As Nigeria’s movie industry, Nollywood, continues to evolve, several brands are already looking at how to partner with the community to creatively share their stories.
Adjudged as the world’s largest second movie industry, some savvy brands are already taking advantage of its untapped potentials.
A recent positive example is the Lion Heart film, a Genevieve Nnaji film that became a success story at the cinemas locally and on the international scene. The comedy stars Nollywood bigwigs including, Nkem Owoh, Pete Edochie and Onyeka Onwenu; portraying the story of Nigerian business culture and complexities of running a thriving enterprise in a country where everything is seen from a stereotypical lens.
Netflix used the film to make its first in-road into the Nigerian film and content industry. People familiar with the transaction disclosed that the American video-on-demand giant paid $3.8 million to own the streaming rights to the film.
In the midst of this soothing news for Nollywood, one local brand took the shine beyond what Netflix could have gained. IVM, a Nigerian automobile company was the exclusive vehicle used conspicuously in the film. The story and its plot did not only fit the brand but it took an aspiring brand to the international scene with a huge mileage.
Despite the hurdles in and out of Nollywood, the industry and the entertainment community holds measurable opportunities for brands to tell their stories to a larger audience at home and abroad.
While brand integration is not rocket science, it also has its art, science and expertise to get it done properly. For brands looking to latch on this tool, its benefits outweigh its stress.
First published in NEXTGEN, a weekly newsletter of SBI Media Limited.
