The 2018 edition of the yearly USP Brand2Wealth Seminar for SMEs took place on Friday 5th, October 2018 at the Muson Centre, Lagos with more than 300 SMEs, positively impacted and empowered on value creation and building proudly Nigerian Brands.
The seminar which is targeted at Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) focused on building and sustaining brands as the theme for this year’s edition HOW TO CREATE A PROUDLY NIGERIAN BRANDS was carefully discussed by experts.
The special guest speaker, Mr Gbenga Badejo, a management and financial consultant and Founder/Managing Partner at GBC Consulting who talked on financial perspective of business said, SMEs rule the world. According to him, the greatest percentage of GDP of developed or developing countries come from SMEs and employments are created through it.
He added that for a business to survive, there is need for creating brand value which will position the brand over others. In his words, “no amount of PR/Advertising can sell a bad product if your product is not delivering the promise”
He however, advised SMEs owners to put in place the continuity and sustainability measure in their business. “For every business you have, you must have business continuity and disaster recovery planning”. He said most businesses failed because they lack sustainability measure which may result from poor financial records, lack of innovation and value, leadership failure and out of touch with consumers needs.
The keynote speaker, Dr.Ken Onyeali Ikpe, Group Chief Operating Officer of INSIGHT REDEFINI, said choosing a brand name is significant to brand success. He advised that brand name should appeal to global interest rather a particular sector while adding that building a proudly Nigerian SMEs brand should be business that command affinity to all Nigerians. “If you build a brand, you build a market and if you build a market, you build a business”. He said.
Speaking during his introductory speech, Muyiwa Kayode, CEO USP Brand Management said uniqueness is very important in any business as the world is filled with various business ideas especially in this technological era. He added that building a Nigerian brand is about ownership and not necessarily the manufacturing of the products because brand ownership is more valuable than manufacturing brands. He made example of the Nigerian jersey made by Nike which was accepted in the world as Nigerian brand.
He continued that Apple originated from America but manufactured and assembled in China. According to him, brand owners can get contractual manufacturer that will design based on specifications of the owners.
The event also featured an exhibition of proudly Nigerian goods and services while free health screening was provided by Zolon Healthcare Limited, a subsidiary of Emzor Pharmaceuticals.
Exhibitors at the event include; Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Bank of Industry, Diamond Bank, Zolon Healthcare Ltd, Teraworks, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Turtle Taido, Suave Gorgias, KSBC, Modaisies, Hipopodium and ToraKlassic.
The program was rounded off with a raffle draw where six participants won a Twenty thousand naira voucher each with other gift items.