Head of Strategy, Echo House Ghana Limited, Abdullah Yusif Mahmud, has stated that to build and sustain a strong brand that will survive the new normal and forge forward, adoption of strong values is very essential.
He stressed that embracing a core value and standing firm by it in all circumstances creates unflinching trust between a brand and client that is mutually beneficial to both parties in the long-term.
Referencing from Echo House’s point of view, the chief strategist indicated that the brand holds dear to heart a model dubbed ‘RED’, which simply means Relevance, Easy and Distinctiveness – as these values guide their operations and ensure there is no deviation from the core, no matter the project or proposal.
“The ‘R’ is Relevance, and for us that value being part of the brand means we want to build a relationship which transcends just buying and selling; a service to get the consumer to understand whatever you are selling.
“The ‘E’ stands for Easy, we want to be easy to access, to afford and easy to enjoy, and this makes the brand physically available for consumers to identify and use whenever they need a solution in your field of operation.
“The ‘D’ refers to Distinctiveness, and this means the brand should be instantly/easily recognised from other brands on the market,” he said.
Adding to this, he emphasised that brands should be mindful when trying to be distinctive rather than different, because being different can be bad – and no brand wants to be known in a bad manner.
Touching on the impact of COVID-19 on the creative arts and innovations that urged the firm to stay relevant, he stated that his entity developed what is called the ‘pot system’ – whereby staff were grouped into various pots to develop ideas and compare with others in different pots, for the best solution to be picked as the final solution to put forward.
Furthermore, Mr. Mahmud noted that COVID-19 also played a key role in boosting economic activities online. “Despite the dreadful impact of COVID-19, one of the things it has also done is shifted the digital adoption agenda to about five-10 years faster. Now, because of COVID-19, people are working from home; people can trade online without crying about data and fear of being duped.
“For us, it was about giving consumers value and helping them continue with their business; so we developed an online solution wherein we created shops for businesses on various platforms to sell their products,” he added.
He made these remarks in an interview on the sidelines of the inaugural edition of Brand-CON Africa in Accra, organised by the B&FT and themed ‘Celebrating Versatility and Innovation in the Midst of a Pandemic’.
