Spending on advertising by Nigeria’s largest corporate names has grown from $52m in 2003 to $633m in 2010In the noodle manufacturer Indomie’s latest advertisement a cohort of youthful, suited employees sway rhythmically encircling the office photocopier, singing a jingle espousing the merits of “grabbing a quick one” with cartons of steaming noodles held aloft.It’s one of many adverts targeting Nigeria’s fresh spenders with middle-class staples and the everyday trappings of urban lifetime.Advertising spend from Nigeria’s largest corporate names, plying everything from quick aliment to house and automobile loans, mobile phones, mattresses and detergents, has jumped from $52m (£33m) in 2003 to $633m in 2010 as businesses commence to reap the rewards of marketing. It’s dense to believe that 10 years ago noodles were a foreign concept.Nigeria’s growing advertising industry holds a mirror up to the nation’s fresh consumers and, of all their characteristics, youth reflects back the brightest. The mobile collection Etisalat reaches its audience via Facebook and Yahoo; the rival telecoms operator Globacom’s brand is plastered over TV exhibit NaijaSings, their version of the X Factor. Nigerian Breweries, majority owned by Heineken, sponsors the talent exhibit Star Quest, throwing in prizes of a recording contract and one year’s autonomous of charge accommodation in Lagos.Much banks target the young. BHP sponsored the Apprentice Africa, or at least it did until it went bankrupt in the financial crisis and the programme died a silent death.”Before the crisis the Apprentice did a abundance of excellent for that bank,” recalls Biodun Shobanjo with a smile. Nigeria’s equivalent of Alan Sugar on the exhibit, Shobanjo is retired immediately however is known as the father of Nigerian advertising and is still chairman of his firm Troyka Holdings.”Consumers inquiry if this brand adds value. Does it give them the familiarity they expect? Value is crucial since disposable income isn’t high for most human beings. If it is made in Nigeria, well, that is a plus,” he says.However the industry is suffering from teething problems also. Nigerian consumers have grown weary of the onslaught. Bombarded by billboards and radio – Lagos has about 25 radio stations – some brands are in danger of losing potency. Speaking in the quick aliment joint Mr Biggs in Lagos’s upmarket mall, the Palms, Ade Oyedele, an entrepreneur, clarifies: “Capture the telecom companies’ outdoor strategies – after a while the green and yellow merge into one. You stop taking it in since nothing jumps outside.”In contrast, the soft drink Mountain Dew’s advert is going down well. “It’s about these energetic guys on bikes ‘Feeling the Dew’,” says Kunbi Oguneye, a banking executive from the affluent neighbourhood Victoria Island. “It’s about confidence and it’s outside the norm. I like it.”For Lagos’s thrusting young advertising executives, getting ahead is tough. Agencies still bow and scrape to their corporate masters and a bitter cycle of non-payment has stymied growth and fuelled the ill-will.”We demand to get bigger at respecting contracts. Agencies don’t desire to capture their clients to court – it’s suicidal for the business,” says Kelechi Nwosu who has honed his craft in Lagos over the past 20 years to become head of TBWAConcept, one of the affiliations to spring up as the global industry turns to Nigeria’s middle classes for growth as it has in Brazil and China.”Briefs are suspect if you get them at all,” says Shobanjo, and if advertising spend shows that Nigeria’s banks, telecoms and brewers are thriving, others sectors, such as manufacturing and agriculture, are conspicuous by their absence.However for all the challenges Nigeria’s consumers know and like their brands.”My husband has nieces and nephews in the US,” says Eliza Salazar-Chukuma, who runs a recruitment agency placing returning diasporans in executive roles. “When we go there we have to capture Indomie noodles with us.”NigeriaAdvertisingAfricaSarah Rundellguardian.co.uk © 2011 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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