Developing a brand and advertising it

Strive Masiyiwa
WHEN you start out in business one of the most important things that you must do is to choose a good name. This is something you and your partners should do very carefully. The name must be, as far as possible, original, have the ambition to make it global . . . Think ahead to when the company is no longer just in your country but has gone to other countries.

Will this name you have chosen still be good? Keep it simple, clean and effective.

Get professional advice
Econet Wireless was originally called “Enhanced Communications Network”, a banker friend changed it to ECONET. I later added Econet Wireless. After many years I went back to ECONET because we have other businesses in the group, which are not wireless communications.

Getting professional advice is very important. Don’t take names and logo designs as something you just prepare yourself.

Initially I worked with a friend who was an advertising expert, and he taught me amazing things about names, and colours, and brands.

He later set up his own advertising agency, and later moved to work in America. He is a highly gifted man. I always paid him for the work he did for me. This too is an important principle. If it’s valuable you MUST be willing to pay for it!

The brand
Having a good name for your company is not what gives you a “brand”.

This is a highly complex subject. For a start just remember that when you register a company, it becomes a “legal person”, which acquires a unique personality and characteristic just like a real person. It’s amazing how first that personality mirrors the founder, and in time also its workers.

At Econet we say we are “Inspired to change your world” . . . . It has been more than 20 years since we adopted that.

Brand visibility
Advertising and sponsorship of events like the NBA game is one of the ways we try to promote and give visibility of our brands. Big companies spend billions of dollars.

You don’t have to be a billion dollar company before you invest in the visibility of your brand. When I started out I always looked for the most innovative, and cost effective ways to market our brand. I sponsored school sports grounds, bus shelters and street signs.

A good entrepreneur must understand marketing of not just products, but also the values of the brand.

If you are serious about building a business, then you must have budget for advertising and promoting your brand and its values.

This is not just about advertising to sell a product.

Brand Integrity
You must be careful what you associate your brand with. Before we agree to sponsor anything for instance, we sit down and enter into written agreements, which cover the expectations of either party, as well as expected conduct.

For instance I once authorised sponsorship of a certain sport organisation in one of our markets. The complete disregard of the agreement by the sport’s governing body was quite astounding.

For me if someone does not respect an agreement or undertaking I will never do business with them again. We decided to stay away from that sport, and its governing bodies.

I hope that one day we will have an opportunity to have a more in-depth discussion on marketing, and advertising of your business.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this little advert that our people did on this historic occasion:

And if you are a basketball fan, enjoy the game!