The day synonymous with sharing and exchanging of gifts among lovers, and the students have started making arrangements for this. Corporate organizations have also begun to cash in on the trend. Strands Events, a resource company that focuses on organising trade fairs on campuses, is currently holding a trade fair at the institution. A total of 46 companies are currently exhibiting their products to the eager students at the fair which began on Monday..
Wooing the students
Ahmed Akinsemoyin, a Director of the company, noted that this was the sixth time they were organising a Valentine’s Trade Fair in the university. “Valentine is marketable,” he said. “It is a season where you have love in the air and Valentine has to do with buying. To actually show someone you love the person during Valentine, you’d probably have to get the person a gift. It is a season that is really felt on campus and it’s easier to market to companies at this period because they see it as an opportunity to come to exhibit their products.”
Muyiwa Lolade, a distributor at House of Tara, a cosmetics manufacturer, said he was happy to be at the fair and had various products that were of interest to the students. “We have different varieties of our products ranging from powder, to lip gloss, basically we are here to bring out the beauty in them,” he said. “We have gift packs that they can give to their loved ones.” Also Isaiah Bendi, a Customer Activation personnel from Visafone, said he used the opportunity of the fair to offer new products to his company’s subscribers. “We are activating customers on CUG here,” he said. “We are trying to put the UNILAG staff and students on a Closed User Group whereby all registered members in the group call themselves free of charge regardless of wherever they are. We are also carrying out SIM registration and selling Internet modems.”
Companies selling clothing and accessories received more attention from the students. Franklin Madubueze, a sales representative at U-Cee Fittables, explained that the students were thrilled at the opportunity of having discounts on the items sold which was a major cause for the traffic at his stand. Martins Obaze, the Regional Retail Coordinator of Skye Bank Lagos Mainland, said he was there to market his company’s services to the visitors. “We’ve been part of this for a couple of years now,” he said. “We are here to offer account opening opportunities where whatever kind of account they open here either by students or visitors, they get to go home with consolatory gifts.”
Getting good bargains
For most of the students, the fair offered them an opportunity to get good bargains on products. As Aisha Badru, a 200 Level Biochemistry student noted: “Even though Valentine’s day is on a Monday, it won’t stop us from enjoying ourselves.” While noting that the event was also receiving patronage from people outside the campus, Mr Akinsemoyin said that there were other side attractions at the fair which were of interest to the buyers and visitors. “There is always a show in the evenings where different artistes perform everyday,” he said. “It’s not just about buying, but as you are shopping, you are having fun.”
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