My Naija people can be very funny when it comes to marketing their products. There's no kind of character you won't experience in the both at the market and on the street with their marketing strategies. Some people go as far as hiring crazy dancers with crazy attire, mounting speakers on the road with trending music, entertaining passersby, and selling their products alongside.
One useless product I bought the other day in the market was as a result of this so-called entertainment. I got carried away and saw plenty of women buying this local cooker. I assumed it's a good product for such a population to be patronizing this marketer. Nkem didn't even think of what the use case of the product will be for her at home; I just followed the crowd, hahaha. The marketer's job is to sell, and it's left for me to think of what value the product will be to me before buying; it's a lesson!
I must admit that most of these marketers are quite creative with their marketing strategies. As much as they haven't gotten me in some cases, I have fallen for their sweet mouth in many cases.
Here in Lagos State, I visited the marketplace one day and passed through where they sell Okirika (fairly used clothes, bags, shoes, etc.), usually shipped from abroad. I was never a fan of this type of fairly used product until this marketer got me with their funny marketing style. The young guy kept shouting "na mumu dey go boutique," Buy your quality dress here, not chinko," meaning it's only people who don't understand the trend that spend plenty of money buying clothes at the boutique. The product not being Chinko means it's not a Chinese product but a more quality one, lolz.
Several times, I have been told that one can actually buy quality products via these fairly used marketers. To my greatest chargrin, I went closer and saw two young guys I know who sell boutiques, bending down to pick first grade Okirika clothes. What these guys do is wash it, iron it, and sample it, adding exorbitant prices on top of "ok wears". Well, these "ok wear" (fairly used) sellers played with me, and it worked out for them. I do buy some certain things from them, and so far, their marketing strategies have been playing well not only for me but for many.
Then there's this one that didn't work out at all. I boarded the BRT bus from Lagos Island to the mainland, and then immediately the bus zoomed off, there was this young man, a marketer, who brought out his healing product and started with lots of testimonies about that herbal medicine, what a strategy. He told us many stories of how the drugs have healed many people of rheumatism. Immediately, many old people in the vehicle were ordering the drugs left and right.
The testimony the man shared was a good strategy he used to get people's attention; unfortunately, no one is there to actually confirm this testimony. My mom has suffered rheumatism for years. Even though the testimony this marketer shared was tempting, I told myself, Nkem, not again; this guy is not a medical doctor.". I can't fall for his tactic of getting buyers. I already asked him for one of the medicines just for seeing sake oo lolz, but I had to think twice and say no to his strategy.
The hustle is real, and that's why you see marketers get creative with their marketing strategies in order to make good sales; however, it's important to always double check what we are buying to avoid ending up buying what will become irrelevant for our use.
This post is in response to hive naija weekly prompt. You can jump in if it interests you