By Juliet Ebirim
A good number of Nigerian
brands, especially in the telecommunications and banking sectors are now
associating with creative personages in music and acting, to make their brands
more endearing to their targeted audiences.
The trend which started a little
over five years ago, has gained more relevance as a result of increasing
exposure to television.
The popularity of the
entertainment industry is also giving fillip to brand ambassadorship. Top celebrities
in the Nigerian creative industry have, in the last five years, found this
growing business a new way of making huge earnings. Some Nigerian top stars who
have bagged major endorsement deals include;
Iyanya
Since his highly successful 2012
monster hit single ‘Kukere’, it has been one hit after another, one award after
another and one endorsement contract after another for the once impoverished
singer.
The pop singer recently closed a
deal reportedly worth N35 million with mobile phone manufacturing company, SOLO
Mobile. According to his publicist, Wildflower PR, the deal was iced with a
brand new 2014 Prado SUV.
Earlier in May 2013, the 27 year-old
singer was lucky enough to have been included in MTN’s swoop of some of the
major players in the music industry, becoming one of the company’s highest paid
brand ambassadors in a N40 million deal.
Zinox Technologies Limited,
manufacturer of Nigeria’s first internationally certified branded computers was
looking for a face to represent its brand, guess who quickly came to mind? None
other than the rave of the moment, Iyanya. The Leo Stan-Ekeh owned tech-company
put pen to paper, inked a deal and made Iyanya N56milion richer.
Others who have put pens to paper
include Rita Dominic who was snapped up a couple of weeks ago by Keystone Bank
Plc; Tiwa Savage has a mouth-watering deal with Forte Oil and Gas, MTN, Pepsi,
among others; Wizkid, Hafiz Oyetoro, Mike Ezuruonye, Stephanie Okereke and a
host of others are enjoying a new lease of life as brand ambassadors with
millions of naira to the good.
2face
Born Innocent Idibia, the former
member of the band, Plantashun Boyz, is said to be among the richest artistes
in the industry. With two platinum records in his kitty, Tuface is speculated
to be worth about N550m.
It comes as no surprise as he has
had endorsement deals with brands like Guinness, which earned him N20m and
Airtel, which earned him N22m. He was also said to have earned N30m from the
producers of Phat Girls movie, and charges between N4m and N5m for shows.
Omotola Jalade
As one of the most decorated
actresses in Africa, Omotola scored a bygone when she made it to TIME
magazine’s 2013 edition of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”. Her
TV reality series, “Omotola: The Real Me” generated a landmark viewership on
M-NET’s Africa Magic when it debuted, and the mother-of-four is now warming up
for international break. The star actress and UN ambassador recently
sealed a multi-million naira deal. The singer is now the face of BO-16, a hair
relaxer and hair care company- Ghandour cosmetics Limited. Nobody knows what
Ghandour is paying Omotola but with her gleeful declaration online “ Then I saw
them, they will be my hair’s only companion for a couple of years- yeah, they
paid that much” said so much. She was also the Face of Hollandia
Milk.
Geneveive Nnaji
Nollywood queen Genevieve Nnaji is
smiling all the way to the bank with her latest endorsement deal with
telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria.
The actress was unveiled as the
company’s newest brand ambassador alongside actor Hakeem Kae-Kazim. Genevieve’s
deal is alleged to be worth N100 Million and she will be the face of Etisalat’s
brand new mobile package “Easy Flex”.This isn’t Genevieve’s first endorsement
deal, although it’s her first major deal.
In the past she had been the face of
cosmetics brand MUD Cosmetics & Coscharis Motors as the face of luxury SUV
“Range Rover Evoque” in Nigeria. She was also recently endorsed by Amstel
alongside Chelsea footballer, Mikel Obi.
Banky W
Also known as Mr. Capable, Banky W
has proved to Nigerians that he is capable of being among the richest
entertainers in the industry.
He makes the bulk of his wealth from
gigs. He is said to charge between N2.5m and N3m per show and performs three to
four times in a week.
He is a brand ambassador of
Etisalat, one of Nigeria’s telecommunications giants, where he featured in
their popular commercial, 0809ja for life. He also featured in Coca
Cola-Nigeria’s World Cup theme song and Microsoft’s Anti-cyber Crime
Initiative. He is also hooked up with Samsung Mobile.
D’banj
Former Mo’Hits artiste, Dapo Daniel
Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’Banj, signed a new endorsement deal with
Globacom Nigeria.
This is D’Banj’s second endorsement
deal with the telecommunications company; the first ended in 2010 with the
artiste’s refusal to extend his 2008 two-year contract.
Although the exact amount agreed on
was not made public, there is speculation that it is a jaw dropping sum and
that it is most likely the priciest endorsement signing in 2013. The singer who
has a penchant for making money, has a deal running into millions with Chris
Aire, as the face of his watches and another one with UAC Foods.
He collects between N5m and N7m as
performance fee for local gigs. His first deal with Glo was said to have worth
more than N70m while speculations are rife that his current deal with the
telecom giant is in the region of N120m.
P-Square
The singing and dancing duo, Peter
and Paul Okoye, are unarguably among the richest in the industry. They won the
KORA award for Best Africa Artiste 2010. The award came with $1m (N150m).
Shortly after, the duo got an endorsement deal with Globacom telecommunications
worth about N240m for four years. Their American tour of seven cities earned
them a whopping $1m (N150m). Their new deal is worth much more.
Kate Henshaw
Star actress, Kate Henshaw landed
a major endorsement deal with Samsung Mobile Nigeria. By this deal, the actress
who is also a Nigeria’s Got Talent Judge, replaced Nigerian hip-hop artiste,
Sasha, as the female brand ambassador for the company. The actress is also a
brand ambassador for Blessings Perfume in the UK. She has also been a brand
ambassador for telecommunications company, Globacom Limited. There are whispers
that the actress pocketed scores of millions of naira.
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