In 1967, a Nigerian Army Lt. Colonel from the Eastern Region of the country named Emeka Ojukwu declared an Independent state he christened Republic of Biafra. Another Lt Colonel of the Nigerian Army named Yakubu Gowon, leading the Nigerian state as Head of Government, declared a “police action” that eventually led to what is known today as The Biafra Civil War.
The war was fought mostly in the Eastern part of the Country leaving about 3 million people dead. Though the war ended in 1970, the story has become part of a country with a population of about 200 million people and an injured nation within the country with a population of about 30 million people scattered across the country, with a home base in the Eastern part of Nigeria.
May 30 is the “official” day that the people of the Eastern part of Nigeria regard as THE BIAFRA HERO’S DAY.
I have no doubt that a whole lot of Hero Lager Beer will always go down on this day in Onitsha, one of the cities that experienced the deadly Biafra War , as the people observe the day.
I wouldn’t like to needlessly bother us on the details of what led to the war, as the focus is more on learning the power of Stories in Brand positioning and connecting with an identified target audience in marketing.
When the Hero larger Beer was going to be launched, the big major brands like Nigerian Breweries and Guinness Nigeria were practically taken unawares.
Whilst they were sleeping and enjoying their leadership position, some smart businessmen and women, looked at how to position their product for great acceptance and patronage. Even though Lagos was the most populated city in Nigeria and commercial nerve centre of the world’s focus in Africa, they identified one of the biggest region in beer consumption, their peculiarities and history, then positioned their beer brand to meet their aspiration and yearnings.
Needless to say, that the beer became the most successful brand in the region in such a short period. How did they do it? You are right: Through the Power of Story Branding.
Whether you run a huge corporation, an SME or a political brand, nothing will give you greater mileage than connecting your brand to the psychographics and demographics of your target audience using the unbeatable power of stories.
You see, Story is a formula but unfortunately, many do not see it that way. If you get your story branding strategy right, you will spend less and get more from your marketing investments. More so, nothing can get the attention of a person than a great story. If stories get attention, how much more will we achieve when we turn the customer journey to happiness into a story by presenting our brand as the guide and the customer the hero?
Here are critical steps to positioning your brand:
- Know Your Target Audience
- Identify with their Aspiration
- Brand to Connect Emotionally (Visually and experientially)
- Know their Problem
- Solve it. Period.
Never in the history of Marketing in Nigeria has a marketing activity connected so well with a people using the peculiarity of their story. The Hero Lager Beer brand created its icon from the defunct Biafran Flag directly connecting to the people who share in that story.
The brand spoke the people’s language and ensured it was domiciled at the centre of their being. Before you know it, it was “exporting” to every other part of the country where Igbos were resident and even eating into the market share of other leading brands.
The big brands responded with products like Life Lager beer and this heralded the first major war in Africa’s largest multi-billion-dollar beer market. Story branding can give your marketing an edge but be prepared for war when you take food away from the mouth of the big giants.
Hero Beer brand got great attention and patronage. You too can do the same for your Small Business. If you would like to discuss how to take your brand to a position where you achieve more with less, please reach out to me via whatsapp on 08026221202 and lets help you create clarity based on over 2000 years old story branding secrets.
Thank you for reading.
Ayo Moses Ogedengbe is the Senior Strategist at CLAD Projects. He is a Story Brand strategist and a Brand Storyteller with a mission to help Brands gain TOP-OF-THE-MIND attention in the market place so that their customers can feel understood and buy with ease. He Co-Founded Nigerian Brands Carnival before moving on to set up a storytelling festival for Nigerian brands known as The Lagos Brands Festival. You can follow him on Instagram @ayoozovehe
