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  Our previous article dealt with brand hate and how businesses can deal with it. We identified several reasons why brands are hated. They include a feeling of indispensability on the part of brands, which evokes brand hate in customers; secondly, recognizing known customers while ignoring the unknown; third, not making products accessible and finally, not offering bargaining satisfaction. 
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Business owners must know that brand hate is real, and if it isn’t dealt with quickly and decisively, it can be costly. Hence in this article, I identify additional four ways you can effectively engage brand haters. 
  1. Modification Of Pricing Procedure 

These days modern shopping outlets, especially online platforms, the concept of shopper bargaining is extremely rare. Hence, customers can be disgruntled with the shopping experience. The best way out of this is by revising pricing strategies that accommodate shoppers’ bargaining. Therefore, to execute a pricing strategy that works, brands should offer opportunities for price ranges and bundle offerings where customers have the opportunity to derive satisfaction. Rather than instituting fixed prices, brands can create pricing structures that offer the buyer the choice to choose. This can avert brand hate. 
  • Ensure Standards Are Taken Seriously 

Brands that maintain the highest form of ethical conduct in their business operation will avert brand hate. Therefore, brand owners must ensure that the supply chain process is built on strong ethical standards that prioritize the demands of the customers.
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Resellers, distributors, agents, and retailers must be incorporated into the process to ensure they comply with those standards. This will lead to customer satisfaction, which will also avert brand hate.
  • Track Customers Conversations

In this age of social media, it is easier for brand owners to track what their customers say. It is common to see social media users debate about competing brands. Brand owners must not sleep on these conversations but rather take them seriously. There are various conversations brands must always look out for, which can help them improve their products and services and their customer relationship management.  Therefore, to get the right data from customers’ conversations, you must rework your market research strategies to ensure that you are compiling the right data from the right people. Studying why customers loathe competitors’ brands may also offer some insights into why customers may end up hating your brands.
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Also, beware of high customer satisfaction ratings, which can be misleading. Studies have shown that customers don’t easily share what they despise about your brands, and it’s up to you to build the ambience that will prepare them to provide more information.
  • Improve Transparency And Inclusiveness 

Brands that are built on transparency and inclusiveness naturally avert brand hate. The ability to design a product that makes customers feel confident about using it is the hallmark of averting customer hate. Therefore, brand owners must be clear about the community they intend to serve and those who will rightly benefit from their products and services. This is why brand owners must also state their mission and vision so that customers can know what to expect. These days, many loan apps are loan sharks who sweet-talk people into getting loans only to become complete monsters when requesting payments. This has created deep resentment in the hearts of numerous customers about loan apps, even implicating genuine ones.

Conclusion 

Brand hatred in emerging markets like Nigeria is real. Hence, business founders and brand owners in Africa must adopt a more proactive approach to managing brand haters, who may be a hidden motivation for improvement and innovation. Featured Image Source: Adweek
Got a suggestion? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.comBusiness

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This article was first published on 17th October 2022

nnaemeka-emmanuel

Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.


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