When Branding goes beyond Products and Services.

With the internet age coupled with social media, branding has taken a whole new form, shape and outlook. Branding has metamorphosed from the age of models being used in advertising to a new era where Brand owners employ the services of an individual to represent a brand in a positive light, thereby creating brand awareness and increasing sales. This has become a global trend in recent times.
The evolution of Brand Ambassador started as far back as the 1950s, when companies began recruiting Brand/Product Managers as a medium to help boost a company's revenue.  The project manager was always seen as the main man in the world of advertising.

Fast forward to the 1990s, people like Micheal Jordan and Tiger Woods began to change the face of branding in the world.They both grossed in more money from endorsement deals than the actual sports earnings.

Toke Makinwa

American celebrities have had and continue to have major brand endorsement deals, which has now translated into brand partnership for some big names particularly in the world of music, fashion and sport. Kanye West, a rapper, record producer and an entrepreneur is one  celebrity with a major partnership deal with Adidas, which dates as far ,back as 2004. The partnership deal known as Adidas x KANYE WEST is a collection of footwear,apparel and accessories.

In Nigeria, Geneveive Nnaji's name apart from being synonymous with acting also has a place in the brand world. She first became a Brand Ambassador in 2004 for Pronto beverage and Omo detergent. Geneveive went on to become the face of Lux Nigeria in 2008, and since then she has gone on the be the face of MUD Cosmetics and has a major endorsement deal with Etisalat.

In recent times, another form of brand ambassadorship that has taken over the internet is the Self -Branding. These are people that they have branded themselves in such a way that Companies love to be identified with them. People that fall into this category are the Kardashians, love them or hate them, they have built a brand that has no competition for now.The most interesting thing about the Kardashian brand is that it involves the whole family, they earn money for virtually every thing they put out on social media, they have become the brand endorsing the product brands, more like the student teaching the teacher.

We have a few brand names in Nigeria that also come close to the Self-Branding category, but we are not there yet. Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, could easily be one Nigerian in the Self-Branding category we need to keep our eyes on. Another person is Toke Makinwa, but hers in on a small scale so I would prefer to use the word Brand Advocate for her, she channels her popularity into advocating and subtly campaigning for brands through her social media platform, through this, she has become the brand ambassador for Payporte and Mecran Cosmetics, while continuing to endorse other brands.

Being a Celebrity any where in the world, means you have to maximize your opportunity and potentials to the fullest, and becoming a brand ambassador is the climax for any known face around the world.

Major Nigerian Brands, such as KIA , Pepsi, Airtel, Globacom, MTN, Etisalat  Procter and Gamble and a host of others, have tapped into the signing of  individuals(celebrities) to project the image of their brand.

Despite the rise in companies using known faces as their Brand Ambassadors, It has be proven time and again that this comes with its own risk and challenges. This challenges comes as a result of a celebrity being involved in scandals, controversy or ill-behavior, which later leaves an impact on the celebrity and the brand they represent.

One thing  is certain, endorsing a big brand in America actually drives more sales for the Company, thereby making all the money invested on the Brand Ambassador, but in Nigeria, can we say the same? Although the motive remains the same but in reality there is no statistical data to establish this.

Whether or not that Brand Ambassadorship will drive in sales for the Nigerian Companies in the nearest future is one that is open for debate.