adminVandudzai Zirebwa Buy Zimbabwe
In August 2015, the Buy Zimbabwe team embarked on a journey into the communities of Zimbabwe. The mission? To bring the vision of job creation, wealth creation and fostering national pride to the people that have the power to make a difference, the masses of Zimbabwe.
The Buy Zimbabwe community engagement campaign is a platform that was created to initiate dialogue between local communities and local businesses with the aim of increasing consumption of local goods and services.
While these sessions have been designed to educate the public on the real and urgent need to increase demand for local products, they are not in any way designed to advocate blind loyalty to products.
That is why Buy Zimbabwe embarked on this journey with its many partners. The objective is to have impactful dialogue sessions where business fully understands the expectations of the end users of their products and services.
This is invaluable insight into where they have got it right and where there is room for improvement.
The Value
In this economic environment, it is critical to ensure that every dollar spent on brand communication, is a dollar well spent, a dollar that yields returns. This programme has offered partners a unique opportunity to have an attentive audience of up to 200 people per sitting. An audience that not only has top of
mind awareness of their brands but an audience that now associates these brands with their everyday basic concerns: job and wealth creation. Through these sessions, partners have been able to create”Brand Loyalty” which is a level higher than the top of mind awareness that an ordinary advertising campaign would achieve.
The journey thus far
The journey towards a community meeting starts long before the day of the meeting. The Buy Zimbabwe team has gone into the communities to engage community leadership to assist with the mobilization of people to the meetings.
These leaders, drawn from different groupings including churches, environmental monitors, youth groups, residents associations, women’s clubs, also give valuable insight into the dynamics of the communities.
Therefore, beyond using these leaders to mobilize people to the meetings, Buy Zimbabwe has gone further and seconded these leaders as local Buy Zimbabwe Brand Ambassadors who will continue to engage their communities on issues pertaining to local purchasing and provide feedback to the Buy Zimbabwe team.
Feedback and issues raised:
Feedback coming in from the two communities visited so far through the network of ambassadors is that community members are very appreciative of the opportunity they were given to interact with “big business” on a level platform.
Communities now have an increased motivation to support local as they see the long term benefits of supporting local businesses for their families, their communities and their country. During the engagements the key recurrent issues have been those to do with pricing, quality, packaging and availability of various products. Participating partners were able to respond to various questions and concerns pertaining to their products and clarify issues.
At the end, relationships were built and resolutions made. The need to Buy Local was understood.
The journey continues, the conversation continues. There are more communities to be transformed! It’s not too late. Be a part of the journey today.
dyton mupawaenda
Online Reporter