Big Brother Nigeria, Apple Inc, and your Business
If you are a big fan of Big Brother Nigeria then I am sure you don’t miss every Sunday as your favorite housemates might go home that day. Some housemates scream “no retreat, no surrender” with so much confidence while other housemates are not so sure about their fate when the host (Ebuka Obi-Uchendu) of the Reality Tv Show ask them to be on their feet.
In all of these, there is you, looking at your screen, your heart is sprinting because you might see your favorite housemate walk out the door.
While you are glued to your television or phone screen seeing the show, Big Brother is making money off, on and from you. Ouch! I think I am getting ahead of myself. Let me slow down a little bit.
As an adamant follower of the TV show (I am not), I am sure you pay rapt attention to every single thing that goes on in the show. When the housemates sleep, when they wake up, when they have fights and every other thing that relates to 26 people living together for 3 months. While you follow up all of these, you must have missed what exactly is going on.
Stay with me.. You will get this soon.
When Big Brother goes on a commercial break, there are 8 adverts that shows on your screen (the last time I counted). 8 adverts!! And not even that. In the house there are still brands that advertise their products and services. This ca only happen because Big Brother controls one thing you must have been ignoring in your business.
Why do you think brands will approach Big Brother to buy airtime (advert space). What is Big Brother doing that you aren’t doing in your business?
You guessed right!
They are generating attention on a daily basis. They sell attention. They live on attention. They control your attention. The whole business is being driven on monetized attention.
In an article written by Premium Times Nigeria,it was revealed that in the third season of the reality Tv Show, “Double Wahala”, they recorded over 170 Million votes.
170 Million Votes!!!
I am not sure you understand the magnitude of this. In 2016, it was estimated by the Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics that there are 178.5 Million people in Nigeria.
If we have 170 Million Votes in a single show and we have 178.5 Million people living in Nigeria where does that leave us? It’s obviously true that the brand has the attention of the audience. If you do the math, big brother made over 5 Billion Naira in 2018 just from votes. We haven’t spoken about sponsorship, endorsement and advert space. 5 Billion Naira just from votes!!!
See, who has the most attention in business wins the game. You can have the best business model, best marketing strategy, and the best of everything but if you don’t have the attention of the market, sorry, making profit will be a distant relative to your business.
Apple Inc isn’t sleeping on a bicycle either.
Apple Inc is obviously different from other Tech companies because of a culture Steve Jobs developed in the early years of Apple Computers. Before they release a new Apple Product, they have a concert like product launch and it creates a buzz around the product. It get’s everyone talking. Everyone wants to know what exactly is the new feature. People that can’t make it to the product launch stream it on YouTube or Apple’s official website. Apple get’s trending on twitter just because they are releasing a new product. They understand that attention wins the game so they buy into it.
They have been doing this for a longtime now. It’s now an Apple Culture. Even in their adverts, they get so creative that you have no other choice than to pay them your attention. There was an advert video that they did promoting the Apple HomePOd. It was so creative that I had to see it over and over again. I even shared it with my friends, colleagues and Mastermind. See the video below.
I am sure right now you are saying…
“I am a small business owner, I don’t have the budget of Apple or a Big Brother Sponsorship. There is no way I can achieve this”
Oh please! There is always a small way to execute a big strategy. So how can you achieve all of these as a small business owner?
- Leverage on trends
Something is always trending on twitter. People are always talking about something. If you are smart enough, you will use that trend to drag attention to your business. The attention is already there, you just have to leverage on it. For instance, you remember the whole Xenophobia, South Africa against Nigeria saga that happened some few months back? It was so bad that Nigerians in Nigeria had a riot against South African businesses in Nigeria like Shoprite, DSTV, etc. The angry and pained Nigerians that were affected by the Xenophobia attack in South Africa(some were not) vandalized most of these complexes. I am sure you know about the story so let me spare you the details.
When all of these happened, I was wondering why other Nigerian owned shopping malls didn’t buy into the trend and use it as an opportunity to increase their customer base. I mean, if I was the marketing manager in probably Market Square of Prince Ebeano supermarket, I would have jumped into the trend with an ad saying something like.
Nelson Mandela didn’t fight for blacks to kill blacks. We say no to Xenophobia. Shop with us today and get 25% discount on all products. This lasts for only 7 days. We value your life. We don’t take it for granted. Come shop with {name of company} now!!!
You get the gist right?
Even if you don’t own a Market Square or Prince Ebeano Supermarket, you can still do something related to this for your small eCommerce brand.
Whoever suggested that Air Peace should give all Nigerians in South Africa that wants to return back to Nigeria a free flight back home, that person should be made a chief in his village (lol). That was a very smart business move. They saw the trend and they leveraged on it to build social capital which is a very strong asset for business correspondence.
Never you miss an opportunity to leverage on a trend.
2. Be the better option.
Innovation is about creating a better option as compared to what is already in existence. -Milton Tutu
There was a point in humanity that the only means of transportation was by foot and then, boom, Karl Benz came about with the first automobile. Transportation became easier but still, humans will never settle for the status quo so the Wright Brothers introduced a better option to humanity, The Airplane. Transportation became much more easier. People could get to their destination in just few hours as compared to moving with a car.
What happened here?
A better option was introduced to the market place.
Let’s also look at this from the Social Media perspective. If you were into technology sometimes around 2007/2008 in Nigeria, you must have encountered 2go. The sensational Instant Messaging Social Media application that was all over the place. It was the talk of town. Every Chukwudi, Emeka and Ifeoluwa was on 2go until…
.their popularity and relevance in the market place got “stolen” by Blackberry Messenger which was as at that time obviously a better option. Blackberry Messenger was in the market place for a while until a better option, WhatsApp, wrestled it out of the Market. The last I checked, BBM has shutdown.
I will write an extensive article on this later.
I am sure you understand the message I am trying to pass across here, right? Who are your competitors? what options are they giving to their customers? How can you be innovative and create a better option for them? How can you retain their attention so they don’t move on to the next new thing?
These are the questions you should ask yourself if truly you want to remain relevant in the market place. Always strive to be the better option as compared to your competitors.
Businesses will come and go but the business that gifts the market place relevant innovation will always remain.
Sometimes in your quest to becoming the better option, the market won’t be receptive but if you give them a good deal, they will embrace your brand. Sometimes that good deal can be to reduce cost for a period of time and show them how your better option will benefit them. When this happens, even after the cost reverts back to the original price, they will want to remain with you.
Lastly, don’t fail to develop great products. This is what will keep the attention of the market for as long as you are ready to sell. Developing great and relevant products that the market needs will make you a strong force in the market place.
Don’t forget to applaud me 😉
