16/12/2023
Olio family 🤙
BRAND BUILDING, GROWING, PROMOTION .
By Anthony Bwalya
Warm greetings beloved,
I really do not know these two brothers very well at all. I have, however, met both of them on a couple of occasions, the last being when Yo Maps Yo and his manager were in Dar Es Salam last month, for some of their routine business development activities in the sector where they operate.
It is quite interesting to listen to the two gentlemen talk about the vision of the brand they have built with so much clarity.
Now, setting all else aside, I am genuinely pleased for both the artist and his manager, and take nothing away from his manager, for what has been an incredible journey of relative success in an ultra competitive environment.
Remember, this is the same environment where you find 187, Umupondo Macky 2, Pompi, Slap D, the talented Mumba Yachi and many other phenomenal local artists.
Can I just say, if I may please, and this is just for me; that to reduce the creative and management wits of our artists to their command of a very foreign language ( English), whose mastery is alien to many of us anyway, is rather unfair.
When these two brothers were out in the woods trying to build what they have built, none of us management and communications gurus would have ever wanted to go anywhere near them.
Today, the brand is relatively big and visible, and now everyone thinks we can do "a better job managing, growing and communicating" the brand...
Guys....🙄
Let me end by saying this:
1. Sound, pinpoint instincts are your best talent growth and management tools.
When your instincts fail, you are done.
2. If the service or product delivers the desired value to consumers relative to other products, you are on a home run.
Note: You cannot sell a bad product, and even if and when you do, your luck will eventually run out.
Products or brands fail, not because they cannot communicate themselves well enough or sufficiently, but because they can no longer deliver value for consumers.
This is not to say sober management and communication of a brand is not important, it is; but this is NEVER a substitute for value delivery.
3. Everyone, I mean all of us, want in on the success of a brand....any brand, yet very few of us are prepared for the hardwork, sacrifice and risks associated with building the brand.
We would have more superior, long - lasting local brands if many of us invested ourselves in the building and growth of these brands even where others may be much less optimistic about the success prospects of the brand we are trying to build or sell.
It is alright to fail at brand building, yet the fear to fail is what keeps many of us "gurus" on the sidelines watching and waiting for a brand to emerge and start showing signs of success before we want any association with it, and eventually appointing ourselves experts at managing and growing it.
What promotes and protects the brand, any brand, is not the strength of its PR machinery, but the value the brand delivers for consumers.
4. You cannot effectively sell or communicate a brand or product which, you either, don't understand or where the only attachment you have to the product or brand is your personal pecuniary benefit and the opportunity it presents for your self gain.
You need much more than classroom skills to carry the brand through some of its toughest stints.
Iciweme, ciilombela umucele.
Happy Sabbath friends.
🙏
