SME Forum as an effective tool for brand positioning of Fidelity Bank. Essay

Nigeria Plc ranked the highest as the most popular bank amongst MSMEs with regards to deposit, credit and loan transactions.
These premises lend credence to the fact that positioning is subject to customers' perception.
2.4.4 Perception
Perception can be simply defined as the interpretation of sensory information for the purpose of representing and understanding the environment. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which result from bodily or chemical stimulation of the sense organs.
MSMEs are engines for the growth of any economy. Advisory services, access to information amongst other services, are important for the growth of the sector. Fidelity Bank in a bid to position itself as a brand that supports this sector developed the Fidelity SME Forum which provides the platform to enlighten, educate and inspire MSMEs by carefully selected model entrepreneurs and subject matter experts.
Relating this definition to the study, the issue of how entrepreneurs in Lagos perceive the Fidelity SME Forum as a positioning tool for Fidelity Bank will be put on the spotlight. This will help in ascertaining the efficacy of this positioning strategy in meeting the desired expectations of MSMEs of an "SME friendly bank" and objectives of Fidelity Bank.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION
This study will explore the perception of Fidelity SME Forum as an effective tool for brand positioning of Fidelity Bank among entrepreneurs in Lagos employing the quantitative research method. It will look at how entrepreneurs in Lagos perceive Fidelity Bank in light of the radio programme as the 'MSME Bank'.
Since there are only a few articles because of limited research on the topic, this study will be survey-based and will use the instrument of questionnaires to generate responses from the sample population in order to arrive at a finding.
31 RESEARCH DESIGN
This is the plan for gathering and use of data in order to obtain precise and unequivocal information. It provides a structure used to obtain information to answer the research questions. The design in this study will be quantitative in method and the data to be used will be primary data obtained by administering a detailed questionnaire to generate the needed information for analysis.
According to Kotler and Keller (2009), a questionnaire consists of a set of questions offered to respondents for their answers. The questions in the questionnaire will mostly be close ended and will not require the respondent to state examples except where required. This will be necessary to guide the respondents to providing direct answers to questions administered. The questionnaire for this study will pose questions that will be directed towards measuring the perceived impact of the Fidelity SME Forum on the brand positioning of Fidelity Bank by entrepreneurs in Lagos.
3.2 POPULATION
The population of this study comprises the totality of entrepreneurs (whose businesses are incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission) across Lagos and who had gone through entrepreneurial management training at Enterprise Development Centre, Lagos Business School and Fate Foundation. The population numbers 4783 and broken down as follows