Dear Nasco,.... NO!!!

I recently went shopping for domestic essentials (provisions, as we like to call them) and while perusing the shopping mall isles, i was unable to spot any sugar, good 'ol St.Louis was missing !. I moved to query an attendant concerning this disaster, then the lady pointed me in the opposite direction and voila! there they were, those royal blue packets of sweetness. Rose petals fell and Melodic symphonies played as i approached the shelf to grab a few packets, then an eerie screech occured!!! It wasn't the St.Louis we had grown to know and love, it looked like it, almost felt like it but it was not!!!!! AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!

Now, the painful thing here is the fact that Nasco actually had an opportunity to differentiate their product and effectively compete with the St.Louis brand, but, they went the route that most (old) nigerian brands take- COPY and PASTE. The strategy of deception is never a long-standing one, you may get a couple of sales but once people catch on (and they will) you LOSE. Short of the foil they added (in a bid to tackle moisture) there's hardly anything original here. From the layout to the colour, its like the instruction was to duplicate rather than create. I'd have like to see thoughtful and engaging design, but, this is NASCO, Design is NOT one of the strong points of this brand. With their cereal brands ripping off kellogs, (cornflakes and 'Frostyz'), i shouldn't be this surprised.



                        



I'm just tired of seeing it so regularly, I guess and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I can understand that the average Nigerian consumer is oblivious to design when purchasing consumables, but, indigenious brands like Nasco need to understand its value and what it could do for their reputation, sales and revenue. Brands like Dangote are somewhat conscious of it, but are still lacking by way of design, save for the Dansa range done by the Brand Union some years back.



The summary of my epistle is that Nigerian Brands need to wake up in terms of design. Most products in retail stores today are imported and simply put our home-grown ones to shame (Nasco?) There are a few good ones that have decent design able to communicate the product effectively, but for every good one, there are probably 5 bad ones. I just pray our indigenous brands are able to realise this shortfall and rise to this challenge, put our indigenous talent to work and compete favourably in-country and on a Global scale.