Nigeria Content Online

The focus of this
column last week was on customer service and brand image. It was stated
that a customer-centric approach is important to maintaining a good
brand image.

A major imperative,
which also has a linkage with brand image, is negative perception. A
brand that does not focus on its perception by the target audience will
surely suffer in the market place. It is thus very crucial for brands
to measure, test, and evaluate the perception of the target audience on
a consistent basis.

Several millions of
naira is spent on marketing communication without a consistent
evaluation of consumers perception. This is a critical issue that
should be given a utmost priority by companies.

Based on
interactions with people and on the street insights generation, I have
discovered over time that several consumers are disenchanted with some
brands. Sometime ago, telecom companies and banks were identified as
the culprits in this column. The way customers are treated by banks
leaves much to be desired. Some customers have stopped their patronage
with such banks due to poor service delivery. The proprietor of a
renowned school in Lagos has a negative perception of a particular bank
and this has resulted in stoppage of business with the bank.
Ultimately, this creates negative perception for such brands.

Some salient
questions were asked last week based on how to deliver effective
customer service. One major one is, “what have you done to enhance
customer satisfaction?” It has been discovered that some organisations
do not have a coherent approach to retain brand loyalty. This
eventually leads to negative perception against the organisation and
its brands. It is important that concrete steps are taken to identify
grey areas that need immediate attention.

It is also
important to evaluate the perception of the target audience about a
specific brand. Some organisations do not even go the extra mile to
observe the values and belief system of their consumers. The consumer
who stopped patronage did not just stop suddenly; it is an accumulation
of complaints, murmurings, and discontentment.

When such situation
occurs, there is the need to observe change in the consumer’s behaviour
and purchase decision, while urgent measures are taken to address the
situation. The goal of some brands is just to sell, without even
feeling the pulse of their end users. Consumer insights come in useful
here. This to a large extent helps brands gain an inroad to determine
the level of acceptability of the brand in the market place. Insights
provide value to the brands as the objective voice of the consumers.

When these insights
are generated and thoroughly analysed, negative contents should be
given utmost priority. This will help the brand to contain such before
it becomes a full blown perception crisis.

Consumer insights
allow brands to improve service delivery, review perceptions, and open
new perspective on attitudes, behaviours, and consumer expectations. To
eliminate negative perception, there should be a consistent consumer
perception survey to serve as a feedback mechanism on the performance
of such brands.

Some organisations
do not realise the enormous damage of negative perceptions of their
brands. Some brands have been taken to publics’ opinion court and this
poses service threats to such brands; some consumers have even gone to
publish negative articles on some brands. When there is a structured
feedback mechanism in place, consumers, even though aggrieved, believe
their interest are receiving the deserve attention.

Brands will always
have negative consumer perception when they do not align with public
good, and receive a favourable perception if they serve public
interest.

It is important
that concrete efforts are made to establish an enduring relationship
with the consumers. The thinking here is to subtly appeal to them and
know the way they feel, think, and perceive a brand. Through this, any
negative perception about the brand can be noticed and quickly
eradicated.

Negative perception
can be further eliminated where brand is also transparent in its
dealing with consumers, who, on seeing such open mindedness, refrain
from spreading negative news about the brand.