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Can Celebrities in the Jungle Sell Gulder?
- By Ikem Okuhu
- Published March 22nd, 2010
- BrandWorld
- Unrated
Gulder has camped 10 Nigeria celebrities in a “jungle” in an apparent extension of the GUS Ultimate Search and a subtle effort to give celebrity endorsement to a brand long associated with adventure and discovery. Will this work? asks IKEM OKUHU
AT the ongoing maiden edition of the Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) Celebrity Showdown taking place at popular Lagos resort, La Campagne Tropicana, Bob-Manuel Udokwu has switched roles. For two seasons, he was host of the original Gulder Ultimate Search, calling the shots, ordering and directing contestants as they jostled in the jungle in search of a hidden treasure.
His role is being played by Genevieve Nnaji, a established Nollywood movie star. The list of contestants is long – 10 – and a very interesting mix of Nigeria’s high end and low end, successful and not-too successful trotters in the entertainment industry. According to Gulder, Funke Akindele, Chioma Akpotha, Emeka Ike, Muma Gee, Daddy Showkey, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Obesere, Princess, Dare Art-Alade and Weird MC would be holed up in the jungle(?) in search of Gulder’s hidden treasure.
At the press conference organized by Nigerian Breweries, owners of the Gulder brand to unveil the celebrity contestants, Nigerians were promised excitement, especially since, according to the company, the GUS Celebrity Showdown will be the same as the regular Gulder Ultimate Search, the difference only being that participants have been did not have to go through booth camp selection and were instead sieved from the crop of the ranks of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
Giving insight into what viewers are to expect from the show, NB Pc’s Corporate Affairs Adviser, Mr. Yusuf Ayeni, highlighted the success the show has recorded over the past seven years. Mr. Ayeni was sure that the Gulder Search, which has continued to enjoy wide viewership and followership, has succeeded in reinforcing the Gulder brand as a beer for successful men and women.
There is a problem here. If we are to believe, Mr. Ayeni, then Gulder is an upscale drink consumed by the A-B class. If this is so, what then would we say of Heineken beer that has clearly been positioned and recognized as exclusively the premium beer in the Nigerian market? Even more interesting is the obvious contradiction in the personality being ascribed to the Gulder brand by Mr. Ayeni. According to him, the search for the Ultimate Man or Woman (GUS) which comes up later in the year is usually challenging as contestants are taken through an exciting search for a treasure hidden in a very challenging terrain: “a terrain that is characterized by wildlife existing alongside breath-taking scenery.”
If properly interpreted, the idea behind the Gulder Ultimate Search is to create a brand that inspires and motivates men and women for bravery, adventure and the quest for success. Would it be proper for this same brand to also represent success as the present show is being made to look?
Gulder Ultimate Search has acquired a reputation as the most popular television reality show in Nigeria. When it is on, people are known to leave their offices early to beat traffic and be home in good time to watch the show. These people do not go home to look at celebrities that they see every other day in movies and other shows. They go to see the next new brave man or woman on the block. They go to see the “unknown” faces unveil the adventurous spirits that are critical to unraveling the jungle.
The fact that these faces are unknown heightens the excitement and makes GUS real. This obvious extension would ultimately dilute the “reality” of the show and make it comical. If you doubt this position, just imagine what you would expect of a Princess or a Funke Akindele from the show? Would you not be expecting to laugh since these are established comedians?
Gulder must accept that they have made a mistake in this. If Gulder is a drink for the strong and adventurous, a look at all the celebrity adventurers would reveal the lack of adventurous personality in them all. Let’s start with Daddy Showkey. The (former) ghetto crooner looks everything but a material for an exercise in the jungle. Showkey is fat, pot-bellied and really out of shape.
If this was not a celebrity show, where participants would be pampered and not taken through the real jungle routine, then this king of galala dance cannot survive two days of drill.
What about Princess? At the unveiling of the contestants, this well endowed comedian said her strategy would be to apply her natural endowments in the quest for the “ultimate” prize. What does this suggest? Comedy? Adventure? Contest?
It is almost certain that the end of the GUS Celebrity Showdown would mark the beginning of identity crises for the Gulder brand. This is because even if it is accepted that this celebrity show is good for the brand, the contestants are arrayed in such a way as to pose serious positioning problems. Mapping the contestants would show that while Dare Art-Alade is on the extreme A-list, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Weird MC and Emeka Ike are in the A-B category of the Nigerian entertainment industry while Muma Gee, Chioma Akpotha, and , well, maybe Funke Akindele are in the B-list. The others, Obesere and Daddy Showkey are obvious C-class acts. How Gulder can find harmony among this mix is a problem I am sure no one thought of.
I certain what the drivers of the Gulder brand is trying to achieve is to bring celebrity endorsement for the brand through the back door. I am sure they have been looking at Glo, Nigeria’s telecom brand that has become a gathering of top Nigerian celebrities, and are thinking of the best innovative way to put celebrity stamp on a brand that is having a good time sailing on populist wings. But will celebrity endorsement work for Gulder, even if this is done using a reality television show as the guise?
The bigger trouble here is the problem these celebrities would do on the brand. Brand experts have known over the years that celebrity endorsers sometimes soak up all the attention, diverting attention from the brand they are supposed to drive. As regards the GUS Celebrity Showdown, it is clear that though the contestants would be wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Gulder logo, viewers would in the end be seeing their favourite celebrities while Gulder moves into the background. This is the opposite of what happens in the original GUS where the faces are unknown, meaning that the only identity running through the viewers’ minds is “Gulder.”
AT the ongoing maiden edition of the Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) Celebrity Showdown taking place at popular Lagos resort, La Campagne Tropicana, Bob-Manuel Udokwu has switched roles. For two seasons, he was host of the original Gulder Ultimate Search, calling the shots, ordering and directing contestants as they jostled in the jungle in search of a hidden treasure.
His role is being played by Genevieve Nnaji, a established Nollywood movie star. The list of contestants is long – 10 – and a very interesting mix of Nigeria’s high end and low end, successful and not-too successful trotters in the entertainment industry. According to Gulder, Funke Akindele, Chioma Akpotha, Emeka Ike, Muma Gee, Daddy Showkey, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Obesere, Princess, Dare Art-Alade and Weird MC would be holed up in the jungle(?) in search of Gulder’s hidden treasure.
At the press conference organized by Nigerian Breweries, owners of the Gulder brand to unveil the celebrity contestants, Nigerians were promised excitement, especially since, according to the company, the GUS Celebrity Showdown will be the same as the regular Gulder Ultimate Search, the difference only being that participants have been did not have to go through booth camp selection and were instead sieved from the crop of the ranks of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.
Giving insight into what viewers are to expect from the show, NB Pc’s Corporate Affairs Adviser, Mr. Yusuf Ayeni, highlighted the success the show has recorded over the past seven years. Mr. Ayeni was sure that the Gulder Search, which has continued to enjoy wide viewership and followership, has succeeded in reinforcing the Gulder brand as a beer for successful men and women.
There is a problem here. If we are to believe, Mr. Ayeni, then Gulder is an upscale drink consumed by the A-B class. If this is so, what then would we say of Heineken beer that has clearly been positioned and recognized as exclusively the premium beer in the Nigerian market? Even more interesting is the obvious contradiction in the personality being ascribed to the Gulder brand by Mr. Ayeni. According to him, the search for the Ultimate Man or Woman (GUS) which comes up later in the year is usually challenging as contestants are taken through an exciting search for a treasure hidden in a very challenging terrain: “a terrain that is characterized by wildlife existing alongside breath-taking scenery.”
If properly interpreted, the idea behind the Gulder Ultimate Search is to create a brand that inspires and motivates men and women for bravery, adventure and the quest for success. Would it be proper for this same brand to also represent success as the present show is being made to look?
Gulder Ultimate Search has acquired a reputation as the most popular television reality show in Nigeria. When it is on, people are known to leave their offices early to beat traffic and be home in good time to watch the show. These people do not go home to look at celebrities that they see every other day in movies and other shows. They go to see the next new brave man or woman on the block. They go to see the “unknown” faces unveil the adventurous spirits that are critical to unraveling the jungle.
The fact that these faces are unknown heightens the excitement and makes GUS real. This obvious extension would ultimately dilute the “reality” of the show and make it comical. If you doubt this position, just imagine what you would expect of a Princess or a Funke Akindele from the show? Would you not be expecting to laugh since these are established comedians?
Gulder must accept that they have made a mistake in this. If Gulder is a drink for the strong and adventurous, a look at all the celebrity adventurers would reveal the lack of adventurous personality in them all. Let’s start with Daddy Showkey. The (former) ghetto crooner looks everything but a material for an exercise in the jungle. Showkey is fat, pot-bellied and really out of shape.
If this was not a celebrity show, where participants would be pampered and not taken through the real jungle routine, then this king of galala dance cannot survive two days of drill.
What about Princess? At the unveiling of the contestants, this well endowed comedian said her strategy would be to apply her natural endowments in the quest for the “ultimate” prize. What does this suggest? Comedy? Adventure? Contest?
It is almost certain that the end of the GUS Celebrity Showdown would mark the beginning of identity crises for the Gulder brand. This is because even if it is accepted that this celebrity show is good for the brand, the contestants are arrayed in such a way as to pose serious positioning problems. Mapping the contestants would show that while Dare Art-Alade is on the extreme A-list, Bob-Manuel Udokwu, Weird MC and Emeka Ike are in the A-B category of the Nigerian entertainment industry while Muma Gee, Chioma Akpotha, and , well, maybe Funke Akindele are in the B-list. The others, Obesere and Daddy Showkey are obvious C-class acts. How Gulder can find harmony among this mix is a problem I am sure no one thought of.
I certain what the drivers of the Gulder brand is trying to achieve is to bring celebrity endorsement for the brand through the back door. I am sure they have been looking at Glo, Nigeria’s telecom brand that has become a gathering of top Nigerian celebrities, and are thinking of the best innovative way to put celebrity stamp on a brand that is having a good time sailing on populist wings. But will celebrity endorsement work for Gulder, even if this is done using a reality television show as the guise?
The bigger trouble here is the problem these celebrities would do on the brand. Brand experts have known over the years that celebrity endorsers sometimes soak up all the attention, diverting attention from the brand they are supposed to drive. As regards the GUS Celebrity Showdown, it is clear that though the contestants would be wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the Gulder logo, viewers would in the end be seeing their favourite celebrities while Gulder moves into the background. This is the opposite of what happens in the original GUS where the faces are unknown, meaning that the only identity running through the viewers’ minds is “Gulder.”
