Mouka Nigeria Limited recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the Nigeria Association of Orthopedic Manual Therapists(NAOMT). The company’s Managing /Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Raymond Murphy, in this interview with AKIN ADEWAKUN, explains the rationale behind the partnership, insisting that one of such is the imperative to enlighten Nigerians on the need to know the right orthopedic mattress that best suits their sleep. Excerpts:
WHAT is the significance of the MoU that the company has just signed with the Nigeria Association of Orthopedic Manual Therapists?
I think the significance of the event is about Mouka, as a company, developing a new range of orthopedic matress products. This has been in development for the past few years. We’ve been looking to partnering with specialists; specialists in the mould of the Nigeria Association of Orthopedic Manual Therapists, so that we can fully develop a product which is endorsed; so that when people are buying the product, they know that they are buying the best locally- available orthopedic product to address their sleep need. For me, that’s really the significance of today’s event and the partnership we are entering into with the association.
What does the partnership entails?
The partnership comes in different ways. The association has been engaged in inspecting our facilities, that is our manufacturing facilities, to make sure that the facilities are of world class standard; to make sure that the claims that we make for the Mouka orthopedic or semi orthopedic well-being products are substantiated, and not just a loose marketing claims. To make sure that those claims really get that professional recommendation, and it is, and also to work together to see what further developments we can bring forth in future. That, really to me, is the strength of the partnership. It is about how we can technically develop products together to meet the orthopedic needs of the Nigerian consumer.
Does it mean your orthopedic products will be bearing the association’s stamp, besides your brand name?
Yes. That’s an important part. Our manufacturing facilities have been inspected, and the association is happy to endorse the Mouka range of well-being products. With that, it simply means that we can use that badge of endorsement on the product, and on some of our marketing literature for the products.
But is it going to be only on orthopedic mattresses?
The focus is orthopedic and orthopedic range, and that is the area we’ve specifically been involved in the development. And so this is the scope, that is the orthopedic range.
One of the challenges facing this industry is the issue of counterfeiting, and I believe your products are not immune to this. What are you doing to checkmate that?
We have a nationwide distribution capability. We’ve got over 350 distributors around the country. We’ve got over 1,000 branded outlets. We have the technology, we’ve got the intelligence, to handle this, in case there is an incident of any copy product. I think that was an issue many years ago, within the mattress category in Nigeria, But Mouka and others worked hard to eliminate the whole threat of copy product. We regularly update the design of our products. So if anyone is going to copy, they have to keep changing to be able to copy, because we keep our product, more than fresh and relevant, in terms of the design. If you don’t change designs, if you leave something the same for ten years, it will be easy for people to copy. But we keep our products more than fresh and relevant, and we also have market intelligence, available to us and if we find anything like that, we take public action very quickly, to close down such activities.
Does this partnership have anything to do with your 60th anniversary celebrations?
Obviously, this year is a major milestone year for the company. This year, we are sixty years old in Nigeria. A company that started off in Kano, before the founding family finally moved to Lagos. The founding family has built a wonderful business over the last six decades and I think we can say the name, Mouka is a household name, when it comes to mattress production. Of course, we’ve conducted a market research, and we’ve gone to households in Nigeria and we ask the question, foam or mattress, and they instantly say Mouka. We’ve got 95 percent of instant recognition. So, 60 years is a major milestone for the company and we continue to grow from success to success and part of that is forming professional partnership with innovative authorities , like the partnership with the orthopedic association. We don’t stand still. As an organization, we continue to develop and move forward, and I think that has been part of the cornerstone for our success in the past six decades.
Manufacturers in the country have been groaning since the close of the nation’s land borders in the past few weeks, any grave implications for your business, I mean the closure?
No it doesn’t. You see, hundred percent of our sales on mattresses come from Nigeria. At this stage, we do not export around the region. I think some of our distributors, maybe selling in neighbouring countries, but it is not the fundamental of our business. So we remain unaffected by the border closure issues.
Who are target buyers for this orthopedic foams?
I think in any society, in any country, some people suffer from orthopedic problems. And if they are sleeping on a wrong mattress, the orthopedic problem can actually get worse. So what we’ve done in collaboration with our partners is to specifically design product to address the orthopedic needs of consumers. So we have two orthopedic mattress; one is semi orthopedic and the other one is the much harder orthopedic product. It is important that when people have orthopedic issue, they should sleep on the correct mattress. If they sleep on the wrong mattress, the problem could actually get worse, and that’s why I say we are partnering with our friends to make sure that we do the right thing in developing the right product, and they are happy to endorse the product because they will meet the needs of consumers.
Does one need a medical reference to buy the orthopedic mattress?
No it does not actually need a medical prescription to buy the product. But when a consumer who goes along to see a doctor, such consumer can be advised on what mattress to sleep on. So it’s not as if they need an endorsement paper to buy the product. Personally I prefer a much harder, semi orthopedic mattress, but I don’t have an orthopedic problem. But it’s a preference I have to have a mattress along those lines. So it doesn’t need endorsement. But the partnership with the association now would enable the association advise patients on the need to sleep on products which are best designed to meet their sleep needs.