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Product Development, Branding and Promotion for the US Market

Aubrey HrubyManaging DirectorThe Whitaker Group

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The Importance Of Branding• TWG’s experience in facilitating exports-> the

importance of branding

• African companies often do not appreciate the need for marketing and branding strategies

• Poor branding acts as a non-tariff barrier to trade

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Value Of A Strong Brand• US consumers are particularly sensitive to

branding• Strong branding adds measurable value not

only to your product but to your organization as a whole

• Strong brands are essential to building customer awareness

• Brand equity is actual value• As a guide, the most successful retailers

companies spend anywhere between 5% and 15% of revenue on advertising and branding

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Brand Valuation ($Billions) 2008Coca-Cola 66.67

IBM 59.03Microsoft 59.01

GE 53.09Nokia 35.94

The World’s Strongest Brands

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Some Marketing & Branding BudgetsUnilever: $2.4 billion on advertising; $59.6 billion in salesNestle: $1.2 billion on advertising; $101.8 billion in salesKellogg Co.: $820 million on advertising; $12.8 billion in salesCoca-Cola Co.: $752 million on advertising; $32.0 billion in salesMcDonald’s: $1.2 billion on advertising; $23.5 billion in sales

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African brands are often hard to distinguish from one another and do not meet the established standards of the US market

The Challenges

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Success Stories

African Companies making waves in international markets with their definitive

brands

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Bourbon Coffee

• Sophisticated, distinctive atmosphere• Powerful branding though colour schemes,

bespoke graphics and signature fonts

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• Global franchise with unified, distinctive look and feel for both restaurants and product line

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• Elegant, artistic branding and marketing• Mirrors sophistication of target customer

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Good African Coffee

• Bold and colourful product branding• High quality branding need not be limited

to high value or speciality goods

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Key Strategies For Success• Make sure you have a sound branding strategy,

with the budget and resources to execute

• Diaspora partners

• Wholesale options

• Integrate into global supply chains where international companies help to brand the product– Cargill– Starbucks