“Irrespective of political leaning, we are responsible for success of the Nigerian brand’

The convener of the top 50 brands award in Nigeria, Taiwo Oluboyede, believes that a nation’s reputation is crucial to attracting tourism and foreign investment, which is a critical driver of their economy.

Oluboyede made this known while delivering a speech during this year’s top 50 brands in Nigeria with the theme; ‘I am brand Nigeria and I am proud of it’ recently in Lagos.

He further disclosed that, “most first world nations and even the so-called ‘third worlds’ have consciously engaged experts to launder their image in order to enhance reputation and attract interests in foreign investment, tourism, i.e. deliberately laundering the reputation of their national brand has yielded immeasurable return in terms of investment and brand value”.

According to him, the Nigeria nation brand has not fare well in the global market, more so because there has not been an adequately executed nation brand efforts with tangible equity to show.

“Many nations of the world understand this necessity, so despite their challenges, they are always out making the compelling narrative about their heritage; their national brand.”

The fact is, he continued, the value of the Nigeria brand directly affects all of us personally and the premium we can attract to our businesses, regardless of which political party or the person in Power.

For him, the moment you get out of our borders, there are two simple and common questions you are often asked; the first is what is your name? The second is where are you from?

The person asking hardly pay attention to your name, however, he will always recall where you are from. Your reputation or value is a function of the reputation of where you are from, regardless of your worth, qualifications, experiences etc.

Further, he pointed out that, “This then leaves us with the responsibility to do everything within our capacity to promote, jealously guide and tenaciously work towards enhancing the value of the brand Nigeria, the same way we do our reputation, careers and businesses.”

On the annual top fifty brands, he said; “we are particularly happy that Nigerian brands are coming up strong in this annual rating, having a better understanding of the consumer’s needs and engaging every opportunity with the better brand proposition”, he added.