Well, as a Professional, I wouldn’t want to respond to the Saka menace
going on in town but then I keep getting emails upon emails from
students, clients, fans and friends. People keep asking me several
questions; why on earth did Saka port?
Relatedly, I went for a
Strategic meeting with the Executive Board Members of a renowned bank,
and the story came up again. In fact, they played the commercial and
applauded the sheer brilliance of MTN. I actually heard one of the Excos
saying ‘I’m going to port immediately.’ So I asked them: what worked
for you in the commercial? Majority of them said ‘we just love this Saka
man’
There’s nothing as powerful as that cultural connection and
that humanness factor we display as brands. As I watch from a distance
the recent Saka phenomenon I can only bow to this timeless advertising
principle. Culture eats Strategy for breakfast. Hats off.
As the
Creative Director who was privileged to have created the iconic Saka
for advertising, I watch as this device takes on a life of its own and
how it is gradually becoming a major case study in the history of
Nigeria’s advertising. However, before I go to major brand lessons this
should teach us, I shall quickly correct some insinuations flying round
in our ad circle. Ad people can be their own worst enemies. Don’t take
my words for it. Go see Mad Men. However, it’s good to have a first
person point of view to this saga.
For the record.
First,
Saka was not a celebrity used for etisalat. Rather, he was a character
we at Centrespread designed for an ad campaign that has come to take on a
life of its own. When we did create the character bible, we needed a
talent that could act the role and he came in for the casting like any
other person. Looking at the screen test later on, we had no doubt that
Saka was the man we were looking for. You must give credits to etisalat
to have approved of our direction and choice. It really was not their
‘type’ of advertising. So, it was not a case of celebrity endorsement,
it was a case of characterization. In Wendy’s ‘where is the beef’, the
miniature old lady has become a phenomenon because of her
characterization and Wendy wouldn’t dare joke with that.
Secondly,
we must also quickly correct the impression that the ‘funny’ man was
looking for money, hence porting to MTN. While it is a fact that all of
us on this planet would want to be better paid for our talent, I know
personally, that Saka gave his very best to us on etisalat’s campaign.
He was not signed on a contract. He was paid like any other 3-month
model arrangement. He was not paid the proverbial gbem. For the
brand then, it was more of a tactical usage. He didn’t fit their typical
advertising look and feel. Remember etisalat is the hip, classy and
swag brand. Like I said earlier, we must credit them to have approved of
the Saka idea in the first place. Although it was beginning to look
like this was a devise that etisalat could own, going by the results it
generated, Saka was treated like any other cast. I am very sure Banky W
got more handsomely paid than our beloved Saka. Far far. But where is
Banky W today? He ported also. That is what you can refer to as
celebrity usage. Saka was not treated as such.
Now etisalat will value his character I believe. MTN played nicely on their 'slackness' to generate this buzz the ad is getting.
Though lots of people don't like MTN's network (myself inclusive) but lots will port just because of this ad.
MTN
are known for quality ads (do you still remember the ad of the two
couples dancing and that of the executive speech read out by a child to
her dad?) but their network is trash...
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