Etisalat’s Head Youth Segment, Elvis Ogiemwauye, has disclosed that
the GSM Company has over the years favoured experiential marketing
models when targeting the youth market segment because that is what
works for young people.
Speaking in a recent event in Lagos Ogiemwauye explained that as an
organization, you have to know what you are in the minds of the
customers. And on the basis of that you begin to find out where you can
reach them.
“When it comes to youth brands, you hardly see us spend much money on
newspaper adverts; we spend a lot of money on experience because we are
dealing with the youth segment. For the young people, experience is
everything. We create all kinds of experiences for them and we have seen
how that has moved us to where we are,” he said.
One of the most popular experience models Etisalat has leveraged to
expand their market is campus concerts. They contract popular Nigerian
musicians, who have been chosen from a survey conducted among students.
Often times, the results of this surveys are usually not pleasant to
the corporate identity of Etisalat because they throw up musicians whose
social conduct and musical lyrics promote social vices.
So, the GSM company is often forced to bend over backward to project
certain entertainment personalities not because they agree with their
messages or social standards, but strictly because that is what the
market demands.
Ogiemwauye’s explanations touched mainly on Olamide and Terry G, two
of the most popular faces in Etisalat’s concerts. Both musicians have
become high on demand across various higher institutions campuses across
Nigeria despite their negative lyrical content and poor social
standard.
“Before we hold concerts in any tertiary institutions we first
conduct survey to know which artistes students like to see and we
discover its Olamide and Terry G. These are the people they want to
listen to and see, and these are the songs they want to listen to. So
what do we do?” Ogiemwauye asked rhetorically, with a sense of regret.
These vices are not just limited to Olamide and Terry G, but they are
common practice among many of the top hip hop artistes in Nigeria. And
beyond drugs, sex and violence another culture that is fast gaining
popularity in the entertainment industry is the issue of having children
outside of wedlock. And the act is often times celebrated as normal.
Speaking at the same event, Akin Adeoya CEO of Marketing Mix raised
concerns about the criteria used by brand promoters to select brand
ambassadors. He regrets that little attention is paid to their negative
conducts and messages.
But Ogiemwauye responded that Etisalat is equally conscious of the
issue and have adopted different damage control mechanisms to ensure
that young people are well guided. “So we try to make them understand
that what they see is show biz and it is not real,” he said.
Etisala does this by organizing conferences where motivational and
leadership experts are contracted to educate the youths, especially
students on the need to keep positive attitude and adopt good morals.
This is usually done before and after any Etisalat concerts.
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