Hardly a month goes by without a Nigerian artiste announcing that he or she has closed an endorsement deal. 2013 can easily have the tag ‘year of endorsements’ as several artistes are now brand ambassadors of the biggest companies in Nigeria. In these parts getting an endorsement deal is pretty much a big deal. Blogs and websites are quick to put up such stories with a lot of sensationalism.


Iyanya being appointed Zinox ambassador
When you see your favourite celeb tweet ‘#babagodtings, #celebrityendorsement, #endorsement deal’ and post pictures of his/her new ride on Instagram, it is not a PR trick; he/she is really thanking God for the much needed income. Promo is expensive, music videos are expensive and payola is really expensive. Nabbing an endorsement deal apart from the financial point of view is the new cool for the Nigerian artiste, the new gold and platinum plaques. With no accurate and proper way of monitoring radio spins and album sales, an endorsement deal is the sadly the closest way to evaluate an artiste’s commercial value. In other words, if you don’t have an endorsement deal you are seen as a struggling artiste.

Signing the dotted line and getting that bank alert is usually a joyous affair but like in most contracts, the fine print will bring you back to reality very fast. An endorsement deal might look mouth-watering from the outside but from inside it is highly restrictive. Most brands in Nigeria try to ‘own’ these artistes. Recently, Tiwa Savage couldn’t perform alongside Mary J. Blige in Lagos because the concert was sponsored by a rival telecommunication company. There are other examples. P Square said they couldn’t attend last year’s Headies because they were the brand ambassadors of a rival telecommunication company. Since D’Banj’s Glo deal was cut short no other brand within the telecom sector has gone near him. After 2 Face’s Guinness deal in 2005 it took a pretty long while for Nigerian Breweries to do any business with him.\


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