BBN sponsorship is Nigerian tech companies’ new path to massive market adoption
BBN sponsorship is Nigerian tech companies’ new path to massive market adoption
When the first season of Big Brother Nigeria (BBN) premiered in 2006, few anticipated that the show would become a major force in numerous spheres of Nigerian and indeed African society.
By the end of the second season (which took place 11 years after the first), participants had established themselves as celebrities, influencers, brand ambassadors, and government ambassadors, as well as multimillionaires. This is due to the show's large audience and the significant following the "housemates" amassed following their departure.
For instance, Tobi Bakre, a BBNaija season 3 (Double Wahala) housemate, was not a popular figure. Femi Bakre, his brother and founder of KraksTv, was. While Tobi did not win, he revealed in an interview with The Guardian that finishing second grew his social media following by more than 450 percent. Additionally, he inked brand deals with major consumer brands. Unilever, Amstel Malta, and Jumia are all part of this.
The popularity of BBN is unsurprising. The drama, luxurious accommodations, culture, emotions, and large cash prizes – all of which contribute to the show's visuals – have created an alternate reality and provide some vicarious pleasures. The 2019 show garnered over 240 million votes on its own.
This widespread exposure explains why brands have sponsored previous editions.
Some history of sponsorships
Big Brother Naija has been a huge success in terms of sponsoring.
PayPorte Global Systems (PayPorte) is the major sponsor of BBN season 2, which aired in 2017, and season 3, which aired in 2018. PayPorte is a Nigerian company that specializes in Omni-channel retail.
After two years, Betway Nigeria (Bet9ja), an online entertainment and gaming brand, took over as the headline sponsor from Payporte. Betway was said to have won the position following a "competitive bidding process that included other firms." According to speculation, the betting brand paid well over $1 million for the deal.
Multichoice, the show's owners, announced Abeg and Patricia as the Headline Sponsors for the upcoming sixth season of BBN.
Abeg is a peer-to-peer social payment network that enables users to quickly send, request, and receive money. Additionally, it enables users to pay for goods and services seamlessly and send money to friends and family for free.
Many were taken aback by the news of its sponsorship, as Abeg was only launched in September 2020. If the report (unconfirmed) that the cost of BBNaija's headline sponsorship is around $2 million (approximately N900 million), there must be a significant incentive for such investment.
The Attraction- visibility, volume and other numbers!
Because of the massive visibility and potential impact on adoption, brands will compete to become BBN sponsors. Consider the following numbers.
MultiChoice generates significant revenue from the voting process and enjoys significant user growth and subscription renewal rates throughout the duration of the show (an average of 90 days). However, voting is unquestionably where the majority of money is made.
For example, the 2019 "Pepper Dem" edition garnered 240 million votes, more than double the previous "Double Wahala" edition (2018). At the grand finale, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu revealed this total. With this figure, analysts estimate that the show's organizers should have generated approximately N7.2 billion through votes (texts).
Now, returning to the sponsors' perks...
The first and most obvious advantage is visibility. Each jingle includes the sponsors' names. Sponsors' branding collateral is displayed in strategic locations. Sponsored content is aired at various points throughout the live show. Additionally, there are strategic references made during the weekly live shows that take place on Sundays.
Apart from that, games are designed to encourage viewers to visit the sponsors' websites. For example, they award free shopping vouchers as prizes in certain games. As a result, the number of first-time users has increased significantly.
For instance, prior to Payporte's sponsorship of BBN, few people could claim to be familiar with them or to have shopped on Payporte. However, everything changed. According to PayPorte CEO Eyo Bassey, orders on the platform increased exponentially after they became a major sponsor of Big Brother Naija in 2017.
He explained that they were having difficulty fulfilling orders due to the surge, as the platform was only designed to process 5,000 orders per day. He added that if the show had lasted six months, PayPorte might have reached a breaking point and would be unable to deliver.
Bet9ja's story was not that dissimilar...
When the betting company abruptly withdrew from the Nigerian National League in favor of sponsoring Big Brother Naija, it raised many eyebrows. This is because approximately 82 percent of active betting site visitors in Nigeria are sports or football fans, according to analysts. However, the company claimed it desired to penetrate a previously untapped market segment.
The objective, it stated, was to grow the brand by 35% and patronage by 10%, focusing on socialites aged 17 to 50 in metropolitan areas. They asserted that this objective was met and exceeded.
The big tech winners
Apart from PayPorte, which served as the event's headline sponsor, BBN's other technology sponsors include Airtel, Oppo Mobile, Nokia, Flutterwave, and Kudabank.
Flutterwave
Flutterwave sponsored a number of tasks during the fifth season of BBN. Housemates were tasked with the task of treasure hunting. Divided into three teams, the housemates were assigned the task of diving into a pool in search of clue cards and then playing charades with the cards they discovered. At the conclusion of the task, the winning team's housemates were awarded a N1 million prize.
When the company announced its Series B funding round just months before the show, it claimed to have processed 107 million transactions totaling $5.4 billion. A few months later, Flutterwave reported that the number had increased to over 140 million transactions totaling more than $9 billion, with over 290,000 businesses utilizing the platform.
It shortly thereafter raised $170 million in a series C round at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Kudabank
KudaBank (Kuda), one of Nigeria's first fully licensed digital banks, was one of the Season 5 sponsors of BBN.
Kuda assigned a task to the housemates that were divided into two extremely exciting sessions. For this game, housemates were divided into three teams: Team Free Bank Transfers, Team No Strange Charges, and Team Free ATM Card.
When the company announced a $25 million Series A round in March, it hinted at a year of rapid growth. Kuda claimed to have 300,000 registered customers four months prior to the seed round. Before 2021, the figure will have more than doubled to 650,000.
According to CEO Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda processed approximately "$500 million in monthly transactions" in November for services such as bill payments, credit card transactions, and phone top-ups. The figure was raised to “$2.2 billion in February 2021′′.
In Conclusion
Without a doubt, Big Brother Naija has grown to be Nigeria's most popular reality show. According to some commentators, it is the largest in Africa thus far.
However, there has been some controversy surrounding the show. For example, some people are uncomfortable with the content's morality and the fact that it was hosted outside Nigeria until the last two editions. However, the organizers appear to have discovered a way around these.
Abeg is a young and enterprising fintech startup. Patricia is a cryptocurrency company vying for the title of Nigeria's, Africa's, and Europe's leading cryptocurrency trading company.
Both companies stand to benefit significantly from their partnership with BBN for this edition, as previous partnerships have demonstrated. However, they assert that time is the ultimate arbiter of truth.
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