Nigeria’s 170 million people, irrespective of tribe, religion, age and sex, have undying passion for sports, especially the round leather game, football. Top on their list of priority are leagues like the NPFL LaLiga, EPL, Bundesliga, Serie A, etc.
Over the years, football culture has continued to grow and unite fans all over the country. So many brands have come to realize that it’s a connection point for their loyal consumers. Hence, brands have become very creative in the way they engage and leverage this massive platform.
For instance, each time the Super Eagles are playing, most Nigerians will close early from work and traders and artisans will close their shops to watch their darling team play. This is what football does: bonding and celebration.
Football is no doubt Nigerians’ number one passion point. This is evident in the over 30 million fans that are often seen cheering at sport bars and viewing centres across the country each time there is a major football match, as well as those watching on Satellite TVs in their various homes. That’s Nigerians’ way of celebrating passion.
On the streets, fans of various English Premiership clubs proudly wear their jersey everywhere they go. Their houses, offices, cars are all decorated with their favourite teams’ merchandise (souvenirs). The passion for football is so consuming and contagious in Nigeria.
Nigeria brands have no doubt identified this passion point and have exploited it in so many ways. However, if there is one brand that has remained consistent in the football journey, then that brand is definitely Guinness. It may not be out of place to say that Guinness is the biggest supporter of football in Nigeria.
Recently, Guinness Nigeria, known for brewing several non-alcoholic and alcoholic brands, just signed a deal with five European clubs at a well-attended ceremony in Lagos.
Over the years, Guinness has been the number one supporter of football through its partnership with the Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigerian national team, rallying fan support for them and urging them to victory even when a lot of big brands were not willing to stake anything for the national team.
In 2003, Guinness Nigeria signed a sponsorship deal with five Nigeria Football Clubs, Sunshine Stars of Akure, Dolphins of Port Harcourt, Lobi Stars of Markudi, Heartland of Owerri and Enugu Rangers. The deal was signed with one of the brands, Harp Premium Lager.
In 2012, Guinness brought former Chelsea Coach, Roberto Di Mateo to Nigeria, and in 2013, Guinness created a record breaking Guinness Book of world record’s largest jersey to rally support for the Super Eagles during the AFCON 2013 which the national team later went on to win.
In 2014, Guinness also threw their weight behind the Super Eagles during their quest for the World Cup in Brazil. The brand sponsored loads of fans to the Brazil to cheer the Eagles to victory.
In 2015, Guinness launched a very unique national consumer football promo; Every Minute Made Of Black (EMMOB), a campaign gave millions of Nigerians the opportunity of being rewarded with free airtime and cash just for enjoying their favourite EPL matches.
Again in 2016, due to the massive success recorded by the first edition of the football promo, Every Minute Made of Black 2.0, Guinness launched the second edition of the promo where 2 winners were rewarded with N2 million every match weekend alongside loads of free airtime.
According to Uche Onwudiwe, the Marketing Manager, Guinness Nigeria, “We have a great property with our broadcast sponsorship of the Barclays Premier League on DSTV and we want to leverage the opportunity to engage fans at home, in bars and viewing centers, giving them a stake in the game and the chance to win great prizes. This is truly an innovative promotion, consumers participated greatly in last season and the feedback was amazing, we believe that creates more exciting ways for Guinness lovers to watch the BPL games this season.”
Commenting on how to participate in the promo, Onwudiwe said that, “During the campaign period, consumers are expected to find a unique code under the crown cork of all Guinness promotional bottles. Text the code plus the team’s name to 1759, if the minute under your crown matches the minute a goal is scored by the selected team, then you will win N1000 airtime instantly”.
“Another new and exciting twist to this year’s campaign is the ‘Be Our Next MatchDay Millionaire’ big cash reward as every entry automatically qualifies for the weekend grand draw, where 2 people will share N2,000,000 cash reward; that is N1,000, 000 per person, but you have to participate to win”, said Onwudiwe.
“This is not just an ordinary consumer promo; Guinness is rewarding Nigerians for their passion and giving them one more reason to look forward to every match day experience and enjoy their favourite BPL games. If you believe that a goal could be scored during your minute, then there’s nothing stopping that from happening – it’s all about your knowledge of the game,” he added.
It would be recalled that Guinness EPL football promo is the first of its kind football promotion in Nigeria. It is a unique consumer promotion that is tied to the EPL, where football lovers have the rare opportunity of being rewarded for every goal scored within every match during the season.
With the ever changing consumer dynamics and as consumer attention span gets shorter and shorter, brands are continually looking for passion points where they can connect and engage closely with consumers and football will remain one of those important platforms.
Anthony Nlebem
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AnthonyNlebem
Twitter: @AnthonyNlebem
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