32-year-old Aliza Leferink is the brand manager for Oral-B in Sub-Sahara Africa.
ALIZA LEFERINK, brand manager, Oral-B, is a woman who is interesting to be with. In this interview, she tells FUNKE OSAE-BROWN about oral health and why she considers her brand premium.
The Isaac John, Lagos office of Procter & Gamble is enveloped in quietness on a sunny Thursday afternoon. I took the lift to the upper floor where the brand manager, Oral B, is waiting.
Her face looks radiant as the rays of the white light above fall brilliantly on her white skin. She welcomes me warmly with a handshake. Her wide smile reveals a nice dentition, a testimony to the kind of message she preaches, oral care.
32-year-old Aliza Leferink is the brand manager for Oral-B in Sub-Sahara Africa. She is in charge of business in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and others for Oral-B. She has been in Nigeria for a year and she tells me she busies herself with Oral-B all through the week.
Before relocating to Nigeria, she was the brand manager for Oral-B in Belgium. And she tells me there is a total difference in oral health between Europe and Nigeria. According to her, the common disease in Nigeria is “Periodontitis” meaning 90 of dental challenge is cavity problem.
“But the major problem is low awareness of oral health education,” she explains. “One of the things Oral-B wants to do is to make sure people are more aware of oral health because Good oral health is super important when it comes to general health, for economic even for social interaction.”
According to her, anyone who isn’t confident in herself cannot perform ultimately on her job. She says Oral health is super important beyond general health. “The biggest challenge is that most people do not start with prevention. I mean preventive and consistent measures. My experience in Nigeria and indeed quite a number of other countries, is that most people go to the dentist when they have real issues. But by then, most of the damage that could have been prevented is already done,” she adds.
According to her, anyone who isn’t confident in herself cannot perform ultimately on her job.
She is one woman who is passionate about oral care in Nigeria and she is positioning Oral-B as a brand that will help Nigerians eradicate dental challenges. She has been moving around the country with her team teaching people about Oral Care and how to take care of their oral health.
“In Belgium, oral health awareness is very high. People go to the dentist at least twice a year. The basic tips to have good oral care is at least people should brush twice a day morning and night. Use Fluoride paste like Oral-B, visit your dentist for check-up twice a year, change your brush 4 times a year, check your diet and do not eat so much refined sugar. Do not have too much eat and drink moments. For oral care, prevention is the best option.”
She says in order to improve oral health in Nigeria, the first thing that needs to be done is government should increase the awareness of oral health and educate people on how to take good care of their oral health.
“This is what Oral-B brand has been doing. We have only been in the market for four years in Nigeria it is relatively young. Since we have been in the market we have started a consumer programme which is called ‘Mobile Dental Clinic”. At the clinic we have a team of international experts and trained dentists who educate people in the markets on how to take good care of their oral health and show them demos. Through this programme we have reached millions of Nigerians and educated them properly, as well as given them the right tools and knowledge to achieve great oral health. The trained dentists are also available to attend to people, give free dental check-up, and tell them what next to do.”
Leferink explains that using Oral-B comes with a lot of benefits. “When you brush with Oral-B you have all-around protection. It is a product that contains stannous fluoride. Fluoride as I said is a basic ingredient that you need to prevent cavity. Stannous fluoride goes further because it has a high antibacterial ingredient.
“Oral B is the only brand in Nigeria that provides this kind of anti-bacteria stannous fluoride. What it does is to delay Plaque building on the tooth and Plaque is the beginning of everything bad to the tooth. stannous fluoride also has other benefits. It has very high protection against enamel erosion, with 7 special benefits. These are: Fights Plaque Build-up on Teeth – Provides Tartar Control – Helps Prevents Cavities – Helps Fight Gum problems – Freshens Breath – Protects from Sensitivity – Gently whitens Teeth. The claim we have is that after a week you will get notable healthier teeth. And you can go to the clinic to test and prove it.”
She adds that there are three varieties of Oral-B. “We have the all-around protection family, we have family that focus specifically on growth and all come in different favour, sizes and we have six in total.”
She says in order to improve oral health in Nigeria, the first thing that needs to be done is government should increase the awareness of oral health.
As a brand manager, Leferink is the first consumer of her product. However, she says she had been using Oral-B before she ever thought of becoming a brand manager. “I was using Oral-B even before I started working with P&G. I also used the toothbrushes. Personally, I like Oral-B because of the high anti-bacteria agent. I feel fresher and my teeth stays clean throughout the day. Although I focus the entire day working for the product, I am also I am an end-user consumer. I just want stronger and healthy teeth and that is why I use Oral-B and that is what Oral- B gives.”
In 2016, Leferink says she is working with her team on the growth for Oral-B and improve oral health. “From this perspective basically we continue doing what we have been doing before. We continue to activate dental mobile clinics to educate and offer Good oral care. We continue to ensure more products in convenient locations for consumers to buy and more and more people know about the brand Oral-B.”
Leferink is not just a workaholic, she spends her free time on exercises, goes out on dinner, plays golf. She is in love with the city of Lagos since she relocated to Nigeria over a year ago. She is in love with the climate except the traffic. “The people are dynamic!” exclaims. “I enjoy it very much. With 20 million people, Lagos alone is bigger than my entire country! From business point of view, my take is everybody is very straight and direct, ready to do business. The people are very positive and very helpful to address any issues.”
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