I must confess, Hilda never struck me as someone who is professionally sound. Yes, she’s a great chef, as we have all found. Sure, she’s got a great PR team that doesn’t just ensure a force-feeding of her personality, but highly intelligent and strategic positioning that continues to wow us all. And I trust she’ll still be here, even in the next decade. She’s got it.
It feels like yesterday when she held Nigerians spellbound with her Guinness record-breaking attempt, and here we are, counting down to marking her first anniversary as an official celebrity formed right on our phone screens.
At first, when I saw her on the speakers’ list of Diary of A Naija Girl’s DANG Women Fest which held sometime in May, I wondered, what’s Hilda going to talk about? Miss me with the whole PR effort.
Excuse my French, but what’s she going to say? Well, sis took to the panel session (alongside other notable panel members Uche Pedro, CEO of Bella Naija; Tomike Adeoye, a renowned content creator; Hauwa Lawal, also a renowned content creator) and reminded us all why we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Fortunately, this cover came with a beautiful face and impressive content.
“I feel like PR is one of the banes of our existence as human beings. You know, you have encounters with your friends and then they tell other people about you, and they form an ideology of you, an expectation of you or the kind of person that you are. So when you’re setting out to build a community, it’s important that you first identify what you are bringing to this community. Now, when you find that what you are bringing to this community adds value at the end of the day, you need to put the word out there. Because if people don’t know, they won’t tap into it. I can’t tap into something that I don’t know,” Baci said.
Well, well, well, look who’s talking about PR and strategic positioning, speaking facts about enhancing community building and maximizing its potential and how to position yourself for excellence both as an entrepreneur and a career-led woman.
Well, who better to talk?
Hilda and her dedicated PR team, Blanche Aigle Communications, led by Nene Bejide, had played a pivotal role in amplifying Baci’s Cook-a-thon, leveraging their expertise and strategic approach to build anticipation, enhance visibility, and sustain the buzz before, during, and after the event, wowing us all with the most strategic and impressive PR execution that ensured top-notch delivery.
Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, officially broke the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes. Bassey’s record-breaking cookathon shot her to instant fame in Nigeria. Her record attempt was so popular that it crashed the GWR website for two days when it was confirmed in June, “due to the immense volume of traffic we received from her legion of loyal fans,” the organization said. The 27-year-old Nigerian chef had begun on Thursday 11 May 2023 and continued through to Monday 15 May 2023, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
“One of the first things that helped me build a community was teaching. And when I set out to start teaching, one of the major reasons was I wanted people to see how I cook so they can trust me to buy from me. Then, away from that, obviously, I just felt like I wanted to share what I knew. Like, I felt like more women are willing, more people, not just women, are willing to make great things happen. You just need to know how. So, I understood this value and I wanted to share,” Baci shared during the DANG Session.
She further shared how her journey readily exemplified the power of leveraging available resources to amplify one’s message as she recounted her own experience of using social media, particularly Instagram, as a platform to share her knowledge and skills. The celebrity chef revealed how she had consistently ensured the provision of valuable content and maintained honesty in her interactions as she established credibility and garnered trust among her audience.
“So, you cannot underestimate the relevance of putting the word out there, any opportunity you get. Now, you may not have the funds to contact essentially Bella Nigeria or Blanche Aigle, for instance. But, you have your mouth. You have Instagram. You have social media. You have to unapologetically market yourself. Market that thing as a piece that you believe in. Because the truth is people can see through you. And if you believe in what you are selling, you can tell them how your marketing is,” she added.
Addressing common reservations about self-promotion, Baci also urged individuals to overcome fears of being perceived as overly promotional or losing a sense of mystery. Instead, she advocated for embracing one’s unique story and journey, knowing that authenticity resonates deeply with audiences.
“So some people will say, oh, I don’t like to talk to people. I’m very quiet. I’m not really a social media person. I’ve seen someone talk about how putting out so much information on social media reduces her mysteriousness. And I’m like, I don’t think you’re ready. You are not ready. Just start anyhow. And I think people love a real-world story. So people will see you for your shy, timid beginning. And then when you start to get the comments, when you start to get the likes and the engagement, it gives you that boost. It gives you that dopamine effect. And the next time you’re looking forward to making the next video, or the next content, and it just keeps going on and on. But you need to put the word out there. Honestly, you need to put the word out there. Just the way you want your husband’s people to know that’s a good girl, a good person, so they treat you well, so you can share good words. That’s honestly the same thing with your husband. Your business, your dreams, your goals. Just keep putting the word out there.”