Experts harp on optimization of Entertainment for Brand promotion
By Oghale Mafuru
Entertainment has been an integral part of any successful marketing campaign focused on deepening brand distinctive ideas and fostering promotional messages for optimum results. Brands rely on the instrumentality of entertainment such as music concerts, reality shows, movies and comedy skits to put their products in the faces of a large amount of audience who consume these contents daily. Brands’ decision for utilizing entertainment as a promotional tool is hinged on the general knowledge that consumers love entertainment for varied reasons.
For instance, the Big Brother Naija series is unarguably an entertainment show that rakes in billions of Naira from brand sponsorship and votes from an active and vibrant audience. Although Showmax has not released specific statistics about the show’s rating, they reported that the collective hours spent watching Big Brother Naija Season equates to a whopping total of 30years, acclaiming that the show is the most watched live show on ShowMax. The statistical details of viewership shows that Nigeria accounts for 50%, South Africa 35% while the rest of the viewership is shared among Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, Botswana and Uganda.
Just like any other entertainment show, the attention, conversation and awareness generated by the show makes it a safe haven for brand managers who are looking to optimize this opportunity to sell their brands. No wonder payporte was the headline sponsor of Big brother Naija in 2017 and 2018 while gambling giant BetNaija sponsored the 2019 edition with other recurrent sponsors like Minnie, Nokia, Pepsi just to mention a few.
The Nigeria Idol season 6 which is currently ongoing is sponsored by Bigi and Tecno and this is part of their strategic brand placement for market penetration.
According to the Commercial Director of TVC Communications, Ronan Redmond, brands want to associate with entertainment platforms that expand their audience reach as advertisers are always on the lookout on how to position their brands in the minds of larger segments of their target market. “It is very important for us to get close to our consumers and our consumers love entertainment, so by us getting in this area, I suppose it’s our opportunity to get amongst where our consumers are”, he said.
Emphasizing the need for brand promotion through entertainment, Marketing Communication expert and CEO of SPNS Consulting, Adebowale Adebayo said “Entertainment and promotion cannot be separated, they are interrelated. Before now, you see different adverts coming in the form of music or songs. Songs are used for information dissemination and relaxation. Other perspectives are catching up to it and that’s why we have skits. Instead of having direct adverts, adverts are being embedded in skits. Advertisers know that the target audience always makes time to relax and unwind, hence adverts coming in between contents online as opposed to having adverts on Newspapers or magazines”.
To Mr Chidiebere Nwankpa, a marketing professional and founder of Real Value Consulting Services Limited, Entertainment marketing can lead to brand loyalty and brand switch especially when consumers see their favourite artiste endorsing a or rocking a product from a brand. To him, “the conventional advert is becoming boring. Entertainment is ruling the world and it is good that brands take advantage of this opportunity. People love entertainment and there are some who leave everything to watch their favorite show”.
Brand owners are constantly seeking ways to infuse the idea of their brands into the subconscious minds of their target audience and like a fisherman who wants to cast his net into an ocean of many fishes, the brand managers want to put their brands on the platform that pulls a larger audience.
Entertainment marketing has become the go to for any brand looking to cut through the noise and distractions and get into the mind of their prospective customers. It has a relatively high return on investment.
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