Mass media has evolved tremendously over the last 25 years. During this time period, the world experienced a fundamental shift in media forms, transitioning from the TV and radio eras that defined our childhood to the advent of the internet, which gave us what has now become the most defining form of media in the 21st century–Social media.
The 2010s introduced the world to social media content creators who have built platforms with dedicated followership. This followership has become a primary target of businesses hoping to reach the ever-growing population of daily social media users through the creators to whose content they subscribe to. Because these creators are entertainers who creatively incorporate product adverts seamlessly into their content, they have found a way to sell these products in the most entertaining way possible, giving maximum exposure to these businesses and increasing the prospects of patronage by a wide margin.
Nigerian Instagram creators have not been left behind. Instagram Comedian, Mr. Macaroni, showcased this new form of advertisement in a recent skit.
In this skit, he’s standing in a queue in front of the ATM. It gets to his turn and he’s just about to walk into the ATM booth when a voluptuous woman cuts in front of him and begs to use his turn instead. Staying consistent with the philandering nature of his character, he lets her in, much to the consternation of the folks waiting behind him in the queue. She gets done with her transaction and leaves, but returns soon afterward, begging to do another transaction. Mr. Macaroni then takes her aside and introduces her to the WEMA 5-for-5 Promo, and spends the next 20 seconds of the clip reeling out information about this product to the lady (and to the audience) before progressing with the rest of the skit; promptly delivering a good dose of comic content at the end of it.
I, a member of his audience, am satisfied. The organization he just advertised for is satisfied. For an industry less than 10 years old, the social media comic space has witnessed tremendous progress. Because people are more willing to engage with media through entertainment, and comedy has become the primary means through which the social media audience attain instant gratification, comics on Instagram have risen to the top of the popularity charts on the Nigerian internet space. Consequently, businesses have scrambled to take advantage of the audience to push brand/product/service awareness through these creators, who are also ever willing to take a bite off the advertisement revenues they can make for themselves.
Hence, it has become commonplace to have leading comic acts like Mr. Macaroni, Taaooma_, Broda Shagi, and others contorting the premise of their skits to fit in advertisements in a way that doesn’t distract from the main plot of the story. Because these adverts are being comically presented as part of the general plot, the audience gets exposed to all the information needed to instigate patronage, which some of them eventually do.
How effective has this means of advertising been though?
According to a 2020 study by the African Polling Institute, 67% of Nigerians claim to watch comedy skits, and 65% admit that they find comedy skits entertaining and sometimes informative. This number is indicative of the huge market opportunity that corporations have seen in the skit-making industry, hence the increasing popularity of this type of advert placement.
Unlike advert placements on YouTube (that we all promptly skip), the audience is forced to watch the adverts on the skits because they form an important part of the story. This means that corporations can be sure that if well done, their message would get through to the intended audience.
Like Mr. Macaroni and the skit referenced above, many other skit makers have learned and perfected the art of advert placements in their skits, and everyone seems to be satisfied. With the increasing popularity of Nigerian skits, one begins to wonder about the future of more traditional media platforms like newspapers and television.
Research has proven that the popularity of newspapers and television in Nigeria is on a downward spiral, owing mostly to the easy access of social media to all generations of Nigerians across social classes. With brands, institutions, and organizations trying to reach as many eyeballs as possible, it’s only expedient that they look towards the gatekeepers of the new media.
It’s also worthy of mention that, unlike YouTube where creators can rely on monetization tools like AdSense to make a living out of their content, creators on platforms like TikTok and Instagram rely solely on paid adverts and endorsements to get pecuniary rewards for their creative efforts. Therefore creators on these platforms are very willing to take up advertising gigs while going to extra creative lengths to deliver on quality.
It’s on this premise that social media creators have risen to the top of the advertising ecosystem, and they are breaking bread while at it.
