By Benard Okhakune
I think it rather deliberate, though, but not much is contained in the website of MultiChoice/DStv. One would have expected much more on a brand person of a status as big as this somewhat icon in pay television. However, it contains some interesting information.

One of such interesting information is that to date, MultiChoice/DStv has about 1,649,000 subscribers (!) By the way,  MultiChoices’s multi-channel satellite TV service in Africa, was launched in 1995. We got this information from the web page of MultiChoice.

To date, MC&A Digest has written about three articles on this brand. Perhaps we should mention at this point that we do not have any personal issues with this brand, and that the only concern is the relevance of some of its activities that help in our quest towards professionalism for purposes of enlightening and educating our readers, across the various groups of readership that spare the time to read our articles every Sunday.

Add to add the above is our commitment to contribute our little quota towards protecting the consumer, by drawing attention to those issues at the market place, that will help our otherwise not too informed consumers, towards discernment. Perhaps, some day, we shall assume the role of ombudsman for the consumers in Nigeria, or go the full hog to operate as a non-governmental consumer protection agency (in the true sense of it). For now, we shall keep with our commitment to generating contents based on our core professional calling and competence, for purposes of enlightenment, teaching, informing and reminding some of us, of the grand rules – that should not be changed!

Let us work with the figures posted as the subscribers to this brand, for sake of analysis; I am sure any brand that can post such figure representative of steady patronage will be too glad to say so in so many ways. One of such ways would expectedly be in terms of customer service or customer relationship management. Further to that, would be trade practice that should adopt a strategy focused on loyalty reward.

I remember the experience with the  Universal Trust Bank of old, when I started this long journey of brands management and marketing communication, way back in 1990. The task of engaging traders in Nkpor, Onitsha in Anambra State, then challenged all concerned from the client and Agency’s sides, like it was the entire brand needed to succeed. The marketing objective, then, was to consolidate the brand’s hold on the traders in that defined market, for reason of increased deposit base, and to recruit them into our then newly introduced Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). The total size of that market (our targeted customers) was not up to 600 prospective depositors. For that strategic reason, however, we dined and drank with the trader at the open market. I remember the enthusiasm demonstrated right from the office of the then Managing Director (Mr. Philippi); every effort was put to task.

The reason one could doubt the figures thrown up by MultiChoice is that  Lagos alone is likely to post 2,000,000 homes subscribing to the DStv channels, by reason of its cosmopolitan, in fact, mega city status.  Apart from the high profile families residing in Lagos, Nigerians are given to uncommon aspiration when it comes to consumption of luxury and entertainment. Ostentation sells fast and cheaply, with Nigerians. So, even among the not-too affluent, many families will strive to subscribe to the premium bouquet at the expense of other more pressing necessity.

However, if you add the figures attracted to the brand’s new line extension called GOtv, which is targeted at the lower segment of the pay-tv market, the figure should rise much more. For the purpose of this consideration, let us say Lagos alone will post a subscriber figure of well over 2,500,000 (we are open to correction). From end-September we hear the subscription fee will rise by about 15%, but let us work with the present Premium bouquet (not the dual view O!) of N10,000 per subscription, for about 40% of the projection of subscribers …. One then begin to see the choices open to this lucky brand. Brand success brings about one of two things: diligence or recklessness. That, again, captures the characteristic feature common with humans and a brand; success can lead to one of the two character traits mentioned above, as a matter of course. As in humans, also it takes a deliberate effort to stay on the right course.

How else would one describe the attitude of MultiChoice/DStv towards its subscribers in the market? This brand is at South African, but we know it will not dare try the things it does in this market, in South Africa. For television, the most critical issues are (1) content development and broadcast- 65% (2) equipment and technological sophistication 30%. The balance is captured in the obvious resources of physical structure and personnel. In other words, broadcast or entertainment is nothing without contents. And from the marketing point of view, that is the value touch-point for every single DStv subscriber – and they know it! Yet, they do not care what they broadcast into the subscribers’ homes – because the choice they have made from among the many options open to them is disrespect the critical mass of their market (because they do not have a choice –anyway).

I mean, how dare DStv go on repeating programs with such a degree of recklessness, that I, for instance, can now relay so many of the films/movies I have gotten so familiar with on some MultiChoice channels, just by hearing their titles. Even on the news channels, a bulletin is repeated round 24hrs. The insult is even more manifest with these so-called Nollywood movies. MultiChoice got us very cheap there. It is a case of “celebrate your rubbish” – they pay peanuts for these comparatively cheap productions and fill the Africa Magic channels with them, repeating same movies in quick succession.  So each day you expose yourself to these assault, you keep watching Pete Edochie,  Usofia… ahhh!

They have assumed the status of a monopoly brand for reasons of under development of this environment and they are turning it into insult and rubbing it in. The funny one is that they now throw some of their female staff at their customer service desk to call up select-subscribers, asking  those annoying questions bordering on the obvious. The last time one called me and I told her the meaning of what she was doing to me, she pleaded for my understanding, to the effect that she was only doing her job, and that the establishment is not willing to improve on their content quality.

We shall keep talking, until something happens one day. MultiChoice/DStv has so many choices open to her, for good judgment to prevail.