A new product that was recently launched into the Nigerian market last weekend caught my attention, I’m sure not just mine but the attention of anyone who is an active user of Nigerian social media; the product is D’General Bitters, “a herbal alcoholic drink”.
The buzz and fuzz they created with the launch of the product confirmed the information that I got from an acquaintance that they invested more than a quarter of a billion naira in just the marketing and branding of the product alone. The number of A-list celebrities including Davido, Asake, Sabinus, Macaroni, Seun Kuti, Flavour, Brain Jotter etc that they paid to endorse the product confirms that figure.
D’General Bitters is copying a template but replicating it on a larger scale from Odogwu bitters which was launched last year, pioneered by Obi Cubana. The Odogwu bitters also used social media and influencer marketing to penetrate the market. We heard rumors that before the fuzz and buzz around Odogwu bitters fizzled out, the makers and promoters of the product made over one billion nairas from the market hence why almost every businessman with interest in beverage and Alcohol making in Nigeria want to focus on making the bitters line of drink so as to have a share of the market which I learnt is a gold mine now.
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The major leader in the Nigerian bitter market is the Alomo bitters; it’s a household in the industry and the most preferred choice amongst the bitters consumers and it is not looking like they are ready to give up the market anytime soon despite the newbies coming into the market. Following Alomo Bitters closely is Origin Bitters, then Odogwu Bitters joined last year, and D’General Bitters entered the market this year; there are other smaller brands in the bitter markets at the moment and I learnt that some other businessmen want to launch another bitters brand called Heritage bitters.
Despite the buzz around the D’General Bitters, I believe strongly that the product will not do well in the Nigerian market, it will likely fail, here are a few of my reasons;
They targeted the wrong audience through their marketing, advertising and branding. No matter how you want to package it, the bitter drink will not and can never be a luxury drink. Odogwu Bitters is still struggling to make the product a luxury drink by selling it alongside champagne and Moets in nightclubs but nobody will go to a nightclub or an exotic restaurant to order any of the bitter products. The consumers of the bitters products are the street guys, the trenches dwellers, the local people and their likes ie the agberos, taxi drivers, the bricklayers, mason men, carpenters and their likes.
It is a cheap aphrodisiac for them (manpower) and they claim it also boosts their strength and productivity in their hard jobs. Hence D’General Bitters should have targeted these people primarily in their marketing and advertisements; these class of people are not on Instagram which is the primary medium of the advertisements of the D’General Bitters.
I strongly believe that the humongous sum they spent on marketing and branding was not properly utilized.
Also, based on the fact that they spent so much money on the branding and marketing of the product they may likely put pressure on the pricing of the product to help them recover their money in quick time; increment in price on a new product over existing market leading products doesn’t really do well
Maybe the D’General Bitters are not planning to be in the market for the long term, they just want to scramble whatever money they can make through the buzz they created just like the Odogwu bitters which no one is still talking about at the moment. But if they really want to stay in the market for the long term they should take their advertisements off social media and target their consumers which are the locals through the radio jingles, local market storm, using local friendly celebrities that the trenches affiliates and relates so well with etc.
Well enough said, if they need consultation they can come over to Tekedia Institute for lectures.