NIMN imbroglio: Light at the end of the tunnel

By Adetunji Adeleye and Akin Adewakun, Lagos updated: Tuesday 26-08-2008

From left, Mr.Gbenga Adeogun, Assistant
Sales Manager, Grand Oak Limited;
Mrs. Folasade Adebayo, Star prize
winner of Seaman’s raffle draw;
Mr. Samuel Ogunde, Area Sales Manager,
Grand Oak Limited and Olumide Alabi,
Assistant Manager, Grand Oak Limited,
during the raffle draw held in Ibadan,
Oyo State, recently.

That the nation’s house of marketing had been turbulent in the past years is no longer news. And that ever since the enactment of the NIMN Act, which had seen the two marketing gladiators, interpreting the Act to sooth their own ends, thereby causing confusion in a sector that should have been one of the leading voices on economic issues, is not new either.

Therefore not a few took the promise of the Aimiewu-led Reconciliation Committee, consisting key figures of the feuding parties, to end the crisis, with a pint of salt. The skepticism, was not unconnected with the fact that several overtures had been made to the feuding parties in the past, especially from government quarters, to end the crisis, but which unfortunately did not yield the desired result.

But events in recent past seem to be defying every permutations in respect to why and how it would be difficult for the parties to bury the hatchets and tow the path of peace. For instance, apart from the fact that the two parties were well represented at the inauguration of the reconciliation committee, recently, with the camaraderie exhibited at the occasion very infectious, the new-found love was not short in coming either at the NIMN media briefing on the 2nd Marketing Forum, of the institute, scheduled for Lagos , later in the month. For the first time both parties had vowed to bury the hatchet and move sector which had been at the receiving at the receiving end of the feud, forward.

While Chief Sylva Emokpere, one of the leading actors in the feud recognised the need for the two warring parties to come together and work for the common goal of the sector, Mr Abdul koledoye, another prominent actor on the scene, believes there is the need now more than ever before for marketers to close ranks and speak with one voice. And to lend credence to their commitment to this new found peace, both sides are for the first time, jointly involved in the organisation and planning of the second edition of the Marketing Forum, scheduled to hold in Lagos on Friday, August 30, this year.

As the chairman of the peace Committee, Chief Amiewu succinctly put it, ‘The fact that we are talking about integration and with representatives of the two sides well-represented here at the planning stage of this year Marketing Forum shows that the long-elusive peace has finally been found’. Though there seems to be light at the end of the dark tunnel for the sector, but observers believe it is rather too hasty to celebrate this new union, ‘It should be allowed to grow with the two sides ready to give and take’, they counsel.

Guinness unveils new TVC

Guinness, Foreign Extra Stout, ( FES ) the distinctive, premium brand from, Guinness Nigeria Plc, has launched a new Television Commercial titled, ‘The Force of Nature’ to the Nigerian market. This new TVC, which is coming after the successful, “Udeme” commercial hit the airwaves and screens of Nigeria’s notable Television stations and bill boards across the country recently, producing answers to the yearnings of the ever dynamic consumers of this great brand, who are always full of life exuding the ‘Greatness’ in them.

This new TVC will continue to manifest the success, which the previous ones have and is still achieving, It will also be in line with the world class standard, which the Guinness Reach for Guinness Platform has created. At the exclusive premier of the commercial to Media Partners, the Director of Marketing Guinness Nigeria Plc Tunde Falase who described the new TVC as a creatively innovative approach, however reinstated the company’s determination to always keep faith with its teeming consumers nationwide.

According to him, the new TVC ‘is a consumer’s angle to the making of Greatness, it’s novel, exciting and certainly as engaging as all our previous commercial”. Cherry Eromosele Marketing Manager, Guinness added: “What is even more curiously interesting about this commercial is the creative manner in which the consumer describes to his friends the way the Natural ingredients that make up our great beer are harnessed by the Force of Nature, the hops, the barley, the water, the roasting process- depicted by the fire and then the commitment of those involved in this process. And this clearly demonstrates that Guinness celebrates the greatness of its consumer experiences at all levels.

There is no doubt that the greatness platform has been a factor to the huge sales increase, to corroborate this, Tunde Falase, said ‘As further proof of the success of this great brand, Guinness sales top 10 million glasses every single day. What’s the reason for this phenomenal success? It is purely due to the care and consistency in the distinctive taste and quality of the brew itself, the marketing and sales activity and the drive and dedication of the team behind the brand that makes Guinness truly more than a beer’

The commercial clearly has marks of innovation, deep creative thinking and showcases of the high standards and heritage, which Guinness guides very jealously. Guinness Greatness campaign celebrates the acts of inspirational behaviour that men display everyday.Tunmise Adekunle, ace marketing communications writer, remembered.

It was a time for sober reflection in Lagos, on Thursday, August 21, this year, as family members and friends of the late This Day marketing communications writer, Tunmise Adekunle, who died early in the year, gathered to give the late jourrnalist a post-humous birthday celebration and also launch the Tunmise Adekunle Foundation. The late journalist would have been 38 on that day.