TALKING POINT
Marketing Tips From The World Of Mosquitoes
By Boniface Ngahu
This column captures normal conversations in the market that reveal some ‘ out of the box ’ penetrating insights that should inform marketing practice , business and life in general .
Recently , I was in the midst of several marketing professionals in the presence of one professor who had taught the great majority of us in the university during our formative years . As the group grew bigger the fireside conversions took an interesting intellectual turn . As two people were being introduced to each other , they seemed to have met somewhere in the past but they seemed to take some time to remember where that happened .
The conversation was flowing smoothly when one of the two explained to the other about a special event they both attended somewhere in the Kenya ’ s Rift Valley where they were feasted on by unusually big mosquitoes that left visible dents on their skins , they immediately clicked and the introduction was settled by that memory of the bites from the malaria carrying insects .
The graphical description of the insects captured the attention of the group and trending in the chats was inevitable . The tree hugging and nature loving part of yours truly got into high gears listening keenly before giving my take on the matter .
This insect famed of biting humans and incessantly making nasty noises at night reminds us of the saying , “ If you think that size doesn ’ t matter , you probably have never spent a night in a room with a mosquito ”, this insect earned its place in the Talking Point hall of fame which is our topic for this issue .
Know Thyself , Brand Identity and a Brand Associated with the New Kenya ’ s President Ruto
It was Socrates of the ancient Greece who opined that an unexamined life is not worth living . This leads us to the concept of selfawareness in which he stated that true wisdom is found in knowing what you don ’ t know . Essentially , this means that to truly know yourself you have to keep discovering aspects about you that you don ’ t know by accepting the limits of your understanding and wisdom which makes knowing thyself a continuous learning experience . A good example would be whether you know the nicknames you have been assigned by those close to you at school , work , home or in your social circles .
It is for this reason that great brands go to a great extent to know the myths and stories
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To truly know yourself you have to keep discovering aspects about you that you don ’ t know by accepting the limits of your understanding and wisdom which makes knowing thyself a continuous learning experience . that consumers tell about them including “ nick names ”. This kind of information is best collected in brand discovery research in the form of brand audits with the brand ’ s loyal and regular consumers . In leadership , 360-degree assessments are employed by leaders and organizations to get feedback across seniors , peers and junior colleagues .
I recently overheard consumers referring to the brand William Lawson as William Ruto after the newly elected Kenya ’ s President following the conclusion of the country ’ s general elections held in August 2022 . It got me thinking about how such a brand could have leveraged on such associations to achieve greater sales in the country especially in the President ’ s strongholds . Interestingly , one of the fatherly advisories the tee tootler President gives to newly elected leaders is that they should either stop drinking alcohol or reduce incidences or quantities of drinking in order to thrive in the muddy waters of the Kenyan politics . After his inauguration some memes were trending in the social media expressing mercy for the wines and spirits supplier at the house on the hill aka State House which houses the Kenyan President .
A story is told of a young mosquito who went home excitedly to explain her maiden hunting expedition to the mother . She told the mother that human beings were clapping for her as she made her entry into their sitting rooms , giving her a great welcome with a standing ovation probably due to her acrobatic maneuvers and sweet melodies . The mother warned her that not everyone who claps for you is your friend . The claps were actually murder attempts to exterminate the young entrant .
Brands have to stay close to their adorers as well as haters in order to thrive in the market place as negative news travel very
78 MAL50 / 22 ISSUE