Chukwudi Iwuchukwu wrote:


Globacom And The Reason Why Every Business Must  Have A Marketing Budget.


The general consensus among the millennials and Gen Z demographic is that Globacom, Nigeria's second biggest telecom company, does a lot of stupid TV commercials that do not communicate the brand essence and message in a creative way that this generation loves.


From Arise TV to Channels, from CNN to Super Sports, Glo holds a monopoly on these platformS as its TV commercials are always on your face even when you don't appreciate the creative concept behind the prodiuction.


The truth, which nobody is willing to tell you, is that those GLO  TV commercials, which these two demagogic think are stupid and unappealing, are working for the company and reflecting on the company's bottom line, if the data from NCC, the regulator regulating Glo, is anything to go by.


Let's hear from NCC as they take the microphone from me.


83% of new phone subscribers in July chose Glo


The latest report by telecommunications industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), indicates that more new phone subscribers settled with Globacom in the month of July.


According to the report published on NCC's website, Globacom added 2,103,721 million new customers in July to take its subscriber base to 58,330,200, up from 56,226,479 the previous month. This represents 83 per cent of the total number of 2,523,276 new phone users recorded in the country in July.


MTN came second with 392,440 new subscriptions in July, while Airtel was third with 90,955 new customers, followed by 9mobile.


The report by the commission also revealed that the total number of subscriptions to telecommunication services across the mobile networks of MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile rose to 208.6 million during the period under review. The corresponding figure for June was 206 million. The country's teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, also rose from 108.15 percent in June to 109.47 percent in July, 2022.


So far this year, the mobile network operators have gained a total of 13.5 million new subscribers, with the number of phone users in the country rising from 195,128,265 at the end of December, 2021, to 208,604,996 at the end of July, 2022. This is a departure from last year when the operators lost close to 20 million subscribers as a result of the ban on new SIM registration, the report said.


How the telcos fared in July


The NCC's statistics show that MTN, which is the largest operator by subscriber number, gained 392,440 new subscriptions in July. This brought its total active customer database to 79.4 million, up from the 79 million it recorded in June.


Airtel added 90,955 new subscriptions in the month under review but slipped from the second position to become the third-largest operator in the country. The telco's active customer database rose to 58.2 million at the end of July from 58.1 million in June.


Glo led the gainers in the month as it activated 2.1 million new lines in the month, thus overtaking Airtel to become the second-largest MNO by subscriber number. The new activations on the network brought Glo's total subscriptions to 58.3 million, up from 56.2 million recorded in June.


However, 9mobile recorded a loss of subscriptions in the period. The company's database plunged by 63,840 to 12.5 million, down from


the 12.6 million subscriptions it recorded in June.
The NCC report shows that Globacom has played a major role in facilitating this growth. Its remarkable performance in the industry is believed to be a result of the continuous network upgrade and the extension of 4G data coverage to more cities across the country. End


The summary of NCC data which I just shared showed that Glo is now the second biggest telco company in Nigeria after MTN, which is the leader of the GSM market in Nigeria.


Mike Adenuga, the owner of GLO, might be squeezing his face any time the media and marketing people come with their bills for him to approve. Since he is a thrifty person who does not like spending money, but inside his heart, he knows the money he spends every month on TV advertisements is working as it is reflected in their bottom line.


This now brings me to this important question:


Deae small business owner, Do you have a monthly marketing budget for your brand, or do you rely on Inisha Allah for your sales  and the grace of  God for your business to scale?


Dufill, makers of Indomie, is one of my favourite Nigerian brands that understand marketing and advertising.


Indomie is the market leader in the noodle market in Nigeria , as they control over 95 percent of the market. Yet, they are still advertising aggressively, like an Ashawo that is hustling for more customers.


The reason is not farfetched; Indomie understands top-of-mind strategy. They know that today's consumer has so many products competing for his/her attention, but they keep reminding you that don't forget to buy us anytime you want to buy noodles, because they don't want to lose your patronage.


From Big Brother Naija to Super Sports TV, Indomie is in your face, reminding you that they are still in the business of selling noodles.


As a consumer, because of the top-notch, top-of-mind awareness from Indomie, it will be hard for you to switch to another brand when you want to buy NOODELS at Shoprite because Indomie is constantly reminding you not to try out their competitor.


This is the exact playbook that GLO is using, and it is working for them. And other big brands, from Pepsi to Coca-Cola, are using the same playbook, though not on the scale of Glo and Indomie because they all don't want to lose their market share hence they keep investing on top of the mind awareness.


I recently bought a newer iPhone, so I needed to buy a new SIM card for my old iPhone. Your guess is as good as mine as to the network I went for, Glo.


I did not even think it twice because Glo  is the only GSM network on my mind because I see them every time I watch TV, from Arise TV to CNN.


So please, my dear small business owner, make it a point of duty to budget a small budget for your marketing and advertising.


You don't need to spend like GLO or Indomie.


Start from where you are by promoting your products through Facebook promoted posts and Instagram promoted posts.


Look for popular communities on Facebook where your audience is. Pay for promoted posts on those communities.


Also, look for popular influencers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that your business, at this stage of growth, can afford. Partner with them.


One thing about influencers' partnerships is that it works like magic as their followers believe them more than any other person.


This is the hack that Chimark used to generate over 10 billion naira loot  from Facebook users for his ponzi business, by simply leveraging the clout of popular Facebook influencers.


Whether these influencers knew they were promoting unsustainable Ponzi schemes is a topic for another day.


Hanu of Patrica has always credited the success of his business, Patricia, to Mr Jollof on Instagram.


According to Hanu, at their early stage, when they nearly ran out of money, he was smart enough to approach Mr. Jollof, who then gave them a shout out on Instagram by telling  his followers to buy their gift cards and crypto through Patricia , and since then, Patrica has not looked back in customer acquisition and growth.


Recently, a friend paid Gistlover on Instagram 1 million naira in Bitcoin for an advertisement, the night that Gistlover announced her paid advert, she made 12 million in sales that night alone.


It has been over two weeks now and she is still cashing out.


The least she makes daily since Gistlover made that announcement is between 5-8 million naira daily sales.


These marketing hacks work all the time.


Don't wait for Inisha Allah to sell your products , or God's grace, for your business to scale or grow.


We live in a competitive time, so Inshia Allah does not work again.


No Ngozi! Start from where you are and then take it up from there.


Furthermore, regardless of your stage of your growth, awareness and advertising work all the time for any type of business, whether big or small.


Ignore it at the peril of your business's growth.


Attached below is Bella Disu( in the middle) Globacom COO and Mike Adenuga's Favourite 36 years old daughter, that runs Globacom business for him with Glo staff.