By Olawale Jimoh, Marketing Manager —
In the past year, face-to-face business models are radically changing into a digital space wherein services are offered in real-time across the digital platforms at the comfort of the customers’ homes, thereby reemphasizing the integral role of the Internet of Things [IoT] occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the rave of the pandemic onslaught, its ensued lockdowns and restricted movements in the country, Kia Nigeria’s on-time realignment of service offerings with virtual services such as Live Stream Showroom and Online Service Booking helped provide the customers with uninterrupted best-in-class services in a very safe and healthy environment. The brand is now poised to staying atop the dynamics by providing more robust and scalable service offerings and model range to customers in the new year.
The year 2020 was undoubtedly a challenging one and brought the whole world economies and industries particularly the auto industry to an unavoidable halt. The essence of man and commerce is mobility; the need for people to commute and move from one place to another and the auto industry thrives on this premise. However, one of the major casualties of the pandemic is mobility; the restrictions on the movement of people were enforced to limit the spread of the virus, ultimately taking a significant toll on businesses in the industry across the globe, particularly in Nigeria.
In the phase of this inundated development, and as we enter into 2021 with a second strain of the virus, it’s imperative for the industry to adapt to the new realities and continue to cater to the needs of the customers. Digitalization of business operations is now more than ever very important to the sustenance of service offerings. Olawale Jimoh, Marketing Manager, Kia Nigeria, comments: “At Kia Nigeria, our core business ethos revolves around customer experience in real-time, hence digital service offerings are weaved into our operations. With the pandemic lurking around, we are committed to continuously stay ahead of the curve in providing top-of-segment cars and services to all customers in a safe and healthy environment.
The current economic realities in the country can be troubling and deeply concerning, ranging from the paucity of FOREX and its value instability, policy inconsistency in the auto industry, pockets of insurgence, cash crunch, the myriad of downsizing companies, depleted buying power amongst others had thrown open the pandora box of the downward trend of the auto industry and affecting the growth and most times the sustenance of auto companies in Nigeria. “In view of this, and as a company with the industrialization of the country edged on our minds, Kia remains optimistic and is committed to making the best of the situation the industry is confronted with” said Olawale.
In 2021, our collective resolve in Kia Nigeria is to be bold, evolve, and transition into a more fit-for-purpose brand aligning with the specific needs and requirements of our customers in the country. Transitioning from not just the everyday auto brand with highly sophisticated technology and alluring designs to creating a mobile space that nudges our car owners into an inspiring world of endless possibilities. Globally, the Kia brand is taking a newly improved phase with the brand relaunch starting with the unveiling of a new logo and our slogan now changed from “the Power to Surprise” to the “Movement that Inspires”.
Locally, we will also relaunch the brand and harp on the new brand strategy to align our model range and service offerings to the needs of our car owners and transform Kia into a ceaselessly innovative brand by accelerating its bold and pre-emptive transition to future businesses.
As the auto industry undergoes turbulent changes, we at Kia takes it as a rare opportunity to radically transform our brand into a global enterprise dedicated to spearheading customer value-led innovations. Locally, we will actively take on the challenges ahead by providing customer-centric cars and service offerings, identifying and capitalizing on new opportunities to propel the company forward.
In order to be at the fore of the industry and make true our new brand ethos and strategy, we will be launching new products, improving our after-sales offerings, and increase the accessibility to our service offerings by expanding into the hinterlands and states across the country. Our approach is to put customers first, and we will reinvigorate the Kia brand’s innovation by introducing products and services that offer new experiences for customers in Nigeria.
Our focus will include the pursuit of innovations across the board, encompassing brand identity, corporate identity, design identity, and user experience, among other fields. At Kia, we’ll be providing an enabling environment digitally or onsite for customers to directly experience, feel and understand the company’s evolution as an enterprise championing mobility solutions. We’re poised to wining more trust from the market by steadily strengthening our competitiveness through innovations in existing product offerings, as well as creating the best ownership experience for our individual customers and corporate/fleet owners.
By prioritizing our uniquely local customers’ values, we plan to provide an innovative fit-for-purpose, Purpose Built Vehicles [PBVs], particularly for our fleet customers, offering a differentiated product appeal, such as an EV-specialized design, user experience, and quality. Kia Nigeria will focus on expanding sales of highly innovative internal combustion engine vehicles, while reviewing the selective entry of EVs depending on demand in our market. In addition to the Kia Soul EV, the first of its kind electric vehicle in Nigeria, launched in 2015, we plan to introduce another EV this year in tandem with the global shift from the Internal Combustion Engine [ICE] to Electric Vehicles [EV].
Through this process of customer-centric innovations, which enable the cost- and time-efficient development of a diverse range of Kia model range, we are confident that these will bolster our competitiveness in the market and create the best customer experience for Kia owners in Nigeria. The months ahead might be shrouded in uncertainties, however, with our customer-focused strategies in the country, we are well-positioned to take the dynamics in good stride and are optimistic that the year will present endless opportunities for the Kia brand.
