Experts in the marketing and communications industry have called on Nigerians and managers of the country to have a unity of purpose to enable the country build a strong Nigerian project to attract foreign direct investment.

Speaking at the second edition of BRANDish ‘Meeting of Minds’ in Ikeja, Lagos Friday, the experts said that the call became imminent following the continuous image battering of the Nigerian brand as a result of lack of shared value.

They spoke on the theme, “In Search of The Right Purpose for The Nigerian Brand”.

Former Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, Nkechi Alli-Balogun, said Nigerians are in a nation torn between being Nigerians and Americans.

“We don’t have a shared value, but some people say we do- but how have we articulated them? She asked.

Continuing, she said: “I think we don’t have a sense of cohesion in this country. Americans have the American dream and live the American dream. If we have a shared value we cannot have a president telling the outside world we are a corrupt people, killing its own brand.

“Every culture conjures images, who are we conjuring? It is high time we started branding Nigeria by the things we say and do both within and outside the country,” he noted.

Lampe Omoyele, Managing Director, The Lucent Consulting Company, highlighted the urgent need to search, identify and amplify Nigeria’s common purpose with a view to creating a uniform and consistent narrative around the Nigerian brand.

“For Nigeria to be truly successful in crafting a strategic positioning, a concerted effort at unearthing of our shared values and amplification, not fabrication, of these truths in a manner that resonates with Nigerians is required. This would involve engaging stakeholders in the Nigerian enterprise. Participation and conviction of the populace in the overall agenda of the country in manners where ideas are not just imposed on them but communicated as partners in progress is imperative,” Omoyele said.

He stressed the need for Nigeria to become in the continent of Africa and called for the evolution of political leadership that is sensitive to the overall aspiration of the country as an economic.

“Leadership is critical to evolving a strong nation brand. As a result, the country’s leaders should be the ambassador plenipotentiaries of the positioning, accentuating the positives. Their actions and body languages should resonate the very fabrics of the envisioned brand promises that Nigeria represents,” Omoyele, who was the immediate past Managing Director of AC Nielsen Nigeria, stated.

While presenting his paper titled, “Foreign Direct Investment and the Power of Made for Purpose PR," Managing Director of The Quadrant Company MSL, Bolaji Okusaga, called for a redefinition of Nigeria’s “Investment Brand Essence” with a view to creating a clear purpose of both appeal and direction.

This, he said, must be articulated in well-thought out above-the-line and below-the-line campaigns that would effectively communicate the country’s selling-points as well as build and sustain equity through strategic Reputation Management.

Okusaga cautioned that Nation branding is essentially a long term project that outlives the government of the day and must be designed in the form of national development plans to ensure the aggregation of economic opportunities and other intangible emotional selling propositions, including influence and soft power.

“To make for a successful purpose project, Nigeria must tell itself some home truths. Some of these include the challenge of corruption,” Okusaga said.

“Nation building is about building a sustainable differential advantage. We talk about the Igbo man’s entrepreneural spirit which is inbuilt and passes through stages to eventual success. Nigeria today is identified for so many things, among which are witches, corruption among others.

Another downside is the issues of infrastructure and ease of doing business; Nigeria currently ranks 127 in the Global Competitiveness Ranking. It is projected that Nigeria requires at least $2 trillion (N398.1 trillion) for infrastructure development over the next three decades. These are issues that must be addressed in fashioning a viable, long term purpose for the Nigerian brand.”

•Photo shows, L-R; Ikem Okuhu, Analyst-in-Chief, BRANDish; Bolaji Okusaga, Managing Director, The Quadrant Company MSL; Lampe Omoyele, CEO, The Lucent Company and Nkechi Alli-balogun, former Chairman, Nigeria Institute of Public Relations at the 2nd Edition of BRANDish Meeting of Minds, themed, In Search of the Right Purpose for the Nigerian Brand held at Ibis Hotel Toyin Street Ikeja Lagos, recently.