About two weeks ago, I decided to buy some internet time and after spending all that money, I noticed that the internet was bad until the expiration day, so I couldn't use it and it turned out that I wasted money and time which two things that are inadvertently lost when people make bad calls with money.
However, I noticed that this particular network provider kept sending me messages to renew the same internet plans I bought but they expired because I couldn't use them. They had these systems where they monitor the time people buy these plans, so they tailor their messages to be exact since that was the particular time you were available to make the purchase.
This shows the level of work and money that's often put in when it comes to marketing and advertising
There are specialized agencies that take the effort to study the intricate nature of how people spend their money, why they spend it and when they're likely to spend, but the ironic thing is that most firms in Nigeria are marketing average products and services with sophisticated advertising. In a saner country, I could sue the company that decided to collect my money by providing the service I paid for, this would allow me to get back compensation for the money I lost while forcing these businesses to do better.
You see when a business or a product pays money for damages, the intent is to make them better, especially in that particular area where they were sued for.
Big Companies And Reaction To Loss
This is because when these companies lose money through a court order they're forced to do better, this is why the option to appropriately sue them through the right channel acts as a check. In Nigeria, suing a company and winning is difficult and this isn't because you're not guaranteed to win, the problem is that the process is often too long and tedious, and it makes people keep paying for bad services with no option of the ground to force these big business into accountability.
Of course, the internet has become a better way to do this. You see, the power of feedback and referral sells businesses even faster in Nigeria. Most times people use the internet as a tool to gauge the product and services of the brand they're hoping to buy and this is because they believe that the user's experience with other people spells the authenticity of a product, more than what these products offer on paper.
Selling Nothing; A Juicier Way To Advertise?
By saying on paper I mean to say that most times, some business claim to offer some particular features to their products to attract people to buy. On the surface, these features might not be there, but instead, they'll offer you a hidden below-par feature to substitute for the one you bought the product for and hope that you'll forgive them nonetheless especially when their aim of getting you to buy the products has been achieved.
This is almost the way every business in Nigeria functions. Companies no longer care about providing efficient services because they're in a haste to make money. This is often boosted by the fact that there's no means to keep them in check. The product that sold me that bad service is called 9MOBILE a few years ago they were known as ETISALAT.
Apparently, the old owner sold this telecommunication company and new management came in and gave the business a huge rebranding. About ten years ago, this particular had excellent services, and although it was expensive, (the reality is people do not care how much they spend, they just want quality servicing) but people still bought into their services..
however when it was sold, their marketing became astonishing better, while the main product became terrible and fell down the pecking order, one might be wondering if the cost of the product will decrease, as a compensation for the bad services, it didn't, on the contrary, it went up. In reality, the expectations are that when people are paying big for a product, they're expected to get unadulterated service. Some services are below par but cheap and affordable.
Why Spend: Wen Quality?
Some people are limited in their means to seek top-notch quality, hence they'll settle for less provided, and they'll get certain advantages for paying lesser. In Nigeria, a person can still spend a lot of money and end up with a bad service or product and this is because people who sell bad services put a lot of effort into shilling these services.
You might be wondering, "why not just use that money to make the product better?" The reason is that most businesses don't aim to meet the needs of people, they aim to make money, and they'll choose whatever diabolical way that's available to do it because there are no consequences to this.
Business & The Real Aim Of Business People?
Understandably, business is for moneymaking, but the only way to achieve this is to provide that extra utility. The internet reveals a lot about these businesses aiming to only milk people and that's the only way can find out who is bringing good or bad services to the table without going through the experience of feeling cheated of their money. Nevertheless, people are hooked on advertising, this is why they tend to buy the packaging and the hype, instead of doing their research.
At the end of the day, marketing will become more ferocious. This is because some of these businesses will still not improve, but their marketing schemes will become better with trends and time. I think the right check lies in the policies that government can make, it boils down to having the right policies change all these because not having value for money is an aspect of inflation that no one completely pays attention to.
Interested in some more of my works?
The Intrinsic Propensity To Spend Money
Poverty: The Unwillingness To Spend?
A Scenic Bathroom Photoshoot
The Importance Of Having A Contingency Money Plan
Translational Value; What Is Your Worth?
Using Crypto As A Means Of Transferring Will
