to forego many meals on account of too
much spice. That’s what marketers are
now doing; adding too much spice on
their products. For example, you have
Chamomile tea, hibiscus tea, tangerine,
herbal and the list goes on. Where is
original tea?
There is too much noise and clutter about
our products that we have lost touch with
the original purpose of the product. Even
our communication is exaggerated and
overloaded. For instance, we don’t take
beer to smell nice even though smelling
nice could be an added advantage. But
when smelling nice replaces the essence of
beer, then we would rather buy perfumes
and stop drinking.
have no relevance to the users. We have than fake European or Caucasian hair.
mesmerized and confused our audience-the Serve it natural- marketers. Stop the
consumer. This play-acting has caught up exaggerations.
with both the marketers and consumers.
Let’s be clear on the original need to be
satisfied and go out and satisfy it. Let’s
leave out the hyperbole. Watch this space.
Soon, all products will be back to factory
settings. Back to the basics. Even our girls
will realize that short natural hair and
authentic African beauty is way much better
Evans Majeni is a businessman selling
Apple Products in Nairobi and a
director at Tahidi Homes Limited. He
enjoys stepping on big toes and paying
the price. You can reach him via mail
on this or related issues at: Majeni.
[email protected].
Similarly, you don’t go to church to
love your neighbor, that’s already a
commandment; you go there to commune
with God.
Honestly, marketing is becoming a burden
rather than a facilitator. This distraction
called marketing must be looked at a fresh
and stripped bare! Marketers must ask and
answer the tough questions. Why do you
buy a car or a phone for that matter? Is it
to watch TV or listen to Radio? Do we
make watching TV in a car a top priority
above the safety features and the need for
comfort in travel?
This should apply across all marketing
practices. And our girls should understand
that in the global village, we can get and
marry those brown or even white skins if
we so wanted. It’s a click away. Why settle
for a cheap copy? Just be the true African
girl not some cheap copy of some white
lady.
Every marketer must go back to the
drawing board. And strip naked their
products removing excess baggage on all
the 4P’s. That’s what Steve Jobs did with
the original iPhone. What for example
is the purpose of a university, a school or
a church? It’s definitely not catering. So
when some parent choses a school because
it serves 5-star menu, then we have lost
it. A school is where to learn how to get
bacon, not how to eat it.
Which brings me back to this topic. Our
good marketing is a victim of too much
hype. We are deep into sloganeering,
clichés and ideas of value addition that
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