Product demos were crucial for new product launches and market entrants while I was growing up. Before you saw it on billboards or in well-known radio jingles, it was initially visible in the market.
Those days, while I was a student at Girls High School Agege, large stage sets for demonstrations of new products—like detergents, sanitary pads, lotions, and soaps—were always taking place at the Iyana-Ipaja market. Some companies would compel you to wash your hands while they display the germ count or see how clean their detergent works, and product owners would know outright the fate of their product with direct consumer feedback.
Back when I worked for P&G as a product researcher, the safeguard soap demo was being demonstrated in a market. Customers may view both the before-and-after germ count and a visible display of germs on their hands using germ count blue-ray equipment.
Hypo, which is a market leader in the liquid bleach category of household hygiene and cleaning products, used the same product demo strategy for its product entry. Hypo practically wiped out their competitors with their famous strapline, “Hypo go wipe o.” Jik previously held the market for liquid bleach, and in fact, people frequently refer to liquid bleach as “Jik” in sentences like “I need to “Jik” my white shirts.” Jik was synonymous with liquid bleach.
Hypo’s entry into the Nigerian market was through a market product demo. Their sodium hypochlorite bleach was prominently exhibited in the main market, where regular people participated in one-on-one activities before and after and competed to wash filthy white clothing. Hypo further deconstructed the homecare bleach industry and introduced sachets and affordable SKUs, driving Jik and other competitors out of the market.
The introduction of Molfix baby diapers employed a similar tactic, overthrowing the industry leader in just two years with 44.5% of the overall market share (Nielsen 2017). By using smaller pack sizes and reasonable prices, Molfix demystified the “pampers-synonymous” market through product demos at local health centers and market invasion. Market women began offering lower-class consumers pay-as-you-go diapers.
In one of my projects, one example comes to mind: I designed a product with the claim “3-shades-lighter-in-14-days” skincare formulation that was already clinically proven but needed a product demo. I ended up using fruits for my product demo and compared my product’s performance to that of a market-leading competitor. This was a simple but direct, relatable product demo that left a “wow” effect on consumers, although the product never launched. However, people who tried it were always saddened that it never launched, and I had to continue to give them retained samples for a long time.
It is a no-brainer that most multinational products fail in the Nigerian market.
The Nigerian market is massive, but it is technically not a landfill. If multinational corporations lack market understanding and the extra legwork that should include their understanding of their target consumers’ behaviour, demography, and product demos in their product launches; they are likely to fail in the market.
The thing is, nothing has changed. The Nigerian market wants to see what you say that your product can do, not on TV but “live and direct,” as my people will say.
If you ruminate over the popular Yoruba adage “Ilé la tí ń k’ẹ́ṣọ̀ọ́ ròde,” you will see that indeed charity begins at home, and truly, home is where the food is sweet. How do you do this?
- Employ specialists in your intended market: they are your soft landing specialists, including marketers, salespeople, R&D specialists, and technical specialists.
- Acquire knowledge of the market with your native team: Determine whether aspects of your items are overly Westernised and adjust accordingly.
- Recognise the limits of the market and leverage them to create a product niche: Examine the market’s weak points and take a position on them. Steer clear of ambiguous terms like “sustainable” and stick to straightforward Naija spirit terminology.
- Meet a market need by providing affordable and smaller SKUs.
Remember, even the mass market wants to enjoy a bit of luxury!
