Gbemi Adekanmbi

THRIVE ISSUE 001 by Printivo featuring the Branding Boss Noella Ekezie Why Branding Your Small Business Chops & Cuts Through The Clutter. Getting A Year’s Worth Of Ad Space In The Customer’s Mind. AD Editor’s Note As humans, we’re recognized by our Voices and our looks. Oftentimes we psychologically denote who a person is, what they stand for by what they’ve told us and by what we perceive of them. We’ll make our decisions and our perceptions based on what our minds have denoted from the way they speak, the modulations in their tones are and physical attributes. Our perception of another person is an offshoot of the combination of voice and the physical. Bringing this into how brands work is essential. When we meet a brand for the first time what we think of and the first judgments that we make of the brand are based on what the brand is telling us, how they are interacting with us and the physical makeup of the brand. This first edition of Thrive Magazine by Printivo seeks to take a deep dive into how small businesses should look at Branding. We’re also looking at how you can leverage your voice through the work of PR/ Communications. Leverage every element that makes your business unique and the perception that people have of you into creating the business that you really want for yourself. You’re welcome to Thrive. Gbemi Adekanmbi THRIVE | 3 Content Small Chops Be Like Water 5 6 Communications Isn’t A Luxury Make Your Business A Live, Active Story Whether You Like It Or Not, Branding Is Everything Noella Ekezie 4 | T HRIV E 10 12 13 Nneka Tomilola Adesanya Long Live Calendars 18 Thrive Event Recap 20 8 16 to Brand or Not T H E SMAL L BUSI N ESS Q UES T ION THRIVE | 5 Be Like Water S mall Businesses tend to push Branding as a whole until a later date in the future when they feel ready or have acquired the resources for it. They end up missing out on the opportunity to create an emotional connection with their customers from the getgo. And that’s a problem! Think about it, if my first impression of your brand wasn’t great (since you didn’t put in the work to create a good brand, asides from having a logo), because I don’t feel your ‘brand’ pays attention to details, 8 months down the line when you feel you have the money to craft a good brand, I will no longer be there. I would have moved on because I didn’t like the first impression I got. You shouldn’t miss the opportunity to define your brand from the get-go. One crucial element of Branding that small businesses have but don’t use adequately is creating engaging experiences aka, Customer Service or Customer Experience. When you have 10 customers, you should be able to make these 10 customers feel like kings - make them 6 | T HRIV E feel like royalty. Small Businesses have a tendency to shrug off their small-paying customers. You are very nimble, very flexible when you are small which gives you the opportunity to do the amazing for your customers, who will, in turn, recommend you. Merchandise is also an element of Branding that you should leverage on - T-shirts, Prints, etc. Aspect(s) of Product Design to inculcate in Brand Design. At the core of Design is the need to communicate with your stakeholders. As a Product Designer, I’d recommend that you put your customers first when designing your Brand. This is a very vital aspect of Product design that Brand design needs to adopt. From service delivery, packaging and every other thing that makes up your brand, you want to get your customer involved, you want to input their feedback into your brand and plow it into the iterative process. My DIY Brand Design toolbox to SMEs. Keynote/Powerpoint - a powerful tool for presentation, animations, effects. Canva - a great tool filled with templates for designing anything. Printivo - awesome for all your printing needs, giving you a great mix of design and print solutions. Paper by Dropbox/Notion - amazing for collaborations Wetransfer - to send large files to anyone in any part of the world. Favorite Branding/Product design examples SMEs can emulate. Paystack Paystack has one of the most exciting brand journeys, which they don’t hesitate to share with their customers who have become huge fans. They have a well-designed product. Hingees Hingees should be what any SME styles their branding after. Very minimal and very focused, ignoring all the noise and focusing on the quality of their service. Nothing on Hingees is accidental, there is no part of the brand that is not well thought out. Every time you buy from Hingees, there is a handwritten thank you note, a postcard that comes with it, well-crafted packaging, and a couple of stickers. You get the sense that you are being treated like royalty. One more thing I’m a fan of Bruce Lee - one of the greatest Martial Artist that ever walked the surface of the earth. In the words of Bruce Lee “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” Why I find this exciting is because in Digital Product we reiterate the need for responsive design - your design should be able to work on the mobile, tablet, and desktop seamless. And I’m amazed at the fact that Bruce Lee got it. I think the same principle should apply to brands in terms of putting the customer first. Sometimes the customer comes to you with ridiculous requests. You shouldn’t be rigid in your service or service delivery, find new ways to bring fulfillment to your customers or risk losing a percentage of your market because you refuse to be flexible. There is a level of flexibility that small businesses need to apply because they are nimble. So take up Bruce Lee’s advice “Be like water” Ayomidotun Freeborn, Product Designer 10 years+ experience designing for print, web, and digital platforms. Founder of Mainland Book Cafe. THRIVE | 7 Communications isn’t a Luxury M any businesses, not just small businesses, think of Communications as a luxury, something to do when they become ‘big’. 5-7 years down the line, a company is fully formed yet has no communications professional amongst its staff. Without looking too deep into the company structure or staff list, you would know there is a communications gap: badly written and sadly outdated website content, glossy company profiles lacking substance, identifiable absence of a clear content strategy, haphazard public and media relations where there is no policy around who should act as the official spokesperson of the organisation, business owners jumping from one interview to another event without clear business objectives. All these and much more are the responsibilities of a communications professional – whether as in-house staff or as a consultant to the business. Every engagement with the stakeholders of a business, including employees, must be carefully planned with an end-to-end strategy that ensures that the business and its stakeholders get the most out of such engagements. 8 | T HRIV E My PR Tool Kit for SMEs Social media – choose specific ones that best appeals to your target audience. Founder’s personal brand – especially for service-based SMEs. Press release Optimised and constantly updated website + blog. Youtube – for lifestyle businesses. Tools to measure return on investment and return on engagement, at least. Elevator pitch, company profile, founder’s personal profile, business cards. My favourite PR examples 1. The feature of select female digital entrepreneurs by The Spark? That was a brilliant PR strategy for the women because it helped to move their business from digital-only to a bigger market audience – those who were offline. It also gave them added credibility to be featured by such a prestigious media outlet. 2. Practically all events planned around International Women’s Day, Breast Feeding Week, Customer Service Week are all geared towards endearing the public to the organising company. Think back to any event you heard of or attending during any of these annual celebrations – they are all public relations strategies to gain the public’s trust and loyalty. Without mentioning specific brand names, think of the following: A brand that signs on a new brand ambassador or secures an endorsement deal; A business that organises a free event particularly targeted at the target audience; A company that announces that it just raised funds, or now has X number of users/customers; A business that commissions research into an area of study which relates to their services or brand values: All these are examples of public relations activities that endears that business to its various stakeholders. One more thing. An individual is a brand too. Manage yourself as a business would – determine your mission and vision, personal brand values, and the perception you would like people to have of you. Ensure that this is consistent with who you really are. Then put all that together and let it form the bedrock of your content strategy as you engage the world through digital platforms. Tolulope Olorundero, Founder - Mosron Communications x Nigerian Women in Public Relations THRIVE | 9 Make your business a live, active story. A part from the massive gain that accrues from engaging with your audience/market from the start, no matter how small it is. Great communication also helps you look back and see your journey, milestones, and mistakes. You can write your business’ memoir looking forward if you prioritize communications, especially within the organization. There is no such thing as over-communication within a company, but 95% of the businesses I have worked with have a communication issue. Sometimes the vision stays in the founder’s head and he doesn’t communicate it often to the team. This leads to lower motivation in the team, loss of interest in the work, gaps in the business strategy and office politics. Communication should not only targeted at external stakeholders but internal ones too. You can use it to build an army of business zealots or ignore it and have staff who are only there to collect salaries. Seriously, SMEs should start PR in their businesses as early as they can. Note that I didn’t say hire a PR firm in the early days. They should document their growth, their wins, milestones, activities, lessons as they happen and share them with the world in a consistent, transparent and engaging way. If you can make your business become a live story, you may never have to pay a dime for PR. 10 | T HRIV E My Mini PR-toolbox for SMEs This should contain: An email list of local bloggers and publishers in your niche. 3-10 is a great range and shouldn’t take too long to compile. A quick search on Twitter or LinkedIn should suffice. As an SME you may have to handle PR yourself in the beginning, so compiling that list is crucial. You have a 50% chance of the writers/journalists emailing you back if your Press Release is relevant, fresh and engaging. Guest blogging and contributing to key publishers in your niche is another way to “PR” your company for free. Make it your goal to write for global publications like INC, Entrepreneur, etc. Don’t just publish on Medium and leave them there. Social Media - You don’t have to do all platforms, although it doesn’t hurt to secure your name on all platforms. Your social media channels should be a realtime update of your company’s activities - your stakeholders should are aware of the milestones in your company. My favourite PR example. Paystack’s article about putting up a billboard in Lagos with all the details and process + cost for the first time especially as a Startup. This example is more of content marketing but in this age, there is a convergence between PR and Content Marketing. One more thing. Learn to take it easy, forgive yourself for your mistakes quickly and build momentum. Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself so that you don’t burn out. Determine early if you are a Startup (built for speed and scale) or a Business (built for longevity and consistent revenue). This helps you know who not to compare yourself with. Take breaks often, but not for too long because you have to rebuild your strength every time you lose momentum. Kelechi Udoagwu, Entrepreneur and Communications consultant. Managing Director at FullCognition Services Ltd, the consulting firm behind weekofsaturdays.com. THRIVE | 11 Whether you like it or not, branding is everything. Y ou see, people make this mistake where they really don’t bother about branding because they see their business as a “small” business. The truth is that is there’s nothing like small businesses. A business is a business and to grow your business, you need branding, you need to package your business in a way that it speaks for itself. Your business is a brand and you have don’t have to break the bank to be packaged(branded) well. I don’t mean just a fun logo or flash business cards. It is beyond that. Branding your business increases your value and gives direction. I’ve been to stores where I bought things because they were really good looking and branded. Branding doesn’t have to be complicated to be understood. Branding improves recognition. Branding also helps to support your marketing effort. Branding is as important as the business you are building. Branding mini-toolbox for SMEs This really depends, a lot could be in this box but for a start, you need: Logo Stationery – Business cards, Letterhead, envelopes Digital Letterhead Social Media Designs My favourite branding examples. Fintech businesses in Nigeria. They are doing so well with branding. 12 | T HRIV E One more thing Whether you like it or not, branding is everything. Customer service is very important, CS is as important as every other thing in the business. And when you promise a client or a customer a specific time for service delivery, make sure you meet up. If you think that time won’t be feasible, communicate before the delivery time. These things are very important. Offer after service support too as well. Uche Ugo, Brand, Tech & digital entrepreneur, personal brand coach. Noella Ekezie THRIVE | 13 E verything about Noella Ekezie leaves an imprint on your mind. Her ideas. Her aura. Her work. All rallying to show you she vibrates on a frequency that makes her unforgettable, which is why her title as the Brand Boss is well-suited to her. She has spent years crafting Brands from the ground up and helping to reshape some of the brands we know today. Noella Ekezie is a design leader and founder at Ellae (www.ellaecreative.com), an awardwinning integrated creative, brand, digital and marketing communications agency in Lagos, Nigeria. She has executed groundbreaking projects for both Fortune 500 companies and challenger brands including organizations such as the USAID, BASF Germany, the Nike Foundation, Google Inc, Exxon Mobil, Citi Bank, Cognizant, Union Bank, Sterling Bank, Keystone Bank, Paga, and many others. The first thing you notice about her work is how impactful it is. She has received global recognition and awards for her work, including Gold and Silver awards at the 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions of the annual Transform Brand Awards Middle East and North Africa (MENA) held in Dubai, UAE. She has been listed as one of Nigeria’s Most Inspirational Women by The Guardian. You studied as an Engineer and found your way into Branding, Design, and PR. Tell us about the flow of your career and how your background in Engineering has influenced your work. I graduated with a B.Sc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and then schooled at the Parsons School of Design, New York. I also recently attended an Executive Education program in Strategic Marketing Management at the Harvard Business School. I have always been passionate about Design right from high school and was able to develop my skillset during my program at Parsons. My Engineering background also provided me great analytical and problem-solving skills which have helped me build a successful career in the industry. 14 | T HRIV E What was it about Branding and PR that made you stick with it? My specialization in Branding and PR was influenced by a brief stint working at a Branding Consultancy at the start of my career. At the Consultancy, I was for the first time introduced to the world of Branding and PR, which made me realize that this was the line of work that interested me the most. Subsequently, I went ahead to establish my agency Ellae to further this career path. Branding has a tendency to be misconstrued and misunderstood. What are some of the misconceptions that you’ve noticed about Branding that has pervaded the industry and hearts of businesses? There are so misconceptions about branding ranging from branding being only about visuals to it being a very expensive process. However, the most dangerous misconception is thinking that Branding is not necessary. Businesses need to realize that people tend to rely on emotions rather than logic when making buying decisions, and this is where branding your company can set you apart. If your branding evokes a positive emotional response in consumers’ minds, it can mean the difference between a sale or a consumer who walks away. So, what first steps in branding would you give a Small Business? What elements must come together for Small Business DIYing their branding? Small business owners need to, first of all, look deeper and define their company’s purpose, the benefits of their products or services, and the qualities they would like associated with their company. Once defined, these are critical to establishing the brand values and brand strategy, which drive the development of the brand’s visual identity and helps create experiences that build trust with their customers. Branding and PR are a never-ending dual combo in the journey of a business. What are the telltale signs that a business is on the right path in their Branding-PR journey? As a business owner, what advice would you give to someone growing their business and perhaps, struggling to navigate the complexities of business building in Nigeria? Consistency, Brand Loyalty and Internal Engagement are all key markers of BrandingPR success. A company whose appearance/ messaging is cohesive and relevant to the brand’s purpose, whose employees are living and breathing the company’s brand, and whose customers have turned into brand ambassadors, is definitely on the right path in their Branding-PR journey. Being a business owner in Nigeria is a high-risk, high-reward position. We have all heard the saying; “You can do anything if you set your mind to it.” For Nigerian business owners, this adage couldn’t be truer. You will need to stay focused, stay patient and be ready to learn, unlearn and relearn. Tell us about your favorite resources, plus branding and PR tools. Books: Purple Cow by Seth Godin, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by David Meerman Scott, The Little Book of Big PR by Jennefer Witter Blogs: Brand New (UnderConsideration), The Future Buzz THRIVE | 15 Nneka Tomilola Adesanya N neka Tomilola Adesanya is the most engaging and spirited human you can meet, and she brings her enthusiasm into her business. In a world that tells you to have all the best-laid plans before launching out, Nneka balances passionate ‘winging it’ with a strategic eye for meeting consumers’ needs. 16 | T HRIV E Start with what you have I like to say that I’m the Souper woman of Souper-dishes. Souper-dishes is a homemade Nigerian food business that connects busy moms, upwardly mobile professionals, individuals, and corporate organizations to enriching food memories while we define your taste experience regardless of where you are. Every year during my birthday I always ask God “what’s next, Father what are you saying?” I remember that particular year, all I heard was “it is time to own your own”, and I’m like, ‘own your own from where to where’? Around that time I had started making breakfast to work. I would make pancakes on some days and take yam & eggs on other days and my colleagues at the time would say, “oh this tastes really nice, don’t you want to start something with it or don’t you want to build a business?” At the time, I didn’t know anything about running a business. I didn’t even think I could go into business. My response to them usually was “okay, I’ve heard, I’ll make for you the next day”. And that was how I started. Define Your Business’ Edge What makes souper dishes unique is how we can infuse flavors into every Nigerian dish. We care about the food that we are serving you, we care about your specifications the type of taste that you’re going for. And I think what makes us different is also consistency. Cos you know, it’s so easy to cook a particular type of food and you’re not consistent with it. One of our core values is consistency. Consistency in how the food taste, consistency in our packaging, consistency in how we communicate with our customers and consistency in how we portray ourselves as a brand. We also make our customers feel special by going the extra mile to remember their birthdays. I tell my staff this - “customers can’t really see what you’re doing but they trust us enough to give us their money to cook for them and to ensure their families are well fed. So, whatever you can’t eat or how you would not like to be served don’t serve a customer that way”. I try to get a lot more personal with customers, the few that I know are pregnant or the few that I know have birthdays, I tell my staff to just check on them. Sometimes customers want to know that you are also interested in their families. I want to care about them. We show that we care about them beyond the money that they give us, we want them to know that we care. I think, that in itself makes our customers feel special, that they know that we care. Brand and Promote Your Business Branding and promoting the business is at the core of how we run Souper-dishes. I had used different brands at different points until I came across Printivo. Now I use Printivo products with pride - stickers, our business cards. We are making nylon bags now. We’re also making banners, I mean we want to blow full with Souper dishes and we want everybody to hear about it so, we are making flyers as well. Printivo is making our banners that we are going to hang around in several places in our area. I remember the day Printivo delivered cards to us and upon opening it the package of the business card had, ‘may your cards open doors for you’ and that triggered a prayer line for me that very day. And the moment I opened them, I said yes indeed these cards will open door. That in itself is an experience. Everybody who has seen our bowls and our stickers loved them. One advice to businesses Keep making progress wherever you find yourself. As I said earlier it’s progress and not perfection and another thing that keeps me going is, sometimes you don’t have to overthink it. If you feel the need to start a business and you’re very convinced and you have your facts right my darling don’t overthink it, just start already and just do what you have to do while there is still time. THRIVE | 17 Getting a Year’s Worth of Ad Space in the Customer’s Mind 18 | T HRIV E C alendars used to reserve the sole responsibility of telling us what day it is, and in what month of the year you are located in time. This was before the digital atmosphere took charge and rendered that aspect of the calendar a secondary feature. Now Calendars serve a double and sometimes triple purpose - A quick guide to dates, a robust aesthetic function and a sales/product material. Think about the Calendar sitting pretty on your desk, every time you get to your table you admire the colors, the photos and the beauty of it being an ornament at your work station. The calendar hanging on your wall, you subconsciously check it out now and then, mapping out all the instances, plans and generally turning it into presentation slide in your home or space. Any product or service that is at the fore of these calendars automatically gets the front-row seat in the mind of that customer or prospect whose desk, space, workstation or home is the recipient of this calendar throughout the year. Imagine that it’s your company, product, and service that’s at the front row seat in the customer’s mind. Creating Calendars for your company is like getting a year’s worth of Ad Space in the mind of the customer. THRIVE | 19 Thrive by Printivo Event Recap: (A Summary With Pictures, Key Takeaways From The Event e.g 10 Ways To Hack Your Branding/PR) 20 | T HRIV E W hen the terms ‘Brand’ and ‘Branding’ were first coined in history, there was no idea what it would evolve into centuries later. Beyond the rhetorics, hot debates and imaginaries of what Branding is is the context of how it is discussed and addressed. For a Small Business, Branding is contextualized differently from a large corporation or an individual. The context of Branding for a Small Business was the order of the day at Printivo’s Thrive Event & Masterclass in October. And everything about the event was crafted to accentuate the theme of the event. Starting with a cozy welcome media session, a mini-photo shoot for guests and participants, to the opening of the Masterclass itself, the theme was reinforced in subtle ways. The Masterclass itself started with an introduction to Thrive as a Concept at Printivo, and the focus on helping Small Businesses thrive. When Noella Ekezie, the Brand Boss Lady took her seat to teach, we were all eager to glean and learn from her years of experience. She started with a Q&A on what Branding means, the telltale signs of a successful brand, why branding is crucial, the psychological benefits of creating a successful brand to business, plus the tangible rewards that accrue from having a great brand. She proceeded to explain the steps to take in branding your business and then how to position your brand in order to achieve your set goal(s) for the business. THRIVE | 2 1 22 | T HRIV E Noella Ekezie mixed the serious atmosphere of Masterclass with two very interesting and fun things: DIY Challenge and Big Brand Role Play. You should also practice them on your brand: What happens after you’ve deciphered what your brand really stands for and figured out your branding? You promote your brand and embark on a Brand Communications Campaign. The Big Brand Role Play Think of a famous brand you admire, preferably outside your company’s industry. It could be a celebrity, sports franchise, smartphone, anything. each person takes turns sharing why they chose their brand. Now imagine that famous brand took over your company - write down at least 3 changes your favorite brand might make. For example, Apple might revamp your packaging, Google might simplify your product’s user experience, and Zappos might inject some fun into your customer support experience. This exercise helps you: consider new ways to create brand experiences for your customers, by taking inspiration from the big boys. To plan your campaign, these are the things you need to do: Quantify Your Goals Generate Campaign Ideas And Strategies Target Your Audience Deliver One Or Two Key Messages And Your Call-To-Action Create Your Budget And Estimate Your Return On Investment Plan Your Fulfillment Plan To Measure Continually Test And Improve The DIY Challenge Develop a brand essence, promise, and personality Brand ESSENCE: [Adjecitve] [adjective] [noun] (the “heart and soul” of the brand, its timeless quality, its DNA) BRAND PROMISE: Brand Promise = We Promise to Verb (How) + Target (Who) + Outcome (What) BRAND PERSONALITY: illustrates what the brand should be known for within and outside the organisation. Personality traits used to define your brand 4-7 adjectives. And on that note, the Masterclass went into a full-on Q&A mode, with business owners asking questions specific to their needs in Branding and Communications. The event was a cocktail of small business clinic, masterclass, a convergence of business minds, with a side of Lagos reality and entertainment. Over to you! We’d like you to take 20-40 minutes today to take up the challenge and role play. Then share your findings for your business with us on Twitter - @printivo (so that our 10k+ followers can get to know what your business is about). THRIVE | 23 BACK COVER