"On Afropolitan Vibes: A Brand’s Goldmine"

A few months ago, as I stood in the sweltering Lagos heat amidst the pulsating crowd at Freedom Park (a historical site that once was Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prison) looking up through the smoke and haze, I saw her: her distinctive gold tinted hair and freckled elegance, her lithe frame swaying awkwardly to the tune from the band. Several months later, I did the unthinkable and asked her to be my wife. It is indeed this atmosphere of delightful uncertainty, the boundless energy and endless possibilities that best define Afropolitan Vibes.On a typical day, the waiting line stretches endlessly, curving with serpentine elegance: reminiscent of the notorious fuel queues. Afropolitan Vibes best captures the spirit of Lagos, it's diversity, its energy and harmony. The crowd ranges from the bon vivant to the artistic and eccentric to the expatriates, senior executives: young and old. AV reflects a vibrancy of culture and people with no discrimination and the freedom to be true to self.

Bereft of the formulaic pattern easily seen at events, the barrier between the audience and artist is often blurred as it is common, and delightful, to see guests climb on stage to join the performers and dancers shaking perfectly rounded buttocks to the frenetic tune of the award winning band. It's a magical space. The artists feed off the energy of an enthused crowd; palpable and electric, infecting even the most stoic.When people say the city of Lagos never sleeps, it's because events like Afropolitan vibes gives it soul and character. In Nigeria where performances of this magnitude are dominated by artists playing over instrumentals, AV’s monthly offering of undiluted live music is a refreshing difference. Last week, the legendary Shina Peters performed to an enthralled audience, screaming their lungs out and dancing with reckless abandon to the epic tunes that made their childhood. I've come to know the AV for more than a year now and the relentless nature of the organizers in the face of lack of corporate sponsorship seems resolute. The show is basically free and what this means is that people like Ade Bantu and his team put money together on a monthly basis to keep the idea running.From a brand perspective, one is quite befuddled at the lack of corporate sponsorship as this has proven beyond the shadow of doubt that to be a platform worthy of connecting with.

There are a number of things a Brand Manager needs to consider when deciding to sponsor an event:

1. Scalability: Marketing resources are finite and it behooves of the brand manager to select key events that are scalable and can give the brand a larger than life appeal. This is why brand assets like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Project Fame, Gulder Ultimate Search are a brand manager’s wet dream. The ability to create a platform so huge it can exist on its own is what makes the tedium of marketing practice worth the while. With AV, the opportunities for amplification are endless. Firstly, the live event show is content that is extremely valuable. Interestingly, the initial vision of Coke Studio Africa as launched in Pakistan is strikingly similar to what Afropolitan Vibes has achieved. Coke Studio Africa began as a show in Pakistan where they fuse Legendary Artists with New School cats. Today, the show has become so huge, it has been exported to other parts of the world, the tenets morphing slightly from continent to continent. Today, the clips have amassed several million views on the internet: the power of a single idea. There are also other platforms like Live TV airing and Digital Media which can amplify the brand involvement with this platform significantly.

2. Resources: One of the very many caps the 21 Century brand manager must wear is that of a financial advisor. Her responsibility is to optimally manage finite resources (money, time and people) in the creation and execution of plans that would achieve marketing and business objectives. With AV, it is indeed arguable that a brand wouldn’t need to spend as much to reap the sizeable mileage. The amount needed to own this as a brand asset will pale in comparison to the huge sums doled out on Project Fame and GUS. This is a bargain of a lifetime. As per man power, AV has been able to produce a phenomenal show with the existing crew. This means that the Brand Manager would not need to abandon other duties in a bid to get the show up and running.

3. Brand Fit: The synergy between the event, its audience, and the brand can’t be overstated. The diverse nature of AV’s audience makes a strong case for it as different companies ranging from Telecommunication Firms, Banks, and Breweries can exploit this. The beauty of AV’s heterogeneous audience lies in the fact that a corporate organization can always leverage the sponsorship by one brand. The different offerings can target different consumer clutters within the same event. So if, for example, Guinness gets on board, Diageo can decide to bring her full corporate might to bear and grant brands like Harp, Orijin, Malta Guinness and Ciroc some exposure. With shared A&P (Advertising & Promotions) costs, Guinness’ spend won’t buckle under the strain of the sponsorship. Yes, you can thank me later.

4. Traction: Afropolitan Vibes has been running for upwards of 2 years with an average attendance of about 3,000 people monthly. Organically, the show is always a trending topic on Twitter timelines almost every Friday following announcement of guest artists. No paid influencers; no hashtags. The audience set largely forms the top influential folks across social media platforms so they have the ability to drive and shape discourse on those platforms. Need I say more?

As is their wont, Nigerian businesses have a morbid fear of traversing unpopular terrains. However, there is always that one Brand Manager daring enough to do the unthinkable and open the vortex of the ‘Me-Toos’. Afropolitan Vibes is undeniably an asset that promises substantial returns in terms of content, exposure and traction. Whichever brand takes the lead would have the first mover advantage and position themselves rightly in the quest for building brand loyalty amongst a diverse, influential and socially active audience.

Tick Tock.