Conference examines what Nigeria’s cash-strapped consumers want in 2025

Although the currency is now more stable and inflation has eased slightly, uncertainty remains. Understandably, this is a worry for management and marketing teams who are trying to sell retail products in a stagnant yet highly competitive market.

It was against this backdrop that media buying and planning agency MediaReach OMD held a hybrid conference in early 2025 – in collaboration with the Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University, and the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) – to understand why some brands succeed while others fail.

The event examined what brands can do to capture the attention of fickle, often critical, ‘Naija’ consumers.

Disruption is ‘new normal’

Most Nigerian businesses failed to grow in 2024, and conference keynote speaker Akbar Ali Shah – Managing Director for household, health and personal care company Reckitt Benckiser’s SSA cluster – emphasised that new strategies are needed to change the status quo. With disruption the ‘new normal’, business leaders must be agile and companies need to relook their business models.

Although Nigerians are hopeful, this hope must be grounded in reality, attendees were told by Uchenna Uzo, Professor of Marketing and Academic Director of the Africa Retail Academy at Lagos Business School. He noted that few business innovations succeed, largely because the implementing businesses fail to understand what Nigerian consumers need.

Understanding Naija consumers

Uzo stressed the importance of closely observing consumer needs and aspirations, but noted that Naija shoppers are notoriously difficult to reach, both literally and figuratively.

Logistical challenges aside, marketers need to understand that young, increasingly urbanised Nigerians are sophisticated bargain-hunters who put price concerns ahead of brand loyalty. According to NielsenIQ (NIQ) research, 70% of local consumers switched brands over the past year due to price increases.

Naija consumers are also known to be ‘mega-hustlers’ who wear many different hats and have different needs according to which ‘hustle hat’ they wear on a given day.

Uzo said successful companies understand the necessity of communicating with customers and managing prices as best they can. Some examples of brands that are getting this right include Uber, which implements a dynamic pricing model that adjusts in real time based on inflation rates, and Nescafé, which has adopted sachet pricing to expand its market reach and customer base, especially in price-sensitive regions.

The bottom line? If you want to reach customers, you need to care most about their top three concerns: price, convenience and proximity.

You can read more about the key points of the conference in the new issue (Issue 1 2025) of Strategic Marketing for Africa, the magazine of the African Marketing Confederation (AMC). Read or download the Digital Edition here.

A Print Edition is also available.