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1
AN EVALUATIVE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA
COVERAGE OF THE RE-BRANDING
NIGERIA CAMPAIGNS
ONYEBUCHI, CHIMA ALEXANDER
PG/MA/08/48675
BEING A RESEARCH PROJECT FOR A MASTER OF ARTS
DEGREE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION,
FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA
APRIL 2010
2
TITLE PAGE
AN EVALUATIVE ANALYSIS OF MEDIA
COVERAGE OF THE RE-BRANDING
NIGERIA CAMPAIGNS
3
CERTIFICATION
This Project Report, written by Onyebuchi, Chima Alexander with Reg. No.
PG/MA/08/48675 is certified as having met the requirements of the Department of
Mass Communication and the School of Postgraduate Studies, University of
Nigeria, Nsukka for the Award of a Master of Arts Degree in Mass
Communication.
------------------------------- ----------------------------
DR RAY UDEAJAH DR CHURCH AKPAN (Project Supervisor) (Head of Department) Date:------------------------ Date:------------------------
---------------------------------- External Examiner
Date:----------------------
4
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to my Heavenly Father who is the author and finisher of
my faith and to my Beloved Father (Late Onyebuchi, Simeon Casablanca) whose
love and support was unfathomable. In a special way also, this work is dedicated
to my Lovely Mother (Mrs Eugenia Onyebuchi) whose heavy influence was
responsible for the manifestation of this work.
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I will forever remain most grateful to the Almighty God for making this
work a success. I am heavily indebted to my entire family members for their
tremendous support and love during the course of this programme. I am equally
indebted to Rev. Fr. Obayi, Martin Obinna whose presence in my studies will
never be forgotten in a hurry.
My profound appreciation goes to my supervisor Dr. Ray Udeajah and my
head of department Dr. C.S. Akpan, for their unrelenting assistance and guidance.
I equally want to thank my lecturers: Mr. Anorue L. I., Mr. Nnanyelugo Okoro,
Miss Ohaja Edith, Mr. Nnaji and Mr Greg Ezea who were instrumental to my
achieving this feat.
I hereby extend my appreciation to Dr. Charity Lebeanya, Mrs. Nkiru
Asadu, Cynthia Ezimora, Obayi Juliet, Ifeoma Nnamani and all my well wishers
for their immense contribution towards making this work a success.
I will never forget my room-mates, Michael Ibeagbazi, Ayo Abimbola and
Austin Eneche, who endured all my shortcomings and gave me the moral support I
needed for this academic assignment.
6
ABSTRACT
The image of a country can make or mar it. This is the main reason why leaders of
many countries aim at maintaining a favourable image in their interactions with
global community. There are, however, countries that have suffered negative
image within the comity of nations and this has affected them greatly. Nigeria
appears to have a tremendous bad image both within and outside the shores of the
country, hence, the need for the re-branding of the nation. With the flag-off of re-
branding Nigeria campaign in February 2009, the media were perceived as
veritable instruments for actualising the re-branding Nigeria campaign. How
effective the media have been in implementing the project is yet to be understood.
Therefore, the essence of this research work is to ascertain the extent to which the
media have been able to cover the re-branding Nigeria campaign. Using contents
analysis, the researcher was able to analyse three national dailies namely: This
Day, the Daily Sun and the Guardian newspapers. A sample of 216 newspapers
was randomly selected for analysis. The results revealed that re-branding
Nigerian campaigns tended to suffer gross under-reporting in the hands of the
print media outfit studied. On the basis of the findings, appropriate
recommendations were made to ensure adequate highlight and coverage of re-
branding campaigns and consequently win support and participation of the
citizenry.
7
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page = = = = i Certification = = = = ii Dedication = = = = iii Acknowledgements = = = = iv Abstract = = = = v Table of Contents = = = = vi List of tables = = = = viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study: = = = = 1 1.2 Statement of Problem = = = = 6 1.3 Purpose of Study = = = = 7 1.4 Significance of Study = = = = 7 1.5 Research Questions = = = = 8 1.6 Theoretical Framework = = = 8
1.6.1 Functionalist Theory = = = 8 1.6.2 Agenda-Setting Theory = = = 10
1.7 Scope and Limitation of Study = = = 12 1.8 Definition of Terms = = = = 12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Concepts of Brand, Branding and Re-branding = = 15 2.1.1 Definition of Brand and Branding = = 15 2.1.2 Re-branding Defined = = 16 2.1.3 Product Re-branding = = 17 2.1.4 Corporate Re-branding = = 17 2.1.5 Country Branding Defined = = 18 2.1.6 How to Brand a Country = = 20 2.1.7 The Process of Re-Branding = = 21
2.2 The Re-branding Nigeria Campaign = = 22 2.2.1 The Need for Re-branding Nigeria = = 22 2.2.2 The Problems with Re-branding Nigeria = = 27 2.2.3 The Journalist Angle to Re-branding Nigeria Campaign = 30 2.2.4 Strategies for Re-branding Nigeria Campaign = 32 2.2.5 Media Coverage of Re-branding Nigeria Campaign = 35 2.2.6 The Mass Media and Brand Building = = 37
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design = = = = 40 3.2 Research Population = = = = 40 3.3 Sample Size = = = = 40 3.4 Sampling Techniques = = = 41 3.5 Instrument for Data Collection = = = 42 3.6 Validation and Reliability of Research Instrument = = 43 3.7 Method of Analysis and Presentation of Data = = 43
8
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1 Research Question 1 = = = 45 4.2 Research Question 2 = = = 48 4.3 Research Question 3 = = = 49 4.4 Research Question 4 = = = 53 4.5 Discussion of Findings = = = 54 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary = = = 56 5.2 Conclusion = = = 56 5.3 Recommendations = = = 57
References = = = 59 Appendix I = = = 64
Appendix II = = = 69 Appendix III = = = 70 Appendix IV = = = 74 Appendix V = = = 80 Appendix VI = = = 83 Appendix VII = = = 85 Appendix VIII = = = 89
9
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Frequency of occurrence = = = 45
Table 2: Space and Length of Contents on Re-branding = 46
Table 3: Illustration on the Contents = = = 47
Table 4: Degree of Prominence = = = 48
Table 5: Tone of Presentation = = = 49
Table 6: Direction of the Contents = = = 50
Table 7: Source of Contents = = = 51
Table 8: Areas Discussed by the Contents = = 52
Table 9: Success Rate = = = 53
10
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
Reputation is what predisposes parties to consider the possibility of
engaging in a mutual relationship. It conditions perception towards acceptability in
any socioeconomic interaction. It becomes the bases for assessing individuals and
corporate entities in order to determine their rating before reasonable members of
the human society.
It becomes vital, therefore, that each country acquires a reputable image
projection, in other to attract goodwill that can boost her relationship with others
and promote national development (Owuamalam, 2005, p. 6). It is the quest for
countries to promote good image that led to the coinage of the concept country
branding.
Reviewing the concept of country branding, Nworah (2005, p. 2) avers that;
Country branding is the process whereby a country actively seeks to create a unique and competitive identity for itself, with the aim of positioning the country internally and internationally as a good destination for trade, tourism and investment.
In this regard, countries such as Wales, Spain, Colombia, Ireland and the
host of others too numerous to mention, have excelled in attracting foreign direct
investments and tourists from various regions to their countries as a result of
carefully managed country branding programmes. In Africa, countries have
launched image campaigns aimed at brightening the prospect of their country at
the global level. Prominent among these countries are South Africa and their
“proudly South African” programme, and Uganda and their “gifted by nature”
campaign.
Frost (2004, p. 8) sums up the tenet of country’s image as it affects investor
and tourist when he notes that:
11
There’s no arguing that the image we have of another
country says a lot about how we view it as a tourist
destination, a place to invest or a source of consumer
goods
The above statement illustrates the weight attached to image as it affects a
country. Therefore good image is the hallmark of a country’s favour or goodwill at
the international market. That is why many countries make conscious effort to
improve their corporate image in order to advance globally. It is the need for this
good image that brought about country branding as illustrated by Nworah earlier
in this section.
Though the term national branding is not that common with countries of the
world, its tenets have come to stay. Therefore, countries must make effort to
appreciate this new aspect of national development as the risk of not doing so can
only be imagined than experienced. Olins (1999) as quoted by Nworah (2005, p.
1) warns countries of the risks of ignoring nation branding and predicts that
country branding will become normal practice in the coming decades, adding that
the lack of interest and belief in country branding by some skeptics is only as a
result of snobbery, ignorance and semantics.
Arguing a case for the application of branding principles in the marketing
of countries, Peter Van Ham as cited in Ferguson (2001) notes that;
A state just like a company requires a strong brand. To rise above the chattered political landscape, a state must be able to define and promote its vision… No state must be anonymous. The goal rather is to have a brand that makes winning friends and influences easy…. Building a compelling brand with deep, multi faceted attributes requires commitment. It will require politicians and bureaucrats to understand how identity is developed, promoted and maintained.
Nigeria, no doubt, needs the much talked about branding in order to promote
her image and win favourable reputation.
As a brand name, Nigeria has its own attributes which make her unique in the
face of the world. The country is located at the trigger end of African map and she
12
is known as the most populous black nation in the world. Nigeria is an oil rich
African country with an estimated population of over 140 million people and the
6th largest oil producer in the world.
Despite these enviable attributes, Nigeria’s reputation as one of the most
corrupt nations in the world, coupled with other socio-political issues has greatly
affected its global image and has directly impacted on its attractiveness as a
potential investment and tourist destination. According to the 2004 Transparency
International Corruption Perceptions Index, Nigeria still ranks as the third most
corrupt country in the world in a survey of 146 countries, coming only ahead of
Haiti (the second most corrupt country)
According to Peter Eigen, the Chairman of Transparency International,
“corruption robs countries of their potentials… corruption in large–scale daunting
obstacle to sustainable development, and result in a major loss of public funds
needed for education, health care and poverty alleviation, both in developed and
developing countries” (Nworah, 2006, p. 4).
Eigen’s opinion may account for the country’s ugly state as the number of
people at the craving end is still on the high side. Most worrisome amidst this
situation is the attitude of the political fathers and leaders in the country. The case
of money laundry is common with the political class. Thereby affecting the pace
of growth and development in the country As if this situation is not pathetic
enough, the actions of some citizens are nothing to write home about. Some
Nigerian citizens are fraudsters, otherwise known locally as 419 people; a code
used to represent the section of Nigeria’s constitution which deals with Advance
Fee Fraud (AFF).
The new wave scammers comprising young boys and girls (mainly
university students) are called “Yahoo boys and girls”, as a result of their
information technology (IT) dexterity and their penchant of perpetrating the scams
using the internet, constantly sending unsolicited scam e-mails using Yahoo and
other free e-mail websites to targets all over the world, promising them spurious
and ludicrous financial deals (Nworah, 2006, p. 4).
13
Other brand attribute destroyers as identified in Nigeria include bribery and
corruption, unemployment, poor infrastructure, poor work ethics, inadequate
funding of the educational and health sectors, poorly regulated capital and
financial market, poor planning, poor maintenance culture, over dependency on oil
for federal income and revenue and the host of other social misdemeanours.
Such were the attributes attached to the brand name – Nigeria. Therefore,
there is the need for the re-branding of the country.
Hedbery (2001, p. 340) captures the essence of re-branding when he says:
Some large companies sometimes overhaul or completely
replace their images and re-launch themselves as fresh
corporate brands, so too have many cities sought to
establish completely new brand identities.
This assertion was strongly supported by West (1997, p. 11) when he observed as
follows:
Almost every major post-industrial town or city in Britain has attempted to reinvent or reposition itself by adopting marketing techniques lifted straight from the brand managers hand book. If it is done effectively, urban re-branding will attract investors and visitors, appeal to government officials, engender civic pride and conspicuously distinguish a place form competing location.
Country re-branding exercises might be implemented to revive a pre-existing
but outdated place image in order to make it more relevant to a target market or in
recognition of the occurrence of fundamental alterations in the character of an
area, or to communicate to potential stakeholders a change in the activities
undertaken within the region (Hedberg, 2001, p. 36)
Crucially, country or place re-branding affords opportunities for
disassociating a locality from past failures or social or other problems (Lewis,
2000, p. 25). This is the case with Nigeria, which seeks to re-brand her image at
the international level through the re-branding Nigeria campaigns. The re-
branding campaign is a reaction to the statement made in 2004 by the United
14
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), at a public forum in
Lagos, which concluded that Nigeria’s poor external image was denying it much
needed foreign investment to accelerate economic growth (Nworah, 2006, p. 5).
In retrospect, Obasanjo’s government, in July, 2004 launched an image
project for the country which it called the Nigeria image project at the time, the
project was renamed in 2005 by the new Minister of Information and National
Orientation, Mr. Frank Nweke, and was then called the Heart of Africa (HOA)
project. Planned as an information and orientation campaign, the HOA project
received an initial government contribution of 600 million naira (about $ 3
million), with the expectation that the private sector would also contribute towards
the project as part of their corporate social responsibility. The Minister of
Information at the time of the launching, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, said the
project would be informational and would involve both the media, advertising and
public relations practitioners.
Despite all actions put in place to promote the Heart of African (HOA)
campaign, most people perceived it as another government white elephant project
(Nworah, 2006, p. 12), conceived as a conduit for siphoning public funds and so
had continued to create dissent and cynicism amongst the citizens. It collapsed
under its own weight.
However, on Tuesday, March 17th 2009 at the International Conference
Center, Abuja, Nigeria unveiled a new logo and slogan for its national re-branding
campaign, which the Information and Communications Minister, Professor (Mrs.)
Dora Akunyili, affirm signals the march towards national re-birth. The slogan
selected is ‘Good People, Great Nation’, while the logo is simply the word -
‘Nigeria’ but creatively interpreted. It is normally written as “Nigeria! Good
people, Great Nation. Akunyili promised that her ministry would publish twice
yearly a statement of account of the re-branding project.
With this development, it is expected that Nigerians will begin to reject the
negative labels and adjectives used to describe and qualify both the country and
her citizens by the western media and even be Nigerians themselves, and strive to
15
do good, to think of the nation first and stand tall amongst other citizens of the
world. As the slogan suggest, Nigeria is a great nation of good people.
For the sake of this research work, analysis shall be restricted to the re-
branding Nigeria campaigns as piloted by Akunyili, under the platform “Nigeria!
Good People, Great Nation”.
The campaign seeks to x-ray the sources of misconception and to provide
appropriate information capable of influencing opinion change and attitudinal
response to the “refurbished” image of the country. It also seeks to enhance the
country’s credibility among the comity of nations.
The media play a vital role in the development of a nation: they help in
moulding a positive image for countries so as to make them acceptable both
internally and internationally. In Nigeria, the press right from time immemorial
has struggled to lived up to expectations. Alom (2008, p. 528) observes that
“when issues crop up, the press carry out the surveillance of its immediate
environment and then pass on the information regarding the situation on ground to
the society.” In line with this understanding, the media are expected to play a vital
role in the dissemination of re-branding Nigeria campaigns. However, critics are
of the opinion that the media have not done enough in this regard.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Re-branding has always been associated with products. However, when the
concept is applied to a country, it becomes difficult to comprehend because if a
product is bad, the management can decide to kill it, reproduce an improved
version or repackage it. But if a country is bad or has a bad image, the citizens
cannot be killed or reproduced. Even when a good re-branding programme has
been adopted by a country, the task of selling the idea to the people becomes a
different ball game entirely.
The Re-branding Nigeria campaign was greeted with indifference when it
was launched in February 2009. Many had different reasons to reject it; some said
16
it was untimely, while others were of the view that the country had more serious
problems to address definitely not re-branding.
In all this, the media were supposed to play an active role in the
programme. Yet, the campaign encountered high class criticisms. As the campaign
progressed, people differ in their assessment of the performance of the media in
realising its objectives. In this circumstance, it would be helpful to empirically
answer the question: what kind of coverage is accorded the re-branding Nigeria
campaign by the media?
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study includes;
i. To examine the depth of media coverage of re-branding Nigeria campaign.
ii. To establish the degree of prominence accorded to re-branding Nigeria
campaign in the media.
iii. To examine the media strategies for re-branding Nigeria campaign.
iv. To gauge the success, so far, of Re-branding Nigeria campaign as reflected
in media content.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This work is important because it may help government to discover the
lapses and strengths of its strategies in conducting the re-branding campaign and
the approach to employ in order to bridge the gap between promise and
performance.
This work will also serve as a resource material for researchers who intend
to carryout further studies in this and related areas.
17
1.5 Research Questions
Considering the challenges of re-branding Nigeria campaign, the researcher
was inspired to ask the following questions;
i. What is the extent of media coverage of the Re-branding Nigeria campaign?
ii. What degree of prominence is the campaign receiving in media content?
iii. Do the media have specific strategies in their coverage of the Re-branding
campaign?
iv. How successful is the re-branding Nigeria campaign so far as reflected in
media content?
1.6 Theoretical Framework
This research work is anchored on two mass communication theories,
namely, the Functionalist Theory and Agenda-Setting Theory.
1.6.1 Functionalist Theory
This theory was propounded by Merton in his book titled Social Theory and
Social Structure published in 1949. He was motivated by the need to explain
social artefacts like the media. Merton finally derived his perspective on functional
analysis from carefully examining research in anthropology and sociology, (Baran
and Davis, 2006, p. 168). The theory proposes that the society is made up of
subsystems, each contributing to the general continuity of the society. According
to Baran and Davis (2006, p. 168) functionalist theory assumes that:
A society can be usefully viewed as a ‘system in balance’.
That is, the society consists of complex sets of interrelated
activities, each of which supports the others. Every form of
social activity is assumed to play some part in maintaining
the system as a whole.
Supporting the above statement, McQuail (2005, pp. 96-97) avers that:
18
Functionalist theory explains social practices and
institutions in terms of the ‘needs’ of the society and of
individuals. Society is viewed as an ongoing system of
linked working parts or subsystems, each making an
essential contribution to continuity and order. The media
can be seen as one of these subsystems.
The theory was widely adopted as a rationale for many mass
communication studies during the 1950s and 1960s. Researcher tried to determine
whether specific media or forms of media content were functional or
dysfunctional. Manifest and latent functions of the media were investigated. What
emerged was that functional analysis could be quite complicated. Various forms of
media content could be functional or dysfunctional for society as a whole for
specific individuals, for various subgroups in the society, or for the culture, (
Baran and Davis, 2006, p. 169).
Despite the criticisms levelled against this theory that the media provide
some dysfunctional contributions to the society, Baran and Davis (2006, p. 170)
were able to confront the criticism when they stated generally that:
Functional theory produces conclusions that largely
legitimise or rationalise the status quo. Researchers and
theorist can easily avoid drawing controversial conclusions
by simply noting that dysfunctions are balanced by
functions.
Speaking on the functions of the media in the society, McQuail (2005, pp. 97-98)
was able to specify five major functions of the media under functionalist theory to
include:
Information (providing information about events and conditions in the society and the world), Correlation (explaining, interpreting and commenting on the meaning of events and information), Continuity (expressing the dominant culture and recognising subcultures and new cultural developments), and Mobilisation (campaign for societal objectives in the sphere of politics, war, economic development, work and sometimes religion).
19
This theory is relevant to the study under review because, despite
criticisms, it focuses on the functions of the media to the development of the
society through the presentation from its manifest content. On the other hand, this
study focuses on the analysis of media content with a view to examining the
progress of the campaign on re-branding Nigeria. It is, therefore, obvious that the
theory is suitable for the study under investigation.
1.6.2 Agenda-Setting Theory
Another theory to consider in the development of this work is the Agenda-
Setting Theory.
McQuail (2005, p. 512) notes that “Agenda-Setting Theory was coined by
McCombs and Shaw in 1972, to describe a phenomenon which had long been
noticed and studied in the context of election campaigns’.
This theory stemmed from Lippman’s Public Opinion (1922) with the idea
that the mass media connect “the world outside” and that “the picture is in our
heads”. Later Cohen (1963) suggested that the press tell “its readers what to think
about” and, McCombs and Shaw (1972) provided the empirical evidence that the
mass media structure the public’s perception of the importance of an issue.
McCombs and Shaw (1972) as quoted by Ojobor (2002, p. 21) wrote that
“members of the audience not only learn about public issues through the media,
they also learn how much importance to attach to an issue or topic from the
emphasis the mass media place upon it”. This emphasis, according to Folarin
(1998, p. 68) include:
a) The quantity or frequency of reporting.
b) Prominence given to the report – through headline display, pictures and layout in newspapers, magazines, film, graphics or timing on radio and television.
c) The degree of conflict generated in the report and
d) Cumulative media – specific effects over time.
20
The core idea of the theory, according to McQuail (2005, p. 512), is that
“the news media indicate to the public what the main issues of the day are and this
is reflected in what the public perceives as the main issue”. The argument of this
theory is that the media may not tell us what to think but media certainly tell us
what to think about. Explaining this statement, Folarin (1998, p.68) avers that
“agenda-setting theory does not ascribe to the media the power to determine what we
actually think; but it does ascribe to them the power to determine what we are thinking
about”.
This theory has been criticised by critics, who opined that “it is not easy to
prove that the media actually tells the people what to think about, because media
take their priorities from public opinion as well as from politicians (McQuail,
2005, p. 548). The claim of the critics could be sound; however, it is too weak to
displace the view of the proponents of the theory. Hence, the theory has been
adopted here to support the claim that the media can really be a strong vehicle for
mobilising the public toward a particular course.
This theory is relevant to the study under investigation because it focuses
on how the media can, through the level of prominence and importance attached to
issues covered, engineer the people or mobilise them toward a particular
predetermined action. In this case, the media can change the attitude of Nigerians
by making them see reasons why they should change their orientation, attitude and
behaviour, through the level of importance attached to the manifest content of the
media that is directed towards such goal.
1.7 Scope and Limitation of Study
The scope of this study embraces the extent of media coverage of re-
branding Nigeria campaign. It reviews the nature and depth of report given to the
re-branding campaign as well as the prominence accorded to it.
21
The re-branding Nigeria campaign is a national affair; therefore the
researcher focused on the national newspapers in the country. However, for the
purpose of this study, the researcher examined the relevant areas necessary for the
success of this work, by focusing mainly on three national newspapers namely;
The Daily Sun, The Guardian and This day Newspapers. The analysis of these
newspapers constitutes the essence of chapter four of this study.
Focusing on these areas, the study ignores other aspects of re-branding that
have no direct bearing with the study under review.
1.8 Definition of Terms
For the sake of clarity, certain terms used in this research work will be
defined according to the context of usage. It is therefore necessary to indicate, for
the purpose of this work, how these terms are used.
Brand: Brand is the tangible and intangible attributes of the product, service or
place comprising the brand name, logo, colour, values, elements, attributes,
customer service levels, price, packaging etc. (Ibru, 2008, p. 10). It can
equally be referred to as the product pr service which can be distinguished
from its competitors. Aas it relates to this work, brands create emotional
connection between the customers, investors, tourists, products, services
and businesses, countries and regions.
Branding: Branding is the strategic process of creating and managing brands. It is
a continuous process rather than a destination due to the changing and
dynamic nature of the market place.
Re-branding: Re-branding is a tactical process where by the new brand is
operationally attached to the product (country). It is an important strategic
matter in which all the processes of the urban development authority
revolve around the construction and development of the new brand. It is a
re-launch of the branding process.
22
Place re-branding: Place re-branding, in this work shall be the same with country
or nation re branding, and shall be used interchangeably. It is the process
whereby a country actively seeks to create a unique and competitive
identity for itself, with the aim of positioning the country nationally and
internationally as a good destination for trade, tourism and investment
(Nworah, 2005, p. 2)
Advertising: Advertising is a non-personal communication directed at target
audience through various media in order to present and promote products,
services and ideas. Advertising is the paid form of mass communication
designed to influence people to favour a product in order to induce them to
buy it.
Marketing communication: This can be seen as various communication
techniques such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public
relations/product publicity available to a marketer which are combined to
achieve specific goals.
Marketing: Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception,
pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. Marketing is a
social symbiosis, whereby some group of people or individuals undertake
research on what others need which they have the capacity to meet.
Strategy: Strategy is the art of directing or securing an advantageous position for
a great task. The most important issue here is the word advantageous
position. It is the thinking that goes on before a fight that goes on before a
fight. In order words, it is the biggest thinking that goes on before
marketing takes place.
Positioning: This is the use of publicity, campaign and/or advertising to gain a
foothold or occupy a place for a product, idea or services in the mind of the
23
consumer. It is the act of examining what a product specifically offer to a
particular group of people through a particular kind of image.
Corporate Communication: This can be defined as the integrated approach to al
communication produced by an organization (country), directed at relevant
target groups. Groenewald (1998) defines corporate communication as the
communication on behalf of an organization; managed as one of the
organizational functions by a person(s) carrying the responsibility for the
organization’s communication (quoted in Cillier, 2004, p. 48)
Stakeholders: These are group of individuals that an organization has a
relationship with (Steyn and Puth, 2000, p. 198). The members of each
stakeholder group have their own set of values, needs, desires, wants, goals,
and objectives (Steyn and Puth, 2000, p. 198)
24
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the researcher reviews literature relevant to the topic under
study. This review is been done under two broad headings with sub-headings
therein. These headings include:
2.1 Concepts of Brand, Branding and Re-branding
2.2 The Re-Branding Nigeria Campaign
The review of the aforementioned would give a clear picture of the
study under investigation.
2.1 Concepts of Brand, Branding and Re-Branding
2.1.1 Definition of Brand and Branding
According to Nilson (2000) as quoted by Ibru (2008, p. 10), a brand is
really just a symbol with tremendous potential, and that this symbol can be
expressed in many different ways. This is particularly true as such symbols such as
the Nike swoosh, the Mercedes star and the McDonalds' golden arches come to
mind. The brand symbol can also become a distinctive feature from other
competing brands, according to Cowking & Hankinson (1996, p. 26). A brand is
simply a product or service which can be distinguished from its competitors
(Nworah, 2005, p.1). According to Louro and Cunha (2001, p. 851), a brand is a
multidimensional assortment of functional, emotional, relational and strategic
elements that collectively generate a unique set of associations in the public mind.
This set of associations creates a “brand image” for the entity in question, i.e., a
bundle of ideas, feelings and attitudes that people have about the brand that sum
up what it connotes or means in the eyes of the public (Patterson, 1999: 18).
According to John Murphy in Hart & Murphy (1998, p. 7), such distinguishing
aspects and brand features could be tangible and intangible.
25
These features, in the aspect of product, either tangible or intangible values
are easily identifiable by the consumers, as they can feel, touch, sample and judge
the product before purchasing, however this becomes a bit difficult with services,
which the consumers can only judge after experiencing or based on their prior
knowledge and information about the service, a decision process which can be
aided by a strong brand identity.
If brands are therefore the tangible and intangible attributes of a product,
service or country comprising the brand names, logo, colour, values, customer
service levels, price, packaging etc, Branding therefore is the continuous and
strategic process involved in the creating and managing of all these associated
brand elements and components (Nworah, 2005, p.2). Supporting this view, Ibru
(2008, p.10) illustrates that branding is the process of creating and managing
brands. Therefore, Branding is the marketing and management process that gives a
product, service, organisation, or personality a unique identity and image such that
it is easily and positively identifiable and distinct from the competitors. Branding
is a continuous process rather than a destination due to the changing and dynamic
nature of the market place (Ibru, 2008, p.10).
2.1.2 Re-Branding Defined
Re-branding is the process by which a product or service developed with
one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a
different identity. This may involve radical changes to the brand's logo, brand
name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. These changes are
typically aimed at the repositioning of the brand/company, usually in an attempt to
distance itself from certain negative connotations of the previous branding, or to
move the brand up-market (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 1).
Re-branding can be applied to new products, mature products, or even
products still in development, services, corporate organisations, places and even
nations. The process can occur intentionally through a deliberate change in
26
strategy or occur unintentionally from unplanned, emergent situations, such as a
corporate restructuring (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 1).
2.1.3 Product Re-Branding
When products and/or services are marketed separately to several target
markets this is called market segmentation. When part of market segmentation
strategy involves offering significantly different products in each market, this is
called product differentiation. This market segmentation/product differentiation
process can be thought of as a form of re-branding (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 3). What
distinguishes it from other forms of re-branding is that the process does not entail
the elimination of the original brand image.
Following a merger or acquisition, companies usually re-brand newly
acquired products to keep them consistent with an existing product line. For
example, when UBA merged with Standard Trust Bank during the consolidation
exercise, UBA chose to rename Standard Trust Bank to UBA.
Another form of product re-branding is the sale of a product manufactured
by another company under a new name. An original design manufacturer is a
company which manufactures a product which is eventually branded by another
firm for sale. This is often the case with international trade. The manufacturing
can take place in a place with lower operating costs, while being sold under a local
brand name.
2.1.4 Corporate Re-Branding
Re-branding has become something of a fad in the last decade, with some
companies re-branding several times. The re-branding of Celtel to Zain was done
to help the company reposition itself in the market. Other re-brandings, such as the
First-inland Bank’s move to re-brand itself as Fin-Bank, are proof of the eminent
power of re-branding to the image of a company.
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According to Sinclair (1999, p.13), business the world over acknowledges
the value of brands. “Brands, it seems, alongside ownership of copyright and
trademarks, computer software and specialist know-how, are now at the heart of
the intangible value investors place on companies.” As such, companies in the 21st
century may find it necessary to re-look their brand in terms of its relevancy to
consumers and the changing marketplace. Successful re-branding projects can
yield a brand better off than before.
Due to the tremendous impact that renaming and re-branding a company
can have, it is critical to take the client through the process with great sensitivity
and care. The new company identity and brand should also be launched in a subtle
and methodical manner in order to avoid alienating old customers, while aiming to
attract new business prospects (Wikipedia, 2009, p. 1). There is no magic formula,
however, there is a methodical process which involves careful strategy,
memorable visuals and personal interactions, all of which must speak in unison for
a customer to place full trust and invest their emotions in what is on offer.
Marketing develops the awareness and associations in consumer memory
so that customers know (and are constantly reminded) which brands best serve
their needs. Once in a lead position, it is marketing, consistent product or service
quality, sensible pricing and effective distribution that will keep the brand ahead
of the pack and provide value to its owners (Sinclair, 1999, p.15).
2.1.5 Country Branding Defined
Compared to products and services and corporate branding, Nworah, (2005,
p.2) defines country branding as the process whereby a country actively seeks to
create a unique and competitive identity for itself, with the aim of positioning the
country internally and internationally as a good destination for trade, tourism and
investments.
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Countries may be regarded as “products” in the sense that they provide
labour, land, premises and industrial infrastructures to businesses (Stewart, 1996,
p. 10); while offering housing, shopping, leisure and other amenities, and a social
milieu to residents (Barke and Harrop, 1994, p. 45). Branding an area can help
differentiate it from other places and hence greatly facilitate the promotion of its
place product offer. The astute branding of a locality will highlight to outsiders its
meaning in terms of its “core benefits, style and culture” (Louro and Cunha, 2001,
p.860) and (critically) will assist potential stakeholders (such as investors,
residents or tourists) to identify the sources of place products relevant to their
needs (Ryder, 2000, p. 8). Thus, the branding of an area can give it a substantial
competitive edge.
In this regard, countries such as South Africa, Wales, Spain, Colombia, and
Ireland have succeeded in attracting Foreign Direct Investments and tourists to
their countries as a result of carefully managed country branding programmes.
Country branding has become inevitable following the ever-growing
globalization of business investment and the ferocious nature of the competition
among places to attract employing companies, to host major sporting or cultural
events, or to become centres for tourism (Miller, 1997).
The branding of entire cities has been common for many years now (West,
1997, p. 10). The brand imagery involved seeks to reflect a place’s aspirations and
to link the locality as a whole with common attributes, benefits, relationships,
programs and values attached to various products and services offered within the
area (Keller, 1999, p. 8). Each component of the brand image should possess a
rational and/or emotional relevance to a particular constituency and combine with
all the other components to provide a total brand experience (Braune, 2000, p. 10).
West (1997, p. 11) avers that if it is done effectively, country re-branding
will attract investors and visitors, appeal to government officials, engender civic
pride, and conspicuously distinguish a place from competing locations. Place re-
29
branding exercises might be implemented to revive a pre-existing but outdated
place image in order to make it more relevant to a target market (Hedberg, 2001,
p. 15), or in recognition of the occurrence of fundamental alterations in the
character of an area, or to communicate to potential stakeholders a change in the
activities undertaken within the region. Crucially, place re-branding affords
opportunities for disassociating a locality from past failures or social or other
problems (Lewis, 2000, p. 32). A place might be repositioned in a better market
sector (Spaeth, 1998, p. 8) the new brand image can be used to convey the
message that a wider and different range of place products are now on offer to
business investors, visitors and tourists.
2.1.6 Branding a Country
From the traditional branding point of view, the brand building process is
best represented by the Brandt and Johnson (1997) Brand Equity model. Brand
Equity builds awareness, familiarity, loyalty, image, personality, preference,
associations and availability. And each of these also builds brand equity.
According to Brandt & Johnson (1997, p. 25) “… brand equity is the
unique set of real and/or perceived distinctions attached to a brand by
customers…” Brand equity lives only in the hearts and minds of customers. There
are also several other models and descriptions of the product or service branding
process, while they may differ in approach, a common thread of understanding
runs through all of them. These include;
1. Experience - Customer Perceptions, Customer Service, Action of Sales &
Delivery people, Brand evolution over years.
2. Quality - Tastes & levels of service, ingredients & raw materials used,
product/service durability, guarantees and warrantees, cutting edge technology.
3. Identity: strong & visible, memorable names, logos & colours, sponsorships,
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packaging, shelf position & display, vehicle displays & branding, company
uniforms.
4. Communication: PR & Advertising, letterheads, internet presence, news
releases and sponsored articles, and other verbal and non-verbal communications.
2.1.7 The Process of Re-Branding
There are various steps in re-branding process. According to Haigh (2000,
p.18) these steps include, name creation and registration, the design of a logo and
associated visual image, market research, internal communications, external public
relations, and advertising. Significantly, re-branding can be seen as either a tactical
issue whereby the new brand is operationally attached to the place product, or as
an important strategic matter in which all the processes of the urban development
authority revolve around the construction and development of the new brand
(Louro and Cunha, 2001, p. 24).
Strategically, re-branding approach involves the development of a shared
vision and control across seemingly unrelated activities, the systemic alteration of
a place’s entire strategic direction in accordance with the needs of the new brand,
and the use of integrated marketing communications (i.e. ensuring that all the
agencies involved in the re-branding process are communicating the same message
[Mazur, 2001, p. 19]). Braune (2000, p. 399) suggested that the achievement of
such objectives would be facilitated by the formation of a “round table” of brand
strategists, analysts and implementers (internal and external) “brought together
from the outset to share understanding and avoid a descent into the “process
mentality””. It is important, Braune noted for the brand creators to be capable of
empathizing with the people they were attempting to reach.
In this re-branding process one cannot ignore the power of integrated
marketing communications (IMC), which numerous studies completed in the
commercial world have commented on its ability to facilitate branding exercises
(DePelsmacker et al., 2001, p. 8). The adoption of IMC implies that, for instance,
31
public relations programs are constructed around advertising campaigns and those
hard copy promotional materials have the same “look and feel” as an
organization's website (Owston, 2007, p.9).
Integration has been deemed necessary because of the growing number of
available communications weapons, the increasing fragmentation of markets,
dissatisfaction with traditional forms of advertising, and the need to “leverage
scarce resources” (Stewart, 1996, p. 147). A unified voice helps an organization
consolidate its image and cut through the noise of many hundreds of promotional
messages that continuously beset target audiences. Other benefits allegedly
accruing to IMC include the heavier overall impact of a campaign, better use of
creative ideas, synergy among promotional tools, and lower costs (Owston, 2007,
p. 9).
2.2 The Re-Branding Nigeria Campaigns
2.2.1 The Need for Re-Branding Nigeria
It is obvious that when the concept re-branding Nigeria is raised, people
begin to generate mixed feelings as to which way forward. These feelings were
what promoted Doki (2005, p. 35) to ask: Are we re-branding Nigeria with another
name to substitute the original name or re-branding the socio-economic, political and
constitutional framework upon which Nigeria is founded and defined?
This uncertainty makes it proper to specify the premise form which the re-
branding Nigeria campaign was built.
In 2001 the score card of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
reviews that the diplomatic shuttle of the President changed the nation’s image
from a “parish state” to a trustworthy one. It means that prior to the inception of
civil administration in 1999; most people of the world avoided the country like
plague and treated its citizens as common criminals, without boundaries. This
picture is a smack on Nigeria’s national image, which needs to be urgently
redressed (Owuamalam, 2005, p. 6).
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As a brand name, therefore, Nigeria suffers a reputation disadvantaged in
the mind of the world’s communities. It is worthy of note that reputation
predisposes parties to contemplate mutual relationship. It induces perception
towards acceptability in any socio-economic interaction. It becomes the template
for assessing individuals and corporate entities in order to determine their ratings
before reasonable members of the world. Therefore, goodwill, favour and
understanding enjoyed by reputation. Having suffered a battered image, the
country becomes in dare need of repackaging and representation.
Owuamalam (2005, p. 7) illustrating the sorry state of the nation says that:
The content of some Nigeria mass media paints a gruesome picture of a country perpetually in crises and turmoil. It shows banditry and incivility as norms, which are prevalent in the country. Ethnic Chauvinism and political rascality are elevated as desirable attitudes in a world of decent people. It is probably the antithesis of national reports and indeed, the provision of offensive detail in some Nigeria mass media that repel International interest in anything Nigerian.
Therefore, base on the quotation above, the country becomes in dare need
of re-branding in order to have favourable image. The media must be at the
forefront of this. Owuamalam (2005, p. 7) captures this scenario when he avers
that “ethical re-orientation of national information managers is urgently required
to identify the boundaries of national interest and avoid bravado journalism”.
On the other hand, the rising trend of globalisation and the breaking down
of international barriers of trade, competition for consumers and inward
investments, also known as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are getting more
intense amongst the countries of the world. Brymer (2003, p.1) writes that:
Countries will compete daily with neighbours or block regions for tourism, inward investment and export sale. There's only so much business that can go around. Those countries that start with an unknown or poor reputation will be limited or marginalized. They can not easily boost their commercial success.
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Brymer's remarks ring true particularly in the developing countries,
especially Nigeria, the self styled giant of Africa, with an estimated population of
over 140 million people and also a privileged position as the 6th largest producer
and exporter of crude oil in the world. Such large abundance of human and
material resources in the country have been variously described as a curse by
certain commentators, their reason being that the proceeds from the sales of the
natural resources only sponsors the corrupt and lavish lifestyles of successive
regimes in the country, these regimes have consistently failed to invest such
proceeds back into the country, and have also failed to improve existing social
systems and infrastructures, factors necessary to attract foreign investors.
Also in 2004, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) at a public forum in Lagos Nigeria concluded that Nigeria's poor
external image is denying it much needed foreign investment (FDI) to accelerate
its economic growth. According to the UNCTAD (2004), FDI flow to Nigeria was
1.2 billion dollars in 2003 and 1.3 billion in 2002.
Nigeria is also bogged down by its image as one of the most corrupt nations
in the world. The 2004 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index,
Nigeria still ranks as the 3rd most corrupt country in the world in a survey of 146
countries, coming only ahead of Haiti (the most corrupt country) and Bangladesh
(the 2nd most corrupt country). Nigeria's current position is only a slight
improvement from its previous positions as the 2nd most corrupt and the most
corrupt country in the world in 2003 and 2002 respectively, (Nworah, 2005, p. 2).
According to Peter Eigen, the Chairman of Transparency International,
…Corruption robs countries of their potentials… Corruption in large-scale public projects is a daunting obstacle to sustainable development, and results in a major loss of public funds needed for education, health care and poverty alleviation, both in developed and developing countries.
34
Nigeria's other problems have also been identified as bribery and
corruption, unemployment, poor infrastructural development, over dependence in
the oil sector for federal income and revenue, poor work ethics, increasing citizens
dissatisfaction and disaffection with the government, political structures and
politicians, corporate and large scale organisational irresponsibility, inadequate
funding of the educational, health and other key sectors, neglect of the agricultural
and other non-oil productive/manufacturing sectors, continued manufacture of
poor quality, fake and substandard goods and services, over dependence on
imported goods, poorly regulated capital and financial market, tribal, ethnic and
religious squabbles, homelessness, poverty and hunger, poor maintenance culture,
poor planning, lack of security and disregard for human life and property, armed
and pen robbery and others.
It is therefore as a result of the realization of the negative effects of these
issues on Nigeria as a potential investment country that made the government of
Nigeria to launch the Nigeria Image Project in July 2004. Nigeria's former
Minister of Information, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu described the project as
both informational and orientational in nature, involving both the media,
advertising and public relations practitioners.
Not only Nigeria, other countries of the world have also realised the
importance of country branding. Mark Leonard of Demos, in the book Britain TM
(1997) writes on the need for Britain to re-brand itself, according to him, “…the
main reason why this needs to be done is that a gulf has opened up between the
reality of Britain as a highly creative and diverse society and the perception
around the world that Britain remains a backward-looking island immersed in its
heritage.”
In a related remark, Olins (1999, p. 20) avers that:
…countries which have thought most about branding issues have been those, like Britain, with some kind of traditional
35
position, influence and reputation which they seek to change or improve. This analogy best describes countries such as Nigeria and the other developing nations who are still grappling with a myriad of issues, which pose threats to their abilities to attract foreign direct investments (FDI).
There seems therefore to be a growing global trend of the use of traditional
marketing and branding techniques to brand countries. For countries to compete
effectively in the global market, and attract FDI, they may have to employ
branding and marketing techniques.
To conclude this section on the need for re-branding Nigeria, the statement
of Peter Van Ham as cited in Rob Ferguson's article Brand-Name Government in
the October 2001 Knowledge Marketing Watch Newsletter, and quoted by
Nworah (2005, p. 3), shall be employed:
…a state just like a company requires a strong brand. To rise above the cluttered political landscape, a state must be able to define and promote its vision…No state wants to be anonymous. The goal, rather, is to have a brand that makes winning friends and influences easy. Building a compelling brand with deep, multi-faceted attributes requires a long-term, team - oriented commitment. It will require politicians and bureaucrats to understand how identity is developed, promoted, and maintained…
2.2.2 The Problems with Re-Branding Nigeria
However, Brymer (2003) suggests that although the principles of branding
apply equally to countries as they do to products and services, the methods may
differ. According to him:
…creating a branding program for a country demands an integration policy that most countries do not possess - the ability to act and speak in a coordinated and repetitive way about themes …are the most motivating and differentiating stand a country can make.
36
His comments succinctly capture the challenges countries face in their
branding efforts. In Nigeria, for instance, there exists a high bureaucratic
government structure, which necessitates large scale duplication of efforts in
several government ministries, agencies and departments connected with the re-
branding Nigeria campaign.
This makes the coordination of the re-branding Nigeria campaign
problematic as several of these government departments all lay claim to being
responsible for one or several aspects of the campaign. There are countless
spokespersons constantly releasing information to the media, such that it becomes
difficult to have a central coordinating point, a strategy or war room of sorts.
Whereas with corporations, Information is better managed by a unit of the
business, also employees can easily be indoctrinated with selling the business'
ideals and image, but this is almost impossible with countries, where reaching a
consensus amongst the millions of its citizens is an impossible task.
Nigeria's case is also made more difficult because of its multi-ethnic
composition, the cultural, language and religious differences make any wholesale
agreement impossible as the citizens still have primordial attachments to their
immediate and core ethnic regions, long years of political and religious bickering
between the 3 major ethnic groups (Yoruba, Hausa and the Igbos) have made
reaching a national consensus in major issues (including the re-branding
campaign) almost impossible (Nworah, 2005, p. 4).
Brymer (2003) has also listed the major steps in the country branding
process:
1. The cooperation and involvement of representatives of governments,
business, the arts, education and the media. This does not yet seem to be
happening in Nigeria's case, because all the relevant stakeholders are still not
singing with one voice.
37
2. Determining and carrying out an image perception audit both nationally and
internationally. There wasn't any reported image audit carried out by the Nigerian
government before the launching of the Image project. The government's decisions
had been loosely based on the several negative media reports both locally and
internationally.
3. Consultation with opinion leaders and carrying out of a country SWOT analysis.
Again, the Nigerian government is managing the Image project top down, a large
majority of the country's opinion leaders still have not heard of the project and do
not believe in it.
4. Creating a strategy using known professional models. Most importantly, the re-
branding Nigeria campaign did not apply some of the Everett Rogers' Diffusion of
Innovations principles and models, most importantly the involvement of the
citizens in the project, through carefully crafted communication messages that will
sell the image project first to the citizens, who would then sell the country to the
outside world, this is a huge error on the part of the government because it should
have tried to sell the image project to the millions of Nigerians in the Diaspora
who are in better positions to represent Nigeria in their different countries of
residence.
5. Designing a program to make the strategy tangible through improvement
programs and campaigns. This has to do with featuring prominent individuals in
series of testimonial advertisements in the international media. So far, this has not
yet been done and the effectiveness of such testimonials when finally implemented
is also doubtful.
6. Creating a system to link together the different organisations and departments
that can be part of the brand. This is not the case with the Nigeria as a result of the
problems of coordination highlighted earlier. More so, the campaign is being
38
perceived as 'another government white elephant project' and so has continued to
create cynicism amongst the citizens.
7. Letting actions count. Although the Nigerian government has carried out some
political and economic reforms, these may still not be enough to restore the
confidence and faith of both its citizens and the potential investors, as the facts on
the ground still leaves much to be desired.
Olins (1999, p. 21) also proposes a 7 point country-building plan, which
partially agrees with Brymer's classification. They are:
1. Setting up a working party made up of representatives of government, industry, the arts, education and the media.
2. Image perception audit
3. Consultation with opinion leaders
4. Creating a central idea or theme on which the strategy is based.
5. Develop ways of articulating the central idea visually.
6. Synchronising message themes to suit particular audiences.
7. Create a liaison system through the working party to launch and sustain the
programme. As regards the re-branding Nigeria campaign, the launching aspect of
it may appears to have gone on successfully but it is in the sustenance of the
campaign that there appears to be difficulties. There have been speculations that
the project which received a strong boost by government may be discontinued if
there is a regime change in the 2011 elections.
Nworah (2005, p. 5) notes that “the task of re-branding a country in order to
attract foreign investors is never left at the hands of branding and marketing
professionals only. It is also important for the leaders in the country to embark on
public and economic diplomacy.” In this regard, Nigeria's President, Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua appears to be doing very well, although the results of his “rule of law
policy and seven point agenda” is yet to materialise in Nigeria, the president has
39
been widely criticised over his slow pace in revamping the nation, attracting
foreign investors and also re-integrating Nigeria into the global community, after
years in the cold as a pariah caused by the economic policies and the human rights
violations of past military juntas.
Writing to support economic and public diplomacy as practised by the
United States of America, Grant (2002, p. 10) quoting from the United State’s
State Department website defines public diplomacy as …the practice of engaging,
informing and influencing key international audiences in order to advance the
interests and security of the United States.
This definition should also apply to every country of the world that actually
wishes to promote itself to the world for political and economic reasons.
2.2.3 The Journalist Angle to Re-Branding Nigeria Campaigns
There is no gain stressing the obvious that objectivity which is the hallmark
of journalism practice can not be achieved hundred percent. This is because there
is always an element of bias, regional sentiment and selfish interest in the
coverage of events in the country. Therefore, media practitioners are enjoined to
stick to standard journalism practice as embedded in the Universal Ethics and
Responsibilities (Doki, 2005, p. 38), which includes;
� Responsibility to one’s conscience
� Responsibility to one’s country
� Responsibility to the current government of the day
� Responsibility to the target audience and
� Responsibility to humanity.
The point however, is that journalists may not be bias-free, but it is the
imperative of the integrity of the profession that they allow for the free expression
of the other view point in their coverage. In doing this, the journalists is expected
to carry a report on an event or issue the way it will favour the event, the target
40
audience and more importantly the general image of the country. This is because
the opinions of most people about the country are product of the nation gotten
from the pages of newspapers and magazine including the radio and TV
programmes.
Another approach to re-branding the nation is by ensuring sanity within the
media environment. This has to do with purging the profession of bad eggs and
amoral behaviour. The key thing should however be a strong focus on the use of
articles, editorials, news and other features of media content to re-direct the
masses to the light at the end of the tunnel rather than the dark in the tunnel. By so
doing, the media through attitudinal change theory would have engineered
development in the individual and the country at large.
The notion registered above was properly captured by Doki (2008, p.39)
when he notes that:
It is only when very journalist and media receives the necessary training and guidelines and observe the principles and ethics of the profession that the media would move forward towards its historic role in our quest for political stability and National development.
The journalist angle to re-branding Nigeria is built on media contribution to
the general revamping of the country’s image. It acknowledges that the freer
political atmosphere in which the press now operates is unlike the era of military
decrees that the press loved to violate and condemn while attacking the
government. Rather it beckons on the press to use the necessary apparatus for
development and nation –building to better the lot of the nation, knowing fully
well that the media is a powerful instrument of re-branding and development.
2.2.4 Strategies for Re-Branding Nigeria Campaigns
The hallmark of re-branding Nigeria campaign is to secure a favourable and
positive position in the mind of the people (citizens, investors, tourists, and comity
of nation). Just like products, Shultz (1980, p. 49) argues that “once that position is
established, the consumer should consider the product any time he needs the type
41
of benefit or problem solution the product offers”. Advertisers achieve this by
picking the appeals of an existing product to meet the salient needs of the
prospects. In the same vain, re-branding Nigeria campaign must seek to develop
different strategies that borders on the life of the people and investors alike in
order to win their favourable consideration.
The Re-branding Nigeria campaign must seek to offer certain benefits to
the people, if and only if, it will have required effect in the people’s frame of
mind. Without this effect, re-branding Nigeria will be nothing but a waste of time
and resources. Unless re-branding is used to address the needs or problems of the
target people or prospects, the effort will not be successful. In order to employ re-
branding effectively, we need ask the following questions:
� What position do we want to own? � What country (companies) must be outgunned if we are to
establish that position? � Do we have enough marketing money to occupy and hold
that position? � Do we have the guts to stick with one consistent
positioning concept? � Does our creative approach match our positioning strategy?
(Trout and Ries, 1972, p. 38)
The above six questions can be summarized into one comprehensive query:
what are we offering and how do we want to be perceived? Unless this query is
satisfactorily answered, we might be starting from the wrong premise in our
positioning drive.
The basic starting point for re-branding campaign is a clearly defined
statement. Such statement addresses who the prospects is or are. Such analysis of
who the product is meant for involves seven elements that collectively paint a
complete picture of the target audience. These elements are sometimes called the
positioning elements, which include target market, consumer benefit, product
categorization, use pattern, price or value statement, image statement and appeal
statement.
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Having identified the campaign strategies that are relevant in positioning a
particular brand in the mind of the prospects or people, it becomes necessary to
review the various media strategies that must be employed to send home the brand
to be positioned. This aspect is very important because it boils down to the topic of
research which deals with media coverage of re-branding Nigeria campaign.
The various media strategies at the disposal of advertisers and campaign
personnel’s are properly captured by Mandel (2005, p. 2) as follows:
Bursting strategy: This is useful at the introduction or birth of a new
product in the market. In this media strategy, campaign will be done heavily
during a particular period of the total plan and over half of the budget is spent
during this period after which the campaign gets light and returns to normal. It
gives room for an integrated approach which involves the use of the entire media
outlet available and at the disposal of the campaign team.
This type of strategy is of necessity very important in the re-branding
Nigeria campaign.
Burst-Hiatus flights: This strategy is used to slide down the rate at which
the bursting strategy is done. In this strategy, heavy or concentrated (burst)
campaign is followed by a period of absence (flight) of campaign and their will be
no period of normal campaign.
Flight strategy: In this strategy, advertising work will be distributed
throughout the year. However, periodical burst and hiatus will be included. Again,
this can be a good strategy to employ in re-branding Nigeria campaign.
Pulsing strategy: There will be a period of flighting and hiatus but the
periods will be shorter. For example, campaign will be made for about two/three
weeks or months, followed by low advertising for a short period.
Seasonal strategy: This is useful for marketing seasonal products. This
type of campaign strategy is seasonal oriented and relevant. It takes the nature of
an advert of raincoat during the cold and raining period, cards and chocolate
during valentine and Christmas period.
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Teaser set-up strategy: This is similar to the seasonal strategy; the
difference is that advertising starts at a low rate and as the season picks, slowly
advertising reaches the peak.
Steady Strategy: Under this strategy, the advertiser or campaign team
spends a fixed amount on advertising every month. It is, however, not popular
with the advertisers.
Alternating strategy: As the name suggest, the advertiser advertises
his/her products every alternate month. Here, advertising campaign is carried in a
formula called 1-0-1, meaning that the advert is carried this month, by next month
it will stop totally and continue the next month. It alternate between the months.
From the aforementioned strategies, one can see the various angles to re-
branding Nigeria campaign using the media. Any strategy can be chosen to
achieve the desired objective of the campaign generally.
It is, however, important to note that which ever strategy adopted, the
positioning and media strategies combined are more effective in achieving a
successful result. Therefore, a proper appeal statement can be combined with
bursting strategy to grab the attention of the people and do justice to a particular
space in their mind.
However, the media is and will continue to be an indispensable means of
actualising many re-branding campaigns. Therefore the pilot team for the re-
branding Nigeria campaign should not neglect the media potency in their quest to
deliver result.
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2.2.5 Media Coverage of Re-Branding Nigeria Campaigns
In a fast moving world, facts cannot always speak for themselves; unexplained facts can sometimes actually confuse and deceive. The reader (and listener) needs information but also needs analysis; he needs background events (information) in order to function as an effective citizen. The country needs effective mass media to give coverage to issues bordering on political communication, international relations and current national issues (Adegoke, 2001, p. 93).
When on February 9, 2009, the Minister of Information and
Communication, Professor Dora Nkem Akunyili, flagged off the National Re-
branding Campaign not many Nigerians gave the initiative a chance of survival
(Uwah, 2009, p. 1). But Akunyili insisted that the campaign will fly because the
components are different. According to Akunyili, the solution to the inept
leadership at all levels of the nation’s life lies in attitudinal change. This is obvious
because corruption and greed, twin causes of Nigeria’s underdevelopment are
attitudinal vices.
Uwah (2009, p. 1) notes that “no amount of legislation can effectively
tackle the sleaze if the character and cultural value orientation of the individuals
who run national institutions do not change”
It is on the hills of this that the media become a powerful instrument in re-
branding Nigeria campaign since it has the power to induce attitudinal change and
promote national corporate image, aimed at eliciting favourable goodwill from
members of the public. The media can and should be at the forefront of piloting
the campaign for a better Nigeria. Ifode (2009, p. 2) avers that:
If the campaign . . . were compelling, we would have had fewer problems and possibly developed beyond where we are today. Tribalism and religion are the problems that stop us from probing the corrupt, voting out the ineffective leaders, criticizing the poor performer, appointing the right people for efficiency, punishing the wrong doer, amongst others. They are also the major reason that some Nigerians developed negative attitude towards the nation.
45
Again the media can do justice to the issue of tribalism and religion as it
affects the country. This will entail a comprehensive and continuous writing of
persuasive articles and editorials dissuading the people from tribal and religious
alienation which are detrimental to the general well-being of the nation.
In inducing attitudinal change in citizens which will metamorphose into
change in the society and nation at large, persuasive and factual messages can be
packaged in a continuous manner as to register the effect in the minds of the
people. This process is called bursting strategy in advertising and publicity. It
requires a continuous effort until the message is registered in the sub-conscious of
the people.
As for the re-branding Nigeria campaign, it is the duty of the media to
cover and interpret the essence of the re-branding process on the country. Most
people still register mixed feelings regarding the campaign. They do not pay
attention to the re-branding Nigeria issues not to talk about the new logo and
slogan proposed by Akunyili.
Through positive articles and in-depth report of developmental programmes
and projects, positive message-oriented cartoons, editorials on favourable
government policies and catchy advertorials and publicity, with conscious effort of
the government of the day, Nigeria would indeed be re-branded for good.
At this juncture of re-branding Nigeria campaign, the media is supposed to
know that whatever they say or do may make or mar the image of the country,
which is already at a tight corner. Their action, if negative will be a case of
pushing a man who is about to fall. A good example of this, is observed on the
pages of newspapers but our prime focus is on the cartoon carried by Newswatch,
(2009, p. 9), titled suicide Note. A man who was about to hang himself, wrote a
note captioned; “I am a Nigerian, a good one. Yet, no job, no food, no hope. Let
them re-brand me-oo or else. . .”
46
Reports like this, will further promote the indifference in the minds of most
people about the country. Rather than truncate the effort of the government, the
media can be a good partner in the progress and success story of the nation.
Prior to the 60’s, the media fought vehemently for the actualization of
independence, this later came on a platter of gold. The media can and should
equally channel the same effort for the re-branding Nigeria campaign.
2.2.6 The Mass Media and Brand Building
This issue of mass media and brand building lies on the concept
‘credibility’. Where the media employed has no credibility, the product to be
branded encounters a problem. This is against the backdrop that the media can
serve as a veritable tool for building a brand. This statement is truer when we
consider the opinion of Laura and Al Ries (2002) as cited in Blumenthal (2010,
para 1), in their book titled “The fall of Advertising and the Rise of Public
Relations”. To them, in the course of building a brand, “advertising had indeed
lost credibility while the media still had it. Although, in 2006, one can no longer
be so sure: in an age when video news releases regularly substitute for real news,
as the centre for Media and Democracy reports, people have learned to be
sceptical about the media’s objectivity.
However, the underpinning is that the media still serve as a strong means
by which the public get information. This simply means that the people still
believe in the message of the media and as such, the credibility of the medium
would help boost the acceptability of the branded projected by the media.
The media is constantly pressured to compromise its impartiality. For one
thing, there is a constant need to produce news, sometimes 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. In addition, they are owned by mega-sized corporate entities that are in the
business primarily to generate profit: the press survives by selling airtime and print
space to advertisers. These two factors together, in addition to any bias internal to
the culture of the media entity itself, leave the media vulnerable to press releases
and other pre-packaged content put together by private agencies hoping to get the
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word out about clients, especially if those clients are willing to underwrite
advertising time and space or government functionaries that are eager to pilot a
particular course for the government.
On the other hand, the media knows that if it compromises in terms of its
trustworthiness, then Ries and Ries’ argument holds: no credibility = no brand.
Blumenthal (2010, para. 5) notes that:
Image can… be generated through an advertising campaign or a corporate document or the look of an organization’s premises… (while) reputation is...built through developing relationships and what an organisation does. It is largely what others say about you. One implication is that the media grows the reputation to protect the brand. Added that, reputation – which can loosely be defined as trustworthiness – is not brand. Brand is image, while reputation is reality. What this means is that everybody knows that brand is fake, or has elements of fakery, while reputation is closer to reality. Therefore, brand is best conveyed by a consistent sales/marketing/advertising “core message”, while reputation is best conveyed by transparency.
In this case, transparency, which is the real job of a media professional
(though he may not be able to express it in practice) means to tell the whole truth
and nothing but the truth about a given situation. Therefore, the media is actually
the antithesis of branding, which is to tell a very partial, even propagandistic,
truth. Really:
Branding is pure selling, aimed at owning a single idea in the audience’s mind. No matter how they are written up in The Wall Street Journal or Fortune, the brands of Nike, Disney, Starbucks and Coca-Cola have little to do with the real world inside their organisations, and much to do with the image they represent to the public. (Blumenthal, 2010, para. 7).
At this point, it is important to note that the only reason for reputation-
building activities is to protect the brand against being damaged by scandal. Thus
48
far, we have established that the media do build brand through its advertising and
publicity processes, for branding is an image-building activity, and advertising is
explicitly an image-building technique.
Blumenthal (2010, para. 12) captured the essence of the media’ relationship
with brand building, when he opined that “people enjoy the brand-building
activities that advertisers create. They like a good advertisement or television
commercial, and they enjoy finding out about a product or service that is new and
interesting. What they don’t like is to be tricked, fooled, or enticed to buy
something from a company that is unethical or that doesn’t deliver on its
promises”.
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CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
The research design for this study is content analysis. This is because
content analysis allows the researcher the ability to review the manifest content of
the media. Content analysis is appropriate to this study because the work itself
focuses on the evaluation of media coverage of re-branding Nigeria campaign.
Describing the effectiveness of content analysis, Nwabueze (2009: 75)
opines that “content analysis is an objective way of determining and quantifying
the existence of certain themes, concepts, characters, sentences, phrases and words
within a text”. Adding that “all aspects of communicative language can be studies
through content analysis”
3.2 Research Population
This research work concerns itself with media coverage of the re-branding
Nigeria campaign. Therefore, three major national newspapers in Nigeria namely;
The Daily Sun, the Guardian and This Day newspapers were studied.
In all, the researcher reviewed these papers for the period of twelve months
(January 2009-December 2009). This made the number of newspapers to be
reviewed per year (in respect to one media outlet) to be 365 newspapers. For the
three national newspapers, the population was 1,095 newspapers.
3.3 Sample Size
The sample size for this research work is 216 newspapers. Using Boll and
Gall (1971) statement as recorded by Uzoagulu (1998: 67) when he suggested that
“for population up to 1,000 use 20 percent; for 5,000 use 10 percent; for up to
10,000 use 5 percent.” The researcher shall use 20% of the general population of
1,095 newspapers. In this case, 20 percent of 1,095 shall be 219.
20/100 × 1095/1 ═ 219
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However, the researcher had discovered that using quota sampling, 219 can
not be distributed evenly to the various months that make up for the period this
work tends to analyse. This is because when 219 are divided by 12 months, the
result will give 6.1 and it is obvious that there can never be 6.1 numbers of
newspapers. Therefore, for the sake of this work and even selection of sample size,
the researcher proposes to use 6 newspapers per month, which will in turn lead to
216 newspapers as shall be observed in sampling techniques.
3.4 Sampling Techniques
The sampling techniques adopted here were stratified sampling and simple
random sampling.
Considering the sample size, the researcher was able to select 6 newspapers
per month for each newspaper outlet. The breakdown is represented below:
1st month per newspaper 6 newspapers
In one year per newspaper 6 newspapers multiply by 12 months 12 x 6 =72
∴72 newspapers for review. In one year for the
Three newspapers: 72 x 3 72x3 = 216
216 newspapers
Total newspapers for review: 216 newspapers
The researcher, at the end of the day, had 216 newspapers to analyze for
this research work.
Secondly, in order to select 6 newspapers per month for each of the three
national dailies, the researcher engaged in a simple random selection of
newspapers with the intention of giving all the newspapers per month the
opportunity of been selected.
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The result is presented as follows;
January - 25, 19, 5, 26, 6, 29
February - 9, 18, 3, 8, 24, 25
March - 5, 1, 29, 24, 19, 4
April - 29, 16, 2, 4, 24, 14
May - 9, 25, 5, 8, 7, 24
June - 9, 6, 29, 30, 18, 4
July - 25, 19, 8, 26, 10, 2
August - 11, 1, 9, 24, 27, 23
September - 25, 29, 24, 4, 9, 20
October - 27, 8, 25, 29, 18, 7
November - 18, 4, 23, 7, 25, 11
December - 13, 14, 23, 19,6,21
The researcher adopted a simple random selection of the 72 newspapers
needed for the sample analysis.
3.5 Instruments for Data collection
The instrument for data collection was by the use of code sheet. The
researcher engaged in the coding of the manifest content of the newspapers
selected in order to arrive at an acceptable and reliable analysis.
For the purpose of this research, coding looked at the following areas;
� News contents
� Feature stories
� Opinion Articles
� Advertorials
� Adverts
� Editorials
� Cartoons
� Respondents Column
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In these areas, questions shall be codifies as follows
� What are the numbers of news, features, articles, cartoons, stories and
respondents on re-branding Nigeria campaign in a given newspaper?
� What level of prominence was given to a particular story?
It shall be simplifies as follows;
� No. of News stories ----------------------
� Level of prominence ---------------------
� Focus of the story -----------------------
� Tune of presentation ------------------- e.t.c
3.6 Validation and Reliability of Research Instrument
In order to test the reliability and validity of the research instrument, the
research codified the manifest content of 10 copies of the Daily Sun and the
Guardian newspapers of various editions. This was used by the researcher to
know whether the result gotten would be inconformity with the purpose of the
research under investigation.
3.7 Method of Analysis and Presentation of Data
The researcher employed simple percentage as the method of data analysis.
Data, however, were converted into figures and presented in tabular format. This
further enhanced the understanding of the data presented.
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CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA
This chapter shows the presentation of data after the study of the manifest
content of three national newspapers namely: The Guardian, The Daily Sun and
This Day newspapers. The data was, however, presented in tables and simple
percentages as shall be noted in the tables below.
A. Code Scheme
Editions for Analysis Codes
The Guardian: Jan. 2009 - Dec. 2009 N1
The Daily Sun: Jan. 2009 - Dec. 2009 N2
This Day: Jan. 2009 - Dec. 2009 N3
B. Summary of Outcome
No of News Stories in the sample studied = 19,688
No of Features in the sample studied = 2,180
No of Articles in the sample studied = 1,698
No of Editorials in the sample studied = 216
No of Letters in the sample studied = 378
No of Adverts in the sample studied = 9,579
No of Cartoons in the sample studied = 262
= 34,001
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4.1 Research Question 1
What is the extent of media coverage of the Re-branding Nigeria campaign?
The answer to the question raised above was provided by the analysis of
items number 3, 4 and 5 on the code sheet.
Table 1: Description on the frequency of occurrence of various contents
published on re-branding Nigeria campaigns.
Frequency Total Percentage
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3
News 24 20 24 68 0.35
Feature 6 12 18 36 1.65
Articles 15 6 12 33 1.94
Editorial - - - - -
Letter to the editor - 3 12 15 3.97
Advert - 12 18 30 0.31
Cartoon - 9 - 9 3.44
Total 45 62 84 191 -
From the various editions of the newspapers studied, and as shown in table
1, out of the total of 19,688 news stories only 68 news stories were on re-branding
Nigeria, which constitute 0.35 percent of the news contents.
Thirty-six feature stories representing 1.65 percent of the total of 2,180
feature stories are on re-branding Nigeria campaign. As for article writing, 33
articles representing 1.94 percent of 1,698 articles are on re-branding Nigeria.
While letter to the editor has 15 stories on re-branding out of 378 letters which
constitute 3.97 percent, advert is another area which got 30 adverts out of 9,579
adverts, thereby resulting to 0.31 percent. However, 9 cartoons out of 262 focused
on re-branding Nigeria campaign, representing 3.44 percent of the cartoons.
55
In other words, it can be observed that re-branding Nigeria campaign was
actually projected mainly by the news contents of newspapers studied, while
feature stories were second in the class of newspaper contents that covered re-
branding Nigeria campaign within January 2009 – December 2009 for the selected
newspapers.
Table 2: Showing the space and length of contents given to the re-
branding Nigeria campaigns.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
1-5 inches 18 42 47 107 56.02
6-10 inches 27 20 28 75 39.27
11-15 inches - - 9 9 4.71
16 inches – 1 page - - - - -
Above 1 page - - - - -
Total 45 62 84 191 100
The table above shows that the numbers of re-branding contents that are
within 1-5 inches are 107, which represent 56.02 percent of the given distribution.
Whereas 75 contents representing 39.27 percent cover between 6-10 inches in the
space allocated to them. While 9 contents representing 4.71 percent fall between
11-15 inches on the spaces allocated to them.
From this table it can be observed that majority of the newspaper contents
do not give in-depth report on the issue of re-branding, considering the fact that
out 191 re-branding contents, 107 contents were mainly reported within the space
of 1-5 inches. Only 9 contents cover between 11 – 15 inches.
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Table 3: Showing whether the re-branding Nigerian campaign contents
have illustrations that would help provide more understanding of the essence
of re-branding Nigeria.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Photographs 9 4 10 23 12.04
Line, drawing maps, tables - - - - -
All of the above - - - - -
None of the above 36 51 52 139 72.77
Others - 7 22 29 15.18
Total 45 62 84 191 100
The table above illustrates that 23 photographs which represents 12.04
percent served as illustration to some of the newspaper contents, while 29 contents
of the materials representing 15.18 percent on re-branding have other illustrations
such as adverts. Meanwhile 139 which represent 72.77 percent of the contents do
not have any illustrations at all.
The implication of this table is that much effort was not made by the
reporters to enhance the understanding of the concept of re-branding in the
coverage of the concept under study. This statement is anchored on the fact that
only 23 well defined illustrations were made out of 191 re-branding Nigeria
contents.
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4.2 Research Question 2
What degree of prominence is the campaign receiving in media contents?
The answer to the research question 2 raised above was provided by the
analysis of item number 6 on the code sheet.
Table 4: Examining the degree of prominence accorded the re-branding
Nigeria campaign.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Front page - - - - -
Back page - - - - -
Centre spread - - - - -
Inside page 45 62 84 191 100
Total 45 62 84 191 100
Table 4 shows that all the materials in the study sample were all given the
same level of prominence. This is truer considering the fact that all the 191 re-
branding contents representing 100 percent of the distribution were all placed in
the inside pages of the newspapers studied.
The implication of this outcome is that none of the newspaper publishers
saw re-branding as a concept that should be given adequate prominence and much
seriousness. Hence, none of the contents were seen as meritorious enough to grace
the front page, back page or centre-spread of the various newspapers.
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4.3 Research Question 3
Do the media have specific strategies in the coverage of the Re-branding
campaign?
The answer to research question 3 raised above was provided by the
analysis of items number 7, 8, 9 and 10 on the code sheet.
Table 5: Showing the tone of presentation on materials that deals with the
re-branding Nigeria campaign.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Very Persuasive 15 9 33 57 29.84
Moderately Persuasive 17 38 42 97 50.79
Not Persuasive 9 15 9 33 17.28
Indifferent 4 - - 4 2.09
Total 45 62 84 191 100
Table 5 above indicates that 57 contents of the re-branding Nigeria
campaign are very persuasive and that this figure represents 29.84 percent of the
re-branding contents. On the other hand, 97 contents which represent 50.79
percent of the re-branding Nigeria campaign were moderately persuasive. Thirty-
three contents of the re-branding Nigeria campaign which represents 17.28 percent
are not persuasive while 4 contents constituting 2.09 percent are practically
indecisive.
The implication of this analysis is that they were more stories on re-
branding Nigeria that are moderately persuasive, followed by those that are very
persuasive.
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Table 6: Determining the direction of the contents on re-branding Nigeria
campaign.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Favourable 33 38 63 134 70.16
Unfavourable 6 21 18 45 23.56
Neutral 6 3 3 12 6.28
Indifferent - - - - -
Total 45 62 84 191 100
Indications arriving from the table above show that 134 contents
representing 70.16 percent focused favourable on the re-branding Nigeria
campaign. Meanwhile, 45 contents representing 23.56 percent of the re-branding
contents were basically unfavourably to the re-branding Nigeria campaign.
Whereas, 12 contents representing 6.28 percent of the re-branding Nigeria
campaign were neutral in their presentation.
The off-shoot of this analysis is that they were more materials that were
very favourable to the re-branding Nigeria campaign in the editions studies. This
argument is anchored on the fact that out of 191 contents on re-branding Nigeria
campaign 134 contents of the newspapers were basically in support of the
ideology. However, 23.56 percent which represented 45 contents were against the
concept of re-branding Nigeria campaign.
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Table 7: Showing the source of the contents on re-branding Nigeria
campaigns
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Staff with by-line 30 29 39 98 51.31
Staff without by-line 6 6 4 16 8.38
Outside contributors 9 27 41 77 40.31
Media other outlets - - - - -
Foreign media - - - - -
Internet - - - - -
Source not indicated - - - - -
Total 45 62 84 191 100
Table 7 above shows that 98 contents representing 51.31 percent of the
material on re-branding Nigeria were written by staff of the media outlet with their
by-line clearly written on the materials while 16 contents representing 8.38 percent
of the overall contents were written by staff without by-line. However, 77 re-
branding Nigeria contents were written by outside contributors and this figure
represent 40.31 percent of the overall contents.
This implication of this result is that more staff of the media outlet
contributed greatly to the materials available on re-branding Nigeria whether
positive or negative. This was equally followed by the works of outside
contributors who did not cease to express themselves on the issue at hand.
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Table 8: Showing the areas discussed by contents on re-branding Nigeria
campaigns
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Government activities 15 29 38 82 42.93
Activities of Government Corporate
Organisation
6 9 13 28 14.66
Activities of non-governmental
organisation
9 15 24 48 25.13
Actions of Individuals 6 3 3 12 6.28
Others 9 6 6 21 10.99
Total 45 62 84 191 100
Eighty-two contents on re-branding Nigeria campaign representing 42-93
percent of the overall contents were on government activities. Whereas, 28 and 48
contents of re-branding Nigeria which represent 14.66 and 25.13 percent
respectively were on activities of government corporate organisations and
activities of non-governmental organisation as the case may be. However, 12 and
21 contents of the re-branding Nigeria campaign which represented 6.28 and 10.99
percent of the overall contents were on actions of individuals and others areas like
adverts.
The fallout of this analysis is that 82 contents of the re-branding campaign
are on the activities of government, followed by 48 contents which duel on the
activities of non-governmental organisations. This means that re-branding Nigeria
campaign focuses more on the actions of the government which may be on a
positive or negative comment as the case may be. Activities of non-governmental
organisations are equally areas where attentions were drawn.
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4.4 Research Question 4
How successful is the re-branding Nigeria campaigns so far as reflected in
media contents?
The answer to research question 4 raised above was provided by the
analysis of item number 11 on the code sheet.
Table 9: Showing the success rate of re-branding Nigeria campaigns by
analysing the number of media contents that are directed to re-branding
Nigeria campaign.
Unit of Analysis N1 N2 N3 Total Percentage
Re-branding Nigeria
Contents
45 62 84 191 0.56
Other Contents 13,343 10,061 10,406 33,810 99.44
Total 13,388 10,123 10,490 34,001 100
Table 9 above shows the number of contents on re-branding Nigeria
campaign which happen to be 191 contents out of 34,001 contents of the editions
of newspapers studied from January 2009 – December 2009. This figure
represents 0.56 percent of the overall contents in the sample studied. Whereas
other contents in the newspapers amounted to 33,810 contents which constitute
99.44 percent of the overall newspapers studied.
The implication of this analysis is that re-branding Nigeria campaign was
grossly under-reported considering the fact that out of 34,001 contents only 191
contents treated issues on re-branding Nigeria campaign. The more worrisome
aspect of this analysis is that re-branding Nigeria campaign did not even constitute
up to 1 percent of the issues reported in the sample study.
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4.5 Discussion of Findings
From the analysis of data presented in this chapter, it is obvious that in
table 1, news contents covered the issue of re-branding Nigeria campaign more
than any other contents in the newspapers studied. The implication of this is that
the materials projected are highly guided by the principles of 5Ws and H, thereby
limiting the level of interpretation that would have been injected into the contents
in order to win or convince people on the need to re-branding Nigeria.
Although, feature stories were the second most popular newspaper contents
that deal with re-branding Nigeria campaign, the percentage of coverage which is
1.65 percent is terribly minimal for any tremendous impact to be created.
Table 2 went ahead to confirm the fears of this work when the data analysis
showed that majority of the newspaper contents did not give adequate coverage to
the re-branding Nigeria campaign. This observation is anchored on the fact that
107 contents out of 191 contents on re-branding were reported within the space of
1-5 inches.
This observation is worrisome because the researcher considers 1 – 5
inches of space in the newspaper as too small for any logical presentation aimed at
convincing people on the need to re-brand their ways vis a vis the country at large.
In table 3, it was observed that most of the stories in re-branding Nigeria
carried no illustration except photograph. Why it is true that picture speaks a
thousand words, these particular pictures were that of the Minister of Information
and Communication Dora Akunyili and few other government functionaries. This
development indicates that not much have been done on the issue of re-branding
Nigeria especially from the print media angle.
Another important observation is that most of the print media houses do not
place much importance on the issue of re-branding Nigeria. This statement
becomes truer when one considers the fact that data analysed in table 4 indicates
that all the contents in re-branding Nigeria are placed in the inside page of the
newspapers. None was placed in the front page, back page or centre-spread of the
newspapers. This shows the degree of prominence placed on the re-branding
64
Nigeria campaign. Although, it was also observed in tables 5 and 6 that most of
the stories in re-branding Nigeria are moderately persuasive and favourable to the
course of the re-branding Nigeria campaign, they were mainly covering issues that
relate to government activities and non-governmental organisation in the country
as projected by table 8.
In summation, table 9 made it obvious that re-branding Nigeria campaign
has been grossly under-reported by the print media in the country. This became
more obvious considering the fact that out of 34,001 contents in the sample study,
only 191 contents treated issues on re-branding Nigeria campaign. The implication
of this statement is made clearer when one observes the fact that the 191 contents
did not make up to 1 percent of the issues reported in the sample study. Rather, it
amounted to only 0.56 percent of the overall contents.
65
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary
This work was engineered by the need to ascertain the level of media
coverage of the re-branding Nigeria campaign.
The researcher adopted content analysis with coding as an instrument of
data collection. Three national newspapers were however selected using random
selection. They are This Day, The Daily Sun and The Guardian newspapers.
Using simple random sampling, the researcher selected 72 editions of each
of the three newspapers, which all together amounted to 216 editions of the
newspapers studied. The result of the data analysed were presented in tables and
percentages. However, it was discovered from the data analysed that re-branding
Nigeria campaign has been grossly under-reported.
In the course of the study under investigation, the researcher was able to
present the idea of re-branding Nigeria by first and foremost presenting a
definition on country branding by quoting Nworah (2005, p.2), who avers that
“country branding is the process whereby a country actively seeks to create a
unique and competitive identity for itself, with the aim of positioning the country
internally and internationally as a good investment”.
It is on the heels of this that those who projected the idea of country
branding believed that the media could serve as a strong hold for the actualisation
of the campaign. It was from this idea that the study borrowed the wisdom to
situate itself on two mass communication theories known as functionalist theory
and agenda setting theory.
5.2 Conclusion
The researcher finds it difficult to conclude that re-branding Nigeria
campaign via the print media has not been much of a success, even when the red
66
light points towards that direction. This is due to the fact that the researcher among
other things shares the view that the media is a strong force in the mobilisation of
the masses for a given course.
However, for the re-branding Nigeria campaign to be successful, based on
the findings of this work, both the government and the media must work together
for the common good of the nation. This collaboration should be guided by the
fact that if this country gets better; it would be for the greater good of the people
which the government and the media set out to serve.
5.3 Recommendations
Considering the gains of having a country where things are said to be working
for the preliterate and bourgeoisies, the researcher is compelled to recommend as
follows:
� The Nigerian government should show good faith in their effort to return
things to normalcy in this country. This no doubt, would go along way to
encourage the people to imbibe the ideals of re-branding Nigeria as
indicated in the campaigns.
� Government, in the three tiers should equally match words with actions
without any ulterior motive in their dealings with members of the public,
especially in the fight against corruption, marginalisation and so on.
� Government should also call a frequent press conference in order to seek
new ways of partnering with the media to project government policies,
programmes, activities and the style of media report in the country.
� Above all, government should mirror an appropriate political goodwill for
the overall interest of her citizens as against the interest of party or a section
of the country.
� On the other hand, the media practitioners in Nigeria should see the issue of
re-branding Nigeria as a good course that needs their support, given that the
67
government has a positive disposition towards the re-branding Nigeria
campaign.
� The media should contribute their quota in the fight for a better Nigeria by
projecting the ideals of re-branding Nigeria. This is because some of the
problems encountered by majority of the people in this country are off-
shoot of their perception about the country and the world around them.
� The media have to equally redirect the way and manner in which issues are
reported in the country in order not to create a wrong perception in the
minds of the people.
� The media should realise also that in the quest for a better Nigeria, all
hands have to be on deck if meaningful objectives are to be actualised.
Therefore, they should look for a way of partnering with the government of
the day in order to make sure that each day that passes by brings the
country closer to greatness.
� It is equally recommended that both government and the media should
engage in meaningful activities that would bring back the lost glory of the
country.
� On their part, the citizenry should believe that Nigeria is capable of getting
to the greatest of all the heights envied around the world. It is that belief
that would engineer the drive for a greater Nigeria.
� The people equally need to understand that government with the media
alone cannot do anything to change the country. Therefore, they need to
contribute their own quota to the greatness of the country. Briefly, the
recommendation, here, is squarely on government, media and people’s
partnership for the betterment of the country.
� Finally, this work is considered as a spring board research material for all
prospective researchers in this and other related areas of image making.
68
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Hedberg, A (2001). Brand new world. Marketing week, 23/51
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Umechukwu, P.O. (2004). The role of the mass media in political mobilisation: the case of april 12 and 19, 2003 general elections in Nigeria. Nsukka journal
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MAGAZINE PUBLICATIONS
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PROJECT WORK
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APPENDIX I
CODE SHEET CODING SHEET FOR STUDYING NEWSPAPER CONTENTS
1. Name of Newspaper (a) The Guardian ( ) (b) The Daily Sun ( ) (c) This Day ( ) 2. Year of study
(a) January 2009 – December 2009 ( ) 3 RQ1. Area of Interest (Frequency of Occurrence)
Number of News Stories
(per newspaper studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria News
Other News
Total
Number of
Features Stories
(per newspaper
studied)
Jan Feb Mar April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Features
Other Features
Total
Number of Opinion
Articles (per
newspaper studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Opinion Articles
Other Opinion Articles
Total
74
Number of
Editorial (per
newspaper
studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Editorial
Other Editorial
Total
Number of Letters to the
Editor (per newspaper
studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Letters to the Editor
Other Letters to the Editor
Total
Number of Adverts
(per newspaper
studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Adverts
Other Adverts
Total
Number of Cartoons
(per newspaper
studied)
Jan Feb Mar
April May June
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Re-branding Nigeria Cartoons
Other Cartoons
Total
75
4 RQ1&2. Space or length of Contents on Re-branding
Space or length of
Contents
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) 1 – 5 inches
(b) 6 – 10 inches
(c) 11 – 15 inches
(d) 16 inches – 1 page
(e) Above one page
5 RQ1. Illustration on the Contents of Re-branding
Illustration on the Contents
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Photographs
(b) Line drawings, maps, tables
(c) All of the above
(d) None of the above
(e) Others
6 RQ2. Placement of Contents on Re-branding
Placement of Contents
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Front page
(b) Back page
(c) Centre – spread
(d) Inside pages
76
7 RQ3. Tone of Presentation on Re-branding Contents
Tone of Presentation
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Very Persuasive
(b) Moderately Persuasive
(c) Not Persuasive
(d) Indifferent
8 RQ3. Direction of the Contents of Re-branding
Direction of the Contents
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Favourable
(b) Unfavourable
(c) Neutral
(d) Indifferent
9 RQ3. Source of Re-branding Contents
Source News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Staff with by-line
(b) Staff without by-line
(c) Outside contributors
(d) Other media outlets
(e) foreign media
(f) Internet
(g) Source not indicated
77
10 RQ3. Subject Matter or Topic on Re-branding
(Area Discussed by the Contents)
Subject Matter or Topic
(Area Discussed by the
Contents)
News Features Opinion Articles
Editorials Letters to the Editor
Advert Cartoon Others
(a) Government activities
(b) Activities of government corporate organisations
(c) Activities of non- governmental organisations
(d) Actions of individuals
(e) Others
11 RQ4. Total number of Materials on Re-branding Nigeria
Total number of Materials on Re-branding Nigeria
The Guardian
The Daily Sun
This Day
Re-branding Nigeria Contents
Other Contents
Total
78
APPENDIX II
Comprehensive Analysis of Analysed Data from Sample Study
Items in
Contents
N3
This Day Newspaper
N1
Guardian Newspaper
N2
Daily Sun Newspaper
Total
Rebranding
Contents
Other
Contents
(T1)
Total
Rebranding
Contents
Other
Contents
(T2)
Total
Rebranding
Contents
Other
Contents
(T3)
Total
T1 T2 T
3
News 24 6,425 6,449 24 6,726 6,750 20 6,469 6,489 19,688
Feature 18 707 725 6 776 782 12 661 6733 2,180
Articles 12 588 600 15 525 540 6 552 558 1,698
Editorial - 72 72 - 72 72 - 72 72 216
Letter 12 168 180 - 84 84 3 111 114 378
Advert 18 2,385 2,403 - 5,061 5,061 12 2,103 2,115 9,579
Cartoon - 61 61 - 99 99 9 93 102 262
Total 84 10,406 10,490 45 13,343 13,388 62 10,061 10,123 34,001
79
APPENDIX III
THE NEED FOR RE-BRANDING NIGERIA: AKUNYILI’S VIEW AND
COUNTER OPINIONS
No one can capture the essence of the re-branding Nigeria campaign more
than the icon that initiated the move in the first place. The passion, the faith, the
goal and the actualisation of the re-branding Nigeria campaign all lies with this
icon. This is no other person than Dora Akunyili. At the inauguration of the
National Re-branding Committee in Sheraton, Abuja, Dora Akunyili, the Minister
of Information and Communication gave a comprehensive breakdown of the
essence of re-branding Nigeria campaign. Akunyili (2009: 1-5) avers as follows:
…Nigeria is long overdue for a new direction. Nigerians are no longer proud to be called
Nigerians because of the failure of both leadership and follower-ship. When the name
Nigeria is mentioned, it immediately conjures a picture of a corrupt and dysfunctional
state, a nation of scams and con men and of potential criminals and a land where
everything goes.
Gradually, as a people we are approaching a point where many feel there will be no
redemption.
I am not one of those that share that view and I can say that the fact that you are all here
today and have agreed to serve on this committee attests to the fact that you do not share
such extreme view of redemption less state and people.
This is why today is important. Because as representatives of various stakeholders you
have the historical opportunity to help shape how we are going to respond to the negative
perception about us. And draw up a plan that will help change the way people think and
talk about us.
When I resumed as the Minister a little over two months ago, I busied my mind with
thoughts on what can be done differently for Nigeria as its chief Image maker.
Thereafter, I arrived at three conclusions.
Firstly, I found that the negative perception about Nigerians was foisted on us by the
international community and it stuck because a few of us gave life to it by our bad
behaviour and more importantly because of the failure of successive political leadership.
Secondly, that Nigeria despite her struggles and not too good reputation must seize the
chance to make a change.
80
Thirdly, that there is something that can be done to make Nigerians believe in themselves
and their country and to deepen their values. I therefore arrived at a conclusion that a
more systematic way of addressing these debilitating issues is through a people oriented
national re-branding campaign.
We must as a people begin to consciously work together to address the character and
attitudinal flaws of the past and thus empower ourselves to tell our story better. The
world would listen. It will take notice, if they find that Nigeria is now a country where the
rule of law is supreme. Where there is less and less corruption, where the people are
orderly and honest in their dealings and where the core values found in every decent
society is practised.
Call it by whatever name, Nigeria undoubtedly needs to re-brand. Nigeria needs to
correct some fundamental behavioural and attitudinal patterns. The country needs a re-
branding that is rooted in the need for us to re-orient ourselves. I am of the conviction
that this country can stem the tide of negative perception about it if we all rededicate
ourselves to those values that once made us a respectable country and people in years
past.
Many have argued that Nigeria has no brand. I am shocked. Like it or not, Nigeria is a
brand. The largest democracy in Africa, the most populous African country definitely is a
brand. Unfortunately, a not so enviable brand. We as a country have a corruption brand
that pervades and reduces us to second class citizens in places and countries where
ordinarily we should hold our heads high. An unruly people brand. The brand of a
country that is directionless exhibiting all the attendant features of a failed state in the
making.
But in spite of this, we can take a bold step to turn things around, hence this re-branding
initiative. This is an initiative, which will borrow heavily from the domestic component
and other few good aspects of the Heart of Africa image project and other previous
government initiatives. This national re-branding exercise will be predicated on the
people.
Here are a few things that we will do differently this time. This project will be home
grown. It is conceived to be a people centred and people branding with an internalized
approach. It will seek the cooperation of Nigerians in government, and in public and
private lives, hence the underpinning philosophy of a Public Private Peoples
Partnership, PPPP approach.
This initiative will also have as a major component of interfacing with all stakeholders at
the national, state and other grassroots levels. There will be a series of mini-stakeholders
fora in about 15-20 locations around the country to discuss the re-branding but it will not
stop there. The awareness generation, the deliberative and participatory dimensions will
continue. I envisage this to be a continuum. A movement. A re-branding project that will
outlive this government.
Another major component is the built in mechanism to ensure that this will not be a
financial jamboree. In the face of the global economic meltdown and previous
81
squandering of funds on similar projects, I commit to the prudent use of resources. We
will spend money but in a most responsible way. We will publish what we pay on the re-
branding project at least twice in a year in Nigerian paper. We will engage only Nigerian
consultants and depend on local inputs because only Nigerians can truly re-brand their
country.
When we begun this journey, a little over five weeks ago in Abuja we knew we where
going to encounter different reactions from Nigerians. Since then, the debate has raged
from the pages of newspapers to the offices and homes. There have been supporters of the
initiative, hardliners and of course mid-liners. We have witnessed a healthy simultaneous
clash of ideas on this very issue.
I am glad to report that I found that we all agreed that this country needs some real
change. A change in character and general orientation. A change in the way we talk
about our country and above all a change in the ways in which we wilfully destroy this
country through our utterances and actions. Yet, many still query, ‘Why Now’? In the
midst of the global economic meltdown, pervasive corruption, unprecedented
unemployment statistics, epileptic power supply, bad roads and lack of a few basic
infrastructures.’ Why Re-Brand Now in the midst of all these’? They queried.
Nigeria cannot wait until it solves all her problems before it can stand to give serious
thought to re-branding its battered image. The credit card scams, the Advance Fee
Frauds, the fake passports and document rackets, the mind bugling corruption at all
levels, the failure to obey laws and the questionable business ethics of Nigerians have
had destructive effects on our image.
Nigerians in and outside the country are quick to say bad things and condemn the
country in uncomplimentary terms. When we run down our country in the eyes of others
we diminish ourselves and the individual Nigerian. We must begin to address these issues
now. Perhaps, one of the greatest assets that we have apart from our names is our
citizenship. Today many of us can take the Nigerian citizenship to the bank. At different
international airports, on the trains, in stores and shopping malls, on the internet and
almost everywhere every Nigerian is a marked person. We are pulled aside for
questioning. We are suspected as potential drug pushers or fraudsters. We are
unfortunately denied the benefit of the doubt.
Countries that are respected around the world today first had to get it right from home
through a combination of responsible leadership and responsible citizenship. For
Nigeria, there can be no short cut to glory. We must do the handwork. This is a
partnership and there is a price to be paid. Benefits that will accrue to the ordinary
Nigerian if re-branding succeeds will be more than that to government.
I am very mindful of the problems that exist and conscious of the fact that Nigerians are
unhappy about the energy crisis, the unemployment level which is a global problem, the
inadequate security, the endemic corruption and failure of leadership at almost all levels
to serve the people. But the government is doing something. We know that all these
aspects also need re-branding. As we re-brand our attitudes and imbibe new values, we
will challenge the government to equally re-brand.
82
The government of President Umar Musa Yar’adua is making every effort to fast track
deliverables and deal with these issues. Ministers have been mandated to perform and
make meaningful contributions to the lives of Nigerians. My ministry on its part will soon
host the monthly Ministerial Press Briefings through which Ministers can give
information about what they are doing in terms of projects that will directly impact these
problem areas positively. The President’s 7-Point agenda mandate is a blueprint for the
renewal of this country if steadfastly executed.
Therefore, tonight I am tempted to say that our task is easy, but I will not, because it is
not going to be. We have to first drill down to find out why the Nigerian name has
become such a liability at home and abroad. Then we have to determine what needs to be
done and how we can internally address these problems. But I am persuaded that in this
assemblage of old and young Nigerians, brilliant and practicable ideas and solutions will
emerge. Unless we shed a bit of our doubts, contribute in our own little ways to making
this country more trustworthy, board the train together for this journey to re-brand our
character, institutions and government as partners, Nigeria will remain a liability to all
of us. But I am confident that as a people we will rise up to this challenge and join the
government of President Umar Musa Yar’adua and the Information Ministry in this
renewed effort to give this country a new ethical bearing and image.
83
APPENDIX IV
STRATEGIES FOR RE-BRANDING NIGERIA: AKUNYILI’S VIEW
Delivering a lecture at the Faculty of Education International Conference,
UNN on MAY 14, 2009, the Honourable Minister of Information and
Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili while speaking on the need to re-brand
Nigeria, presented strategies for achieving the re-branding Nigeria campaign.
According to her Nigeria must be re-branded and the best strategy is a holistic
approach to it. In her words, Akunyili (2009: 1-6) avers that;
Nation branding is not destination branding or marketing initiatives; it’s not image
makeover, nor an advertising campaign or a marketing strategy; and it’s most
emphatically not just a logo. Rather, all of these things are part and parcel of the totality
of the nation brand; but they aren’t in themselves constitutive. In simple terms, your
brand is what they say about you when you’re not in the room.” -Sayyid Faisal Al Said,
Head, Oman Brand Management Unit…
Like it is often said, ‘Image is everything’ and for Nigeria this resonates loudly and
because of the prevailing debilitating and often crushing negative perception Nigeria
suffers from, this conversation about how to improve our image by projecting Nigeria’s
assets and attributes better is long overdue. Nigerians are perceived to be fraudsters and
criminals and the country seen as one in which nothing works. The negative perception
about Nigeria was foisted on us by the international community and it stuck because a
few of us gave life to it by our bad behaviour and more importantly because of the failure
of successive leadership at all levels. Simon Anholt, UK based “Country Brand” expert
studies people’s perceptions of countries and their economic implications for a living. In
his Nation brand index 2008, Nigeria ranked 49th out of 50 nations measured against
Exports, Governance, Culture, People and Tourism, Immigrations and investments.
Nigeria is clearly at the lowest rung.
In the highly competitive world in which we live, Nigeria will have no choice than to
present a compelling and coherent image to the world if it wants to be taken seriously.
This why the topic you have asked me to talk about today, “RE-BRANDING AND
GLOBALIZATION” is indeed timely, coming at a period when we increasingly live in a
global village and where there is fierce competition for resources, investments and
patronage by all international actors of which Nigeria is one. In the last one decade and
a half, nations have increasingly leveraged on their positive image and reputation to gain
political, economic and social advantages in the global market place. Whether
consciously or unconsciously, managed or not managed, every country has a brand and
overtime through coordinated action at times simulated seeks to ensure that its brand is
competitive. “Nations are already de-factor brands, regularly projecting their assets,
84
attributes and liabilities to a public at large whether intentionally or not”, according to
Sayyid Faisal.
Furthermore, with the wave of democratization and revolution in the communications
sector, countries have become more aware about their image and reputation often
termed-”national brand”. According to the reviewer of the Brand Canada book,
“Whether a country needs to build international coalitions against terrorism, encourage
cooperation to protect the environment, or attract investment and skilled labour,
influencing foreign policy opinion as become as crucial to success as negotiating with
foreign governments.”
Though Africa’s bellwether country, Nigeria unfortunately is not getting its due both at
the continental and international levels. We need a way out of the woods, hence the need
for Re-branding .I am talking about the negative perception about our country which
hurts us badly on the diplomatic front, political front, and business front, and particularly
at a personal level. Nigerians are no longer regarded as candidates for global
citizenship. We are denied the benefit of the doubt wherever we go, in finding jobs,
placements in institutions or securing business contracts. Nigeria as a country is
regarded by many as a joke. The book, “Open Sore of the Continent” by our own Noble
laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka rings out as an indictment. But this is one side of the
Nigerian story. The side that speaks of corruption in government, internal conflicts, lack
of institutional rationalization, and lack of infrastructure and failure of successive
governments to deliver on the promises made to the Nigerian people.
There is the other side, which deals with a people that have made giant strides in
different fields of endeavour, of a people that have deep rooted cultural values, of a
people who in the face of daunting challenges have refused to give up and can still stand
up to be counted. A country that has held many African countries from imploding through
its peace keeping efforts and diplomatic initiatives. A country that continues to support
the development of many African Countries through the Technical Aids Corp. A country
that survived a civil war and has since held at bay any effort at a similar enterprise. A
country that can brag of some of the very best literary minds in the world from Chinua
Achebe, to Wole Soyinka, Chima Amanda, Cyprian Ekwensi, Zainab Alkali, Helon
Habila, Elechi Amadi, John Pepper Clerk and others. A country with a successful
banking economy and Telecom industry and a vibrant informal sector. A country that has
in a very conscious way faced up to its corrupt ways and moved to set up two agencies to
fight corruption. A country in the vanguard of fighting drug counterfeiting through the
instrumentality of NAFDAC. This is the profile of Nigeria that is hardly projected.
Nigeria can no longer accept to be profiled as a corrupt nation and a country where
nothing works. We must reject the doomsday narrative about our country and the
cynicism that colours our thoughts. It is time to turn the tide and project a more positive
Nigeria. It is time to flip the coin and start to believe in ourselves. It is time for a new
thinking, a re-orientation, attitudinal change and a return to our cultural values. We must
instil a new culture of citizenship and a new spirit of patriotism.
Thus, when I assumed office, we thought of a systematic way to address the negative
perception about Nigeria, hence, the Re-branding project. This is a project that is
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holistic, home grown, and people centred. It will seek to bring about attitudinal change,
re-orientation, revive our cultural values and to instil a renewed spirit of patriotism and
hope in all Nigerians. Nigerians must believe in themselves and we must begin to tell our
stories by ourselves. According to Evan H. Potter, an acclaimed brand expert in his book
“ Branding Canada’’, said, ‘If a country fails to tell its own story, its image will be
shaped exclusively by the perceptions of others…”
I know there has been a lot of debate over whether Nigeria needs re-branding, branding,
re-positioning, re-orientation or not. Some have even stretched the argument that Nigeria
is not a brand. We have witnessed a simultaneous clash of ideas among Nigerians in the
last few months with regard to re-branding. We have learnt from the constructive aspects
of the debate. It is certain that Nigeria is a brand. A brand that needs to be properly
managed and enunciated before it goes totally bad.
Branding a nation means projecting a unique national identity and in the case of Nigeria,
a unique image reinforced by the nature of the government, the openness of the
immigrations, attractiveness to tourists, the rule of law and security, economic stability,
security, cultural values and a gamut of other determinants. Indeed, Author Evan H.
Potter, in his book, Branding Canada said, “how a nation is seen and heard-how it is
perceived and understood-matters a great deal as we begin a new century in which we
can expect to see an ever-increasing number of state and non-state actors (citizen’
movements, multi-national corporations, even terrorist organizations) exercising their
soft power capabilities to achieve their objectives.”
In the global world in which we now live, nothing defines a nation better than the
perception people have of it alongside the nature and resilience of its economy. In the
case of the later, the verdict on nations in this respect is often brutal, and seldom with no
middle ground. It is either a successful economy that is courted and celebrated, or one
that is struggling, and at the mercies of investors and lending and donor agencies. This is
the reality of our time. Nigeria with its sheer population of over 140 million with an oil
economy offers a big market and some of the highest returns on investments found
anywhere in the world. With its abundant natural and human resources, Nigeria is
waiting to be exploited and developed. It is a country with the potentials to carry Africa
on its shoulders and power on into the future.
Let me quote Sayyid Faisal Al Said, the head of the Oman Brand Management Unit
charged with branding the image of his country “ With the impact of globalization and
the use of “Attraction Economy,” its increasingly important that a country gets its
international image right. Essentially, we are up against every country in the world
competing for consumers’ attention and respect”. Let’s be clear, consumers are attracted
to clear and consistent messages about things they value, from competent governance, to
friendly and hospitable people, to financial transparency and investment opportunities...”
The way we do business and conduct our political life is a clear and simple measure of
our ability to be a relevant and dependable actor in the global market place. If Nigeria
continues to ignore the impact of its national reputation it will deny the country’s
economy and citizens the benefits offered by the global economy. Nigeria is not alone in
this effort at projecting herself and her values positively to the outside world. There are
many other countries that have threaded this path and many more still working on the
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image of their countries. Some of these countries are South Africa, Ghana, Angola, India,
Canada, South Korea, Oman, Australia, Iceland, Serbia, Colombia and others. Thus, just
as we witnessed the end of the cold war and the wave of democratization that swept
through every corner of the world, the notion of Nation branding is now a globally
accepted and practiced one. The concept of nation branding seeks to project in a very
strategic way the sum total of the positives about a country and in essence downplaying
or managing the negatives responsibly. Different nations depending on their history and
circumstances have used Institutions, Sports, Arts and Culture, Businesses, Tourism,
organized Civil Society and Individual brand icons to project a positive image about
their country. South Africa, a nation that has embarked on a major nation branding
project is taking full advantage of its rights to host the next World Cup in 2010 to brand
their country and project the positives her people.
Just like South Africa and our next door neighbour, Ghana, Nigeria can leverage on the
many things that make her great like its huge population size, its abundant natural
resources, great sports men and women, prolific and world respected writers, academics
and scientists and its position as the sixth largest oil producer in the world. We are
convinced that Nigeria can turn the tide of negative perception against her if it employs
the right combination of approaches and strategies and this is why this initiative is
different.
Let me quickly walk you through a capsule detail of the philosophy, goals and objectives
behind this project. The re-branding initiative is conceived as an internal process to
address Nigeria’s negative image. This campaign is a holistic one, home-grown, and
people centred. (PPPP) This is very critical because a good national brand is a product
of responsible citizenship and leadership. Since this Re- branding seeks to internal
attitudinal change, it will be driven by funding from Government, Private sector and
society. We will be counting on a full dose of volunteerism from good spirited Nigerians.
According to the Conference Summary on Branding Global Korea, “A national branding
campaign must be based on real, substantial improvement of the national system, not just
slogans; must have a broader and more comprehensive program; and must be based on
collaboration of the government, private sector, and individual citizens.”
Towards achieving a people centred project and get the buy in of Nigerians we set out by
evolving a competition through which Nigerians submitted their logos and slogans. From
these submissions emerged the new slogan - Good People, Great Nation which was
launched on March 17th 2009 by President Umar Musa Yar’adua, who was ably
represented by the Vice-President, Jonathan Goodluck.
This campaign sees the logo and slogan as drivers. Thus, our hope is that the slogan,
Good People, Great Nation will help to inspire collective action. The primary
responsibility for the success of the Re-branding effort lies with the Nigerian people and
must be regarded as a comprehensive strategy in which citizens and indeed stakeholders
like you imbibe and communicate the new national identity of Nigeria as a Good People,
Great Nation on a continuous basis.
We realized that as a people we have left others to tell our story for too long. In a world
of media dominance made possible by multiple digital communication platforms, Nigeria
must employ effectively the media to communicate her story to the world. To this end,
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Government is equipping Voice of Nigeria (VON), NTA and FRCN to properly tell the
Nigerian story. These organizations also have the mandate of telling the Nigerian story
and countering all negative news on the country often dished out by the global media to
the world. Similarly, Government is collaborating with the private media houses so that
they could help relay the positive story about Nigeria. In this era of globalization,
whatever news or programmes that is published or aired informs how people perceive
any country. It is in appreciation of the power of the media in shaping the perception of
Nigeria that Government urges the media to report Nigeria and its people responsibly!
As part of this Re-branding, we would have a series of town hall meetings that will take
us to all the States in the country and a few Local Government areas to have a
conversation with Nigerians on the Re-branding exercise and discussion about
government activities. This Re-branding will also create a platform for interaction
between Governments at all levels and the citizenry. However, since this is about all of
us, we believe that the governors and commissioners of information in the states will take
over the campaign and ensure it reaches other levels of governance.
For each State we plan to visit, we intend to involve the Minister and Lawmakers from
the state in order to use that platform to share with Nigerians what government is doing
for them and get a feedback. Members of the Senate and House Committees on
information have also agreed to be part of the mini town hall meetings in their various
states.
Ministers will be expected to play a central role in this campaign because it will be
closely linked with the President’s 7-Point agenda of the government led by President
Umar Musa Yar’adua and the achievement of the Vision 20:2020 goals.
We will roll out public service announcements on radio, television and newspapers with
cryptic messages on re-branding. We will put up outdoor bill boards in the capital cities
of every state, the airports, border towns and other strategic locations in Nigeria. We will
set up dynamic websites that will have important and current information about Nigeria
and that will project the key elements of the re-branding project. We will identify and use
brand icons, individuals that have excelled in their professional fields. We will use
institutions like banks and other businesses and institutions that have performed
creditably as models and brands. We will showcase our strengths, build upon our areas
of success and work on those areas in which the country has clearly failed to perform.
We are establishing special partnership with some Ministries for strategic reasons. For
instance, we are working with the Ministry of Education in the area of re-branding clubs
to be established in all secondary schools and tertiary institutions as a platform to
inculcate in them civility and love of country. And equally in the aspect of including
civics in school curriculum beginning from primary schools. Through the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, with the type of support we have received from Foreign Embassies in
Nigeria in this re-branding campaign, we are encouraged to work more closely with them
so that we can use them to drive our messages to their various countries. In the same
vein, we will partner with Nigerian Embassies abroad to engage over 17 million
Nigerians in the Diaspora. Re-branding is capital intensive. Teemu Moiknen and Seppo
Rainisto, two of the leading brand experts in the world in their book ‘ How to Brand
Nations, Cities and Destinations’ maintained that ‘The most critical part of country
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branding process is guaranteeing sufficient and continuous financing…’ Several
branding experts have argued that apart from funds, time is need. It will take between 3-
4 years conservatively before a nation can start to witness concrete results in its
branding efforts.
For instance, a positive image will attract investment to the country, which will in turn
boost the economy by providing gainful employment to the unemployed. A virile economy
will further open up the economy and help Government generate funds that can be
employed to accelerate the level of development. The multiplier effect of a positive image
is such that almost all the sectors will benefit. Undoubtedly, Nigeria needs to project its
assets and attributes better. I know Nigeria can do it because it is a country set on the
path of greatness and hope. This is a hope tempered with the realization that the path to
greatness is often strewn with challenges, sacrifices, pains, frustrations and many
difficulties. Yes, but we are on that path already.
Nigeria must rise up to the challenge of our time and through a collective resolve start to
think positively, act positively and believe in ourselves and Nigeria. Like other nations,
we must rededicate ourselves and commit our resources to the task of building a true
nation we can all be proud. Since a chain is only as strong as its weakest points, let us
not ignore to do those perceived little things that can make a huge difference. We must all
join in this noble partnership to re-position Nigeria both internally and externally and
empower it to become more respected and a bigger actor in the global world of business
and the international political space of ideas and development. Yes, I believe WE CAN,
but only if we try. And of course, the TIME IS NOW!
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APPENDIX V
ANALYSIS ON RE-BRANDING NIGERIA: DARE’S ANGLE
Having seen the beauty of the re-branding Nigeria campaign, Dare, a
renowned journalist and an optimistic citizen saw the need to concretise the issue
of the re-branding Nigeria campaign by taking on an analysis of the project. To
Dare, the re-branding process is fantastic and must be appreciated by all Nigerians.
He, however, attempted an analysis of the re-branding Nigeria campaign, which he
presented as follows (Dare, 2009: 1-4);
We have a scenario today in which Nigeria is facing an existential threat from corruption
and the insurgence of rapacious government officials who never fail to take what does
not belong to them. The country approaches a state of anomie after squandering several
opportunities at greatness. Anger and fear stalk the land just as millions moan under
grinding poverty. Amidst all these, the few rich and powerful ones dance away in
criminal luxury. The Nigerian state for all intents and purposes has failed its founding
fathers and there is enough blame to go round. But that is not to say we should tarry
playing the blame game and refuse to do something; about our internal attitudes and our
character, about the culture of impunity that stalks the land for which both the leaders
and followers are culprits and above all about our collective image and perception as a
people. This is what Dora and her re-branding is about. There is yet hope for my country.
So, what is making me so optimistic? Simply put, it is the fact that someone whose life has
been threatened by the forces of evil before is putting her life yet again in harm’s way, to
make Nigeria shine. Of course, the problems of Nigeria have been created by the elite's
capture of the economy and the country’s political power structure, which results in the
creation of an exceptionally unjust society where resources are appropriated by a few;
where the masses are denied their basic rights, like basic education and healthcare.
Subsistence opportunities are denied them too, and in many cases they are even robbed
of their dignity by the treatment they get while pursuing their daily bread. Added to all
this injury is the insult that we are a nation of bad people. Besides all these, the elite, in
order to protect their interests, have not just been acquiescent but keen to harm Nigeria
to please their overlords. As a result, the country often ends up with policies that are
deeply unpopular. So re-branding is a sustainable turnaround of the nation that will
entail the people of Nigeria taking their destiny in their own hands. It is a renaissance by
another name.
The first step in any such renaissance has to come from creation of awareness and an
understanding of how the country is governed. This process is why I support Prof.
Akunyili in her new effort to re-brand Nigeria. A lot can be improved in Nigeria. I know
that service delivery in this country needs re-branding. But, the most invaluable service is
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to start by re-branding us, citizens. And this is what seems to be misunderstood. Re-
branding in business phalanx is to improve the packaging of a product which is not doing
well but looks promising. At the moment, Nigeria in all estimation, is not measuring up.
In particular, there is lack of awareness in the way and manner we treat our country and
one another, and the understanding of the well from which all the rights of citizens
derive. It is what Dora’s re-branding is addressing. It is only half about our image
abroad and more about how we look at ourselves here at home. Charity they say begins
at home. It is a return to the starting blocks to go over our liberties before one and all.
Re-branding is meant to deepen our democracy. For starters, re-branding wants us to
know that the constitution is a living document and not a piece of paper, which could be
thrown into the dustbin. Re-branding wants to educate us that democracy is defended not
with tanks and guns but with ideas from people who are willing to stand up and defend
their country. Once awareness has been created the next step is to get people to engage
actively in the affairs of state and issues of governance.
There is an absurd argument being floated by those threatened by Dora that re-branding
is dangerous for the country and a waste of resources. But that is wrong. Having spent a
lifetime in an elite-controlled society these people are aware that re-branding is here to
give to the people what has for long been taken from them. And they are doing everything
within their powers to discredit it. For a long time they have reaped from people’s
passivity and they want to retain the status quo. They are used to having citizens vote
once every four years, then put a masking tape on their mouths and wait till it's time to
vote again! I remember a tribute by Dora herself when she credited the media with
winning our independence and yanking our democracy from under the jackboots of the
military. We have to also guard this movement against our rapacious elite and their
agents.
We need to think for ourselves. We do not have to wait until the situation degenerates
into pitch battles before we know that we are in deep trouble. What re-branding means is
that we need mature democratic institutions and popularly elected governments. Citizens
are supposed to be re-branded to be active participants in issues of national importance,
not remain passive viewers.
Re-branding is designed to get everyone actively engaged in cause based advocacy
through entirely peaceful and constitutional means; to jettison blind support for a person
or a leader or even a political party and fight for a just cause. A cause not linked to any
particular ethnicity or class or special privileges, but for the supremacy of the
constitution, our fundamental rights and the rule of law. This call to citizen activism and
instilling in them the belief that they hold the power to bring about change will probably
be the most enduring legacy of this government. The people of Nigeria would have tasted
victory and will not forget it in a hurry. I have been saying this for a year now, but it's
still worth repeating: Nigeria has changed, and changed forever. The status quo by
which this country has been run will not survive the onslaught re-branding is bringing
home. Right now, there are two challenges being thrown at the status quo. One is from
the overwhelming mass of citizens who want a Nigeria that is just, prosperous, peaceful
and egalitarian, and run according to the constitution of the country where supremacy is
of law, not of persons. The other challenge comes from a small minority with a raging
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vision which is willing to use force. However, do not be misled by the rhetoric of their
message. It is just as much a rebellion against injustice.
They are simply using the paradigm that they can relate to. The best defence against this
threat is the creation of a just society. That is what is required to undercut the very
foundation on which this inhuman system is built. Once Nigerians feel that the system is
designed to protect, and not to exploit them, they will repel any attempt to smear them or
their country either by fraudulent politicians or external aggressors. The traditional
power brokers of Nigeria, and their foolish backers, have a choice to make, once the re-
branding crusade that Dora has started sits well.
They can either voluntarily cede power to the people, or they will be forced to submit to
the violent forces cloaked in a voter. The existing power structure, controlled by a people
in golden parachutes with their stolen wealth and fortified mansions, is too hollow from
the inside to be able to withstand the onslaught of re-branding. It is this beginning of the
journey of citizen engagement and activism that gives me hope. It makes me optimistic
about the future of our country. The people of Nigeria are a talented, hardworking lot
who have the ability to overcome what may seem like insurmountable odds. We are a
good people. And we have a great country. Now that someone seems to remind us to seize
our destiny with our own hands, it is only a question of time before we prevail and lead
Nigeria to a future that all of us will cherish. That is why I think Dora is incredible in her
re-branding process.
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APPENDIX VI
IN RE-BRANDING NIGERIA, THE SOURCE IS THE MESSAGE
For the re-branding campaign to be coming from no other person but
Professor Dora Akunyili means that all the talk about re-branding Nigeria has
come to stay for good. Akunyili is one person that has served this country with
everything she can monster under the umbrella NAFDAC. Having risk her life to
stop fake drugs in the country, re-branding Nigeria will be nothing other than an
extension of her prowess in goal actualisation. Dare (2009: 1-2) captures the
scenario perfectly when he avers that;
…Through the various conversations, strategy sessions and meetings I have had with
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, none struck
me as hard as the most recent encounter with her in Lagos. That night, we backed up to
talk about her vision and passion for Nigeria, her current re-branding initiative and her
frustrations about a country so blessed, yet in the throes of death. We diced and dissected
Nigeria’s challenges; we debated the best alternatives available and exit strategies
towards achieving a better Nigeria. We agreed and disagreed. I saw her descend from
the height of optimism that Nigeria will overcome someday, to the depths of despair
because those with the power to make it possible are clueless and ruthless. All through,
the power of her conviction, her depth and grasp of the issues were never in doubt.
Neither was her love for God and country. That encounter and the stories that were told
moved me beyond imaginable limits. I mean, I can honestly say that in my four decades of
consciousness I have never been as afraid and as optimistic about the future of my
country as I am today.
This encounter threw me back in time with recollections of similar lucid conversations
with other equally passionate Nigerians, the likes of Prof. Adebayo Williams, Dr.
Olatunji Dare, General Yakubu Gowon, Dr. Sam Amadi, Abdulrazaq Bello Barkindo,
Bayo Onanuga, Sanya Ojikutu, who love to call Americans “Ajironu” (early thinkers),
Waziri Adio, Ebenezer Obadare, Odia Ofeimum, Ike Okonta, Shehu Sani, Bashir Kurfi,
Simon Kolawole, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and a few others who like Akunyili love this
country with so much passion and have brilliant ideas about how to fix her.
Unfortunately, members of this tribe are hardly given powerful positions through which
they can engender change. It is such an irony that in a land where we have thousands of
such lucid minds, the not so lucid or untamed buys their way to power and lord it over
us.
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Back to my encounter that night with Akunyili, I know my recount above will sound
strange and maybe even delusional to some of you. Yes, I know our economy has been
hurting for a long time now. I know that many of our leaders have been stealing tons of
our money. I know that many people are unemployed and that many school teachers are
yet to collect their salaries. I know that the failure to solve our power problem remains a
national embarrassment. I know that grinding poverty now gnaws at millions of
Nigerians from Kotangora to the villages of Okitipupa and Abakaliki. Hey, wait a
minute; I also know that many members of our legislature, under our new found
democracy earn more money than university professors. What a country! Yes, I also
know that while our leaders share a huge dose of the blame, we, the citizens have aided
and abated. But whose fault is all this? It is our fault. We, the people. The elite who
manage to stay afloat only as a result of heavy infusion of God’s kindness are the ones
that are pulling all of us down. And they are the ones that Dora put her life down to fight
at NAFDAC just as she is doing now trying to re-brand our attitudes towards them. Yet
they are cajoling us to reject Dora.
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APPENDIX VII
CRITICISM OF RE-BRANDING NIGERIA CAMPAIGN
Although, the whole issue about re-branding Nigeria campaign may sound
wonderful, there are still some people who don’t think that the project is a right
step in the right direction. Chris Ngwodo in his article Nigeria Needs Re-booting
Not Re-branding proved that he is one of those at loggerhead with the project.
Expressing his views on the matter, Ngwodo (2009: 1-5) avers that;
Whether Nigeria is advertised as the “Heart of Africa” or simply a “Good People” and a
“Great Nation” is inconsequential. No amount of creative sloganeering can challenge
the reality that greets visitors and citizens at our airports, the filth on our roads, the
impunity of law enforcement agents, decrepit infrastructure and allied evidence of a
broken system.
Everyday across Nigeria, on at least half a dozen or more occasions, one occurrence
elicits wrathful oaths and unprintable profanities from people of both high and low
breeding. It is that moment when a power outage cuts short work, leisurely activity, a
football game or something as serious as a surgical operation. At such times, whether
with a scream, a groan or a sigh, the word “NEPA!” escapes our lips like an expletive
directed at the air as if invoking some spiritual entity. NEPA is Nigeria’s National
Electric Power Authority, and arguably no organization in the world attracts the same
unanimity of public odium. What is interesting though is that NEPA ceased to exist
several years ago. The organization that has been in charge of our power supply for
years is the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Not that it matters. For over two decades, power supply in Nigeria has essentially
fluctuated between erratic and non- existent. Consequently, the rebaptism and change in
nomenclature has made no difference.
NEPA’s ineptitude is so seared into the Nigerian consciousness that nothing short of a
revolution in PHCN’s service delivery will redeem its reputation. NEPA is a compelling
example of the staying power of a negative brand and is especially relevant to the
Yar’Adua administration’s current campaign to re-brand Nigeria. With typical Nigerian
superficiality, government spin doctors have reduced national branding to sterile
sloganeering: “Good People; Great Nation.” Professor Dora Akunyili, the minister of
information and the chief apostle of the re-branding campaign has attacked her
assignment with customary gusto. She has been making the rounds on the local and
international media to vociferously argue that all Nigerians aren’t fraudsters and to
condemn the delinquent minority whose vile acts have given the country a bad name.
But in fact her campaign misses the point. The social theorist Marshall McLuhan coined
what we might regard as the cardinal principle of branding when he said: “The medium
is the message.” Professor Akunyili while entirely justified in her vilification of
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fraudsters is mistaken in casting them as the archenemies of the Nigerian brand. The
people whose acts cast the most doubt on her campaign are none other than her fellow
travellers in the current administration. It is the government itself that is doing the most
to discredit the re-branding exercise. President Yar’Adua’s style of leadership, his
government’s failure to move beyond a now esoteric seven-point agenda and urgently
invest in the critical sectors –power, energy and public infrastructure, constitute the most
potent blights on this re-branding campaign.
Add to this the administration’s apparent indebtedness to corrupt politicians, its
disgraceful hounding from office of an anti-corruption czar in violation of his statutory
tenure and the president’s refusal to repudiate the electoral heists perpetrated by his
party, the Peoples Democratic Party. Akunyili may find it easy and convenient to inveigh
against faceless fraudsters but if she is truly interested in tackling the biggest fraudsters
in Nigeria, she needn’t look further than Abuja. Half of our national budget goes towards
maintaining our public officials. Their wage bill last year amounted to 1.3 trillion naira.
A member of the National Assembly earns more than the president of the United States.
At the same time, members of the National Youth Service Corps who are expected to
serve their country often in indecent conditions and in remote locales receive a paltry N9,
775 as monthly allowance. Last year, a proposal to increase the allowance to N20, 000
was shot down in the National Assembly. Meanwhile the national minimum wage is N11,
130. The Nigerian Labour Congress which is campaigning for an increase in the
minimum wage has observed that between 2006 and 2007, workers’ salaries were raised
by 15 percent while those of political office holders were increased by 800 percent.
A more cognitive government would have recognized the connection between high
unemployment and crime. By one estimate, 40 million Nigerians are unemployed. The
fraudsters that Akunyili has had cause to condemn belong predominantly to the
demographic bracket of the ages of 20 to 35 years. This is the bracket that supplies most
of our teeming army of unemployed youths, as well as the militants and brigands that are
often used as cannon fodder by political operatives. Confronted by mass unemployment
and the growing spectre of mass unemployability owing to the collapse of public
education, the government’s most imaginative response has been “Good People; Great
Nation!” The PDP’s only contribution to the debate has been its announced readiness
and intention to rule Nigeria for sixty years.
Let’s be honest. As of now, the Yar’Adua administration has no moral right to preach
probity to Nigerians. It isn’t the acts of a few delinquent fraudsters that impugn the
national brand; it is the piracy of a delinquent political elite and the continuing culture of
impunity, hypocrisy and graft in high places, which in turn feeds graft in the lower
places. None of the high ranking politicians and officials implicated in bribery scandals
involving Siemens and Halliburton has been exposed. The corruption cases brought by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against some governors,
among them the president’s known political associates, have conveniently vaporized. The
EFCC itself has been neutered and is steadily sinking to the same operational efficiency
levels as NEPA. Just this April, a report on Nigeria in The Economist portrayed the stark
reality of Nigerian politics as “back-room deals that ensure that the top job alternates
between the elites of the largely Muslim north and Christian south: a “gentleman’s
agreement” to allow the ungentle manly feasting on the country’s billions of dollars of
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stolen and mismanaged oil resources. Nigeria is still one of the world’s most corrupt
countries.” This perception of Nigeria in the west has nothing to do with 419 and no stale
slogans will alter this perception. That President Yar’Adua and his administration are
supposed to be symbols of the Nigerian brand readily makes this re-branding campaign
an unqualified farce. The medium is the message.
As for Professor Akunyili, we may well be witnessing the self-immolation of one of the
country’s most capable public servants. When she agreed to become one of the public
faces of the Yar’Adua presidential campaign in 2007, many Nigerians excused her
involvement with the PDP as conscription rather than a voluntary inclusion in the party’s
gravy train. By assuming such a high profile in the campaign, she was, it was felt,
lending her public reputation to a presidential campaign of such unhygienic provenance.
(In retrospect, we might surmise that she was simply staking her claim to power in the
nascent presidency). To Nigerians who had fallen in love with Akunyili following her
impressive crusade against fake drugs as the nation’s food and drugs czarina, it was
almost as if she had been abducted by the PDP and forcibly deployed to the frontlines of
their electoral campaign. If this is so, then she may now be a victim of Stockholm
syndrome, the peculiar neurosis that causes abductees to identify and bond emotionally
with their captors and adopt their causes. Little else can explain her acceptance of a brief
that requires her to defend an administration that is indefensible on many counts.
Had she defined herself solely as a minister of information, then perhaps her position,
however much of a disservice to her person it is, would have been tolerable. Akunyili
remains quite popular with many Nigerians. And Nigerians are very forgiving of public
figures that they love and very understanding of their frailties and errors. But her
insistence on the role of the chief apostle – as a medium of a government that really has
no message, strains credulity. This role calls for a dangerous level of self-righteousness
because it involves preaching to the disillusioned on behalf of the irredeemable.
To say that Akunyili is throwing stones from a glass house is an understatement; her very
pulpit is an Aegean stable. At the moment, it doesn’t look as if Akunyili will leave
government with much of her reputation and stock of goodwill intact.
This is the price of yoking her personal brand to a political brand that was always
suspect at best. This brings us right back to the subject of re-branding. No amount of re-
baptisms and changes in nomenclature can transform NEPA’s image in the national
consciousness. Like the Police, the Customs Service and much of Nigerian governance,
what is needed isn’t re-branding but rebooting. Serious exemplary leadership can change
the tone of these organizations and infuse our institutions with a new spirit of excellence
and service. This will happen only when the right balance is struck between rhetoric and
purposeful action. So far, the Yar’Adua administration has simply dished out bankrupt
rhetoric and has demonstrated a pitiable lack of ideas and political will.
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In the final analysis, whether Nigeria is advertised as the “Heart of Africa” or simply a
“Good People” and a “Great Nation” is inconsequential. No amount of creative
sloganeering can challenge the reality that greets visitors and citizens at our airports, the
filth on our roads, the impunity of law enforcement agents, decrepit infrastructure and
allied evidence of a broken system. Given the scale of these challenges, the re-branding
campaign is a criminal waste of funds. Who knows?
Maybe, just maybe, a future administration will find it useful to prosecute those who are
now conspiring to squander much needed resources on a pointless re-branding exercise.
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APPENDIX VIII
RE-BRANDING NIGERIA: START FROM THE BASICS
As if to have the same notion with Chris Ngwodo, Dr. Pamela Rutledge in
her article Re-branding Nigeria in Global Brains opines that the best place to start
in the re-branding campaign is with the economy and not with the placement of
adverts and campaign, which will not last in the minds of the prospective
stakeholders. To her re-branding Nigeria should start from the basics.
In her own words, Rutledge (2009: 1-2) avers that;
...Global perceptions are important in attracting the kinds of things an emerging
economy needs to improve the living standards and opportunities of its people: tourism,
trade, foreign direct investment and foreign financial assistance, or even to meet the UN
recommended Millennium Development Goals. In the words of President Yar Adua, “we
must readily put in place a positive perception of Nigeria.” It has been interesting to
watch the dialogue in the AllAfrica.com news. In a recent article Nigeria: Re-Branding –
Country May Be Worse If Credibility Gap is Created the National Institute of Marketing
of Nigeria (NIMN) president Aimiuwu warned that things may get worse rather than
better if Nigeria doesn’t do the re-branding effort right, noting that credibility is
important, if “a product is not authentic and credible then our acceptability by other
comity of nations will be difficult.” He also pointed out that corruption by Nigeria’s
leaders presented a serious challenge in the selling of Nigeria as a brand. Corruption is
always a challenge to credibility and transparency.
Whether it’s corruption, quality of workforce, infrastructure, tourist venues, or social
stability and safety, credibility is key. Nigeria faces two big challenges: 1) brands are
held in the brains of the tourists and investors, not the promoters, and 2) emerging social
technologies have established new standards and expectations around the globe for
authenticity and transparency.
Nigeria (and any nation) needs a new approach in the current environment. A new
slogan, catchy song, and opulent video footage won’t do the trick in an age where
regular people can talk to regular people without official intervention or institutional
intermediaries. I know, easy for me to say, but Nigeria needs to identify the areas that are
most detrimental to their goals and establish specific intervention strategies. The
intervention strategies must address both the substance of the problem (i.e. improve
something) and then the perception in the market. Holistic re-branding efforts sound fine,
but the economic manifestation of positive perceptions often hinges on a short list of
perceptions. No one can change everything, so it’s good to change the things that matter
most.