By Favour Ogazi
I started a business last year. A fine one.
One I had thought of and planned for many years. Structured the way I wanted it.
“This one is exclusive” I thought and hence that affected every efforts I made concerning the business and it’s branding.
Upon starting, I wasn’t so confident in myself and coupled with how exclusive I had envisioned it in my mind to run, I didn’t think it was necessary to push the brand in certain ways.
“The exclusive ones will find me”
Lmao.
I am laughing at myself right now because why not?
Even me?
Me, the strategist that nearly drags her own clients for not showing up in certain ways.
Same me was ‘hiding’ my thing.
I didn’t think I was ready.
I didn’t think many people my age had started running things like that.
A management consulting firm?
Who do you think you are Favour?
I will tell you for a fact that nothing serious happened for us until July when I finally decided we couldn’t continue that way.
It was time to put word out.
Why were we in business if we wouldn’t put word out?
Why?
Why are we a brand if we cannot grow with our own?
If they cannot see us fall, win, grow, and most importantly show up?
I clearly remember the first day I showed up with my business.
Over a thousand people clicked on that business handle to check us out and it meant so much to me.
I still wasn’t very confident about it and as such I didn’t keep it on my stories long enough to track the actual amount of people to view/click but, I saw the rush to check it out almost immediately after I posted.
Why this story?
Look I will say it as it is in the simplest words;
All brands are in the show business now.
Everyone is showing something.
And today you just have to keep showing.
Every industry, including sports, automotive, retail, technology, and packaged goods, has begun to realise that doing business as usual will no longer suffice. Businesses have realised that in order to connect and interact with their clientele, they must go above the standard operating procedure.
Businesses are leveraging amazing experiences to captivate and engage their consumers, breaking through the monotony of one-way interactions.
Everything is now for show.
Everything is show business.
This show business is what attracts partners, launches new products, communicates internally, and dazzles customers. And it’s working incredibly well.
It is helping in the differentiation of brands and their products. It is assisting companies in building strong relationships with consumers. It also helps attract media coverage.
Surprisingly, the same entertainment industry has been utilised to oust rivals, draw in talents, and inspire employees.
Because of what some particular companies are presenting, a lot of people wish to work with them.
It is like this now.
When done well, show business has the power to completely change a company or even an industry.
These days, customers are taking the initiative and making shows about the brands they love on their own and the brands are trying to catch up and find ways to participate.
Everyone is creating, showing up and going all out.
This new interesting and inventive way of reaching out to customers with a presentation shows a great deal of ingenuity and interest in providing an experience that is engaging, amusing, and pushes boundaries.
However,
Those who achieve significant success with it understand that the show alone is not enough.
All of these shows must achieve important strategic objectives if these methods are to succeed and be considered real show business. Certain things must align else all your efforts will literally just be like its name. For show and nothing else.
Clear objectives, useful metrics to measure efforts, thorough knowledge of the most recent developments in consumer culture, entertainment, and lifestyle are some essential things you want to put in place before that show.
It’s crucial to understand that show for business is becoming a vital tool for all forms of brand communication, whether it’s for inspiration, education, or brand alignment within an organisation.
Brands who haven’t considered participating should start giving it some serious consideration.
