MARKETING PRECEPTS IN AKPLE/BANKU AND FUFU I

Successful cooperate firms root from dominant marketing strategies. Marketing gives direction to a company on its future. Marketing is so crucial in business organisations that it is the controlling concept in the product design process. Any firm that disregards the impact of marketing in its product formation has set the stage for her own failure. The only headache marketing offers is its nature – an inexact science. Unlike all other scientific processes, the results from a specific marketing strategy is not always reproducible even if one follows its rubrics to the letter.`

apply the heat   credit:globalzoo.de

Akple/banku are two of the most popular foods in Ghana. They are indigenous foods. The people love them. It would be a major shock for a native of the Volta Region to say he/she does not have akple as a top three food choice, and the same bewilderment would be associated with an Ashanti, Fante, Akwapim et al who maintains a similar stance when asked about fufu. Interestingly, there are a lot of marketing lessons in the process of cooking akple and the pounding of fufu, which could be lethal to competitors if a company puts them into practice.

Firstly, the foodstuff for the preparation of both akple and fufu are mainly cassava & maize, and cassava, yam, plantain respectively. Cassava, maize, yam and plantain are all traditional foodstuff in Ghana. They are the foundation of the feeding culture of the people since time immemorial. Ghanaians have always had the love for high carbohydrate foods. One of the finest issue to consider in the marketing process is to design a product that the people /market could easily associate themselves with. Ghanaians tend to be more comfortable with products they could easily relate themselves to. Marketing best works when it connects naturally and directly with the culture of the market. A company marketing soaps in Keta should use a picture of the sea shore as the background image of her billboard and observe the magic that happens thereafter. 

Furthermore, meeting the demands of the market does not come any easier than understanding the cultural dynamics of the people more so in a nation like Ghana.

Communication is also a cornerstone of marketing. A good communicator could easily pass for a good marketer. The principle of communication is illustrated in the heat applied during the preparation of akple and fufu. Heat is used throughout the preparation of both akple and fufu. For akple, heat is involved in the entire process whiles heat is only used at the preliminary stages of fufu- i.e to boil the foodstuff in readiness for pounding. It is essential a marketer turns on the heat whiles marketing. Heat in this sense means the adoption of linguistics/graphics that would boil your target. At the end of the day, your targets boil to your advantage. A typical example of heat being used in marketing is tigo’s ‘’drop that yam’’ promo. ‘’Drop that yam’’ may not be the most acceptable phrase in the Ghanaian setting, but tigo was able to use it to boil the Ghanaian the market, and now the youth-most notably-are all enthused about dropping that yam.

However, caution must be the taken in the kilojoules of heat applied because so much heat could destroy the target and turn him/her off just like what would happen when too much heat is applied during the process of cooking akple. The finest result one gets in the event of too much heat is likely to be charcoal.

In addition, the process pounding fufu is a very great example communication technique. In the case where two people are involved in the pounding process, they need to time and coordinate well lest one-the person turning the fufu in the mortar-gets injured. In the circumstance in which only one person is involved in the act of the pounding the fufu, he/she still needs to ensure good timing and coordination between his/her hand holding the pestle and the other hand turning the fufu in the mortar. It is imperative in 21^st century marketing when you put out a message and how you put the message across. The target must be must be conditioned for the message and the product must also supplement the target. In terms client-supplier relationship, the supplier needs to coordinate with the client in speech just like the pestle and the turning-hand-in-the mortar coordinate. Coordination and timing are also paramount in managing customer-producer relationship, which is a major guiding principle in marketing. 

  an ideal communication technique    credit: ghanatoghana.com

Finally, creating awareness on products is another hurdle a marketer has to overcome. In most Ghanaians homes, it is not unusual to know when either akple or fufu is on the menu. It is a routine. Every clever marketer should work on achieving a routine cycle to create awareness about his/her new/upcoming products. Let the customer always expect something new and exciting at a particular point of the year/production season. 

It establishes a totally amasing euphoria about if the producer constantly blows the mind of customers on schedule. Sooner than later, customers and the media cannot wait for that time of the year. Apple has mastered the act of getting the table set before time through their Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Now we all look up to September each year to know what Apple has in store for us. Applying the practice of knowing before-hand when to prepare fufu/akple in Ghanaian homes does not only give the producer knee jerk publicity but also it adds to the branding of the company- a unique customer relation approach [we shall take a look at branding some other time].  

The preparation of akple and fufu take hardwork, pinpoint concentration, flexibility, brute force and passion. All are skills and attitudes are available at the disposal of marketers who aspire to be extraordinary to utilise. I shall catch up with you later with episode II on this post and also introduce to you another fav Gh food kenkey.