By Malcom Mufunde
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, Amazon was a bookstore. I may not be familiar with the specifics of the timeline but if my memory serves me well, there used to be a time when Amazon was mostly associated with the distribution of e-books. No one knows what happened next (at least I don’t) but it seemed like an overnight overhaul of their entire business took place and we just woke up in the new Amazon era. OK, since I may not have extensive knowledge on Amazon’s history, let’s study a nearby brand; Nash Paints.
Nash Paints’ knowledge panel on Google reads; “Nash Paints is a paint company in Zimbabwe with interests in Southern Africa. As of 2017 the company had 20 branches throughout Zimbabwe with a plant that manufactures 50,000 litres of paint a day. Tinashe Mutarisi is the founder and executive chairman of the company.” According to their website, the company gained a national reputation for outstanding quality and exceptional service. Nash Paints took over established competitors in the paint industry quite quickly, thanks to their- like they said- outstanding quality and exceptional service… and MARKETING!
Probably the most important tool in the company’s arsenal is their marketing. Tinashe Mutarisi is a popular social media personality at this point and he’s quite likable. It’s kind of the same strategy Apple took with Steve Jobs; many bought the Apple products because of Steve, although his likability is debatable. Nonetheless, that’s not the only marketing angle Nash took. Remember our brand ambassador article? Well, Nash didn’t just get one brand ambassador.
They went for everybody who’s anybody- actors, comedians, musicians and Stunner. This is the very same approach that Huawei took marketing its P Series; everyone from Wonder Woman to Wonder Man (aka Lionel Messi). Nonetheless, things got so out of hand with Nash that their marketing became its own business.
Nash TV is now a thing. What started as a platform for musicians to advertise the company’s products has now become the go-to YouTube channel for artists to perform and distribute their new releases. Given the millions of views the videos have garnered, the ad revenue at present could very well be higher than ZBC TV’s. If everything continues along this trajectory, there will come a time when some blogger will write about a time when Nash used to be a paint company.
I don’t think many customers bought their furniture or paint from Nash Paints because they’d seen Feli Nandi singing Tora Mari on Nash TV’s YouTube Channel. This is a marketing failure, and Nash have painted themselves into a corner- pun intended. Nonetheless, the money they made from that video is probably more than they would have made from a viewer walking into their shop and buying a bucket of primer coat. Ladies and gentlemen, this is an example of failing successfully.
BrandIn.Co is a marketing research organization from Zimbabwe. Follow us on Facebook at BrandIn.Co for more tips and hot takes, or visit our website: www.brandin.co.zw.
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