CROSSFIRE
Greatness Is Honored For The Value It Creates
By Herman Githinji
I don ’ t know but time will tell . Will Marketing be great again in Kenya ? In Africa ? The answer to that question begs another question - how much do people value Marketing ?
Most Kenyan private businesses are always on a slippery ground . They have an extremely short life span . The Simon Makonde type life circus . I have not done a conclusive study about them , but from the outset it is obvious their health and mortality rate is worryingly high .
And who is Simon Makonde anyway ? The story goes … Simon Makonde was born on a Monday . He was named on a Tuesday . Married on a Wednesday , and taken ill on a Thursday . He was treated on a Friday . He died on a Saturday . He was buried on a Sunday . That is the sad story of Simon Makonde . A life lived in a hurry to die .
This is a kindergarten storyline but very synonymous with the shambolic scenario of our local businesses . When you live such a short life , there must be one or more core organs that are seriously dysfunctional . You could be looking healthy and walking in the streets today but destined to collapse sooner than later , like ice-cream on a hot day .
Nakumatt Supermarket lived and quickly died . Uchumi collapsed several times . Resuscitated many times . Stayed in the Intensive Care Unit for some years and later High Dependence Unit , and finally died . Tuskys came with vigor . It concurred all in a short while with the valor of a mighty king . The bad news , as we hear now , is that it ’ s in the wards fighting for its life .
Those are just a few examples of Kenyan brands that have quickly come and as quickly , left us . And there are more manufacturing , hotels , and retail companies that have one leg in the grave as we speak . Others have already kicked the bucket quietly . Some of those still standing look strong but they are badly ailing on the inside . They ’ re standing on quicksand .
We don ’ t have to go far to discover what is ailing us . It all begins and ends with our backgrounds and how we value marketing . Most of us come from very poor backgrounds and our main motivation for starting a business is to run away from poverty as far and as fast as we can . So , every business we start is a vehicle to jet us out of poverty . We want cash quickly and so we focus on it . Our
We don ’ t reward mediocrity with honor . Greatness is honored for the value it creates . The elegance of marketing is in the value it generates for businesses . Marketing will never be honored with greatness unless it emancipates itself from mediocrity . main and initial objective is not to create a strong foundation for a company that would survive to posterity .
So , we create a company but fail to breathe into it the spirit of life . We feed it to grow on the outside , but massively malnourish it on the inside . We fail to give it a strong personality . A personality that can withstand the test of time . A personality that can be banked on .
When did our health card start to attract the doctors ' attention ? When we start a new business , we always think hard about the hardware . So , we invest millions in structures , plant , and equipment . But only very few believe that investing in marketing is a priority . Rather , marketing is seen as a waste of money . Marketing is assumed and taken for granted ; as given . At that time , there are many urgent things , and in the face of urgent things , important things are put in the back seat .
That is why we only realize the importance of our health when we fall sick . Looking for new customers is important . Retaining those customers is important . Building a strong brand is equally important . But because they don ’ t scream on the face , they are ignored .
There is nothing wrong with starting a company as a cash cow . The problem is when does that mentality stop and we start to build a strong brand ? Strong businesses are not obviously strong brands . When you run a hotel for 20 years and what you sell at the end is just the tables , chairs , and cookers , then you just developed a business . When you run a manufacturing
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