PECADOMO: Innovation At Its Peak

FrieslandCampina Wamco’s most prized asset, Peak Milk is presently on an innovative pedestal to deepen and increase the consumption of its product amongst Nigerians. This has been made possible with the launch of its Pecadomo (Peak Can Do More) initiative, a very thoughtful and applaudable concept that asides telling you the benefit of Peak to your health also present various use cases of the product.

Not many Nigerians would have ever thought about adding Milk to popular dishes like Eba, Wheat, Semo, Abacha and even Poundo Yam but no thanks to Peak Milk, innovation just got real.

Quite remarkable and a bit pastel is that Pecadomo possesses the trappings of a national reorientation amongst all echelons and with the present economic reality, one cannot beg but ask if Change is a noun or a verb.

Even in the midst of these change banter, Peak milk still has a very big opportunity to actively explore the curiosity of the consumer and also retain his interest. Am sure it would be a grave faux pas if the first trial fails to convince the consumer.

The nutritional and health benefits of milk consumption to human wellbeing can’t be overemphasized with studies showing that Milk is a good source of essential minerals and nutrients like Calcium, Potassium and Vitamin D which helps heart and bone health.

As the dairy market thickens with brands like Dano, Three Crowns, Cowbell, Jago and more recently Popular, vying for the top spot, up beating strategies to capture the C-E which constitutes a larger percent of the consumer. It is only normal for the market leader to sit tight and explore.

Having had a strong root in the Nigerian market with over 6 decades presence and arguably the Market leader, Peak milk did step down its high horse recently to cater for the lower class. This was marked with the launch of the Wazobia pack earlier this year.

Would you love to add milk to your favourite meals or not? Kindly share your thoughts in the comment section.

Our Voice Is In Our Hands

The internet and social media give youth an enormous opportunity to amplify their voices, writes Emmanuel Olutokun, 23, a Correspondent from Lagos in Nigeria, who looks at ways these remarkable tools have been used for positive change.

The youthful age offers so much opportunity, potential and prospects to build, learn, and explore. A period to create the future we desire and work towards accomplishing it. But as an adage ironically puts, ‘many use their youth age to make their old age miserable’.

There was a time in the history of mankind when we thought the only way to make our voices heard was through protesting, fighting and even shedding of blood. But with the disruptive intervention and explosion of the internet, this conception is fast eroding.

Our voice is gradually moving to our hands. With our internet enabled mobile phones, our voices can hardly be ignored. It is simple but effective. There are immense opportunities that we the youths have to hone and positively make use of.

Recently, there was a premature coup in Turkey, where some disgruntled individuals in the military decided to overthrow the present government. The coup would have been a success if major traditional means of communication – radio and television – had been taken over.  But another importance means of communication was underrated, and that was the voice of the people. People who had access to the internet in Turkey took to their social media platforms to hear from their president, express their displeasure and dissatisfaction with the ongoing coup, and re-affirm their support to their president. These raised the consciousness of the world to crisis in Turkey and in no time the attempted coup was crushed.

This essentially brings to fore how loud and how far our ‘hands’ can go if used positively and in the right manner. Social media creates a very suitable platform for youths to start an initiative, galvanize support and implement projects that are beneficial to the society.

One such tool is Twitter. This platform is 320 million people strong globally and has been seen as a community where matters of importance are being discussed by people whose voices might never have been heard if there was no internet.

Last week, a hashtag #SaveMayowa was trending on Twitter Nigeria, which was a call for financial support ror a Nigerian lady who was diagnosed with cancer and in need of immediate medical attention. The unity of Nigerians was reflected when people took empathising steps to ensure that the needs of the lady were met. A Gofundme account was set up for her whereby people could donate, and within three days, over 31 million naira was raised for her operation.

Change.org is another social tool whereby youths everywhere in the world can start campaigns, mobilise support from concerned fellows and also work with decision makers to drive solutions. Just starting a petition over an observed ill in your nation is now sure to be the first step to solving that ill. Amazingly, all these social platforms are free.

The truth is, there is never a better time to start than now. The change we desire to see in the world rests in our hands. Just start.

photo credit: Find your voice via photopin (license)

First Appeared on Your Commonwealth

 

Jumia’s Branded House: A Not so Brilliant Move?

Jumia made a bold leap into the Nigerian market in 2012 with the sole aim of redefining retail shopping in the country. This action engendered mixed feelings among many, as futurists applauded the unprecedented move into an untested space with skeptics holding a different opinion.

The skeptics did have a point knowing that since the inception of mankind, change hasn’t always been a good friend. Drilling down to a country like Nigeria that is deeply rooted in beliefs, religion and culture, change is not something you get with both hands. You either effect it by hook or crook.

Words on the street then bordered around trust (security and safety) and the low level of adaptation. To tackle this Jumia developed a clearly defined policy that guaranteed 100% secure transaction and even a pay on delivery options to consumers. This among other strategies eventually proved positive.

A white paper released last month revealed a tremendous increase in brand favourability and equity with the Jumia platform ranking as the 7th most visited website in Nigeria.

Innovative programs and customer loyalty campaigns also helped the brand battle misconceptions and perceptions of consumers towards e-commerce. A ready example is Jumia’s localized version of Black Friday which literarily ‘broke’ the internet. 2015 edition saw a site visit of 2.3 million Nigerians in 24 hours with products being sold out in less than 2 mins. This doesn’t absolve them of backlashes received from displeased customers who felt conned and deceived.

TRANSITION FROM HOUSE OF BRANDS TO BRANDED HOUSE

Kotler and Keller puts the house of brands strategy as the use of individual or separate family names while branded house strategy is the use of a centralized or umbrella company brand name in relating with the customers. Big companies like Microsoft employs the former strategy with products like Xbox, Skype and Bing operating in a decentralized format while Google applies the latter.

Jumia, Jovago, Kaymu, Lamudi and others are offshoots of the Africa Internet Group with Jumia being the most successful of these start-ups. Jumia thrives on heavy investment and brand credibility. This recent change essentially implies that other start-ups would leverage and directly benefit from these attributes.

The new structure: With Kaymu becoming Jumia Market; Jovago now Jumia Travels; Hellofood is now Jumia Food; Vendito now Jumia Deals; Lamudi now trades as Jumia House; while Carmudi is now known as Jumia Car. The effect of these brand adjustments mean that consumers can now access all these services using a single Jumia account, also prominent is the fusion of all their individual websites into Jumia’s website.

BRILLIANT OR NOT SO BRILLIANT MOVE?

Jumia, in its four years of redefining retail experience in Nigeria has been able to acquire a good number of loyalist and customers. Dealing in a once estranged digital space with Konga, doling out innovative campaigns and affiliate programs that position the brand as credible and trustworthy. With this in place Jumia decides to play the saviour who acquires the burden and excesses of other relatively unknown platforms which is good knowing that they can leverage on the credibility and recognition of the main brand.

On the flip side, Jumia is well known in the industry as an online shopping store and not a restaurant aggregator or a car purchasing platform. This I believe won’t easily sit well with the consumer. Winning in any industry requires focus, commitment to a known position and channeling of energy and resources into that chosen field, a deviation from that often incurs ripple effect, quite similar to my prediction on Star Lager Beer.

This begins to look like a Jack of all trade, Master of…, well that may be too quick to conclude. I am personally still trying to wrap my head around the difference between Jumia Market and Jumia (Shopping), knowing that the fundamental idea behind a market is for customers to locate products or services of interest and make payments for such. Reconciling Kaymu (Jumia Market) with his new name still comes out puzzling knowing that its direct competition is OLX but then again Konga is presently positioned as a market place whose competition is Jumia. I believe to an extent Jumia online shopping should have assumed the name Jumia Market while other sub-brands fall under it.

Mark Essien, Founder/CEO, Hotels.ng (Nigeria), sharing similar sentiments on his direct competition Jumia Travels says “This strategy of trying to leverage Jumia’s popularity to sell the other brands will work only partially. When people see Jumia, they associate it with buying something; it is difficult to reconcile it with the idea of also booking a hotel through the same Jumia. It is like walking into a supermarket to book a flight. It just does not flow naturally.”

All Eyes on Jumia: This move expands its scope of competition. The new positioning sets Jumia against competitors in Industries like Real Estate, Travel and Automobile.  Deploying its resources on winning share of attention across these fields might be spreading out too tin with very little effect. Jumia looks strong on investments but fighting different battles at a time might not be too favourable with the possible outcome being the death of some of these sub-brands.

The notion behind a brand subsuming associated ventures is to simplify customers’ interactions with the brand, improve perception and ultimately increase brand equity. Time will tell if these new structure will pose as a threat to the growth of the brand or as a spring board to leap forward.

What do you think?

EDGE SERIES BUSINESS START-UP CHALLENGE

 

As part of the plans to not just talk but act, the student summit this year intends to help Five (5) new businesses kick-start by way of THE EDGE SERIES BUSINESS START-UP CHALLENGE.
With support from our partners and sponsors, The Start-up challenge will be an open call for an executive summary by intending participants to share their business ideas with a team of experts who will skew through the list of entries. The best 50 entries who will make a physical pitch to the panel would be selected out of which 5 winners will be selected. The winners would be awarded THE EDGE SERIES Start-up Kit valued at =N= 3,000,000.00.
This kit includes:

Free domain registration and web hosting for 1 year

Free web design

Business advisory services for 1 year

Free HR advisory services for 1 year

Free Accounting and Planning services for 1 year

Branding and Idea Development services for 1 year

Social media and Content Marketing services for 1 year

A free Notebook / Tablet

Free Internet service for 6 months

SME value Pack
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

In accordance with the theme of this year’s summit which is WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, the contest is divided into three stages
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING-WRITING : At this stage the participants are expected to put up an executive summary of not more than one page and submit same to startup@theedge.com.ng  PLEASE NOTE THAT ENTRY SUBMISSION IS OPEN FOR 2weeks. 50 Shortlisted candidates will scale through to the 2nd stage.
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING-PITCH. The 50 Shortlisted candidates will each make a 10 minutes pitch to a panel of experts selected from various field including finance, Project management, Information and Communication Technology, and some serial Entrepreneurs. 10 candidates will be selected to go the final stage
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING-THE CLOSURE. The 10 shortlisted candidates will then put the learnings from their Pitch stage to close their presentation from which the 5 top businesses will be selected
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON THE 29th of JULY 2016 at the 3rd Edition of The Edge Series Student Summit 2016 at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre Onikan Lagos.
THE EDGE SERIES BUSINESS START-UP CHALLENGE is supported by The Lagos State Government, Lenovo, Microsoft, MTN Nigeria, Jobberman.com, WhoGoHost, Inspiro Consulting, SDI Consulting, TISV Digital and Komet Creative Studios

My Motivators & The Etisalat Chronicles #SpotOn

Experience is a safe light to walk by, and he is not a rash man who expects to succeed in the future from the same means which have secured it in times past- Wendy Philips

 

A good student in the school of success will agree with me that success goes beyond flying solo but it is providing wings for others to fly.

In this edition of #SpotOn Mr. Idiare Atimomo who is currently the Co-Founder/COO of Up In The Sky Ng and a faculty member at Africa’s 1st practical school of Integrated Brand Experience-Orange Academy, puts down his thoughts on factors that has over time motivated him to stay afloat even in challenging times also passing across one of the most important advice to youths that I have personally come across in a long time- Passion Over Money!

At the mention of the name Idiare what tops the mind would be his remarkable feet while at Etisalat Nigeria. Fleshing and growing the brand from Nothing to Something in the Nigerian market, particularly in the Youth segment seemed to be a tough job owing to the already established competitors in the sector but some people did it and Idiare was one of them.

Enjoy the chat but more importantly apply these truths to your life.

• What have been your key motivators in life over the years?

My parents are a key motivating force in my life. I lost my dad at an early age, I was 19 years. I tend to always want to make him proud, raise the value of the name and drive for excellence he bequeathed to my brother and me. My mum sacrificed a lot to get me to where I am today and this drives my motivation.

My wife and sons are also my strongest motivators, when I look at them I always tend to find some inner boost to keep pushing and innovating. I want them to have the best life possible.

I tend to also have a strong sense of purpose – like I am on earth to achieve some objectives – so I push myself to stay true to my purpose. I really desire to be excellent at what I do and this comes from this sense of purpose.

 

• Can you describe your most challenging and equally most exciting project ever handled?

The most challenging and exciting project I can remember now was launching easy cliq at Etisalat in 2009. I had just moved from the agency side to a client side role in January and we had to launch the brand as soon as possible. First I had to try to understand telecoms a bit more than I did at the time so I could add value to the product development process. Also I had to understand how to work very quickly with 5 different commercial teams and help guide this new product to life.

I had previous experience with youth brands in telecoms having helped launch the first truly youth brand with MTN i.e. MTN XtraCool but this was a new kettle of fish. At DDB I received a brief on a finished product and had to guide creative development. At Etisalat I had input into the proposition development itself. What should we include in the product to make it appealing to youth? How should the SIM Pack be designed? What route to market would we adopt? What would be our pricing model?

I was 28 years old at the time and was working with some of the smartest people in the telecoms industry. We had all been recruited to build the best network in the land. These were very intelligent people and much more experienced than I was. I had to hold my own in their midst and win their trust. God on my side, I believe I succeeded. We were able to craft a unique launch proposition and launch easy cliq in a city stopping event in May 2009.

Growing Easy Cliq from zero to more than 7 million subscribers and billions in revenue with the Etisalat youth team (my world class boss Elvis Ogiemwanye and others along the way) was indeed my most exciting project. We started with a beach event after the brand was launched, moved on to a series of club storms before earning the trust of the business to build a very unique campus activation model. Unlike our competitors before us we didn’t focus on just musical events on campuses, we added a motivational seminar element, a 5 aside football element and then a raffle draw element that allowed us to give over 50 students all across Nigeria a brand new car.

I had a great run at Etisalat Nigeria for 7 years, what a time it was to be alive and active!

 

• Your 3 (could be more than) most inspiring books would be?

 

1. The Bible
2. The Alchemist by Paul Coelho
3. How Will You Measure Your life by Clayton Christensen
4. Zero To One by Peter Thiel
5. Mastery by Robert Greene

 

• How do you handle pressure?

I tend to soak it all up and keep still inside. I have learnt that being calm when everyone else is going crazy is a source of mastery. So I work on being calm, almost stone cold so I can take everything in and not react emotionally. It can be frustrating for people who react emotionally to work with me in times of pressure because I will freeze you out and only focus on what is logical and rational at the moment. It has its downsides but majorly this approach allows me complete projects and tasks in the midst of great challenges.

 

5) What’s your candid advice to youths that are towing your path?

I would like to advise young people to put learning first over money, especially when you are young. When faced with 2 options and one offers more learning/stretch opportunities than money while the other offers more money than learning, they should embrace the former with both hands. One of the greatest things to conquer in yourself is greed and a desire to only work for money.

You need to learn how to work for the joy that work brings in itself. Eventually money follows you when this is how you train yourself professionally.

Watch Out for the next edition of #SpotOn!

5 Lessons I’ve Learnt Over A Decade #SpotOn

In the premier edition of #SpotOn, a peek is taking into the mind and life of a marketing pundit, one of the brains behind the Lumia Smartphone, Mayor Esiaba, Marketing Campaigns and Activations Lead, Microsoft West Africa.

Mayor has painstakingly revealed valuable tips and life lessons which cuts across his days in Gtbank, Guiness Nigeria, Nokia and then Microsoft West Africa that has spring board him over a decade and this I strongly believe would sure inspire and keep you thriving.

Experience is a safe light to walk by, and he is not a rash man who expects to succeed in the future from the same means which have secured it in times past- Wendy Philips

I bet you never knew this marketing guru took the road not taken, coming out of a family strongly rooted in the pharmaceutical industry as you would find out in this interview..

Sit back, relax, enjoy and more importantly apply these truths to your life.

5 LIFE LESSONS I’VE LEARNT IN A DECADE

1) What are the 5 Life lessons you’ve learnt over the course of your corporate life?

Well, the last 10 years have been a rollercoaster. I have been tremendously lucky in my career with things seeming to have worked out for the most part.

• First and probably most importantly, you have to be passionate and truly believe in the transformative power of the work that you do. This is not something that you can fake and usually shines brightest during moments of doubt and pressure.
• Secondly, build your spheres of influence and recognize that people will provide the sunlight you’ll need to get through the dark tunnels of your career.
• Thirdly, it’s alright to ask for help.
• Fourthly, get a hobby. I pretend to be a famous musician who’s married to Pop start, Beyonce Knowles.
• Finally, breathe, relax, and make sure you don’t take life too seriously. Things always find a way to work out.

2) What prompted your cross from Pharmacy to MarComms?

Well, I wouldn’t say that there was a moment I ‘crossed’ really. I come from a close family of Pharmacists, and as such it will always be something I am passionate about. My Father says he’s sure his family has some sort of Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of pharmacists in one family. So getting a degree in Pharmacy was not really something that was debated or discussed. It just was; sort of like daylight. No matter what it was going to happen, there was no doubt in my mind I would go to Pharmacy School.

Post Pharmacy School however, I was now clear that what I wanted to do had to give me the freedom that allowed me wear a Dress Jacket and Jeans to work. In other words, a profession that allowed me flex creative muscles and the same time being laser focused on business outcomes. This was how I sauntered into Marketing & Business Management.
3) What can you say motivates you and keeps you going?

I have been tremendously lucky and really although looking back all of it seems to indeed now sort of make sense. Of course, there are moments of despair, but I can be hopeful with each little success we tick off.
4) Your top three most inspiring books would be?

Readers are Leaders; or at least can pretend to be Leaders. The World doesn’t have a shortage of talented writers. It would be a near travesty to simply select 3 books. I will however attempt to share 3 authors who have had a profound influence in the way I have grown up to see the World around me.

These 3 authors however, have a body of work which spans written and visual that truly inspires me.

1. GRR Martin/JRR Tolkien: A Song of Ice & Fire and the Lord of the Ring series. Although JRR led me to GRR, I consider these two Men, masters of fictional storytelling. It’s not only their ability to weave complex narratives that defies our current understanding of the eternal battle of Good vs Evil, it’s also the ability of these stories to inspire other fans to even more insane origin stories and fan theories. This absolutely ensures that long after they are gone, their gifts of the word will be gifts that keep on giving.
2. Doris Kearns Goodwin: is my favorite American Presidential Historian. She takes something that is boorishly cantankerous, and effortlessly manages to show us the human streak in these demi-gods we would never in a million years have seen.
3. Jon Stewart: and my Father are easily my biggest influences in politics. Jon has an ability to parley his knowledge of America’s complex political landscape with humor that not only offer’s new insights and understanding, but ensures you’re laughing and learning. This Man is one of my biggest political heroes; moreso with the new generation of political satirists he has managed to put give even bigger platforms to help us hold our leaders accountable.

 

5) How do you handle pressure?

I have a terrible habit; I chew my nails, sometimes bothering on almost self-cannibalism. Being under pressure is a very normal part of being alive. Much more so, with the tandem of working in the corporate side of things in Nigeria. You can only do your best and hope that the passion you have for your vision is enough power through the difficult moments and light your way to success.
6) To be a ‘Mayor Esiaba’ what are the ‘Must haves’

I recently took the Narcissistic Personality Inventory test. I will not talk about my NPI test results, but would simply encourage you and your readers to take this test as well http://time.com/3136687/narcissist-quiz/ These 40 questions would truly force you to reconsider if indeed we aren’t all latent narcissists.

I will therefore not be able to provide any answer to this question that wouldn’t border on being narcissistic. I would rather encourage everyone to try to be the very best version of themselves. Although this is a very difficult task, it is one that ultimately brings the fulfilment and joy we all seek.

Watch Out for the next edition of #SpotOn!

Can Coca-Cola really Survive?

So here am I, wittingly musing which is going to happen first: A drastic reduction in the price of the dollar, circulation of fuel in the country or a change in Coca Cola Nigeria’s marketing strategy.

Coca cola is by far one of the most successful brand in the history of marketing. Since Pemberton discovered the magic recipe, coke continues to play in a second to none market, doling out campaigns that not only change and upbeat the landscape but one way or another connects deeply with their consumers.

Quite remarkable is her effective use of human truths and insights that time and again appeals to consumers’ emotions often making many berserk and head over heels on the brand.

Rewind 16 months, coca cola with its Share-A-Coke campaign caught the attention of Nigerians, I repeat Nigerians- Consumers, Potential Consumers, Retired Consumers, Unrepentant Consumers (at least the ones that have names). The human truths behind the campaign was so apt you could tell Coke had just clinched a million dollar Jackpot. As someone rightly put it “A pure marketing genius”.

Every phase of the campaign was a back to back hit.

 

UNDERDOG VS. SUPERDOG

The applaudable feet attained in 2015 was sure supposed to act as a sound springboard to soar in 2016 but that ironically seems not to be the case, as some underdogs, mini superdogs are subtly and fiercely battling the supremacy of the Superdog.

The unanswered question still remains! Can Coca-Cola really survive these bants? Survive what exactly? Survive retaining its place as the number one CSD in the country?

The Coke brand sure looks like it can’t be dethroned any time soon but processes and structures are already underway by competitors which inadvertently may lead to the brand’s loss in market share. Tackling one fundamental weakness of the brand and the innate nature of man to always want optimum satisfaction at the lowest rate possible.

One quick thing I have to come to realize in my little days studying and monitoring brands is that marketing is an ocean full of surprises.

When Apple came on board in the 80s, its close rivals, IBM and HP weren’t just strong forces to reckon with but brands bearing strong market influence capable of sinking Apple and its inventions but Voila! Apple Thrived!

 

THINK BIG! GO BIG!

BIG COLA made an unprecedented move into a market you will agree with me looked like application was closed to new entrants but Big Cola came with a unique feature that just couldn’t be overlooked or ignored. It offered more at an incredibly lower rate. 65cl at the rate of N90 (Some sell N100).

I mean who saw that coming or knew such mouth-watering offer ever existed. Skeptics and analyst wondered how market penetration was possible but while Coca-Cola and Pepsi were still trying to recover from the Big Bang offer, The Big Guy had already established and registered its presence not just in the Nigerian market but also in the minds of the consumers.

Wow! That was the end! Game Over! Wonderful Strategy! Very much similar to Admiral Yamamoto’s game plan at Pearl Harbour.

Soon the quickest brand danced to the tune, leveraging on the Long throat nature of the Nigerian Consumer. Coke also took a step to the tune.

Big Cola continues to make headways, acquiring new customers obviously from Coca-Cola with its brilliant pricing strategy and product offering.

 

RETHINK YOUR SOFT DRINK!

Talk about market pinching, Guinness Nigeria recently launched Orijin Zero into the CSD market tactically intended to grab its own share and add to the woes of the superdog.

The bitter-sweet non-alcoholic soft drink goes head-to-head with the market dominators providing a leeway for consumers who are tired of consuming sugar which happens to be Coca-Cola’s major snag.

 

TASTE THE FEELING

In light of these recent quagmire, Coke’s new one brand marketing strategy still finds it difficult to fit into the Nigerian lifestyle.

I believe this is as a result of the brand’s complete alteration and change in a direction consumers have been familiar with for over a decade.

Do you think Coca-Cola can really survive?

What’s #SpotOn?

The digital space including social and professional platforms like LinkedIn offer much opportunity and limitless possibilities so much so that it provides easy accessibility and seamless interactions with game players, change agents, role models and distant admirers in the industry.

Many thought it was the peak when Marshall McLuhan developed the concept of the Global Village but right now, digital has not only reshaped and revamped this notion to a global bedroom but further to a more converged and personalized lifestyle.

It is on this premise that #SpotOn comes to be

#SpotOn is a professional tool that gives leeway for thriving experts to share ideas, experiences, inspirations, that one, two, three nuggets, tips and habits that keeps them ahead in their industry.

This in turn will act as catalyst that spurs budding individuals and striving professionals in Nigeria, to not just watch things happen but make things happen.

#SpotOn is presently exclusive to LinkedIn with stories reaching other associated platforms.

The premier edition features astute and intelligent Dr. Mayor Esiaba, Marketing Campaigns and Activation Lead, Microsoft West Africa.

Chats and discussions with guests would be published fortnightly via the LinkedIn blog, Wednesdays by 11am.

Add Olutokun Emmanuel on LinkedIn to receive insightful updates.

THE ART OF MULTI-THINKING

During my sophomore year in the University of Lagos, one of my lecturers then took us a course which probably is the worst nightmare of any Art or English student. And the reason for migration of many.

Take a Guess!

You guessed right! Statistics

He came to class that morning and said he was going to prove to the class that people “don’t think”.

I thought to myself “How is he going to accomplish this?”

Then he went to the front, wrote a question on the board including the “how to get the answer’’, He asked the whole class what the answer was and to my surprise, nobody could answer it.

Everyone he pointed too missed the mark, until he said the answer and as if a veil was removed, sounds of “I wanted to say it” was heard in the background.

Many factors could have caused that but the take-out is this “Everyone can think, if you put your mind to it”

Over the weekend, I was privileged to chairman the annual state conference of NCCF which involved all the 18 zones in the state and guests from other states in the country. I had to co-ordinate over 15 committee and sub-committee throughout the duration of the project (pre and post). In as much as this wasn’t the first time I will be handling such projects but this was rather a terrain of mainly youth corpers filled with vigour, energy and passion.

Truth is every moment of the planning phase was fun and exciting and at some points felt like a woman in childbirth probably trying to deliver twins but I realized that through the process I was involved in a rather amazing art of multi-thinking, working with a very strong and selfless team. Getting updates from all the committees and ensuring that their needs were met, providing strategic advice and recommendations to those in need; ensuring we met set deadlines and objectives, connecting all the dots together and making sure all the team members (including those whose location were approx. 4hrs away) work together.

Am not quite sure about the popularity or existence of this concept but from my experience I would put it as an Art of engaging the mind in multiple connected endeavours at the same time and still remain a piece.

It involves tending, monitoring and producing ideas and solutions to related activities in a project.

This doesn’t imply that one has trust issues or finds it hard to delegate responsibilities but instead an assumption of role as the director or co-ordinator of the scheme.

I believe the human brain can do a whole lot more than we task it and it’s even possible we die without ever using up to 10% of our brain capacity.

MULTITASKING VS. MULTI-THINKING
A project manager or head of business is tasked with the responsibility of babysitting and providing direction and advice to multiple units involved in the project and if this is not properly managed can lead to frustration, stress and possibly untimely death.

Like a wife that mops the floor, does the laundry, baths and care for the child, goes to the grocery store and still remains in one piece to do the dinner; that’s exactly is how engaged the right brain is from pre-conception to birth.

I always like to believe that the world belongs to thinkers not dreamers. Best captured by an ironical quote I stumbled upon, “To achieve your dreams: Keep sleeping”.

Having to think through connected events and still remain a piece was definitely tremendous and eye-opening. Not to mention the positive post-conference feedbacks received.

Have you ever tried multi-thinking? Kindly Share your experience

Business: The Igbo Mindset Nigerians Must Adopt In 2016 (2)

It’s February and the present economic realities have succeeded in weathering the hype and fun that comes with the new year.

The Nigerian market is experiencing one of its worst economic crisis ever, the downward slide in oil price and other antagonizing market forces is really pushing the country to the edge but in all, the masses, those at the bottom of the food chain would always be the most hit.

Aliko Dangote in a CNN interview puts the quagmire this way. “The drop in oil prices will give us (Nigeria) an opportunity to diversify the economy. This could be a blessing; there will be pains, but good things do not come without pain”. Emphasis on blessings through pains! Are we really prepared to go through the storm?

Dangote points to the fact that Nigeria urgently needs to budge into other sectors of the economy. This would obviously not come easy, for it would cause a shake and disruption of status quo. But it seems like the best for a country as large as Nigeria.

Another valuable inference is the revival of entrepreneurial spirit and proper nurturing of entrepreneurs in the country.

I strongly believe that the entrepreneurs of today will be the game-changers of tomorrow. This spirit is predominant amongst the Igbos.

Taking a cue from my last post, below are some of the Igbo mindset we must inculcate this year, if Nigerians must thrive in this time.

3) Collaboration: Am sure that at one point or the other you would have come across labels like Amaechi and sons Ltd, Dave and John investment etc. doing one joint venture or the other. This might look funny to many but herein lies invaluable truths that keep businesses alive. They understand that no man is an island and as such come together to win the market.

There is a popular African saying that if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far, go together. Collaborate and co-create this year!

Just as Henry Ford puts it. “Working together is Success”

4) Start Small: Men like Jim Ovia, Cosmos Maduka and Tony Elumelu didn’t become rich overnight but went through the process and paid the price. The road to diversification and economic victory lies in the strengthening and empowering of SMEs. This explains the reason why more Igbo men and women are involved in entrepreneurial activities than white collar jobs.

Start Small! Think Big!

5) Negotiating: Ideas, services and efforts can be underpriced if not well sold, defended or negotiated.

From the seller, an Igbo man can really give an outrageous price for a commodity that if not careful, you might be forced to purchase simply because you failed to negotiate or question the price.

The buyer: Think like an Igbo and you might as well minimize cost.

6) Take risks: Every business endeavor possesses its own level of risk, take it any way. A failure is one who recedes from starting. Today’s revered and highly accomplished business moguls were those who took risks in very unfavorable conditions.

Take the risk! If it fails, take another! It won’t be long before it pays off.