Africa: New Hub for Luxury Brands?

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Accra-Ghana 

On the 26th of November 2014, West hills shopping mall was inaugurated with much fanfare and commentary. Located in the western part of Accra, the mall is said to be one of the largest shopping malls in West Africa. In fact in the week West hills mall was inaugurated another shopping mall (Junction Mall) was also opened to customers in the South eastern part of the city. This brings the total number of malls that was inaugurated in the country to 3. Meanwhile there are other existing malls such as the Marina mall, A&C shopping mall, The Oxford Street mall and the Prima Donna of all shopping malls in the city the Accra mall. Apparently, more are in works such as the Achimota mall. For a country that is currently struggling economically that is quite a substantial investments on the part of these companies. It shows a fundamental belief in the politico-economic system of the country to take such risk. 

I visited the West hills mall with a friend to window shop and peruse all the delights that the mall has to offer and indeed i was very much impressed. You could find world class brands and products on display at the several shops available. There was a cinema, restaurants and a plethora of stores. I found brands such as Mango, Adidas and Samsung and they operated from rather large stores. I particularly liked the Lego store. Who knew there were such many creative ways of arranging Lego. But what got me curious as i have mentioned above is the confidence that these brands and developers have in the the economy of Ghana and it's people to take such giant steps. Per my personal observations, Ghanaian shoppers are becoming brand savvy and spending conscious. This is aided greatly by the penetration of mobile phone and mobile devices such as tablets and pads. A greater percentage of the youthful population as well as adult population have these devices. With these devices comes the internet and with the internet comes news and information happening around the world in record speed. Therefore a lot of people are privy to what foreign brands has to offer even before they set foot in Africa. For example, the shoe brand 'Loboutins' is very popular amongst the young fashion savvy people here in Ghana although there is not a single Christian Loboutin store or partner retailer in this country. These fashion savvy people are very much aware that Louboutin is also an upscale brand so it usually perceived as a coveted status symbol. The internet coupled with celebrity culture and digital television has opened the eyes of the average African consumer to the endless list of luxury goods and accessories on the world market.
But there is room for improvement when it comes to luxury brands opening stores and outlets in Africa. Luxury brands tend to be lackadaisical when the question of investing on the continent rises. I read an article where the CEO of a luxury goods company said that Africa is not big enough a market for his company to think about opening stores and having retail partners on the continent. But the interesting bit is, you go to the local open air Ghanaian market and you will find a huge variety of knock-offs/fake goods modeled to look just like the CEOs products. Clearly some Africans would love to associate with his brand. Therefore global producers of luxury/quality products are better off finding ways they can partner with African retailers or set up shop in Africa than letting producers of knock-offs take advantage of their brand prestige and identity. As it stands now, avenues through which Africans can lay their hands on popular luxury brands are limited. Either the consumer purchase the products whiles travelling abroad or via online shopping and shipping (which is quite expensive to do here in Ghana). This makes accessing luxury goods quite difficult even for those who are willing to pay the extra cost that is associated with these items. Africa as a market for luxury products is here to stay whether producers of luxury goods accept it or not. Therefore it is time decide. They can stand at bay and watch a great revolution unfold or they can get in here and chart a new path to greater profits and brand awareness 

Luxury Hacks to Transform Normal Goods

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Luxury goods command higher prices than their competitor goods. As soon as a good or a brand  decides to portray itself as a luxury brand, there must be certain basic features and applications  that will make a luxury brand stand out. Usually, these basic features cut across a lot of luxury products and services for sale on the market. Here are simple hacks and i use the word 'hack' advisedly not as in trying to sell an obviously sub-standard or a shitty product for a higher price. No! But a good that is well made and maybe has lots of competitors and wants to differentiate itself as a luxury product. Since i discovered life and productivity hacks some time back, i have become a big fan of how you can use certain skills and methods to boost up productivity and efficiency. As a fun of luxury goods, i have observed certain minor ingenious ways entrepreneurs can depict their products and services as a luxury product.

1. Tell a story: We all love stories consciously or sub-consciously, therefore it would be good to integrate the story of a brand in its marketing and branding efforts. There are various sources the 'story' of your product can be picked from. For example, where raw materials for the product is purchased from can be used to tell the story of how its providing employment for locals. The production process can also be used to tell the story of the quality of certain key ingredients which is used in making the product or service. Consider this scenario where 2 competing massage parlors use the same massaging technique. Massage parlor A tell you to come in for a 'good never-to-forget massage experience' whiles massage parlor B tell you they will give you a 'brilliant-never-to-forget massage using on an eastern Asia massage technique which combines the four forces of the atmosphere that has been practiced over 400 years blah blah'. When asked which of the two massage parlor is a luxury massage parlor i can bet my last coin that a lot of people will choose Massage Parlor B over A as a luxury massage parlor though technically, they both use the same massaging technique. The average luxury consumer comes off as better educated and well to do therefore there must be a convincing story of how your product or service stand out. Telling stories and a combination of heritage has been used by luxury brands for many years to boost up sales and marketing. Perhaps your products and services didn't start selling in 1837 like Hermes but you can craft a great story around your product to compete with Hermes.
2. Simplicity, Consistency and Minimal Product Offering; "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away"- Antoine de Saint-Exupery This is one of my favourite quotes of all time and i advice should be the basis for many luxury product and service making decisions. I equate a brands simplicity to how their mission, vision and products aspire to a clear goal. A car brand that prides itself in speed and the number of kilometres it can cover per hour should leverage that selling propositions in all various channels of communication  to its audience. Such a car brand will confuse its target audience if they also include affordability and 'good for the family-ish' type of selling proposition to its brand message, Because a product advertised to 'people on the move' and those on the 'fast lane' might not work for the family. Simplicity should also be used in other ways of communicating the brands message such as the store and website design of an outlets brand. When consumers praise a product or service, one thing that keep repeating is that their products 'never disappoints'. Consistency is a key differentiator in separating one good as a luxury good between two similar products. When consumers know exactly the kind of service, the quality of food and the general ambiance they will experience when they go to a particular restaurant. Then probability that they will keep coming to that particular place is high. Instead of the restaurant that promises you one thing and delivers another. You remember the Jack of all trades and master of none? People who are trying to portray their good as a luxury brand must try not to be all things to all men. You're better off specializing in a few products with a wealthier targeted repeat customers than trying to appeal to the least common denominator 
3. Display, Light and Visibility; My third lux hack is light and when i say light, i mean light in its literal sense especially in store design and layout. Instead of going the normal florescent tubes that one can find in most stores and outlets, Independent producers who have their own outlets can invest in decorative light covers and find away to blend natural light rays and store lights for the product to have a sense of luxury appeal. A store that has a nice chandelier hanging in the centre will be pereceived as having luxury goods in stock as opposed to another store that has 'normal lighting'.  No matter how well made your product is when they are not properly displayed, it might not get the attention that it deserves. 

Social Media, Branding and Sharing. How Coke Got It Right.

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Source: Wiki logos

About three months ago, i saw some public figures and celebrities i follow on twitter and instagram display bottles of coke with their names written on the label. My initial thoughts were 'this is quite interesting'. Because this is the first time i have seen someones name on a fast moving consumer good. Usually the photos these celebrities displayed were two bottles. One with their names written on it and the other bottle had 'friend' or 'family' written on it. Most of these stars thanked coca cola for giving them the drinks. A few weeks after this there was a massive advertising campaign urging all of us to 'share a coke with a friend' today. In Ghana where i am, there are pretty standard names that are given to people based on the day you were born. For example if  you were born on a saturday and you are from the Akan tribe you are known as 'Kwame (boy)' or 'Ama (girl)'. 

I am a Wednesday born hence my name Kwaku. The Akan tribe is a predominant tribe in Ghana. Majority of Ghanaians speak the akan (twi) dialect fairly well although there are different variations of it as well as other tribal groups. Therefore a lot of people by default (or design) can identify their names on a coke bottle  based on the day they were born. I talked to an old colleague of mine who works at a shopping mall and he made an interesting comment on how people these days refuse to purchase coke which does not have their names written on the label. This advertising campaign has really caught on here in Ghana especially in the urban areas. As an entrepreneurship junkie, i know startups and entrepreneurs can take a thing or two from the success of this campaign and incorporate it into their own business.

1. We all like personalised products and exclusivity. Although coca cola is a mass produced product they found away to make it exclusive. This they did by typing the name of the consumer on the label. To think of it, a lot of us dispose a coke bottle when we're done drinking its content therefore you would think a name printed on a label will not make much of a difference but apparently it does. The fifteen minutes or so that a consumer has a bottle of coke in her hands with the name on it makes her feel special. The products feels exclusive for her even if she bears her name with some other 500,000 women across the country. Exclusivity is the reason why luxury goods have the nerve to charge more for their goods. Coca cola achieved this without breaking the bank. Therefore as an entrepreneur try as much as possible to personalise products and services for your consumers and clients. Sometimes exclusivity means just listening intently to the client and repeating whatever her demands are so that you're both clear on exactly what she wants. A customer feels good when he's given a listening ear and is treated with respect.
2. The fact that the coke campaign encourages consumers to share the coke added a 'feel good' factor to the campaign. We all feel good when we brighten someones day by sharing something with them and its even better when they show appreciation. Startups can also do good by helping the local communities in which they are situated to build relationships and goodwill. Consumers as part of their decision whether to purchase a product or service consider how ethically (morally) responsible a firm is as well as their environmental and corporate social responsibilities. As an entrepreneur find a social responsibility that your consumers are interested in and make a difference there. 
3. My third observation is how social media has came to play a role in marketing and advertising. You recall from the beginning of the article that i first came into contact with this campaign on instagram? Social media has the power to connect entrepreneurs and startups to thousands if not millions of people some of these audiences will be potential customers of the entrepreneur. And it cost cheaper to do an online campaign than using the traditional forms of media. A popular public figure i follow said "we are living in a world where if i didn't see the pictures on social media, then it didn't happen" and i think this statement is true. Most of our offline conversations are shaped by the things we see/read online. Now a lot of us are switching tv with youtube and there is so much talk about the 'internet of everything'. Startups must take advantage of this global media opportunity even if the business is a typical offline business. Because a lot of us bing or google stuff that we want to know more about hence it is important to have some level of online representation and credibility. Social media outlets available are endless therefore an entrepreneur can pick any two of these mediums for example twitter and tumblr and build an online audience there.