Everyone who had asked me what the name of the company means, I had always asked what Coca-Cola meant and - for effect – added: ‘there would be a free seminar at our 10th anniversary.’
Indeed, there was a seminar, on 16 November 2005, the exact anniversary date, which was keynoted by international brand futurist, Martin Lindstrom. He gave a multimedia presentation of his bestseller, BRANDSense. The seminar was graciously sponsored by GTBank; and, to say it like the television commercial of its insurance subsidiary, GTAssurance, there’s a story to that.
It was the morning of the 2nd Ogun State Economic and Investment Summit held at the then Gateway Hotel, Abeokuta. As Chairman of the Planning Committee, GTBank’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr ‘Tayo Aderinokun had arrived early and was seated, alone, in his world, at the foyer while the auditorium was being prepared for the event. I was returning from the restaurant. I walked up to him and introduced myself, handing him my business card. He looked at it, and as if he had just struck gold, said, ‘ah, yes, I’ve always wanted to know the meaning of this name.’ Of course, I told him, ‘there will be a free seminar at our 10th anniversary....’ ‘OK: I’ll wait,’ said Aderinokun, quietly and smilingly, as he handed me his own card. The bank was then known as Guaranty Trust Bank and widely called GTB. Several years later, at a private dinner for a British guest lecturer whose institution had done a case study on the bank, Aderinokun, in his signature quiet, almost aloof way, got his guests – there is no free dinner - to engage in a focus group discussion on their perception of the bank’s new identity, the Orange colour and the new name –GTBank.
Two months or so to the 10th anniversary of TaijoWonukabe Limited, I remembered that I had been promising ‘a free seminar’ – without, er, ‘having a plan for that too.’ So, I went to the cyberspace and more or less brought it down in search of any available international speaker on branding.
I found Martin Lindstrom. His credentials were fascinating, nay, intimidating. A Dutch, he was resident in Sydney, Australia; his company’s headquarters was in The Netherlands and outposts in Australia, United States, United Kingdom.... He had set up an advertising agency at age 12. He was not an alumnus of any of the world’s prestigious universities. In fact, he didn’t attend any university. In 2005, he was just 35 and a branding consultant to Fortune 500 companies.
Then the “groundbreaking” book, BRANDSense. Foreword by “one of the all-time masters of marketing, distinguished Dr Philip Kotler.” It was “being touted as the marketing book of 2005.” “Drawing heavily on the data of his extensive research, Lindstrom discovered some remarkable facts. BRANDSense proves how the smell of a new car, or the perfect sound of a closing car door, plays a major role in selecting what model is purchased. Ironically, a new-car smell simply doesn't exist. What the consumer smells is an artificial odour that's been sprayed into the interior, creating a sense of quality. Now the generic ‘new car smell’ is about to be branded along with the sound of a closing door - just like Singapore Airlines has patented the smell in their cabin. Likewise, the sound and feel of Kellogg's cornflakes crunching in our mouth has been created in sound labs.”
Lindstrom was then taking BRANDSense on a world tour. He had been to South Africa, and I think, Kenya or, and, Egypt. I called his Personal Assistant, Signe Jonasson, and, yes, Lindstrom would be available on 16 November, 2005. I found out how much the investment fee was, and asked that his credentials, everything, be emailed to me. Pronto. That evening, I emailed Aderinokun, reminding him of our meeting in Abeokuta and concluded, ‘here, Sir, is the seminar, can you please underwrite it?’ I sent similar emails to two others. I actually forgot about it, until I received an email from Muyiwa Moyela, then on the staff of the External Relations Department of GTBank, that his MD directed that his department got in touch about the Martin Lindstrom presentation. That was it. We had our free seminar. Thanks to Uncle T, as he was fondly known and called at GTBank. Three years later, I emailed him to sponsor the multimedia presentation of Lindstrom’s next bestseller: Buyology: The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. Before the public event, Lindstrom had a one-hour session with GTBank’s management, followed by breakfast.
We are currently discussing with GTBank’s folk about a webinar by Lindstrom on his forthcoming book, Brandwashed, but, sadly, without Uncle T. May his soul find peace.
* This is an extract from my forthcoming book, The Japanese Company, due out latest August 2011
