Brand ≠ Buzz: Why Most Branding Efforts Fail in Emerging Markets

After over a decade working across agencies and now in-house with fintech and logistics across Sub-Saharan Africa, I’m not quick to recommend brand-building efforts to founders/business leaders I know or meet unless I deeply understand the nuances.

Everything else I say tends to be peripheral—or simply questions designed to help me get a clearer picture. In a market largely moved by price, if you haven’t figured out certain foundational elements, brand-building may be the wrong move: too early, not contextually relevant, or too late.

The real hack is to know where you are, what your current market requires, and what building perceptive value means to your specific audience.

This may mean you don’t need a new logo or visual design work for a while—at least not until you’re ready to scale. It might mean the budget you’re setting aside for sponsoring big conferences could create far more impact if redirected toward curated company boxes sent to micro-influencers across different regions. These individuals can become genuine evangelists for your brand at the grassroots level. It might even mean you stagger a major brand announcement to follow an operational overhaul, so that new customers enter into a vastly improved experience. It may mean hacking distribution first, so you are meeting your people at the places or emotional checkpoints that strengthen their resolve to buy and be loyal, etc.

While the definition of brand building may remain universal, what it looks like in your context may vary. Don’t get drawn into popularity contests. Solid brand building does not always = what’s popular. And there is a possibility that people become a hit as a result of time and chance, but you will need something more to be sustainable, and not fade away when they are no more the rave.

Sustainability in brand building lies in strong operations, meaningful product decisions, reliable customer support, and intentional communication layering over emotional and functional benefits.

That’s the true foundation of a brand that lasts. Or not.