By Raheem Akingbolu
A research agency, Prerrine consulting, has declared that many Nigerian brand owners are only ‘shooting in the dark’ while considering brand ambassadors.
According to the firm, over the years, many companies in Nigeria have signed on brand ambassadors, perhaps on the rule of thumb, but only a few of them could really measure the impact of such deal running into millions of Naira.
The companies either fall under pressure to sign a brand ambassador or choose a celebrity based on popularity without taking other nuances into account.
When this happens, the brand will suffer disconnect with the consumer and the intention of engaging the brand ambassadors which is promotion and increasing product sales, will be impaired.
To resolve the hurdle, the firm, which is a specialist marketing research and strategy firm with strong focus on helping clients achieve desired business results and future growth consulting, recently unveiled Nigerian entertainment and celebs report 2017 which will give companies insight on choice of brand ambassador for particular products particular regions or national.
The report, it is expected will save companies huge cost wasted on blind and inappropriate engagement of brand ambassadors.
Speaking on the report conducted in partnership with insight public is, Seyi Adeoye, the CEO of prerrine consulting said the report will definitely avail brands the intelligence on the use of celebrities as brands ambassadors or endorsers.
The report also provided detailed analysis for brand custodians as to which celebrity best fits their brands image and specific marketing objectives, which in turn would inform activation decision that will unlock the full potential of such multimillion Naira investments.
The report, Adeoye said is a realistic evaluation of celebrities’ clout and real impact on brands awareness scores, affinity and usage/ consumption of brands endorsed/represented. It also made a diagnostic view of celebrities for talent management/ PR firms.
The report is in 3 parts. The first one is mind share, market penetration and favourite ranking of celebrities. This is dimensioned by key demographics and category usage second part is perceptual mapping of celebrities which involves “Real” perception imprint of celebrities and understanding brand fit and the third part deals on real values of celebrities endorsement dimensioning into celebrities clout framework: Real value of celebrities to brands within the Nigerian market (Awareness likability and usage/ consumption impact).
Using Pierrine’s Brand Equity Framework; a limited number of Nigeria n celebrities have positive Brand Equity Ratings that is loved beyond current collection of creative work + visibility.
The research also found out that the ability of Nigerian music celebrities to radically impact fan’s brand purchase behaviour and interaction with brands is still low at less than 50% weight.
It is said Nigerians are very pragmatic and utility driven. The research shows that it is about product promised delivered and some respondents felt there are at time mismatch of celebrities and brands.
According to the consulting firm, the research provide insight for brand owner/custodians to be clear on business objective to be achieved, get data on real value or utility of celebrities under consideration and intelligently estimate potential benefit or ROI of celebrities related sponsorships.
