Sunday 13 May 2012

Marketers Rule the World Not Women- Part 2. Marketers & Entrepreneurs

How Marketing & Entrepreneurship can solve all the problems in the world.
Just in case you missed the Marketers Rule the World not Women Part 1  check it out and catch up with the rest. So here’s how one marketer creates problems for us in the world and it becomes another marketer’s opportunity to sell more to the world.
Charles Darwin in the evolution theory stated that it is the smartest of species that survive…we I presume you are smart enough since you are already reading this. Am I the smartest in the planet? NO however I know just a few things that could also changes the world. I cannot be Bill Gates or Steve Jobs but my contribution in the world matters to. Motivational speakers have told me that I have the potential to be whatever I want to be. YES…you heard me right….I can be anything! However for now I am a blogger, Social Media Specialist and a marketer. Not bad after all!! At least am doing something!
Back to my story, I want to show you just how one man’s poison is another man’s food.A few rich people have made billions by simply doing something to solve the problems in the world. Do they face challenges? Yes they DO! Big challenges!
When the fast food marketers created obesity in the world a whole new industry emerged; it was the wellness industry! Since somehow a good number of you have fat in all the wrong places, someone was brilliant enough to start a gym in your neighborhood. The gym gets equipment from a supplier locally who then sources them from the manufacturer. This scenario created a lot of jobs in the world just because one marketer was brave enough to tell the world that eating fast food is ‘cool’. Today we have wellness & health magazines, weight loss consultants to nutritionists all cashing in on just one industry!
When the beer marketers made alcohol look nice to consume they created a lot of problems in the world! A lot I repeat!! When you can’t stop drinking or partying every day you need to go to rehab, see a consultant! Do you pay? Yes you do! Because you need help! When your spouse can’t stand your drinking habits he/she files a divorce in court, then lawyers come in to help you sort out the mess and split what you worked tirelessly over 20 years equally! The lawyer is the happiest man here….He made loads of cash simply because one man decided to drink beer every evening after work!! Alcohol is what has lead to increase in infidelity, men not only drink alcohol till 4 am because it’s sweet!! No!! Something goes on that leads to something and lastly it gets intimate! When people start getting intimate with strangers, they need protection, thus a brilliant guy made condoms and birth control pills. Do they sell? Yes they do….a lot!! When the world wanted to enjoy sex better with their partners one guy made sex toys, porn movies and all the crazy stuff that Getrude Mungai teaches us to use and by the way she has a mammoth following on Facebook with 49000 subscribers! Got me thinking....people really want to know how to do it right in bed!! 
Does she make cash out of this? Yes because already there's a motivated market ready to pay for what she offers!
The world’s richest people are also great marketers, if they aren't they hire the most brilliant guys or agencies to push their brands. A lot of people do amazing stuff in their bedroom's, art, apps, designs or whatever you do but if you can't sell your cool stuff then you'll remain poor forever! We buy loads of fake products just because they are marketed properly! Now that’s the application of marketing to entrepreneurship.
When the car marketers sold millions of units worldwide they created traffic jams in Nairobi, global warming because cars run on fuel, the motor spares business is huge locally and thus garages, car music & audio business .etc etc. So if the car marketers didn’t sell the cars, there would be no petrol stations, no garages, no car wash, driving schools…See now? The world would be so boring! We’d all be unemployed and complaining to the government. With traffic jams everywhere in the city we marketers created jobs & businesses for city planners, engineers, contractors and suppliers!! Thika road is ongoing as you read this, some Chinese guy (Founder of China Wu Yi) in Hong kong is smiling all the way to the bank because Kenyans need roads; they can’t fit & move during the rush hour. To keep getting more business locally he will invest in Toyota or Nissan in Japan, move more units, create more traffic snarl ups in the city and thus he’ll get another contract to build new roads or repair the ones he did! That’s a bit cruel but that’s how the world works!
With global warming, Kenya has severe dry spells and floods in the rainy season. Why?  All our cars run on fuel. We just did "Kenyans for Kenya" a few months ago for Turkana resident; good news is that now they have oil and hopefully next year we won’t do it again for them!!!  As you move from point A to B you burn fuel, do you look behind to see the trail of smoke you leave? NO. It’s not your problem until your uncle in shaggz calls you asking for school fees for his son. Why? The crops failed, he didn’t harvest anything because rains were not enough. As a city dweller, your car is causing so much trouble today to the farmers. If there’s no food in the village, then we pay handsomely for meals in the hotels. The grocer in your neighbourhood doubles the price or reduces the quantity of what he or she sells to you. We complain a lot; saying "Maisha imepanda bei" (The cost of living has gone up) but how will it come down when we cause these problems ourselves? See how the problem you created has caused more problems that you can’t handle? So who helps the village? The government through extension officers (Job Creation) to help the farmers grow drought resistant crops as you cruise in the city!!
I could go on and on but the moral of this long story is; don’t complain about every small challenge there is in the country. As we agreed earlier you are TOO SMART to say on national TV that the government ‘should do something’. Since you are too cool for that, analyze the problem there is the country or in the world today, what problems have other brilliant marketers caused? The traffic jams? Right? Don’t tweet about it, the clever guy won’t encourage people to walk to work. NO. He will import motor bikes…Really cool bikes and sell convenience, time saving & mobility across the city to the frustrated Kenyans. With the bike, you can zoom past guys in nice cars stuck in traffic; make it to work in time. Can Kenyans buy bikes? Yes!
If Jeff Koinange, Peter Nduati, Bob Collymore, Mike Sonko & ministers start riding these bikes,(if there's good security in Nairobi) they'll appear cool to buy and thus a very aspirational middle class will dump their cars & buy them also! That alone will de-congest the city during certain times of the day & during the rainy season we can go to work in one car rather  than one family leaving home with 4 different cars! You just need to drop your mum & sister at work while your dad takes care of the other members of the family!
The very first guys who bought the boda boda’s are rich men in the village. The few more brilliant guys who imported the boda bodas into the country now live happily in the Runda's of today. They only watch news on TV about how the bikes they sold are killing Kenyans on the roads. Feels sad? Right?  but he made his CA$H and now scanning the market for a gap, when he’s back to the game he’ll make a killing again. Is he smart? Yes. Did he have to go to school to learn that? No. Does he have a MBA? In most cases he doesn’t. Is he rich? YES! Don’t we all love cash & all the comfort money brings? Fill the blank space----------! Remember the guy didn’t ‘eat’ NHIF or NSSF cash, he made his cash & paid taxes, so nobody bugs him. Let’s move on!
Don’t go to business to create the next Safaricom, you’ll never make it, you’ll never beat them! They’ll fry you up with their fat marketing budgets and nothing will ever be heard of you again. Think of what you can do, what problems has Safaricom has created, are there any gaps in their industry?  Think of what service you can offer to Safaricom and they’ll pay for it if it adds value to their business.
Don’t open a hotel on Waiyaki way so that the employees of Safaricom come eat at your joint; Naaaah!!! already there’s Njuguna’s and cooler places at ABC place for the well paid guys at the ‘green house’.Why should they come to your Mama Ciru café? That’s now where pro marketers come in (but this time with the help from above) to help you convince the smartly dressed executives why the should sit in a stuffed café and enjoy your food!! But then 'Mama Ciru' again cannot afford to pay a consultant and remain afloat; however she can do Cakes & Ice cream or fruits and supply them during tea breaks to the employees because someone doesn’t have to go all the way to Kangemi or Westlands market to buy just one banana. That's better now for Mama Ciru because she's getting more innovative!
The above scenario isn't  entrepreneurship but what I call ‘just being in business" and we have a lot of businessmen in Nairobi today. In fact everyone is into some kind of a side hustle in the city today! If you are "just in business" you cannot change the world, you’ll never leave a legacy behind. When Steve Jobs died the world mourned him,we all wanted to see if Apple can remain alive after he’s dead. Well it’s still there because it’s not just a ‘Business”.
You’ll make cash in the short term if you’re ‘just in business’ and when the business climate changes you’ll close down. Entrepreneurial ventures can withstand the worst economic crises in the world only if they remain innovative! You got the brains, you are unique, and you were created in God’s own image. You are superb, so awesome and you can something great for the world too.  Don’t replicate what’s being done, do something different to fill in a gap in the market and there are a lot of niches in the world today, so scan around globally and see what you can offer the world!
If you are brilliant, think of what you can do,it doesn’t have to be big, you don’t need a lot of capital to start a business. Furthermore there’s a lot of cash following great ideas, nobody will invest in a not so great idea, the banks first watch you struggle, roll it out, and if they think you can do better then they give you their cash!! However this shouldn’t be the barrier to starting a business; Apple, Virgin, Microsoft, KQ, P&G and Coca-Cola weren’t all built in a decade! So as you think BIG, remember to start SMALL and most importantly start NOW. Don’t procrastinate! Do it now.
All the best in what you are planning to do and just in case you need help from a marketer who understands Social Media & PR then holla, we’ll take it to the NEXT level in a very short time!!
Kindly use #SmartEntreprenuers to share any business success lessons you know. Let’s solve the problems in the world by sharing information with other entrepreneurs and cc me @KenyanMarketer.
 In my next article I will talk about how entrepreneurs, designers, innovators, marketers who are smart can work together and start the next Apple, Microsoft or Facebook by simply working as a team to create the world's next biggest thing. You cant do it alone, but you also don't  need loads of cash to succeed; but if you are part of a talented team then cash will flow in. People can invest in your idea if you can deliver & build what you are so passionate about. However the most important thing is; there has to be a MARKET for what you want to sell!! Think big with the customer angle in mind.
If you like this article, kindly share it on your Facebook or twitter, help me pass on this message! Lets solve our problems, lets not complain, lets work harder but in a smart way. Let's #DoitFOR254
Cheers!

3 comments:

  1. This was a killer! keep it up man

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Victor. I appreciate your review!

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