By Adesina Wahab

In a world saturated with information, only communications built on clarity, purpose, and intentionality truly resonate. African brands need to start creating messages that resonate with people by leveraging the GATMR framework, a simple yet powerful approach for crafting impactful communication.

Oti Egwu, a global public relations consultant, made this position known during his talk at TEDx Ajegunle 2025. According to him, more African brands need to develop impactful parameters to drive their communications and marketing processes, as most global brands do.

He added that the GATMR framework provides brands with strategic insights into effective iterations, measuring outcomes, and achieving significant results.

Oti noted that GATMR stands for Goal, Audience, Tone, Measure, and Repeat or Rejig.

For the goal, he stated that every meaningful communication must start with a clear objective, as brands must know exactly what they are trying to achieve. Is their communication goal designed for awareness, persuasion, behaviour change, credibility, or influence?

According to him, a clearly defined communications goal ensures a brand’s message is focused, strategic, and aligned with broader outcomes.

The global public relations consultant further added that impact is impossible if brands do not effectively understand their audience, stressing that due diligence must be done to identify the audience’s needs, motivations, fears, cultural contexts, and communication preferences.

He noted that tone is the most essential aspect of the GATMR framework, given its significance in determining how a brand’s message lands emotionally. Most branding and communications projects fail because the brand experts and strategists paid the least attention to tone or failed to leverage the right tone.

Brands should determine if they want to be authoritative, empathetic, conversational, urgent, or inspirational. According to Oti, choosing the right tone builds connection, fosters trust, and strengthens message delivery

Communication without measurement is guesswork, Oti opined. He advises African brands to define what success in their communication strategy looks like and track it, including engagement, sentiment, behavior shifts, conversions, and reach, adding that measuring outcomes allows businesses to understand what is working and what needs refinement.

Oti concluded his TEDx talk on the GATMR framework with the repeat/rejig part of the approach, stating that impact-driven communication is iterative, requiring refinement, improvement, and repetition until the message sticks.

This means if your message is working, amplify it; if it is not, adjust it. The PR consultant encourages African brands to leverage consistency and flexibility in their messaging to drive stickiness and effectiveness with communication.

The TEDx Ajegunle 2025 event, which focused on the theme Beyond Boundaries, featured other speakers and aimed to transform the narratives and perceptions of the community in a positive light.