As today’s consumers become exposed to increased levels of advertising clutter, marketers have looked to other means to get their message across. Product
placement has become increasingly popular and even rivalling traditional advertising.
No doubt, big brother naija, popularly known as BBNaija, a reality show in which contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a large cash prize at the end of the show by avoiding being evicted by viewers provides such opportunity to marketers.
BBNaija is popular for its heavy dose of escapism. Every day, Nigerians are faced with multidimensional challenges that put a strain on the mind. Watching these people’s true nature revealed during the course of the show builds a strong connection that’s evident in the fandom displayed on social media. As a result, Big Brother Naija turns out to be a rallying point for fans, viewers, and generally every Nigerian who nurses interest in pop culture.
The media value of sponsoring BBNaija according to surveye is in billions of Naira, somewhere around N10 billion. The eyeballs, conversations and general awareness generated by the show makes it a viable option for brands looking to get the word out about their business.
This much is seen in the robust mentions enjoyed by previous sponsors of the show. The top-of-mind-awareness, share of mind and share of voice BBNaija offers partners makes it a top choice for many smart brands. Little wonder, the show always never fails to attract top Nigerian brands as sponsors every season.
Online retailer Payporte was the headline sponsor for the 2017 and 2018 editions. Nigeria’s sports betting platform, Bet9ja, replaced Payporte as headline sponsor in 2019 while gambling giants Betway became lead sponsor of the 2020 edition.
For the 2021 edition, social payment platform, Abeg, is the headline sponsor and Patricia as associate sponsor along side: TECNO, Darling, Dano Milk, Boomplay, Unilever (Close up), Hypo, Airtel, IVM (Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing), Pepsi, Eva Soap, Guinness, WAW, Supa Komando, Bet9ja, Travel Beta, Revolution plus property, Minimie Chinchin as co sponsors for season 6.
Other category sponsors over the years have been Pepsi, Heritage Bank, Nokia, Oppo, Tecno, Minimie, Guinness, Darling Hair, Dano Milk, Close Up, IVM, Revolution Plus, Travelbeta and other notable brands.
Abeg, the social payments app was announced as the headline sponsor in May of 2021, along with Patricia, a Nigerian owned fintech company as the associate sponsor of season 6. Abeg paid ₦2 billion while Patricia paid ₦1 billion to be the headline and associate sponsors respectively. Patricia sponsored the fifth season of BBN while Abeg, the headline sponsor, is relatively new to this level of sponsorship.
According to insider sources, Category sponsorship of BBN costs ₦750 million while product sponsorship costs N200 million, and each season (which lasts 10 weeks) has multiple sponsors. This does not include other sponsors who pay as much as ₦50 million. The sponsorship packages include 30-seconds ad slots, product integration, online activation, and other offerings. The other brands that advertise, host occasional games and sponsor the reality show on a smaller scale are Darling Hair, Pepsi, Munch It, Super Commando, Waw, Eva Soap. The sponsored games the housemates play and the prizes to be won by the audience are also sponsored by these brands.
Infact, it is a common thing to every brand that advertising is one of the differences between turning a loss, breaking even, and turning a profit. Even subpar products can seem appealing with the right marketing. And in the cases where products are advertised properly, it still would not mean anything if it isn’t advertised to the right target audience. That is why Abeg and Patricia decided to be involved with the current season of Big Brother Naija, in the capacity that they chose.
It can also be used to explain why some brands that can afford to advertise on Big Brother Naija choose not to. Perhaps they know that they will reach their target audience another way – be it radio, social media, or billboards.
BBN’s target audience ranges from Boomers, Generation X, down to Generation Z – from 65+ to 15-year-olds. With 75% of its viewers being working adults or self-employed, it is safe to say that the buying power the audience has is undeniable. The programme airs in 48 other African countries besides Nigeria, to an average audience of 309 million viewers according to DSTV media sales figures. With peak viewing at the start of the programme, some eviction shows, and the finale. It also accumulates about 915 million votes each season since season 4 through the various voting methods.
Analysts have applauded the organisers of the show for how they have consistently made viewers stayed glued to their television during the show. However, there’s a growing concern over the return on investment for the sponsors.
In terms of value addition, the headline sponsor of Big Brother Naija season 6, Abeg Technologies, saw users of its Abeg app soar by 7000% following its sponsorship of the reality TV show, which ended recently.
The growth of the Abeg app, which offers users the flexibility to receive and send money using cash transfers, exploded after it was announced headline sponsor of BBNaija in July 2021. The growth is expected to continue due to its association with the reality TV show.
According to Patricia Adoga, the COO of Abeg Technologies, the popularity of the BBNaija show, adjudged the biggest reality TV in Africa, rubbed off on its business as users of the Abeg app rose from 20,000 before BBNaija season 6 to 1.8 million users during the show.
Adoga revealed this during the prize presentation to the BBNaija season 6 winner, Hazel ‘Whitemoney’ Onou, on Monday, October 4, 2021.
“The partnership has been very fruitful for us and a great way to expose the Abeg brand to the public. We are definitely looking forward to partnering with BBNaija again in the coming years,” Adoga says.
Abeg, which is similar to Cashapp, a mobile payment service in the US and UK, was founded by three young Nigerians, Muheez Akanni, Michael Okoh, and Dare Adekoya.
The peer-to-peer (P2P) social payments platform lets users send or request money from another Abeg user without inputting any bank details. All that is needed to carry out a transaction is the Abeg tag.
Despite its promise to change how regular people think about payment technology, Abeg had much lower popularity among the young generation until it became the headline sponsor of the BBNaija show.
Its partnership with BBNaija became a huge boost for the fintech platform, and figures of users released by the company confirm that there are more beneficiaries from the show than the contestants. The crew members, brands, small and medium-sized businesses, online vendors and entertainers who perform at the eviction shows and grand finale are also huge beneficiaries of the BBNaija show.
Whenever a new season of the show begins, it sparks non-stop online conversations around the housemates and happenings in the house. Data released by ID Africa, a media and technology company, in October 2021 revealed that the show had over one billion in audience impressions on Monday, September 27, 2021, a day after the Sunday live eviction show with over 240,000 posts from audiences across Africa and around the world.
The intense popularity of the show has made it a win-win for everyone involved as organisers, sponsors, and advertisers get massive returns on investment, and Abeg Technologies is the latest beneficiary.
The first evident benefit is visibility. Every jingle carries the names of the sponsors. Strategic locations have the branding paraphernalia of the sponsors. Advert content from the sponsors is aired at intervals during the live show. There are also strategic mentions at the live shows which holds every Sunday.
Aside from these, games are designed to ensure that viewers use the sponsors’ platforms. For instance, they present free shopping vouchers as prizes for some games. The effect is a significant growth in first-time users.
For example, before Payporte sponsored BBN, not many people could claim to know much about them or have shopped on Payporte. But all that changed. According to PayPorte CEO, Eyo Bassey, after they became the major sponsor of Big Brother Naija in 2017, orders on the platform grew astronomically.
The “Pepper Dem” edition (2019) attracted a total of 240 million votes, two times the number gathered from the previous “Double Wahala” edition (2018). Ebuka Obi-Uchendu disclosed this total number at the grand finale. With this number, analysts have estimated that the organisers of the show should have generated about N7.2 billion from votes (texts).
He said that they were struggling to fulfil orders owing to the surge as the platform was designed to only process 5,000 orders daily. He further reiterated that if the show had gone on for 6 months, PayPorte might have hit a breakpoint and may not be able to deliver.
Also, when Bet9ja, a betting company in Nigeria suddenly withdrew from the Nigeria National League and veered into an unconventional territory to sponsor Big Brother Naija, they raised many eyebrows. That is because, according to analysts, about 82% of active betting site visitors in Nigeria are sports or football fans. But the company claimed it wanted to reach a market segment that had been latent.
According to it, the target was to grow the brand by 35% and increase patronage by 10% especially among socialites between 17 and 50 in metropolitan locations. They claimed this objective was met and surpassed.
Another benefit of sponsoring the show is the fact that, BBNaija’s influence is a nucleus of a young demographic. Young people are valuable consumers because they influence the purchasing decisions of their friends and family.
In addition to being consumers themselves, teens can affect where their family vacation destinations are, choice of car, and the clothes that their friends wear. A brand or product automatically gains an image of “being cool,” if it is popular with young people.
For a reality TV show that’s not a regular talent hunt, it is easy to question the value BBNaija has for young people. For a majority of the viewers of the show, the value is obvious as 84% agree the show holds great benefits for the youth by providing opportunities for success.
They believe the show provides young people with an opportunity to discover themselves, interact with others, and showcase their talent to the world. In addition, there seems to be a consensus among respondents that the show provides a great platform for contestants to succeed in their individual pursuits as evidenced by the great strides they are making after they left the Big Brother house.
Young people are important to numerous markets, from fashion, mobile, and technology to alcohol, snack foods and entertainment. Without young people, a significant number of businesses won’t exist. This audience spends money, and they inspire others to do so. BBNaija offers brands a confirmed route to their hearts.
In order for any business to not only survive but also thrive in the digital age, it needs to promote its products and services. Even brands as big as Nike with a global audience don’t take such understanding for granted..
