Benedicta Bassey, writes that organisations can stay profitable amidst harsh economic downturn, by adopting counter-intuitive marketing communications activities. 

I am particularly troubled by the decline in the performance of businesses in Nigeria. Some of the current problems with Nigeria's business environment lie in the fact that too many companies since the late 1990s have shown little or no organic growth, masking their problems with mergers and acquisitions, downsizing and reengineering but failing to see marketing as the engine that drives growth.

Considered from another perspective, the 1990s were also the best of times and a period of robust economic growth with thousands of new businesses creating hundreds of thousands of millions of new jobs. A time of low interest rates, virtually non-existent inflation, a booming stock market and at the close of the decade spring-rising corporate profits.

 Presently, we are at a period where thousands of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs)are worse hit by the current economic instabilities.
, Workers are on the brink of despair and many great brands are off the shelves or and folded up.

The question now is how are  businesses traditionally respond to sluggish growth and declining profits.? 

Some are blaming the tough operating business environment; downsizing the workforce or merger and acquisitions. 

It doesn’t make any difference. For the most part, many companies that share a common failure do not know how to market their product and services profitably because there is a yawning gap between promise and performance.

Mr Samuel Arowosafe, an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a certified SCRUM master and IT specialist,  explained that many businesses failed due to their inability to strategically adopt the marketing tools to promote their business and boost brand equity.

He said, “I use marketing communications tools - advertising, direct marketing, branding, PR activities among others, to help organisations achieve their business goals. In my current capacity, I build unique products to tell compelling impact stories about my organisation particularly that which bring to the fore its activities aimed at transforming the lives of young Nigerians. 

In the same vein, I contribute significantly to fund rising activities in organisations adopting various communication tools with different categories of stakeholders, both internal and external to boost company profitability.”

Why Marketing Communications for organisation profitability

The concept of marketing communications activities will continue to gain credence according to Arowosafe.

He explained that it aids a mutually beneficial relationship between an organization and its public, increases brand equity and loyalty shapes brand perception and to a very large extent influences brand reputation, adding that “All these contributes to how a brand is perceived. These benefits cannot be overestimated. It increases goodwill and investment in goodwill can never go wrong.”

Interested prospects/requirements

The journalist cum marketing communication expert who had been in the business for a long time said that the business/job is open for any interested person male or female and it required the right exposure and knowledge about the skills and constant practice, a certification of effective writing and communication, marketing knowledge; with these, he noted that “You are on a journey to success in this field.”

He added, “Your writing skills should be top-notch, with vast knowledge about both traditional and digital media, a proper understanding of the 4Ps of marketing (Pricing, Products, Promotion and the place) among others. Joining professional bodies too such as NIMN or CIM will expose one to the latest trends within the industry.”

Profit Ratio

Since no business is out to fail but to make a profit, a marketing job also comes with its profit, having the right strategy and implementation tactics. Investment in goodwill brings immense returns, the marketing expert said, noting that, “the job of the marketing communications expert is to make good investment possible through strategic means. Therefore, I can say my job is highly profitable and also interesting.”  

Speaking on the profitability of the job in line with organisation growth and development, he said, “One of the core issues that has been associated with marketing communications is the inability to tie spend to the bottom line and measure it in naira and kobo. But I can confidently tell you that through various means marketing communications generate huge revenue for organisation growth and development on a large scale.

“One way to attain brand equity is through organised and planned marketing communications activities. Brand equity is about social value, it’s the love in the name and not really about the product or service. This is crucial to the success of any business. Why should one then say that investing in marketing communications is not needed?

For the development sector, I operate now, investing in marketing communications positions the organisation for funding and increasing visibility. When you use proper communication strategy, it will place you before the right prospects and even away from attracting partners, it’s also a critical tool to retain existing partners,” he added.

Profitability and sustainability

“Marketing communications is found in nearly all sectors; Yes, it is both profitable and sustainable. Although some change the name, why some see it as corporate communications, others marketing and corporate communications, public relations unit, it depends on the functionality. 

"Once an organization deals with the public then marketing communications is needed and every job skill especially, this field as it deals with creative brainstorming and strategic position and implementation, the pay or take home is using mouth-watering.”

Opportunities in the business to leverage

While many are grappling with what to do to make money and be financially dependent, with the advent of technology, several opportunities have opened in the marketing communications space.

The communication expert said, “Now we are talking about SEO (Search engine optimization) for reputation management, we are talking of data marketing, AI marketing among others. The influence of digitization is enormous on all sectors and marketing communications is not left out. The onus is now on the practitioner to carve a niche for him/herself within the space.

“The current job/ skills opportunities that people can leverage are about going digitally.

"Digital is the way to go. Learn digital skills as much as you can. It’s a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world, and these skills will come in handy. Soft skills too are very crucial to survival. Talking of critical thinking, collaboration, and interpersonal skills; these skills are as important as the technical skills needed. The technical skills will get you the job, the soft skills will help you not only to survive but thrive.”

Lonely challenges

One of the major challenges in this business is a paucity of funds to carry out marketing communications activities. Arowosafe explained that “looking at the peculiarity of the sector, there is little or no budget for marketing communications and in some organisations, once there is a little recession, the first ‘victim’ is the marketing budget.

Management cuts marketing budgets which in turn affects the quality of output at the end of the day. One reason for this cut is the inability to directly tie marketing communications activities to profit and measure the ROI in numbers. This is a challenge in itself.

“During the pandemic, one of the last things that organisations want to spend on is marketing; every organization is thinking of survival. However, investing in marketing communications brings great rewards. Though you might not be able to measure it in naira and kobo investment in goodwill can never go wrong or too much.

“In addition, media is a critical driver for marketing communications activities and the media landscape in Nigeria is built around money. That is to say, if you have a little war chest, you can’t push your course. This is another challenge.”

He, therefore,  advised the government to create an enabling environment for marketing communication business to thrive, stressing that the least to be worried about is power not being stable. Having just power stability alone will have a ripple effect on every sector. Therefore, an enabling environment is key for businesses to strive.

Therefore, with the right marketing communication strategy, businesses will thrive as organisation marketing experts create creative strategies directed toward profitable market targets with powerful positioning, memorable and quality products, sensible pricing, and cost-efficient levels of customer service.