And they are leading by all 'forms of differentiation'.
There is no need to do any research or any special analysis of the Nigerian Entertainment industry, particularly in reference to the music sect, to begin to watch the cut-throat competition driving Nigerian celebrities into eventual poverty. It is plain for even the blind to 'see' that majority are running the race, not to cross the finish line, but to outdo and outperform the other and do 'everything' possible to get and retain top position even if it means crippling a few legs on the way; and that is the very sad goal of many. This practice or behaviour is what is typical of a red ocean, a bloody ocean full of creatures who hurt and eat other creatures and teach other creatures to eat others like themselves for survival.
The Nigerian entertainment industry is a red ocean and quite over-saturated. No structure. No effective and morally upright governing bodies. No working due diligence. No active governing or authoritative protection. And as if that is not bad news enough, the amount of people waking up to decide to go into music keeps multiplying annually - if we are to even judge by the singular index of the amount of talent hunt shows or music reality shows springing forth every year. It has reached epidemic proportions motivated largely by laziness, selfishness and greed. An unfolding disaster, with no economic benefits on the long term.
Yes. I said so.
I would like to pick an example of the recent "Album Release Bandwagon"; the current fad in the Nigerian music industry. Everybody is releasing album just because every other person recently released theirs. When you enter into a fray like that just because you want to do everything possible to retain your current share of the industry or seek an unhealthy possibility of increasing your shares in the industry, there is an even greater possibility of you losing relevance and resultantly all your shares in the industry. At this time, you have little to no control of the attention or loyalty of the people you are selling to and eventually such unhealthy competition drives you to a profit margin of zero.
Let me move away from the entertainment industry and digress into telecoms for a moment. Do you remember an interesting time when the network providers were in a very unhealthy competition to outdo themselves in a bid to gain subscribers? Case in point was when MTN was giving away an aeroplane, and rumour had it that Etisalat was going to respond with a private island giveaway, all in the name of gaining superior marketshare. It is to their luck in time that the NCC showed up, stepped in and banned all telcoms from such further promotions and lotteries. Had that not been the case, these service providers will not be thinking a lot more strategically now on healthy ways to retain or gain market share, and worse still, they may have driven themselves out of operation.
If you understand one simple truth that consumers, fans or clients are insatiable no matter what you do, you will learn to pace and develop deeper engaging ways to gain their trust, loyalty and ultimately their advocacy.
I had only just returned from a brief trip to England just at the time the Beat FM was celebrating their anniversary sometime in September this year. I accompanied a friend to the Open Day, now synonymous for a day artistes come through and spend some time on air with the Beat FM presenters, bring gifts and cakes, and enjoy some few minutes on air to promote their craft. I saw scores of artistes, familiar and not familiar battling for an opportunity to go into the studio in their numbers, get closer to the mics and see what good use could be made of the little time they had in there. It was becoming pathetic. I noticed how the bargaining power had shifted totally away from the artistes and completely to the hands of the presenters at Beat FM, especially on this day. Oh, this is another topic for another day - Power shift in the music industry!
But something interesting happened later on when the MAVINS arrived (not even their entire squad). They mingled quite alright, they were pleasant with other artistes but will not be associated with the pack of other artistes waiting hours to get their time on air. The MAVINS went in alone in their few numbers only few minutes after they arrived, had no external artistes join them in the studio time with the presenters and had a hefty bodyguard man the studio doors such that no other artiste could share in their moment. This was such an interesting moment I had witnessed. Differentiation exemplified.
Learn. Learn from the Supreme Mavin Dynasty. Learn how to swim in a different ocean other than the red ocean. In a blue ocean, the competition is not cut-throat. That is not the focus. It is just like Dangote Sugar and St.Louis Sugar. Everybody enjoying profit on their own lanes.
You can leave me a message if you would like some professional help in developing your brand.
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