The manufacturing industry is suffering from issues with foreign exchange, volatility, growing prices, and the operating environment, according to British maker of consumer goods and personal healthcare items PZ Cussons Plc.
Adetutu Oriewo, the company's head of human resources and commercial category Brand for Africa at PZ Cussons, made this claim in an exclusive interview with journalists in conjunction with celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Morning Fresh in the nation.
However, she claimed that the difficulties, particularly the unanticipated COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, were a blessing in disguise because they forced management to start over and revamp methods to improve better consumer goods offering, as customers are the brand's core audience.
“Our challenges are not different from what other manufacturers of consumer goods have experienced in terms of cost, currency, forex and economic situation. What we do is to be proactive and plan ahead.
“It is not about our product, it is about the consumer, it is about what our consumer wants and needs. If the consumer says I need a bottle, can you do XYZ to make my dishwashing better?
“We will go back to our friends in the factory to say, this is what the consumer needs; how can we deliver it to them? So, these are the things that have kept us; we are putting consumers in the center of what we do.
“About the future of PZ, the brand is here to stay, we have so much exciting stuff in our back pocket for consumers; we keep the consumers at the heart of everything that we do.
“The family is the smallest unit of the society and like we say, we are there to soften the tough jobs of everyday issues. If you can only soften the top jobs that people go back at home impacts their wellbeing and wellness, and of course, a more mentally stable person will be a better contributor to the society at large.
“So it starts from the home. And we have the home keepers who are the ones that cater for the cleaning of the home, and we make that tough job and make it simpler,” Oriewo said.
Oriewo said the challenges made management go back to the drawing board to enhance better consumer consumption as consumers were the heart of the brand.
“We have faced every challenge you can imagine, from government regulations with ports, security, (deplorable) state of the roads, everything you can imagine was thrown at us.
” I will say our response to that is what was within our control, which are our overhead, cost and managing ourselves better financially while everything out of our control we try to manage but the most important is to have good planning and good response system available.
“Some of the challenges required us to respond faster to the end producer. We had to go back to the drawing board to review the way we work and the structures we carried and how agile we had to become to be able to respond to the market and what the market required,” she added.
The company also announced a ‘N30 million Gang promo’ as part of a series of activities to commemorate 30th anniversary.
The promo, which will run from till December 14th with live draws beginning September 23rd is targeted at rewarding loyal consumers with prizes such as kitchen makeovers, refrigerators, generators, microwaves, washing machines and 30 millionaires at the end of the promo.
Regional Head of Marketing, Africa, PZ Cussons, Daniel Gyefour, said promo aligned with Morning Fresh’s new brand positioning of caring for those who care by softening the tough job of cleaning, and offering value adds to its loyal consumers.
“The brand is one that cares for our “Everyday Sheroes “, the well-centred woman who makes strong contributions to society through nurturing happy families.
“The brand exists to serve the hygiene conscious woman, who prides in keeping her kitchen clean, and ultimately taking good care of her family. Morning Fresh brand is definitely the best companion for caregivers in softening tough jobs and caring for those who care, bringing the home and family together with love,” Gyefour said.
He said consumers can participate in the promo, by submitting any two labels of Morning Fresh 1 ltr Original Fresh, Zesty/Lemon or 700ml Antibacterial pack at any of the accredited redemption centers and qualify for the weekly draws.
“We are excited to celebrate this milestone with our consumers. It has been our delight to consistently deliver innovative and quality dish washing solutions carefully-packaged in three variants – Original Fresh, Zesty Lemon and Antibacterial – yet same viscous consistent formulation, allowing consumers experience ease in cleaning dishes and the kitchen environment,” Gyefour added.