Volume 7, Issue 7, July – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology ISSN No:-2456-2165 IJISRT22JUL1005 www.ijisrt.com 1184 The Effect of Brand Awareness Used by FMCG’s Manufacturers in Improving Support of Local Products: A Zambian Perspective Burton Mweemba 1 ZCAS University, School of Business Lusaka, Zambia. Professor Edwin Bbenkele 2 ZCAS University, School of Business Lusaka, Zambia. Gwebente Mudenda 3 ZCAS University, School of Social Sciences Lusaka, Zambia. Boyd Longwe 4 ZCAS University, School of Business Lusaka, Zambia. Windu Matoka 5 ZCAS University, School of Business Lusaka, Zambia. Abstract:- Many countries have created buy local campaigns to encourage local customers to become ethnocentric towards local brands. In order to enhance the buy local campaign’s effectiveness, many countries have created a logo to be used by all campaign members. The motivation to develop buy local campaigns by many states has been to improve the economies and create employment. Zambia unemployment rate has been on a rise at 20.17% in 2020, hence the need to improve local brand advocacy. Quantitative research was conducted which involved the sample size of 295, and the data was collected using a questionnaire and data analysis was done using SPSS to produce the descriptive information. The results indicate that many respondents were not aware of the logo used by the buy local campaign, as there is more than one logo used by the industry players. The results also show that the majority of respondents prefer buying imported products other than the local FMCG’s. This therefore renders the branding strategy used by the buy local campaign ineffective. There is need for all industry players to use one logo as branding brings emotional connection between the products and the customers. Keywords:- Branding, Brand equity, FMCG’s, Perceived quality, Positioning. I. INTRODUCTION When evaluating the effectiveness of marketing promotional tactics, branding is one of the factors taken into account. With the passage of time, the definition of branding has changed, including the understanding. Branding should be understood to be beyond just identifying and differentiating a product or service from those of competitors. Weinewski (2011[1]) defines branding as all things that has to do with the whole organization which includes the tangibles and intangible attributes of the firm. A brand could be everything about an organization which can include the logo, the product, the name, what the company believes in, what you say, what you do and how the product looks like. Aaker (1991[2]) agrees with this position on branding stating that a brand is anything that brings uniqueness to the product or service through a logo, name, signs, color, terms or designs that differentiates the product from competitors. Branding builds an emotional connection between an organization and customers. Branding has the ability to change the purchase intentions of customers as it also fosters the emotional connection between the product and the customer. Aaker (1991[2]) states that brand equity is determined by how customers view a brand in terms of brand associations, brand loyalty, name recognition, perceived quality, and other proprietary brand assets.  Problem Statement The Zambian market are inundated with a mixture of products from both local and international markets out of which citizens are fronted with a challenge of choice as to which product they would select at a particular time, and this is supposedly driven by patriotism, ethnocentrism and intentionality. World Bank (2015[3]) states that a significant number of FMCGs in Zambia are imported from other countries such as South Africa (SA) and Zimbabwe. Further, Ziba and Phiri (2017[4]) also posit that about 80% of FMCG’s sold in Zambia, especially from one of the leading retail outlets like Shoprite Zambia, Pick N Pay are mainly imported from South Africa. Faced with a heavy influx of imported products from South Africa, branding is one of the important elements that might influence the support of local FMCG’s. As Zambia is importing 80% of FMCG’s, the rate of unemployment is arguably said to have reached an alarming level of 12.17% in 2020, 13.20% in 2019 from 11.40% in 2018 (Zamstat, 2020[5]). The question is, how effective is the branding strategy used to support the buy local campaign in Zambia?  Objectives  To identify the branding strategy used by manufacturers of FMCG’s in support of the buy local campaign.