A highly innovative brand leadership workshop brought together SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) leaders, business visionaries and investors from diverse backgrounds at the SME DIY Branding Workshop organized by Brandzone Consulting, a world class brand consulting firm. The inaugural SME-focused workshop tagged “Branding for Growth” was designed as the first of its kind and the first ever broadly inclusive workshop that creates an atmosphere of interactive and practical engagement as a learning methodology for the SMEs.
The Brand Leadership Programme exceeded expectations in terms of attendance, with a broad-based participation from a diverse background which included agripreneurs, supply chain management, IT solutions, security and systems providers, tourism & hospitality, oil & gas, manufacturing & production, retail, fashion & lifestyle, and logistics management. Speaking at the event, Audrey Joe Ezigbo Executive Director of Falcon Corporation said, “Brandzone did a remarkable job of lining up thought-provoking and stimulating agenda with subject matters that were of great interest to the participants who were very keen on leveraging branding to achieve increased growth in their various operations. It was obvious from the content and workshop scope covered that the workshop was designed to stir and stimulate knowledge amongst entrepreneurs who are seeking to remain ahead of their markets particularly within the highly competitive landscape faced by every sector of the economy.”
In her opening address, the Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting LLC and the Convener BrandPlatform, Chizor Malize, stated that the SME-focused Brand Leadership Program was conceived out of the desire to provide a platform where SME businesses can converge to learn new skills in the areas of branding, and brand management that keeps them focused on maximizing the inherent opportunities that branding can create for their business, their products, and their overall operations.
“The role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the growth of our national economy cannot be overemphasized. Increasingly across the third world countries, SMEs are being given policy attention, as their impact is felt more in the overall economic development of nations. Today, more than ever before, we see SMEs expansion boosting employment and economic growth. The opportunities inherent in this market segment is huge however it is still a far cry when we come to quality and competitiveness compared to the developed nation,” she stated.
Malize noted that the Brand Leadership Programme designed specifically for the SMEs is the first in a series of programmes designed to provide the SME key insights for building, managing and leading with branding equipping them to promote and drive quality and position the SMEs for competitiveness and growth the 21st Century way.
In her remark, she noted that “technology has penetrated into virtually all areas of life, it has created an opportunity for connectivity through an explosion of new technology tools thereby making consumers engage with brands differently. Leading brands must be digitally visible as today’s consumers are technologically savvy. There is now a change in their lifestyle, their consumer patterns, engagement modes and attitudes to brands. It becomes necessary that the SMEs are adequately equipped to leverage the new opportunities and platforms that technology has created as they seek opportunities to boost their business.”
The programme shared groundbreaking and innovative strategies to fuel the SMEs success in a digitally driven age. Digital marketing and social media optimization were one of the ways identified through which SMEs with very limited marketing and communications budget can drive their brand stories thereby gaining greater brand visibility by exploring the high reach which the social media platforms present.
Speaking about the programme, Catherine Bickersteth, Founder, Strategic Educational Advisory Services Limited said, “The Brandzone SME DIY Brand Leadership workshop was timely. It was highly engaging, inspiring, interactive and stimulating. My company would benefit from the learnings from this program in many ways. My team found particularly insightful the opportunities in digital marketing and social media optimization which we plan to doggedly embrace and apply all the learning inherent as we maximize our market potentials.”
A key segment of the programme promoted the needs for brands to embrace insights in engaging with the market. Customer and market insights aid the design of cutting edge consumer engagement programmes that keep brand relevant and endearing. The programme through its unique methodology demonstrated to participants the importance of market and consumer insight. It provided toolkits with which brands can recapture and rediscover themselves.
Speaking on her personal experience at the Brand Leadership Workshop, TV Personality and Publisher Today’s Woman, Adesuwa Onyenukwe, shared “It is amazing how branding can be a journey. The experience was mind-blowing and totally different. Brandzone took all the participants on a journey of self-discovery. The approach and methodology applied by Brandzone were interactive, hands-on, and exploratory. It gets you to query yourself on a lot of things about the brand you are building or seeking to build. It simply leads you nicely to your ‘aha!’ moment. That minute when you realize that ‘hmmmmmm!!! This is really what my brand is all about!’. It was indeed exhilarating. I would say that the full day programme was worth every single minute spent in that room.”
Participants at the conference were full of commendation for the knowledge filled sessions and the interactive and networking platform the conference offered. According to Mr Denis Osadebe, Managing Director and Founder, Deo Science Discovery World, “The Brand Leadership Programme has opened my mind to the great opportunities that branding can bring to any operations. There is so much learning all packed in one programme that has equipped us sufficiently to position to become competitive to any educational science centre anywhere in the world. Besides the learning opportunities from this programme, I would cherish the connections I made with people from diverse areas of business from agriculture, production, logistics, retail, and technology.”
Click here to see pictures from the event.