A marketing practitioner, Mr Kachi Onubogu has urged brand custodians, especially chief finance officers to see marketing budget as an investment, and not mere spend, to be able to truly enhance the fortunes of their brands.
Making this contribution at a forum, tagged Chief Marketing and Communications Officers Forum (CMCO) and organised by the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN) in Lagos, the former Executive Director of Promasidor, stated that unless there is a change in mindset, investing in marketing would always constitute a challenge for any brand custodian.
He argued that many brand custodians are always reluctant to allocate a substantial amount as their marketing budget since they see such budgets as mere spends, whose return on investments can not be really quantified and justified.
“I think building brand equity is an investment. It is what you do over the years. And until there is a mindset shift and there is a fundamental understanding that spends are actually investments, we will continue to have question of marketing budget being subject to review from the finance department of any company.
“Marketing should be seen as an investment. It should be seen as a defence budget. Even if you see it as an investment that is not growing your business, you must see it as one that will not decline such investment,” he argued.
“The Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) have always looked at marketing budgets in different perspectives. The finance guy sees marketing budget as marketing spend and as such something that should be curtailed while the marketing officer sees the money spend as investment.
“The job of every marketer is to see that every money spend is regarded as an investment for the future; the marketers think of building the brand equity but unfortunately, it is not always seen that way by the finance department.
“From my experience as a marketer, no finance manager wants to spend money. But, until both see marketing budget as investment for the growth of their brand, this issue would always arise,” Onubogu stated.
He therefore called for synergy between the finance and marketing departments, since all of them work for the growth of the company.
Delivering a lecture on the theme: ‘Business Growth in A Volatile Economy,’ finance expert, Dr Doyin Salami expressed worry that only 12 per cent of Nigeria’s economic sectors are growing faster than the population.
He stated that while 10 per cent of the sectors are growing at par, with the population, the remaining 66 per cent’s growth is roughly below the population growth rate.
Salami, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Kainos Edge Consulting and a one-time member of the Central Bank of Nigeria Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), also disclosed that only 10 per cent of Nigerians at the top echelon of the society are the only group whose share of consumption grows, while the rest have been witnessing decline.
“These are the issues we must address as a nation if the economy must grow,” Doyin noted.
He also argued that companies desirous of growth in an economy as Nigeria’s should have a gradual understanding of the market.
“It is not that this economy does not provide opportunity; it does provide huge ones. But understanding the dynamics and capitalising on it is all it requires. And, only firms with foresight can seize the opportunities the down- economy of today presents to invest or build the brand for the future,” he stated.
He also charged companies on the need to properly engage industry regulators, while also stressing the importance of having a cordial relationship between the chief marketing officers and chief finance officers, to enhance the company’s growth.
Explaining the rationale behind the forum, ADVAN president, Folake Ani-Mummuney, that the forum was meant to provide the opportunity for critical stakeholders in marketing practice to share experiences.
“One of the things that emerged from the conversation is the need for us all to speak a common language with the leadership of the organisation as co-executives. We cannot be pulling in one direction when the bottom line is pulling in another direction,” she stated.
She added that members of the association would use the different experiences gathered at the forum to close any existing gap, within the practice.
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