Tubaba, Davido, Olamide, Wizkid Psquare are top five Naija favourite artistes, says report

There is no doubt, Nigerian music is bigger than Nigerian movies. This is premised on the fact that stakeholder or brand custodian, if unsure – always go for music as a brand building platform. This is driven by accessibility of Nigerian music content and personalized ‘emotionally’ charged enjoyment derived.

An entertainment and celebs report recently released showed that Innocent Ujah Idibia well known as Tubaba; David Adeleke (Davido), Olamide Adedeji (Olamide), Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (Wizkid) and duo of Peter and Paul Okoye (Psquare, which is now defunct) are the top five Nigerians’ favourite artistes.

Titled, The 2017 Entertainment & Celebs Report 2017 (Nigeria), the report was released by Pierrine Consulting, a firm with specialty in marketing research and strategy, with strong focus on helping clients achieve desired business results and future growth was released in Lagos.

Speaking at press conference and media release of the report in Ikeja, Lagos, the chief executive officer of Pierrine Consulting, Oluwaseyi Adeoye, said the report, which is in three broad parts with empirical insights would guide brands’ intelligent use of celeb as brand ambassadors or endorsers. He added that the detailed analysis would help brand custodians understand which celebs best fit their brands’ image + specific marketing objectives, which in turn would inform activation decisions that will unlock the full potential of such investments (ROI).

According to Adeoye, the report framework is based on realistic evaluation of celebs’ clout and real impact on brands’ awareness scores, affinity and usage/consumption of brands endorsed/represented. He also stated that the report shows the diagnostic view of celebs for talent management/PR firms, strategic positioning and image management for celebs.

“Our brand promise is to match clients’ enthusiasm about their products/services and immerse ourselves fully in their business. We do this by listening deeply and bring required best in class expertise and solutions to bear to solve ‘big’ business issues. We aggregate knowledge and create a learning intelligent insight framework with value and partnership in mind,” he said.

The report, which is in three broad parts, looks at mind share, market penetration and ‘favourite’ ranking of celebs (dimensioned by key demographics and category usage); perceptual mapping of celebs (‘real’ perception imprint of celebs and understanding brand fit, and real value of celeb endorsements (celeb clout framework: real value of celebs to brands within the Nigerian market in terms of awareness, likability and usage/consumption impact.

According to the report, the top five favourite artistes of Nigerians are Tubaba, Davido, Olamide, Wizkid and Psquare. However, Omo Baba Olowo crooner, Davido is the most listened to artiste in the country in 2017 and is officially a national brand. Olamide lead the list of favourites artistes among 18-24 years old Nigerians, with strong base in Lagos and Ibadan; Tekno along with Adam Zango and Abulazeez Fada lead the pack of favourites for Kano residents. Though Bauchi is open, Tubaba, Adam Zango, Davido, Solomon Lange and Psquare make top five list.

The top five favourite actors/actresses are Funke Akindele, Ali Nuhu, Adekola Odunlade, Mercy Johnson and Ini Edo. The report showed that Ali is loved mostly by males, aged 18-34 years old across all SEC groups, and understandably is a significant celeb for Kano and Bauchi residents.

“Nigerians see celebs differently; away from the glitz and whatever image the celebs may be projecting; “Tubaba is perceived as ‘having interesting collection of songs/albums’, ‘best shows/concerts’ and ‘has been vibrant’; Davido is seen as ‘professional’, ‘youthful’, ‘a true Nigerian brand’ and as ‘dynamic’.

“Funke Akindele is perceived as ‘has award winning, movies’ and ‘youthful’, while Ali Nuhu is seen as ‘having interesting movies’, ‘great at role interpretation’, ‘vibrant’ and ‘loved by Nigerians,” the report said.Using Pierrine’s Brand Equity Framework, a limited number of Nigerian celebs have positive brand equity ratings i.e. loved beyond current collection of creative work and visibility.

According to Adeoye, “Tubaba is the most loved artiste followed closely by Psquare, Davido, Olamide and Wizkid.” He added, “the Positive Brand Equity score reflects the propensity of a celeb to keep growing in terms of fan base. The Nigerian entertainment scene is still largely driven now by the relevance and success of celeb’s creative works.”

From the report analysis, the defunct Psquare is the only brand that is loved beyond their creative works. This is linked strongly to what the group has meant to Nigerians over time from popularizing Nigerian hip-hop, to dance moves and wide collection of relatable and hit songs/tracks over time.The ability of Nigerian music celebs to radically impact fans’ brand purchase behaviour and interaction with brands, is still low at less than 50 percent CCF weight

“Nigerians are very pragmatic and utility driven. Research shows that it is about product promised delivered and some felt there are at times mismatch of celebs and brands. One pointed out that ORIJIN and Reminisce is a good swing albeit celeb appeal is regional and limited. “The general notion is that the biggest gains for brands right now is the additional exposure they get via their brand ambassadors but not necessarily enhanced penetration or frequency of use of their products/services,” Adeoye explained.

The report in its recommendation noted that there are only four national music artistes/actors in Nigeria that brands can leverage for brand building activities — Tubaba, Davido, Funke Akindele and Mercy Johnson. Aside these, there are strong regional music artistes/actors, brands could still work with depending on available budget, celeb-brand fit and business/campaign objectives.

The report also noted that Nigerians’ adoration and followership of music artistes or actors does not currently translate to measurable impact on usage/consumption of endorsed or supported brands. At best, brands can get good exposure/recall by using music artistes/actors with CCF greater than 30 percent as brand ambassadors/endorsers.“Bearing this in mind, brand owners/custodians must be clear on business objectives to be achieved, get data on real value or utility of celebs under consideration and intelligently estimate potential benefits or ROI of investments/celeb related sponsorships,” the report recommended.