By Tabitha Onyinge
If you’re Kenyan, or have lived in Kenya for a while, then you must have heard that Kenyan women go to bed in night outfits with the words: “Doom Kills All Dudus Dead!” I’m sure you haven’t heard that when they’re in a better mood, they wear the special one that shouts: “Kibaki Tosha!”
I know that sounds weird, but the point is; that attitude, “Who cares what I wear to bed?” stinks, just like the attitudes of many companies’ brand raisers stink!
Marketing materials are produced and distributed to introduce, advertise and popularise products in the right market. To do this, a lot of planning and strategy is necessary. But a lot of times, due to corruption, laziness, ignorance and improper planning, we end up seeing in the market, marketing materials that demean the product and potential users.
Everyone likes to associate with beautiful things. And marketing is about showing the beautiful side of a product. If you give away, a product that is beautiful, me the recipient, will start to associate you with beauty, and may just switch to your product. Not to mention that I’ll also flaunt the product around. The reverse is true. Check out the stuff in car trunks as families travel upcountry for Christmas holidays, and you’ll know what I mean!
A friend wears a perfume that no longer even sells in Kenya. When she first used the perfume, a Swedish company was launching its products and gave away bottles of that perfume, among other products. She loved it, stuck with it, notwithstanding the cost she incurs importing it, alongside other products from that company!
Now, that was an effective packaging of a give-away. While that particular perfume never lasted in the Kenyan market for many reasons (I hear one of them being love for cheap), those that lay their hands on the company’s products, I dare say, appreciated the effort that was made. I carry around a branded money purse, given to me by a local competitor, but I like the purse! Full stop!
Years of producing and interacting with various marketing materials, I know that two key messages have to be saliently passed on to potential clients: one, that you hold them in high esteem; and two, that you believe your product is the best in the market. You will only demonstrate this by avoiding some common mistakes:
Cheap – do not compromise on quality. You’re better off with a few high-quality give-aways, than a container of stuff that stink cheap.
Irrelevant – why on earth would you distribute branded t-shirts to Muslim women who wear bui-buis, as opposed to say branded lessos and shawls?
Senseless – after a sponsored kids’ soccer tournament, my son came home with a horrible looking branded plastic thing with a metallic nozzle. The thing didn’t even come with a manual! A little google revealed that it was a disposable water bottle! A branded disposable water bottle beats the sense of marketing. Opportunity lost.
The list of mistakes goes on. The point is, the above botches lead to non-appreciation, non-functionality, non- usability, non-durability, of the give-aways, by your potential clients. End of year and Christmas season see companies, individuals and organisations producing gifts for friends, clients and partners. Just remember to give-away stuff that will last beyond Christmas Day.
