THE POWER OF A BRAND: WHAT BRAND ARE YOU?

Hello everyone! It’s a beautiful Monday and everyone is back to work after the good number of days off work for those in Nigeria, given the bank holidays last week not to mention the weekend that followed immediately after.

It means everyone has had a good rest no doubts, right?

Good because it definitely would bring positive vibes and results on whatever you do. Make that business and brand more profiting this week.

Aha! Speaking of brands. An encounter ‘yours sincerely’ had in the course of the weekend reminded me again on the huge effect a powerful brand can have on people especially the youths which is nearly always the biggest target market of many producers especially when it has to do with electronics, information technology, fashion and the likes. Make a good impression of your brand on our youths today and I kid you not, your business will go places without you having to ‘sweat it out’ too much like your counterparts would do.

Many of you would agree to a large extent that the youths of today, fortified with technology make the world go round. With them on your team, you will always have a boost of energy whenever the need arises as long as you give them the wherewithal to be all they can be. In line with what the team represents though!

Why did I decide on this topic?

In order not to renegade on a promise made to one of my wards which was to buy her a new phone; over the weekend I decided to fulfill that promise therefore, on my way home from work on Friday, I stopped at an outlet for phones and after going through several arrays of phones given the number of brands stands in the outlet, I was eventually convinced by the attendant at one of the stands to buy a particular brand which she said was new in the market.

Now, the phone in every way looked very good to me safe for the name. Nevertheless, even though the brand of phone didn’t ring a bell, as an outcome of good marketing by the attendant, I decided on this ‘no bell ringing’ brand as the phone and all of the accessories looked really nice to the eye so I paid and left the shop happily with a feeling of  ‘at least I have fulfilled my promise’. Yeah right, you wish!

Alright fast forward!

My predicament started when I got home and I went, “guess what, your new phone is in my laptop bag” and I continued towards the bathroom.

While in the bathroom, I was expecting someone to knock or hear some excitement coming from the sitting room having seen the phone, but alas, I got no “yippee” or even a weak “yeah”. Hence I decided to keep calm, finished all I was doing and then when I got to the dinning, she was fiddling with the phone and a look on her face told me all I needed to know. She didn’t fancy the phone one bit.

Alright, sitting next to her at the dinning, “you don’t like it right”?

She nodded unconvincingly in the affirmative but I knew she was trying not to upset me so I said, “alright just pack it up, I will get someone to buy it and get you another one”.  And to my amazement, without even giving it a second thought, she did my bidding in flash.

Later on, before bedtime, she came to me and said “please I don’t want you to be angry, the phone is very fine, but I don’t like the NAME. You can even buy me a cheaper phone than this one as long as it’s as big as this one but it has to be a Samsung”.

At that point, I was immediately reminded that you can never underestimate the power of a good BRAND.

I’m not holding forte for Samsung, rather the butterflies in my stomach right now is an upshot reminder that the little advert done here by this mere mention was not paid for *winks* but then in order to get my message across, I have to say it as it is. Who knows, I just may get a paid advert from Samsung soon. *smiles*

Now back to the main issue.

My ward insisted on having this brand because that is what most of her friends have and according to her, the picture quality is “baaaaad” hence she would have none other but the almighty Samsung.

And so the next day, we went hunting for her choice of Samsung phone and luckily I got someone to buy that my ‘no bell ringing’ brand even though I lost a few bucks.

Interestingly, after a long hunt, she eventually got another brand which of course rings many great bells as she got very confused when she was faced with too many options. The bottom line is she got exactly what she desired even though I had to end up spending more.

But then, I am still fulfilled that she made her choice and she was happy for it as the “Yippeees” and “thank you” that followed would ever remain priceless. As at this morning, I was still getting the happy “thank you”.

Well everyone is happy and my predicament ended.

Never underestimate the power of a good brand!   

LADIES SHUSH! GUYS, STAY OFF THE COLOURS AND WEIRDNESS, LET THE 'DENRELES' HAVE IT

Whenever you hear the word fashion, fashionable, fashionista, nearly every Tom, Dick and Harry or should I also say, every Onyinye, Laraba and Aisha would pop up with fashion tips they *most of the time* know next to nothing about.

In this era where every carpenter has become furniture/interior designers and all tailors fashion designers, even the young girls/ladies are not left out as every one of them have become make-up artists. I have seen many good, bad, ugly and even uglier -I could go on to ugliest- when it comes to fashion and it’s simply in order to maintain decorum that has prevented me on several instances from screaming this “outfit, make up, shoes et al-  is a no, no”.

If I was writing this piece a few years ago or let’s say about eight to ten years back, I humbly would have started by saying ‘Nigerian fashion industry has started but slowly gaining international repute’ but today I dare to say boldly without blinking or battling an eyelid that the Nigerian fashion industry is ‘BOMBING’ – not in the real sense of the word though - but bombing in the sense that nearly every celebrity around the world now want to be associated with one form of Nigerian fashion item or the other just as many others or many of them have attested on several platforms that Nigerians are ‘outrageously’ fashionable. Yes we are fashionable even as many of us have become ‘over-fashionable’ which most of the time can be termed ‘crazy’.

Sorry I had to use the word ‘outrageously’ for lack of a better word to drive home the point. But again, I need to explain right away that the word as used in this context is that, the way the Nigerian fashion industry has grown is shocking and surprising to millions of people across the world as it has exceeded the limits of what was anticipated from this part of the world.

Now with that out of the way, let’s get back on track. Alright? Good!

Then again, sometimes when you come across some people and what they wear, you will be tempted to agree with me that ‘indecent’ or ‘outrageous’ in the real sense of the words are not enough to describe the sight you behold.

Haba! Some ladies can kill somebody with their ‘coming out’ no doubts and the most annoying ones are those who would take some silly selfies with pouting lips and then upload on social media with captions such as “I slayed that look didn’t I? Or “I sure killed it” *laughs*. When I see such, I laugh and think out loud such statements as “yes you slayed/killed it indeed but I hope you don’t get slayed/killed in the process”.

 

Was that harsh? Pardon me if it was but then I’m sure a lot of you have seen many of such posts. The worst part is when people who just want to massage their egos start clicking the ‘like’ button or making comments such as “you sure killed it”, “you are looking hot”, “sweet” et al even when they think the very opposite. People are terrible sha!

I was at a children’s party the other day and the mother of the celebrant who was turning 10 asked that the mothers of the invited children should be dressed in any blue jeans (skirts, trousers or knickers) and the white T-shirts which were sold to us before the day of the party. I guess the mother of the celebrant eventually realized she made a huge mistake of giving the option of ‘knickers’ when she started seeing some of the mothers arrive with very hot ‘bumper shorts’ with their wards in tow looking a lot more better dressed than their mothers.

My friend who accompanied me to the party with my ward could not hold back her stares and laughs as the women came in with their ‘desperate looking’ clothes. On one occasion, I had to hit her hand down when she forgot herself and was pointing at one of the ladies with the shorts who had forced her nearly fat thighs and well-endowed backside into a pair of shorts which I suspect could belong to a regular size 14 lady as the woman actually looked an obvious size 18.

Women like enjoyment sha! The mothers danced and played even more than the children who were supposed to be the focus of the day as many of them just sat back on their chairs and watched the women have fun while the fathers were seated away from the rest of the attendees drinking, chatting and laughing at the spot which was allocated to them for the day.

     

Please do not mistake my held-back scream for just the females alone. I get it that ‘babes’ are the real culprits most of the times. The ladies can be so bad *as to even wear high heels to the beach* but then there are also guys who tend to overdo it sometimes too, especially some of the celebs on the red carpets.

Apart from Denrele whom I hear has been certified ‘fashion crazy’ all other guys who are guilty of overdoing it sometimes make me wonder if they are trying to get Denrele out of the market of the ‘wildly fashion-cracked people’. 

     

I sometimes don’t get it. I hate to sound like a broken record already, but then let me still ask for the millionth time, why would a matured man sag his trousers to let people have a peep at his boxers or crack leading to his buttocks? I really don’t it.

I walked into a bank this morning and a lady with more than half of her boobs out of the blouse she was wearing, walked towards me with everyone in the banking hall staring at her and said “please can I borrow you pen” which I obliged her. Just as I was trying to get over her appearance, a man walked in, apparently with this “I just came back attitude” with his sagged pants showing of a VERY large part of his grey boxers. As if sagging was not bad enough, the pants wear deep lemon coloured jeans. At that point, I had taken enough so I quickly took my pen from the nearly -fully-exposed ‘boobs’ lady and left the hall as soon as I was done with my transactions.

  

Need I say more? I don’t think men should wear too many colours of pants especially when it’s not a pair of suit *which may sometimes be understood*. I have seen guys wear screaming yellow, red, purple (and many more colours) jeans which shouldn’t be and yet all over the red, green, yellow or black carpets and the streets, it looks like it’s becoming acceptable.

Please let all such colours and razziness be left for Denrele even as the ladies revert to dressing up properly. Guys! Let Denrele continue savoring all the weirdness. You can’t compete with his eccentricity.

  

Simply put, some things are strictly meant for the runways and the movies.

I’m out for now!

Fashion: Let’s take it Off-The-Shoulders

From back in the days if there is one fashion inclination that fashionistas keep reinventing soon after it goes out of trend, it’s the off-the-shoulders outfit. Irrespective of the kind of shoulder you possess, there’s always something nice in the form of dresses, tops, gowns or even trousers and jumpsuits *you name it* for everyone. And hey! Before you run off to get one for yourself take a breather and see if the skin around your shoulder is polished enough to show off in these trending outfits. 

And also by the way, when I say ‘polished’ I DO NOT  necessarily mean ‘bleached’ out skin but well nurtured (black, ebony or naturally fair complexioned) and evenly toned skin and with the right amount of  I’m-a-diva-check-me-out attitude the style feels just as right for any outing. Take the trend away from the regulars and instead opt for monochrome tailored separates or mid-length skirts with daring cut-outs. 

Finally, make sure you go for a good strapless bra and a quick dusting of bronzer on the décolletage (the bare skin around your neck/chest/cleavage) to ensure the look is red-carpet (if that’s where you want to go) ready. So, let’s go to town to dazzle with some beautifully well-cut off-the-shoulder outfits just like in the pictures (from vogue)  below.

             Dakota Johnson                              Amanda Seyfried                    Candice Swanpoel

                                                                      

              Jourdan Dunn                                Charli XCX                                Alexa Chung

           Chloe Moretz                                                  Elle Fanning                                              Emma Watson