Before I get to the actual subject of this article, I will like to divert a little.
The 2019 edition of the African Nations Cup (CAN) is set to take place in Cameroon. Even in the lack of any concrete evidence, the government has been running its “yes we CAN” campaign. You must have seen the lackluster billboards they have, littered all over major cities in the country - billboards that look as vague as what is going to happen in Cameroon in 2035. Nonetheless, like thing dem bad how, they go just build some lie lie stadium dem, freestyle am any-ha make e be sey the thing be hold for Cameroon - out of the pride to admit that we are not in a financially buoyant situation in this country to be investing in the construction of mega soccer stadiums around the country.
I understand that In the past football has been the only thing Cameroon was known for internationally and we are trying at all costs to cling to that reputation even as it continues to flee us- failing to understand that it is the failure in our systems of social development that is being reflected in our game. Story for another day.
Back to the subject in question.
Stanley by most accounts is the most prolific artist of our generation, at least when we talk about branding and marketing which seems to be the hallmark of perceived financial success in today’s entertainment world. I mean the guy has a music video with Davido - I bet there are artists in Naija who can’t get that. The greatest service Stanley gives to us is the role he plays in building the Cameroon brand internationally; the way he carries himself in contrast to what someone like Bidoung Mpkwatt made us known for. Stanley in his own way shows the world wherever he goes that the average Cameroonian can be a civilized fellow.
Here at home, Stanley has had more endorsement deals than any of Cameroon’s artists of our generation. It will soon be five years since Hein Pere dropped -he is still around and still sitting at the top of the business. I’m saying all this to say he is a good marketer and the ability to market yourself is the key to success for any artists. In the video for Elle est la, we see many occurrences of the the Puma logo. I’ve not heard anything about Stanley having an endorsement deal from Puma so I got to thinking CAN 2019.
Puma is the official sponsor for the Cameroon national kit and does so for quite a number of African nations. Puma is definitely going to be spending quite an amount in making ads and the like. If Stanley is not already in partnership with Puma, then he must be trying to get the attention of Puma should they be thinking of using the culture to impact the sports come 2019.
The idea of positioning yourself in order to get attention from brands is not a completely new phenomenon. Artists in other countries have done so successfully - what we can call ’chukskin’ their way to multi million deals with big brands. I don’t know how many of you know American rapper or should I say mumble rapper Lil Yatchy but his story with Nautica, an American lifestyle brand comes to mind.
Yatchy is one of those rappers that became popular on the internet before many people in his city even knew him - as is the case with most new school rappers in the United States. For over a year, Yatchy tried to get the attention of Nautica online. He liked their apparel already and had made it a habit of wearing a lot of items by Nautica -every time, he would tag the company to draw the company’s attention to hip and creative ways in which he wore their clothes. He finally achieved his mission. In January 2017, Nautica brought on 20-year-old rapper Lil Yachty to be a brand creative designer. Now, the company has disclosed that it has resigned Yachty for 2018.
With social media marketing gaining grounds, influencer marketing is one thing that companies are paying more and more attention to.
UK rapper Stormzy has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million on Twitter and serves as a brand ambassador for Adidas. After numerous videos of him rapping in parks in London - donning adidas originals went viral on the internet, he got the attention of the company and got signed. His long history with the brand even without a deal in hand made for authenticity when he actually got signed.
If you remember Paul Pogba’s multi million euro transfer deal to Manchester United which made him the world’s most expensive player at the time, you will remember it was not announced in the conventional press conference. We Are Social, the company that worked on the the project had this to say.
“adidas Football challenged us to use the hype around Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United - the most expensive football transfer in history - to position adidas in a unique way that appealed to the brand’s target audience.
Despite the media frenzy that accompanies the transfer window, big money transfers lack cultural impact. They’re too clichéd: all suits and scarves. As a result, the news announcements rarely live up to the hype. For our target audience of city based, football mad, teenagers music is a huge part of football culture. adidas is one of the few brands that has a foothold in both cultural focal points. We spotted this opportunity and used it to authentically create something that delivered on a sporting and cultural level.
We reinvented the football transfer announcement with a music video that bought creators from two worlds together - footballer Paul Pogba and grime MC Stormzy. Pogba was given a stage to showcase his style and Stormzy gave him the soundtrack to do it. This hard-hitting collaboration was ‘accidentally’ leaked on social to break the news ahead of traditional media.
An accidental leak, over 30m views and 400 news articles later, we put adidas at the heart of a story that reinvented the most clichéd part of the football calendar. And made it look cool as hell.”
All this long talk is to say, there are numerous opportunities for partnership between artists of our generation and major brands but sometimes, it takes the artists to show those companies how a partnership with them can be beneficial. Influencer marketing has huge promises for our local celebrities. They just have to be innovative in their approach to getting the attention of brands.
Brands are desperate to be part of the culture and unfortunately for most of them, their marketing teams are disconnected from the culture so they have to rely on artists to tell them what the people are talking about. We have seen Jovi lyrics or song titles being bitten off by big brands like Orange for use in their marketing campaigns sometimes without him getting a dime. I don't know the outcome of the twitter wars that usually ensue.
That said, Stanley is one forward thinking person and I will not be surprised if I see him in a Puma CAN 2019 commercial.
- Tino Foy