family that enhances consumer engagement, expands market share, and ultimately, bolsters the longevity of their mother brands.

Packaging and Shaping Consumer Purchasing Decisions in Africa

Packaging and Shaping Consumer Purchasing Decisions in Africa

I was recently working with a mentee on analyzing their product packaging and we were doing their marketing audit. Quick plug here if you can get the tool for FREE here). It emerged that they had gone with their selected packaging color because it was similar to the existing category colors and had been more cost-effective for them. This got me thinking about product packaging and its role in shaping consumer purchase decisions

Packaging has always been a key determinant in consumer purchasing decisions but this is increasing. Certain categories look a certain way. Global fast-food franchise brands favor certain colors and there is even science to prove it . Years in both designing products and approving them, I have observed firsthand the impact of packaging on sales and brand perception and indeed on consumer choice.

This essay tries to give some insights and shared lessons learned followed by some practical suggestions for brands looking to optimize their product packaging decisions.

Why is Packaging Important

The African market is diverse and complex; encompassing 54 countries with over 2,000 languages and dialects spread across 3,000 tribes. Add to this sub-tribes, consumer niches informed by literacy, gender, geographical, demographic, urban-rural considerations, and communication channels and you have a truly diverse landmass. For most consumers, packaging plays a crucial role in addressing this diversity. After all who could you do soap packages in 2,000 languages or run a newspaper in Uganda in 50 languages? Packaging does this by helping brands stand out on shelves and duukas. In some cases even rely on visual package cues to differentiate between similar products due to varying literacy rates.

What Role does Packaging Play?

From attracting attention, starting conversations, storytelling, to conveying essential product information packaging plays a crucial role and will also sometimes take advantage of innate consumer biases to land in the consideration space in consumers’ minds. 

Attracting Attention: On crowded store shelves and duukas, packaging is the first point of contact between consumers and products. Eye-catching designs and colors can capture consumer attention, increasing the likelihood of product consideration and ultimately, purchase. To achieve this brands invest in, and protect unique pantones, shades, and materials.

Storytelling: In the now recent and powerful campaign by Trophy Stout in Nigeria, calling for the return of the 900 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria from the British Museum in the “Reclaim your DNA” campaign. In this case the brand tapped into a current and emotional zeitgeist-led ambition (as the only indigenous stout in Nigeria) to a product and by all intents, it is seeming like it will take heads. 

Trophy Stout visual artwork campaign

Another strong example of packaging as storytelling is the Vaseline Journey of Jar campaign which developed 6 special edition jars to tell the story of the healing power of Vaseline where customers could follow the impact the Vaseline Healing Project had in the communities it worked. 

Visuals of the Vaseline special edition packs

And closer to home, although I don’t think enough noise was made about this the Nile Special can have some really interesting details that make it hearken back to its home roots and life along the Nile. Inspired, even if untold. 

The Niel Special 330ml can

In addition to this packaging also does the usually needed work of attracting attention to customers on crowded shelves, serving critical customer information, and differentiating from noisy environments for customers to eventually choose them. 

As expected, this work is not without its pitfalls and one of the biggest pitfalls is biases. Sometimes the biases are internal and other times they are external. Some of the biases to watch out for:

  1. Color Biases: Consumers often associate specific colors with certain emotions, qualities, or attributes. For example, green packaging might be perceived as eco-friendly or organic, while red can create a sense of urgency or excitement. In Uganda, black has consistently tested for death and witchcraft but this will be covered in another blog. Brands should be aware of these color associations and utilize them strategically to evoke desired emotions and perceptions in target audiences
  2. Quality Perception Biases: Packaging can influence consumers’ perception of a product’s quality. High-quality materials, intricate designs, or the use of certain colors (such as gold or silver) can create an impression of luxury and premium quality, even if the actual product quality remains unchanged. A great example of this is the chocolates hawkers are always selling. If you know, you know.
  3. Familiarity Bias: Consumers tend to prefer products that are familiar or similar to what they have used before. This in turn leads new market entrants to want to fit in with the category instead of choosing to stand out. By leveraging semiotic design elements, colors, and branding, brands can tap into this familiarity bias and increase their consideration chances.
  4. Anchoring Bias: First impressions are crucial, and packaging can create a strong anchoring effect. If a product’s packaging appears cheap or unattractive. And some of these perceptions will take a very long time to unseat.

So What Do You Consider When Making  Packaging Decisions

  1. Prioritizing local culture will help with understanding cultural nuances and incorporating local elements in your packaging design. This creates a sense of familiarity and resonance among consumers.
  2. Strategic use of colour can influence consumer decisions. Years ago a telecom I used to do work for and had to change its principle colur (black) because testing showed that consumers just weren’t with it. 
  3. Designing across literacies: remember that you are packaging across literacies from full-on native English speakers to semi-literate consumers. One element of this in Uganda that has emerged-especially with telecoms, has been the use of transcreation ( a nice trick that uses blends of English and vernacular) that was perfected by Kenyan brands with their “Sheng” slang. 
  4. Real-world application has taught me to always think about what your packaging will look like in real-world environments. Packaging that looks amazing on a screen in the boardroom’s sanitized environments won’t always present as well on wall branding, haulage trucks, or billboards along Masaka road where mud, dust keep splashing on your white sparkling sanitized brand look. This one we learnt the hard way.
  5. Be willing to review and update your packaging based on consumer feedback and evolving market trends. This will help keep your packaging relevant and engaging, or at the very least ensure you don’t get left behind.  

The Search for New Tribes: Gen Z Tribes Reshaping How Ugandan Marketers Segment Customers

The Search for New Tribes: Gen Z Tribes Reshaping How Ugandan Marketers Segment Customers

The tribe was everything. In the 90’s and 00’s tribe determined what job you got. What schools did you go to? What denomination of faith have you professed? Like Amin and Obote, the NRM government also used these tactics to feed an apostatic system of patronage where lucrative jobs and corruption abounded based on tribe.

This has largely continued unabated in our times. However, as the millennials come of age, there seem to be new gods on the scene. The death of old tribes. A proliferation of inter-tribal marriages has built a more connected country – where people have “relatives” everywhere.

As the world sacrifices community, certainty, and assurance for freedom and individualism as it madly hurdles towards modernity, it is changing in ways no one could have imagined. It was a common greeting growing up when people used to ask “What tribe are you?” 

But there are new tribes that are forming that are less “seen” which are going to be quite interesting to watch as they grow. The idea of a tribe is that it’s a community of people who share commonalities – mostly they identify themselves as part of said tribe. Thinking about it now; younger people are more involved in what they want and less in what the communities are interested in. 

Individuality in Community

These emerging tribes of the Gen Z generation in Uganda are defined not by their lineage but by their shared values and aspirations. These new tribes come together through social media platforms, hobbies, and personal interests, transcending geographical and cultural boundaries. A great example is how random people from all circles all of a sudden decide they like to mountain climb, run, and take days-long hikes. For each of these people, including themselves in this family is a choice. Giving meaning to the phrase “the family we choose”. For marketers, this means rethinking traditional customer segmentation approaches and shifting focus from mass marketing tactics to narrower targeted campaigns, aimed at reaching specific tribes, niches, and subcultures. Creating brand experiential executions is also a viable route to explore. 

See Me for Who I Am

Gen Z-ers want to be seen and recognized for their individuality, and they crave authenticity in their relationships with brands. They don’t want to be just another face in the crowd. This has led to the rise of micro-influencers, who may have smaller followings but a stronger connection with their audience because of their authentic and salt-of-the-earth groundedness. As the big social platforms have shown us “following isn’t influence!”. Customized approaches for niche tribes will certainly be crucial to making inroads as opposed to the oft-relied-on “spray and pray” awareness methods. Brands that engage will be brands that can bring change.

Digital Natives and the Rise of E-commerce

As digital natives, they are more tech-savvy and they live online. The rise of e-commerce in Uganda has been fueled by this shift in consumer behavior, with more people than ever before shopping online for everything from groceries, electronics to clothing and pharmaceuticals. Now, the rise of e-commerce also has its other growth drivers like discretion and confidentiality but none like the convenience of doing it on your phone. Marketers now need to adapt to this new reality by creating low-friction, mobile-first strategies, and optimized digital presence.

The Power of Social Causes

These tribes are not also defined by the social causes they care about. They are more likely to support brands and causes that align with their values and demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility. From simple things like an annual cancer run to entire movements like pothole exhibitions. For marketers, the job is to tap into this passion for change and involvement by showcasing their brand’s commitment to fostering a sense of community.

The old anthropological tribes in Uganda might not fade so soon but we have to keep an eye out for these emerging ones. For marketers these new tribes offer unique opportunities to connect in more meaningful and authentic ways. The world may be changing, but the search for new tribes is just beginning.

Rethinking the Workplace: Embracing High-Performance Teams Over Traditional Company Structures

Rethinking the Workplace: Embracing High-Performance Teams Over Traditional Company Structures

The traditional workplace has long been compared to a family, where members are bound together by a sense of loyalty and camaraderie. While this approach has its merits, it may be time for companies to evolve their thinking and consider structuring their workplaces as high-performance teams, much like sports teams. By adopting the traits of sports teams, companies can foster an environment that prioritizes performance, learning, and individual growth, ultimately driving the organization’s success.

Conditional love and minimum performance standards:

Unlike the unconditional love and acceptance found in families, sports teams value performance and have minimum standards that players must meet to remain on the team. In a business context, setting clear expectations and holding employees accountable for their performance can motivate them to excel in their roles and contribute to the organization’s overall success.

Embracing competence and diversity:

Sports teams thrive on the diversity of skills and abilities that different players bring. In a high-performance team, each member’s unique strengths and competencies contribute to the team’s overall success. Companies can benefit from embracing diverse skillsets, backgrounds, and perspectives, as they can lead to more innovative solutions and improved decision-making.

Prioritizing individual milestones and achievements:

While families often prioritize group milestones, sports teams recognize that individual milestones drive team success. By encouraging employees to set personal goals and celebrate their accomplishments, companies can foster a culture of continuous improvement and personal growth, ultimately contributing to the organization’s success.

A focus on learning and adaptability:

Sports teams are constantly learning from their experiences and adapting their strategies to improve performance. Companies that adopt this mindset can create an environment that encourages learning and development, both from within the organization and from external sources. This will help employees grow and adapt to the ever-changing business landscape.

The choice to belong and commit:

Unlike family members, who are bound together by blood, sports team members choose to be part of the team and commit to its success. By fostering a workplace culture that values dedication, passion, and commitment, companies can attract and retain top talent that will drive the organization forward.

Recommendation

To evolve the traditional workplace and adopt the high-performance team mindset, companies should take the following steps:

  1. Establish clear performance expectations and hold employees accountable for meeting them.
  2. Value and promote diversity of skills, backgrounds, and perspectives within the organization.
  3. Encourage employees to set personal goals and celebrate their achievements.
  4. Foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, encouraging employees to learn from both internal and external sources.
  5. Create an environment that values passion, commitment, and dedication, attracting talent that actively chooses to be part of the team.

By embracing the traits of high-performance sports teams, companies can create a workplace culture that prioritizes performance, learning, and individual growth. This shift in mindset can lead to greater success, innovation, and adaptability, ultimately driving the organization forward in an ever-changing business landscape.

#TokosaFoodFestival 6 Things You Missed

#TokosaFoodFestival 6 Things You Missed

Lets get it clear,  I don’t attend a lot of events. No weddings. No funerals. No Baptisms. No introductions. No engagements. I used to think it was a countercultural rebellion to my parents. I have come to understand it as never being any such fancy thing. I get bored easily.

Anyways, I end up attending this much talked about socialite thing called the Tokosa Food Festival. Third event happening in as many years. Having never been to one, I was obviously watching with “new eyes”. New eyes = the sense of wonder you have when you have just arrived from the village  into town; also described as the realization of how the other half lives; also commonly called “Maalo” in Ugandan speak

But if you didn’t make it to this Year’s Tokosa event this is what you missed, or didn’t. See the highlight reel here.

  1. THE FATHERS’ COOK OFF

Obviously I was going to start with this because I participated in it. There were 4 of us. I was hopelessly under qualified and over confident. Which is why I probably was ranked last by the judges! But to be fair, they asked us to cook a kid’s breakfast and I only learnt his halfway through the 20 minutes!

Now, I grew up in the village and kids there don’t have breakfast. They just eat a left over sweet potato and a melamine cup of water and the day begins. So I knew I was in hot soup. But I knew we (me and my ego) were well and truly cooked when the eponymous Gonahasa (the one who cooks, not the talker) showed up.

IMG_9985
Egg fried frankfurter sausage on a baguette with fresh tomatoes

20 minutes and all I could come up with was a starch heavy African child breakfast. But you should have seen me stunting! Banange! like I knew I had this in the bag. But as they say about history and victors.

Gonahasa The chef who eventually won the cook off
Myself, learning to use the amazing pan
This cool dude who absolutely blew us all away with his panache
The 4 dads

2. ZUMBA DANCE WOMEN

The Zumba women who came close to the end of the event sent the crowd into a a near riot. of course Gerry Opoka who runs Beats and Steps studio was on hand to teach some moves on how all that food people had stuffed themselves with could be worked out of the system.

I don’t get Zumba but when you see those women gyrating, moving to a rhythm from deep inside you have to wonder. Is it these kind of things that give us the stereotype of a sexualized nation? I wonder because you can’t help but ask yourself, if she can do this on the dance floor what about on a 6×6 King size bed with things like school fees, saloon money, side dishes on the line? Either way, you have to see a video to know what it’s really like. Sometimes the movements are slow and almost sensual, the other times it feels like they are trying to relax an itch that cant be reached. So much fun to watch.

You just start losing weight just by watching people exercise that vigorously.

3. THE GAMES

Another highlight of the day’s activities were the games. The kids were so excited it was not even funny. they had sack racing, egg on spoon, obstacle games. There were even games for adults to play. No, not those games.

As usual, Brian Mulondo (he of the mob FOMO) shone through and tons and tons of kids walked away exhausted from a full day of food fun and music.

Although, I must say some parents looked like they brought their kids there to just stuff them with food!

The Kids’ play area sponsored by DSTV
Little bringers of the Good Times in the making.
Prepping for the egg on spoon race, a mother prepares her child to win.
Rushing towards the finish line
Not all children are young- but all children have to be young at heart

4. THOSE GIRLS DOING “SWALLOW THE CHICKEN”

Of course you can’t have an event hosted by the lady queen Miss Deedan where she doesn’t play a diabolical dirty trick – purely for her own pleasure.

And that is how she tricked some respectable-looking but erstwhile hungry young ladies into trying to eat and finish a 20-piece bucket of KFC chicken. This is similar to trapping you to delicious hot food.

What you really missed was how the ladies were watching Maurice Kirya, King of Mwooyo as if he was “Kyakulya” which means he looked edible, like chicken.

Hide your eyes, your future husband could be on the timeline
Face your future head on!
when you must crush your destiny!
The devil is a liar: Meanwhile Miss Dee just looking like a tall glass of cool water in all this heat!

5. ALL THOSE SHADES

There were just simply too many types, colours and styles of shades at this thing.

 

I know I will definitely come to the next Tokosa event. Even if it’s to just spend a day giving to charity which is what the event is about. Part of the proceeds went to Bless A Child foundation which is home for cancer children.

So until next time, stay cool and drink Lite!

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But why am I lying…. It was a festival right? See all these smiles going down!!

 

 

For more images, visit the Kafunda Kreative Tokosa Album or go check out the #Tokosa17 hashtag on Instagram.

Cheers!

LEAD! How Business Can Reinvent Itself for Today

LEAD! How Business Can Reinvent Itself for Today

From time to time Albert will walk in with a complex as hell question. It may be the way his mind works or just the extraordinary situations he finds himself in.

He asked, “So how can we work for a technology client and still struggle with Outlook? Why don’t they use the millions of apps for business available?”

By apps for business he meant Trello, Franz, Google apps, Slack, Dropbox and the plethora of other businesses built by the world’s most brilliant minds to help evolve the nature of business in our time and age.

Valid question with no valid answer. At the time, anyway. How could a technology business not be the most technologically adept business? It made no sense. Over the months,however, we’ve had the conversations for me to finally understand why, the uptake of new technology is not as swift as it is developed.

The People Who Run Businesses:

Big businesses are built by successive promotion of talent and so in most cases people in management are the most experienced people in the business. Why is this dangerous? Because these people rely on the tools that got them to where they are. They trust Outlook and distrust Thunderbird.

They don’t understand Skype, Slack, Trello or Jira, because the only way to get work done is by having meetings. They also don’t understand the millennial-preferred offsite working.

And so, these decisions and technologies don’t get bought into, they don’t get signed off as business solutions and they don’t get used. So business remains archaic and stagnant.

 

The Industry In Which Businesses Operate:

The industry is made up of thousands of people who only think that office wear must include a tie for gentlemen. That dreadlocks are for hooligans. That everyone must be bribed. Thus, these ideas become cast in stone. They become millstones around the whole industry’s neck.

This attitude permeating the industry makes it inflexible, sluggish and bloated. It takes more time to come to decisions, more consultation to arrive at options, and ever more options to satisfy a boardroom of decision makers. The world’s leading businesses are agile, lean and extremely fast. Decisions are taken, businesses either succeed or fail and they learn from it. And move on.

 

The Talent Pool In The Market:

Businesses must also be aware of the people in their employ; millennials! More collaborative, less rigid and more creative about how they approach their work than any generation ever born! Businesses and the industry must first and foremost serve these people’s needs; which although they seem erratic, aren’t. They are just processing more information than anyone ever has.

“Write a tweet, finish and send the report, respond to the girlfriend about the weekend, walk into a 5 minute huddle, bite into the sandwich, sip on a coffee, double tap Grace Nakimera’s Instagram album, make plans for this evening. And that’s all before 8:45am!”

 

Old Dogs and New Tricks:

How does a business that only used to plan for Easter, Independence Day, Christmas, NRM day, and Eid holidays now retrofit itself to handle #MCM, #WCW, #TBT, #FBF, #SundayTwitter, Black History Month, Breast Cancer moth, The Kabaka run, the MTN Marathon, Movember,  #Tweminists, Grammar Nazis and the plethora of landmines waiting for it online? How can it do those things unless it changes how it works?

 

The Thirst is Real For Results:

Results! Results! Results! Everyone wants them. Clients want to know how much engagement there was on that post. Who clicked on it, where were they from? Can we message them with something else? Where did they go after they left the website? Cookies, algorithms, ad blockers, native advertising. Everything we do is measurable and someone wants to use those measurements to make money. Old technology will not have these answers.

New thinking and new knowledge is necessary. Buzz words today include; big data, A.I., blockchain, integrated marketing, Bretail, remarketing, influencer marketing etc. All fancy words to mean no one knows how today’s audiences behave so we are throwing everything at them to see what sticks. However, the guys at Cambridge Analytica are doing fun things with data.

No matter what you use, we need new tools because the old ones aren’t going to get the job done

 

How do we resolve these incongruences?

 

Has the advertising agency model died? Must we rethink it? Can big retainers continue to exist in an age where all employees have 2 or three skills? Can the model built on trust of credit survive in the harsh pre-paid economies of Africa? Can we

 

We must be bold. Courage and boldness in action will trump speed or strength every day. The courage to question the old ways. To depart from the knowledge that got us here but will not take us into the next 5 years. Must forge new paths.

 

We must commit. Commit to our businesses. Commit to unlearning and relearning. Commit to understanding our target audiences and what is hurting them. Know that client businesses are hurting and they need solutions that help their bottomlines.

 

We must be agile. Agility gives your business edge. It separates you form the bloated pack. Cut the fat from your organization and make it flat! Flat and lean like a start-up because if you want start-up money you must have start up structure and work ethic.

Allow to be bad. In his 50th Law, Robert Greene speaks of the necessity of aggression and how at the right time aggression can bring distinction thereby delivering the blue ocean your business desperetaly needs.

 

Or don’t do any of these things and go down in glory as the internet is full of companies that did nothing wrong and still went down.

 

Feminism, the enemy within and the courage of a generation

Feminism, the enemy within and the courage of a generation

Feminist this, feminist that, femi -knee-st this, Femi-Nazi this, Tw-eminist that! Thats how a typical day starts and ends on my social media timeline. All sides, all genders and all creeds. The fight has become polarizing to the point that one cannot imagine it once was a joke because they will be called gender-shaming, misogynistic or patriarchal or worse. And the fights are happening even amongst the women too.

I have often wondered how the old feminists did it? How did they get through it? Or did they never get through? How can we fight for something for so long and have made such little gains on it? Therefore, I surmise that at the heart of this movement is a key piece that keeps acting as a saboteur to this whole mission.

Male patriarchy (which among hard core feminists is the heart of all darkness and dwelling place of Zerubbabel himself) has been described as men keeping women suppressed through cultural customs and norms to deliberately create inequality and oppression. In more cultural settings you see mention of breast ironing, female genital mutilation and labia elongation. These crude customs of yester-year have been parked at the doorstep of all men to bear full responsibility for. But, one quickly learns that men alone – even if they wanted to whole heartedly – cannot repeal these customs.

For example, breast ironing was started to flatten breasts of girls entering puberty so they wouldn’t be preyed upon by older men – by their mothers. This was so they could still be virgins when they were married off in a society that valued virginity but that would not punish men for defiling small girls and would rather punish them that speak truth to power.

In the case of labia elongation, the working theory it is that the practice is meant to make women “sweeter” for men because the labia gives extra sensation during sex. Cases where husbands return brides so their mothers so show them the “the bush” are not unheard of. “The bush” is the euphemistic term for girls entering puberty when they begin the labia elongation practice. This practice is enforced strongly by maternal aunties and mothers in order not to bring shame upon the family once marriage time comes.

The more gruesome FGM varies across different tribes but basically involves the carving out of part of or all of a girl’s labia and clitoris. This was ostensibly to prevent girls (who undergo this process on the cusp of puberty) from being errant wives. Its brutally enforced by societal structures and a ruthless shaming system

When I was in the Sebei region on the last #KoiKoiEast trip a few weeks ago, we sat around a fire and a man told us of a culture that praises courage and bravery. He said if your mother ever flinched at her circumcision (which they are working with government to eliminate for girls now by the way) everyone who disagrees with you would always refer to you as the “The one whose mother ran away” and these tags are hard to escape. Like millstones around one’s neck beckoning shame and derision from society. They stay. They hurt. They cut deep.

In all these cases, mothers, aunties and female figures in society play a central role in enforcement and adherence to these norms.

And that is where I get confused.

If we are fighting the men in our generation, are we not self-sabotaging? If a young man within your generation (those of you date cross generationally can stop skip ahead) says to you “I think my wife should wash my boxers” and you stand up bash him or a young woman your age says “I want a man to marry me, provide for me and in return I will raise his children and build our home” and they get railroaded out of town. You aren’t solving the problem. That’s their paradigm. That’s the construct in which they see their world.

But who framed that world? Who told them that these things were acceptable? That women should give up careers and sit at home and that they can’t be everything they ever should? It’s not the boy child who grew up alongside them chasing butterflies and eating mangoes.

And that’s why we must have the courage…

The courage to confront our parents about the things they haven’t done right by us in terms of educating us (not school fees, fool!). The absence of fear when taking down with belief systems, constructs, practices that contradict what we know to be logical truths must be palpable.

And that is both for everyone

Why?

Because only by facing our parents (the entire generation) who are bastions of sanctity and are revered can we truly begin to make a difference. We can’t be in a society where you were born in a polygamous family, you have never discussed that with your parents but you are out here calling all men trash. Or you are the child of a concubine, but you go around spreading misogynistic vitriol. You are only playing yourself child.

That’s why it takes courage…

It going to take courage for us to tell our parents that we are gay. That our friends are gay. That we work with gay people. That we share food with them. That we know them. That some of them struggle with it. That we work for them. That they have funny jokes. That they are people. Someone’s son and daughter. That others will never overcome their fear. And that others will never come out because they don’t have the courage.

It’s going to take courage to tell parents that forcing their children to live at home until they get married means they won’t understand the responsibility of living on their own, making decisions, independence, planning, adulthood, looking after their partners. It produces poor husbands and wives. Young people are facing these things in their marriages and their relationships. We need to talk about it.

It’s going to take courage for us to ask our parents who work in government to stop blaming everyone else and ask them what they did to stop the country from going to shit. What did they ever do to keep things on course? To reason with them when they say “we did it for you” and not be relenting in our quest to understand what our own role will be for our children.

It’s going to take courage to have conversations about having sex for favours. For jobs. For cars. For houses. For food. For gadgets. With men and with women. When our mothers did this for security, society respected them as kept women – church or no church; ring or no ring. But the men are different now and everyone fights for theirs. The conversations on men sleeping with women for money, access, property and rent? And men sleeping with other men to take care of their wives? How much courage will that take?

It’s going to take courage to bring up and challenge the tribalism, myopia and archaic attitudes parents get stuck in. Things like “we don’t marry those people” or “You would rather not marry” or “If you marry her I will not attend” must stop being heard as threats to people trying to form unions that are propagating the future. They must be taken down with boldness and furor.

It’s going to take courage to tell our parents that getting married and all the previously accepted forms of social validations will not be our portion. That some women do not want a husband or kids or to settle down. That some want to adopt children instead of having their own. That some men will just not be husbands. Those conversations take courage because they require us facing constructs we have known for a long time. But we must find it.

It is my hope that our generation finds the courage to face our parents and confront their demons because only then can we face our peers in honesty and good spirit. Only then can we stand and share with each other the sweat and tears it will take to rebuild this country after these old people are done phucking it up.

Or we could just give up and emigrate to another country and let it be someone else’ problem? The Chinese are coming here, expatriates come here and never want to leave, multinationals are coming over, oil companies are setting up. They already messed up their homes. If we leave, there’ll be no one to fight for this ugly red-dust pearl of Africa.

So, we stand and fight. As a generation. Men. Women. Gay. Straight. Religious. Atheist. African. Mixed. Light skin. Dark skin. Thicke. Small. Chubby.

Together.

But first, how to find that courage… to

 

What’s the power in a good introduction?

What’s the power in a good introduction?

Recently, at a gathering of friends and potentially new friends over a sumptuous 3 course dinner at the Kampala Serena, I caught myself asking to let Raymond Mujuni allow me to introduce him. It wasn’t an unusual thing. I have introduced him before and I love introducing him because every time you do that there is something new about him. The thrill and excitement is palpable.

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Cocktails, fine dinning, and lavish conversation at the Kampala Serena Hotel

As the evening wore on, the conversation swung around to introductions I have done. I have a bit of a penchant for intros. I love doing them. For strangers. For friends. For adversaries. For family. They are so cool because you get to pick exactly what people will remember about this person the first time they meet them. It’s the first time and if you do it right, it will be the only time they will ever need. At least that’s what I have believed.

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Raymond is the last one in the red sweater at the end of the table.

But my mind careened back to introduction I did two weeks ago, on a #KoiKoiEast trip far away in Kapchorwa, on the slopes of the rift valley, in the heartland of our county’s fastest runners. There I was running my mouth as We introduced the team. The #KoiKoiUG trips are thrilling because they bring new people out of their shells and allow them to experience Uganda’s beauty, culture and food.

One of the common trip practices is to do introductions, so everyone knows everyone. Sometimes they let me introduce people. It can be hilarious but mostly its revealing. Later, one of our sponsors who was there asked me “Why are great introductions important?” In answering I had this on my mind

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The #KoiKoiEast trip participants right after introductions.

I feel that people struggle so much in life. No matter how amazing a guy is, he is always behind what the world, society and they themselves expect of their abilities.

If you are a boy genius at 25 there is a guy who is saying you will win a Nobel prize by 30. If you graduate at 22, some aunt is mouthing about how you will have a husband by 24 and twins by 25.

But look around you, no one is doing those things. Guys been in the same job/ position for 6 years. Girls who worked hard and got their masters out here looking at adopting children. Everyone is struggling with something. Everyone isn’t at full potential.

That’s why a good introduction is important; to remind them of what they are. Of all the good they can do. To show them how the world and we see them. To sell them to themselves one more time. Because sometimes you think you are one thing but then you are many things, to many people.

A great introduction gets someone a foot in the door. It’s a chance for people to meet them for the first time. To not let them be judged by their dressing, to remove prejudice, to eliminate doubt about who they are and to establish them as the most (insert anything) person there is. It takes away the burden of working prove one self.

Finally, knowing Uganda and their propensity to welch, a good introduction acts to forestall the initial instinct by creating a guilt trigger.

And so in closing, if you ever get a chance do a friend a solid and roll out the red carpet for them.

 

Why are clients afraid of great work?

Why are clients afraid of great work?

My annual chats with Emuron Alemu follow a pattern. Work is hard; *whiskey*, life is exciting, *whiskey*, advertising is a calling, *whiskey*, Africans are *whiskey* hilarious, we need to *whiskey* work hard, *whiskey* we *whiskey* have *whiskey*to *whiskey* change *whiskey* the *whiskey* world. *whiskey* *whiskey*

Starting out in Uganda and now at WPP, he is the fastest rising creative I know. Saving brands, taking names and kicking ass. We talked about the industry across the continent and about opportunities for young creatives (a common idea is that the industry is dominated by old, geriatric farts whose time is long past but more on this later), then he said something intriguing.

He said rather casually “I was talking to someone at work recently and he said to me across the world clients are now afraid of great work.”

I saw my life flash before me. My chest constricted. My breath caught. I was perplexed. Creatives give life and limb, blood and tears to do great work. They sacrifice family, relations, friends, parties, and more to commit to this craze. How possible is it then that across the industry people were saying that clients were slowly moving away from great work?

What was happening?

This is how he explained it to my addled mind. Great work won awards. It won pitches. Looked good in portfolios. It might even save a tanking brand – for a while. Above all it created expectations.

Expectations are always rising. insatiable. innumerable. Inexplicable. Unseen often unspoken even. They make clients say things like “But last month you did this campaign in 1 week how come you now say you need 3 weeks?” Expectations are dangerous.

Great work also never starts out as great work. Often it will be an idea and not much more. It will require someone to believe in it (insert client) and to pay for it. Why? Because great work has a 50-50 chance of bombing. It can either be very good or very bad. The risk, the edginess is what transcends it. And often, with jobs in the balance, clients will simply not go “all-in” on an idea. They require some certainty.

The biggest reality to hit great work has been the evolution of client roles. In the past most corporate structures separated marketing and sales roles; ostensibly making marketers “spenders” and sales people “earners”.

Businesses are now merging these roles making marketers have targets – real hard cold targets. Don’t get me wrong, they still have to achieve emotional warmth, brand affinity, and emotional equity but they also have ROI, market share and conversion conversations.

The latter conversations are quite difficult to have because they involve justifications to the business and also influence future budget allocations. How will this great TV commercial turn customers to my product and keep them there? The truth is great work does this. It answers the brief and saves the brand – for a while.

Then brands go back and do the same shitty things. Disrespect customers. Abuse employees. Lie to stakeholders. Break every promise they make. So naturally the “great” work done by said campaign is eroded in customers’ minds. Then it is all downhill again. Until the next great campaign. Leaving the business graph looking like the heart monitor reading of a tachycardia – erratic with little chance of normalization.

Those difficult conversations mentioned above have defined the job to be done – deliver results. Clients want work that works. Work that delivers. That doesn’t solve only today’s problem but that will be built on tomorrow, next month and next year. Strategic work.

Work that works.

Good work. That’s what it is. Good, effective, grounded, researched, insightful, problem-solving, long shelf life, and targeted work. That’s what clients need today. Work that helps them keep their jobs so they can keep paying for school fees, mortgages, rent, car loans, bar bills, new phones and CIM.

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Clients are also people. They have dreams, aspirations. and responsibilities. 

That doesn’t mean you can do crap work. No. It means if your work isn’t solving a problem, it doesn’t matter if Zeus himself touched you with a lightning bolt, it’ll be crap. It means that if your work improves your client’s bottom-line, you improve their chance of getting a promotion, advancing their career and ultimately growing their brand.

Good work is also replicable; month after month, year after year and is not unattainable. That means you can six good campaigns a year and not only the great one. This naturally lays emphasis on solid strategy and good old hard work and crafting. Where it all starts.

21st Century Social Media Influencer: Smell The Impostors

21st Century Social Media Influencer: Smell The Impostors

Social media influencers are not gods. In fact you have more of them walking around than fake pastors on these hilly Kampala streets.  As brand custodians and marketing executives have started to encounter the social media bug, so has the propensity of encountering a less than real proposition. Championed by the“The world is going social!” war cry, its easy for one to get caught is the frenzy.  Hailed by some, hated by others, they are the keys to “unlocking” social media. They can either make you trend or flop your trend.

In Uganda, the journalist community even has a list of people called the “Twitter Mafia” (a list of people who if they aren’t on your hashtag, it won’t trend and you won’t achieve success. The danger with this is assuming trending is the objective. As the discussion has evolved over the years about whether numbers of followers matter or whether likes and re-tweets matter, the more discerning marketing public has started to ask “What do likes really mean?” “What does trending add to my sales targets?” And mostly “Do I need an influencer to do this work?” There are many answers to each of these questions but this post will address the last one. Do influencers really make a difference? And how do you tell the ones who can?

  1. Influencers Are People, Not Gods: like the rest of us. One day they had 100 followers like you. They didn’t always have 100k tweets or 5k iG followers. They grew their audiences by consistently putting out content people who followed them respected, wanted or enjoyed. They aren’t untouchable and they certainly aren’t infallible. What they do have is influence, that means they bring audiences to conversations; large audiences. Knowing how to leverage those audiences  for results is part of the influencer benefits package. Don’t trust influencers who cannot tell you what they can get their audiences to do.
  2. It is a Science & An Art: It is true there a few tools to measure and a few others for strategy or listening. There is a perfect time to reach the highest audience numbers on your channels and the optimum number of words to put in you Face Book or IG post. All of that is measurable, trackable and fits within a formula.  This is the science part. However there is also a creative part of this business. The one that requires original, authentic, engaging and memorable content. The one that hooks followers. The greats constantly walk this knife edge. You must be able to demand this of your influencers. Ask them what tools they use, platforms, and gadgets. You must be willing to  look under the hood.
  3. Everyone Learnt It “On The Fly”: You’ll often get told that there isn’t a school for digital studies and so everyone learnt their craft “on the fly“. This is bullshit. There are certifiable programs set up by social media platforms that teach, train and evaluate “power users”– people who want to make the most out of the platform or channel. If your influencer or your digital partners cannot provide proof that at least one person in their agency has gone through these free training programs then you’ve been sinking money down a hole. Twitter Flight School, Facebook BluePrint, Google Partners all teach how to use and optimize the respective platforms for maximum value. And you get certified once you pass.
  4. Creative Remuneration: As numbers of audiences and followers rise, the rates for influencing will go higher and higher until it just won’t make sense anymore. The truth is that influencers while there should be some form of pecuniary remuneration aren’t exactly influencers because of their “search for money”. They are already in love with the product or service which is why when they speak, audiences listen. They are authentic in what they see and how they articulate the cool things about products. Brands need to find ways of rewarding their influencers in product and not as one offs but consistently so the conversation is also consistent. As an example I always asked myself as to why when Bossini invited celebrities to their Acacia Mall store launch instead of paying them they didn’t announce a year’s shopping worth xxx amount. What a way to create envy. Or the more garden variety influencers who influence for telecoms but are always asking for airtime handouts. That stuff just doesn’t look cool.
  5. You Cant Influence Everyone: Unless you are the Obamas (who make anything from going to college or working out or buzz feed look cool) no one can influence all the people all the time. So brands need to stop being the George Bush of influence mongering. The same people on every hashtag, at every event, on every guest list, every damn account. It makes you look tired and rancid. Find some new faces, fresh content, some authorities. People who aren’t regurgitating some press briefer your PR agency hashed up at 6:30 am because  they’ve been neglecting the job for 3 weeks. People who care about you brand genuinely.
  6. Authority Matters: Topical experts bring authority and credence to any topic. Sometimes this means you will have to even set up these experts on social media or find those who are on. In my biggest career crisis management we were handling the closure of an airline but we were fortunate to find that some influencers and “friends” of the airline were already online. Seasoned, tested and authoritative aviation aficionados who brought clarity to a lot of online conversations. Find some authority for your brand.
  7. Influencers Sometimes Come in Overalls: Not all influencers will come in Windsor-knotted ties and pin stripped Saville row suits. Sometimes, they come in blue overalls because they know the dirt and grease and that’s what your audience needs to know about. They bring real world experience that your air-conditioned-coffee-machine-with-tea-biscuit offices will never have. An example that comes to mind of Shell and its white lab techs from a few years ago and their choice to use real world mechanics who know exactly how much longer good oil takes your car. That’s influence because real influence knows what it talking about.
  8. Conversion Conversations: Re tweets and trending while they are evidently very good signs of content that connects with audiences still don’t pay the bills. Conversions pay the bills. So we must start linking activity to some sort of measurable conversion. Trending a whole month as a beverage brand and yet your beer beverage is still struggling in sales indicates problematic planning. Measure-ability also puts people on alert that they can’t just eat your “influencer biscuits at and tea” at events and not pay for them.
  9. Hygiene: Account hygiene = Body hygiene. Ensure that you infleuncer’s account hygiene is good. Account hygiene is ensuring links work, pictures are captioned properly and names and handles are accurate. Why? Because its the small things that trip us up that shouldn’t. Create a monthly brand hygiene check. As an influencer you also need to create a process that allows you clean up your Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. Log out of accounts that you aren’t managing anymore, delete accounts of events that won’t be happening again. This process allows you to focus on current clients and their tasks. Keeps you sharp. An example is that  “Good morning… “ tweet that went out a few months ago from 12 accounts. #UOT were aghast. But that is life.
  10. Pay Peanuts Get Monkeys: Like any profession you get what you pay for with influencers. You are better off with a few happy influencers at their asking price rates than cramming 10 or so of them at dirt cheap prices because then everyone is giving you shoddy work which overall looks like one big pile of sh*t. When budgets don’t allow, go with less quantity and don’t EVER compromise on quality. Ever.

…Or don’t listen to any of this advice continue letting your IT guy do your social media after all computers are all the same in the end. And you wonder why your career is mediocre.

Talk soon…