The show promises the Youth that their Nigeria Dream can be fulfilled. What’s the Nigeria dream?- To one day blow against all odds! Whilst you may express your anger at the youth like the Renos of this world, I think it is important we look really deep at the consumer insights these Youths are throwing at us, Marketing gurus (smiling***).
Let’s drill. First, the concept of “Make I blow” didn’t just show up, naaaaah. In the ’70s & 80’s, many of us Youths were seduced with the stories of how cars lined up at the gate of Universities in Nigeria to pick up graduates and offer them the badass, mouth-watering, juicy white-collar jobs.
Then suddenly, in the ’90s, Inflation hit, the rot in the systems (I am talking education, Health sector, Transportation and even Government) became more obvious; dream jobs became just mere dreams. So with the increasing ambiguity surround prosperity arose the need for destiny helpers, Godfathers, religiosity and luck.
American lottery was huge, huge, huge!!! People became desperate to survive and meet up with social pressures and personal goals/dreams. This was the birth of “I wan blow” craze.
For the Youths, it’s all about the sudden tipping point when one transits from poverty or below the food chain to have a seat among the admired rich crowd. Then we say “I don arrive”.
Secondly, To hook the youths on any platform like BBN, the picture of ‘arriving’ for the Youths has to be celebrated more than the journey because they need to remain hopeful in their pursuit of the Nigeria Dream seeing that the odds are too high, they lack mentors and blueprints of how to navigate their way up (see the last post).
This whole concept initiated the widespread of the Underdog culture among the Youths. N85,000,000 worth of prize for simply staying in one house for 70days at the mercy of viewers seems like a noble cause for even the non-participants. The more the viewers talk about it and vote, the more their hope is validated that they can blow against the rules of success in the country.
Thirdly, from the last 4 seasons of BBN, we can observe a trend. Public opinion doesn’t favour just the ‘Swift’ at Arena games, the Talented dancer, Loud ones nor simply Sexy symbols but the Underdog of the season. The Underdog concept is similar to the amazing David & Goliath Bible story. It celebrates the people considered as highly disadvantageous, who push towards their goals regardless of the odds. Looking at the Youths’ ‘I wan blow’ dream, there is a need to support people just them to succeed and beat a system whether they have a good intention or the right talent.
According to a Harvard report, ‘Underdog brand biographies resonate with consumers during tough economic times’ Martha Lagace, 2010. To play this winning underdog strategy, there are some guidelines to adhere, taking lessons from BBN. (Don’t switch off yet).
1) Find a plot that illuminates a bully against you (i.e a somewhat Goliath) - Laycon took a stand when he proclaimed his love for Erica and fought to ensure she didn’t misbehave when high. He won the hearts of many when he didn’t say a word to Erica during her outrage. I believed he played his card right.
2) Tell your story loud but show the effort to succeed- the difference between Omashola of BBN 19 and Efe (winner) of BB 18 was that Efe kept shouting “I be warri boy” but we could see him hustle to express a talent for rapping compared to Omashola, who kept screaming “warri warri’ but there was no clear distinct effort.
3) See your weakness as an opportunity not to beg but show off your resilience- At the last week, Laycon drops the SC bomb on the audience, now that was when I knew it was over.
4) Market your disadvantage and determination using a narrative of strength and not beggy beggy nor showoff-ish: Trickytee was down to earth but lacked a clear reason of why he deserved to win. Kiddwaya, on the other hand, made a huge mistake telling the viewers he will donate the money to charity if he wins even his father paraded the Internet with such declarations (awww- sorry, you don’t deserve to be here, now leave).
These guidelines have been explored by some local and international brands.
Brands like Apple telling us how Steve Jobs started from his garage and went against big dogs like Xerox and Microsoft in the ’80s. Oprah Winfrey, poor Mississippi black girl turn richest Forbes woman. Even our GT bank tapped into this when they decided to go retail and make products for the underserved markets “the youths” – open a bank account with zero naira.
Lastly, remember what the song “Ojuelegba” did for Wizkid’s brand (Boooombaklaaaaaat- he went off the charts of Nigerians and Black Americans).
Another interesting recent example is that of Edo state recently concluded elections. Returning Governor Obaseki won the public opinion at state, national and even international level by playing the underdog strategy. He’s rejection from APC illuminated Adams O. as the bully, the leaked video of Tinubu illuminated Tinubu as a political Goliath that must be stopped, then APC played their death card when they mocked Gov. Obaseki’s childlessness during a rally (Whoa! How low)- They created an Underdog out of Obaseki.
So no matter your category, if you find yourself in a disadvantageous position, don’t give up and cower up, just play the Underdog card to the right target market/audience like all the BBN winners, and be sure your brand equity and trial will increase.
May the odds be with you!
#BBN #BigBrotherNiaja #Youthmarket #Nigeriabrands #MarketingNigeria #Branding #consumerstrategy #lessonslearnt.
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