Unilever Rewards Retailers to Encourage Patronage

Unilever Nigeria Plc, makers of Knorr and Royco seasoning cubes, has rewarded 55 retailers in the ongoing Visibility Challenge organised to reward its loyal consumers in the savoury market in 42 markets across the country.

The highlight of the contest, which ended its first phase, came when one market woman won the grand prize of a Kia Picanto car. The winner was one Mrs. Kehinde Ganiyat Abari, who confessed to have been a loyal consumer of Knorr brand for decades.
Speaking at the award presentation held at Oke-Arin market in Lagos, the Regional Sales Manager, Mrs. Nkechi Omozeje, said the initiative was one of the numerous ways fashioned out to reward its partners among who are the retailers.

She said it was necessary to extend this kind of gesture to them, knowing full well that they remain the interface between the company and the consumers. She added that the reward scheme was a sign of good relationship that had existed between it and the retailers adding that it was a mark of appreciation for the support received on the part of the retailers.

She said: “It is a way of expressing our appreciation to our numerous consumers. We want to acknowledge their support having been with us through thick and thin. That is why we are giving something back as a mark of appreciation”.

Buttressing the significance of the activation, its Sales Director, Mr. Kweku Boateng, said the whole essence of the exercise was to show appreciation to retailers the same way it has shown to wholesalers. Boateng said unlike in the past when only wholesalers get some forms of encouragement on the basis of their patronage with Unilever, the reward was a means of informing them of their support.

He said” In this promo, we are targeting retailers. We want to show that they occupy a pride of place in our business hence the need for the contest.”

The Knorr/Royco Visibility activation contest, which lasted for four weeks, runs in 42 markets across Nigeria with winners emerging through the various divisions of its markets. These divisions include Lagos, West, South Central, South East, Middle Belt, North West and North Central. Apart from the grand prize, other prizes that were won range from deep freezers, refrigerators, coolers and other consolation prizes.

Meanwhile, to participate in the competition, retailers are expected to have a minimum of ten cases of any Unilever seasoning product and get awarded points for the creative display of these products within their shops.
In a related development, the company, as part of its continued efforts to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with all its stake-holders, recently organised an elaborate customer forum for its trade partners. The event took place at Festac in Lagos.

The forum was aimed at rewarding trade partners across the country that performed outstandingly well. It also gave trade partners and Unilever an opportunity to discuss more ways to improve their partnership.

Customers were rewarded with gift items ranging from a brand new Hyundai SUV, Flat screen TVs, all-expense paid trips to Dubai, washing machines, freezers and lots more for their impressive performance over the given period of time.

Speaking at the occasion, Managing Director Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mr. Thabo Mabe, said “we are going to continually be with our partners at every given point in time. We would continue to give them a listening ear and try to understand what challenges they are going through and how we can better partner them to make sure at the end of the day, business is mutually beneficial to all stakeholders”.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/unilever-rewards-retailers-to-encourage-patronage/147535/