Cadbury Nigeria, a part of Mondelz International, and producers of the iconic Bournvita, a cocoa beverage drink, has rewarded the top three winning schools in the second edition of the Bourn Factor School Talent Hunt Competition, which took place nationwide in 2020.
The winners were unveiled at a media parley held at the company’s head office in Lagos, recently.
Divine Promotion Nursery and Primary School in Ile-Ife, Osun State, won the grand prize of N3 million.
Success Foundation Academy in Abeokuta, Ogun State, which came second, won N2 million, while Potter and Clay Schools in Ilesha, Osun State, in the third position, won N1 million.
During the prize presentation, Mrs. Oyeyimika Adeboye, managing director, Cadbury Nigeria, said one of the company’s values is to “love our consumers and our brands,” adding that the organisation has continued to seek numerous ways to demonstrate this.
“The BournFactor initiative was launched in 2019 to enable children from different primary schools across the country showcase their talents, compete, and win prizes for their schools, while raising money towards a social cause,” she said.
Mrs. Adeboye added that the initiative was in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that seek to build sustainable communities. “Last year, we worked with the first prize winner to set up an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facility for their school.”
“We helped the second prize winner to renovate their school premises and worked with the third winning school to set up a playground and a borehole. This year, we will partner with all the three wining schools to achieve their goals, adding that “We will also donate products to orphanages chosen by the winning schools. This will inculcate in the children, the habit of selfless giving.”
Mrs. Adeboye thanked all the schools that participated in the competition and noted that the winners represent millions of talented Nigerian children. She enjoined teachers and parents to continue to support Nigerian children in nurturing their talents and building their dreams.
Earlier in his remarks, Tolu Olaoye, the Innovations Manager, Cadbury West Africa, expressed delight with the level of participation of the schools, despite the irregularities in school calendars, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This, for us, is the kind of resilience we are seeking to achieve, teaching the younger ones how to persevere,” he said.
According to the statement, which was issued by Frederick Mordi, the Company’s Corporate Communications and Government Affairs Manager for West Africa, the competition is one of the several brand touch points that Bournvita is using to connect with children across the country.
CMC Connect BCW out with crisis management service for businesses
The unprecedented global health crisis has thrown up the need for businesses to have a crisis management plan as revealed in a research by leading public relations firm, CMC Connect BCW, a member of the CMC Connect Group and an affiliate of Burson Cohn & Wolfe global communications agency. The research reported that between Q2 & Q3 2020, 27% of businesses in Nigeria suffered a major impact from the coronavirus pandemic, with only 9.9% of the respondents having a crisis management plan in place while 59% never had a crisis management plan before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The research was conducted to measure the Relevance of Crisis Communication on Businesses in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Health Crisis by the communications company and to announce its new service offering: Crisis & Issues Management Specialized Servicetomedia correspondents in Lagos.
According to CMC Connect BCW, the research was carried out on over 200 business owners and employees and further revealed that 78% of respondents agreed that the existence of a crisis management plan was important in inspiring confidence in organizational leadership.
The insights gathered from this research confirmed the gap in strategic crisis management for businesses which the company hopes to fill with its specialized service. The Crisis and Issues Management service is a specialized portfolio that provides a strategic roadmap for crisis, employing a 3-step approach – Prepare, Manage, Recover to guarantees business sustainability and continuity in spite of a crisis.
The Group Managing Director, CMC Connect (Perception Managers), Mr. Yomi-Badejo-Okusanya, said “When a crisis occurs, there is a breakdown of trust between the organization and its stakeholders. Trust is a currency on which stakeholders trade, and it defines their loyalty and goodwill. Once this is disrupted, the organization is on its way down.”
“However, crisis preparedness presents an opportunity to rebuild trust and gain customer loyalty. Many organizations that have bounced back from major crisis to dominate the industry.”
Brands must own customer data to survive without cookies, says Elo Umeh
The CEO of Terragon, Mr. Elo Umeh, has explained the critical role ownership of customers’ first-party data plays to brands, and the exponential value they add in online advertising.
Umeh, who explained this during a recent chat with MarketingMatters in his office, stated that: “First party customer data is the most valuable data businesses own and is the starting point for any form of customer engagement.
“Now, more than ever, the need for businesses to own and manage first-party data could be the difference between staying in business or going under. Customer behaviour is dynamic and ever-changing as well as the landscape within which they operate (for instance the impact of COVID-19). The first step towards understanding and responding to customer needs is through data – to prevent churn and increase lifetime value.”
First-party data refers to information Brands collects directly from their customers or audiences, from various touchpoints such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, actions or interests demonstrated across websites or apps, customer feedback, completed customer surveys, forms, etc. First-party data is usually consented to and so privacy concerns surrounding it is minimal.
Speaking on how some forward-thinking Brands are taking advantage of first-party data, the Chief Executive Officer of Terragon said, “Our Customer Data Platform (CDP) was used by a top global FMCG Brand in Nigeria to surpass their target of building a verified database of their customers with 1 million first-party data. Owing to the success of the previous target, the brand is currently in discussion with us to grow that database to 4 million this year.”
He added, “A number of Top Tier banks have also been using our CDP to enrich their first-party database for various levels of customer engagement including cross-selling and upselling their products and they have reported an improvement in returns on their Ad spend.”
Over the years customer journey has become a multi-platform and multi-device, such that their footprint goes across various touchpoints including desktops, mobile phones, TVs, apps, watches and lots more – thereby creating the need for Advertisers to have a unified view of each customer. With the help of a number of tracking methods – including the use of third-party cookies, advertisers have been able to collect data and follow customer journeys and tailor ads to suit their preference and interests. However, with customers’ increased attention to data privacy, stricter regulations to enforce compliance and phasing out third-party cookies especially by Google Chrome, which tracks over 60% of Internet users, the ability to track customers and serve personalized Ads this same way is significantly threatened.
Unilever Nigeria discloses plan to separate tea segment into distinct legal entity
Leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, Unilever, has revealed its plans to convert its tea business to a separate legal entity in line with the company’s global strategic review.
In a published statement signed by the company’s secretary, Mrs. Abidemi Ademola, general counsel and company secretary, Unilever Nigeria announced: “Further to the announcement made on 5th August, 2020 about Unilever’s global announcement on the Strategic Review and planned separation of its Tea business, this is to notify The Nigerian Stock Exchange and our esteemed shareholders of the plan to separate the Unilever Nigeria Plc tea business into a separate legal entity.”
“The planned separation will go through the normal approval process and is expected to be concluded by the end of 2021. We shall keep the Nigerian Stock Exchange and stakeholders informed of subsequent developments on this matter,” the statement concluded.
In 2020, Unilever global headquarters announced a strategic review of the global tea business which includes leading brands such as Lipton, Brooke Bond and PG Tip.
The review, according to Unilever, has prompted the decision to retain the tea businesses in India and Indonesia, as well as the partnership interests in the ready-to drink joint venture, while noting that the tea business potential can best be achieved as a separate entity.