{"id":9762,"date":"2011-12-09T15:16:50","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T15:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/ufomba-%e2%80%98coca-cola-christmas-tree-returns-next-year%e2%80%99\/"},"modified":"2011-12-09T15:16:50","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T15:16:50","slug":"ufomba-coca-cola-christmas-tree-returns-next-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/09\/ufomba-coca-cola-christmas-tree-returns-next-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Ufomba: \u2018Coca-Cola Christmas Tree Returns Next Year\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Ufomba2_copy\"THE 33-metre high, Africa\u2019s tallest Christmas tree initiative that has made Coca-Cola the magical brand for the yuletide and new year seasons since 2007 will not grace the skyline of Lagos this Christmas. According to Austin Ufomba, Coca-Cola Nigeria Marketing Director, a bigger, bolder, more appealing tree will grace Nigeria\u2019s skyline in December 2012.<\/p>\n

In his explanation, Ufomba, an alumnus of Harvard Business School with a 16-year experience in marketing said the brand is poised to take this initiative to a higher level.<\/p>\n

Says he: \u201cIt has always been big in Lagos; the Lagos consumers love the tree. But our approach moving forward is that we believe we can be bolder, bigger, and we can make it more national. The next big bold idea around Christmas tree is going to be in 2012. So, if 2011 were a person, it would have to sacrifice the excitement of the Christmas tree this year, to see the future which is going to be bigger, better and bolder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ufomba also revealed that other initiatives have been put in place to reward consumers this season.<\/p>\n

Top on the list is what he calls the Coca-cola Happiness Truck. Ufomba explains further: \u201cThe Happiness Truck is something we launched this year that is going to create huge excitement for our consumers. If you know the way Coke celebrates Christmas across the world, we\u2019ve got a Christmas truck that goes round. When we go to communities, we will go out to share gifts. What kind of gifts? The truck will reward consumers with gifts ranging from bottles of Coke to bags of rice, gallons of vegetable oil, TV sets and more. We are going go give out all that in the neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

There is no entry or raffle draw to participate in this. We are going to announce the neighbourhoods we would be visiting. People who are around these neighbourhoods, will come out, queue up and one after the other, press a button and then a prize is released from the Happiness truck. You can just be lucky to have anything from a bottle of Coke to a 4 kg bag of rice to a 20 kg bag of rice, to a carton of 20-inch TV set. It could just be anything; it is a lucky game. It is a game of chance and I think that is one of the magics we are going to have. Now, you ask me, how does that replace the tree? I think it does in the sense that it fills the air with the magic of Christmas. It drives up the love sharing I talked about. Most importantly, it provides our consumers with a sense of recognition and reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also disclosed that Coke is going to fill the air with the magic of Christmas tree by launching her new commercials this weekend.<\/p>\n

According to him: \u201cWe will inspire people to do what they would normally do during Christmas, because it is a time to relax, a time to share. Also during this Christmas period, we plan to have the Coke billboards that resonate with people on what Christmas is all about. That is the package we have this year for Christmas. I know that our consumers love to see the Christmas tree. Despite the fact that we still have our Christmas tree location, which is usually filled by people who picnic around the National theatre, the Happiness Truck will visit the Christmas tree arena to create some excitement, give out gifts and refresh people who would normally go around the tree. We are aware that we need to feel that Christmas magic in the air. Coca-Cola would take leadership in that, but the message I have for our consumers is that, they should stay tuned till 2012\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking on challenges of 2011, Ufomba identified the increasing cost of marketing as number one. \u201cThe cost of marketing keeps going up. The media is not getting cheaper and the cost of activation also keeps increasing. This is a reflection of the inflation evident in the market. The cost of marketing is increasingly becoming challenging and that gives us less naira to be able to build our brands and that impacts on the profit,\u201d he explained.\u00a0 He also identified increased competition in the industry as quite challenging. According to him, \u201cwhen consumers have more choices, it means that you have to step up your game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting on the various media platforms exploited for campaign execution this year, Ofumba identified the strength of New Media as the most remarkable development in marketing communications in Nigeria in 2011.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew media is the new bride; it has the opportunity to grow. We are putting a lot of energy into it. If you look at what we did on Sprite this year, the excitement around it was mainly because we used New Media. We did a lot of communication targeted at real-time communication through mobile and that was really very good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facebook page is a platform where like minds interact and where we can also engage consumers. It was a dialogue we had with consumers on New Media. So, for me, the Internet, indeed, the entire social network platform remains the winner for this year in my view as one of the exciting things that brought marketing to where it is. That is not to say that traditional media is any less important.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom our brands in Coca-Cola Company – Coke, Fanta, Sprite, we did a lot of work, dialoguing, connection and real-time conversations with our consumers using the digital platforms. The traditional media remains very static; it is a one-way monologue. Outdoors remains as static as it should be, you just see it but it doesn\u2019t talk to you as much.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

See more here:
\nUfomba: \u2018Coca-Cola Christmas Tree Returns Next Year\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE 33-metre high, Africa\u2019s tallest Christmas tree initiative that has made Coca-Cola the magical brand for the yuletide and new year seasons since 2007 will not grace the skyline of Lagos this Christmas. According to Austin Ufomba, Coca-Cola Nigeria Marketing Director, a bigger, bolder, more appealing tree will grace Nigeria\u2019s skyline in December 2012. In his explanation, Ufomba, an alumnus of Harvard Business School with a 16-year experience in marketing said the brand is poised to take this initiative to a higher level. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nUfomba: \u2018Coca-Cola Christmas Tree Returns Next Year\u2019 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/09\/ufomba-coca-cola-christmas-tree-returns-next-year\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Ufomba: \u2018Coca-Cola Christmas Tree Returns Next Year\u2019 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"THE 33-metre high, Africa\u2019s tallest Christmas tree initiative that has made Coca-Cola the magical brand for the yuletide and new year seasons since 2007 will not grace the skyline of Lagos this Christmas. 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