Interview with Sonya Sadhwani, Director of Brand Management at Melcom Group

Tell us about how you recently were awarded the 2016 CIMG Retail Outlet Award.

We won this award for five consecutive years. After that, they moved us into the hall of fame, where we have been for ten years. Now we are in the elite hall of fame. It is quite a big award for us.

Which of your other awards are you most proud of?

We value the Ghana Club 100 the most. GIPC holds a yearly awards ceremony for the top 100 companies in Ghana. Last year, we were number 16. This year’s ceremony is in a couple of months and hopefully we have climbed the ladder a little higher.

Have you received any awards personally?

For two consecutive years, I have won the Feminine Ghana Achievement Award in brand management. This is a new award that has been recently initiated. For us as women, it is very important to be recognized in the workplace. So, I look forward to my third consecutive award.

Our CSR is all done through a foundation called Melcom Care Foundation which was started about seven years ago. We have two major focuses: one is education and the second is medical.

To what characteristics specifically do you attribute all of these awards and the actual success of Melcom?

Melcom’s success can be credited to our very affordable pricing. We also have consistent pricing in all our stores throughout Ghana. We currently have 38 branches in all ten regions, as well as an online store. This has given us a reach that is very difficult for other retail outlets to achieve. Bringing shopping to the customers’ doorstep is what makes us so successful.

Are you active with CSR activities?

This is my absolute passion. Our CSR is all done through a foundation called Melcom Care Foundation which was started about seven years ago. We have two major focuses: one is education and the second is medical. We have a trust which currently grants approximately 46 scholarships to Melcom workers’ children. The “Care” in Melcom Care Foundation actually stands for “care and relief efforts.” One of our larger CSR projects was to donate an ambulance to 37 Military Hospital. The beautiful part is that I have seen that ambulance around town so often. You really feel good and know that it is appreciated. Another CSR project we do every year is at Christmas time. We go to schools and hospitals and we take goodie bags, set up a Christmas tree for them, and take along our own Melcom Santa Claus who distributes to the children. We bring refreshments and they really have a party. It is held on the Saturday before Christmas. For me, that is the most fulfilling day of the year just seeing the joy on the children’s faces. It really touches me. It is very cute. Every Christmas, on or just before the day schools close, our shops are full of hundreds of children. They all come in to buy their teachers a gift because it is prestigious if you buy the gift from Melcom. There are lines of children in their uniforms and they all queue up to buy presents. We can only let 50 in at a time because they take all the cash tills, so we have one just for the children. You see them counting each pesewa and walking out with a plastic bowl or a pencil and an eraser for their teacher. It is so adorable.

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