Story Behind the Name: How God is Good Motors Rebranded to GIGM to Scale
When GIGM leading road transport provider in West Africa, was founded 22 years ago, its founder, Edwin Ajaere named it the God is Good Motors. The name resonates with many Africans partly because of its simplicity and also the undeniability of the message it conveys.
Following a series of events about a decade ago and Edwin’s ultimate demise, Chidi Ajaere, the founder’s visionary son had to return to Nigeria to lead the business. That event led to a number of significant transformations.
So much has been written about the fantastic impact that transition had on the company’s brand messaging and leveraging technology. The object of my curiosity was the change of name to what is today: “GIG Mobility (GIGM)”.
What is in the name?
A conversation with Vuakpor Muoghereh, the company’s COO revealed the intention behind the change of name:
“We felt that the name ‘GIG Motors’, in some way, limits us to road transportation, which reflected the GIGM of then and not the GIGM of the future. Mobility is encompassing for all forms of movement. Maybe 10 years from now, people may not have to leave a location physically to have been said to be mobile.”
The name change was accompanied by a number of good updates. The company logo was changed, physical locations were rebranded, staff members were re-trained, technology was heavily deployed in operations and new buses were deployed to the company’s fleet.
The Diversity of Mobility
GIG could also be pronounced as gig (as in Gigabyte). This can be used to signify the gig economy or prosperity if you like.
Its core business of road transport is being continued under the new name, and the company has not relented its ruthless efficiency.
Our team visited the GIGM Terminal at Jibowu for a firsthand experience of efficient service delivery. We observed that the team has a visible screen showing the locations of its buses across the country. This allows the backend team to monitor the Captains’ (drivers) speed, route and ensure the passengers’ safety.
Vuakpor explained to us that when the Captains know that they are being monitored, they tend to be more careful, and this, among other measures, has helped the team achieve a very minimal record of accidents.
The Jibowu Terminal also has a self-service unit in the passengers waiting-hall that allows users to book their seats on the bus without interacting with human attendants. This is a significant upgrade from the regular service model employed by the other transport platforms.
True to its purpose, GIG has explored other forms of mobility and explored other forms of businesses since the change of name. This has led to the emergence of the GIG Group, an umbrella entity for a fusion of different portfolio companies.
The future of mobility…
The excitement and freedom the rebranding brings could be better felt in the forthcoming projects of GIGM that we have heard echoes of. It appears that GIGM is working on an intra-state road transport service that will be named Danfo.
An interesting turn in branding will probably see the buses adopt yellow and black colours similar to what regular buses now have.
Recall that we speculated that GIG could be venturing into other transport verticals?
Now, let me speculate that the company may also be planning to launch boat and airline services soon. I am certain that the team has the immense industry experience and the capacity to pull this off.
The innovations are especially now a necessity in Lagos following the state government’s unremitting war on existing transport models: Okada, Bike-hailing platforms, Uber and Taxify. You can read more about that here.
We can only anticipate.
