How Glo turned leading the pack into an art

Call it a big swoop or a bumper harvest of stars and you are right. Telecoms giant Globacom has raised the bar as the nation’s network of stars, with its endorsement of no fewer than 29  leading artistes as brand ambassadors, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports. (www.art4lifeo.blogspot.com)

Globacom is huge in my industry and I see the evidence of the company’s commitment to improving the industry and the lives of its practitioners everywhere I turn. To be honest, it’s been a dream to have a working relationship with the Glo brand. An opportunity to turn this dream to reality came, and I took it.”

That testimonial by Nigeria’s musical star, Wizkid (Ayodeji Balogun) confirms the strong belief among leading artistes in Glo’s massive support for the creative industry and why they found solace with the telecom giant.

Wizkid, one of the biggest signings this year, was formerly with MTN. He jettisoned MTN and signed for Globacom. According to a statement he issued titled: Why I signed with Glo, Wizkid said Globacom is a brand he had admired for a very long time considering its strong persona and its very massive impact and image in the entertainment industry in Nigeria.

He added that it’s an incredible blessing to be sought after by arguably Nigeria’s two most powerful brands at the same time. “My decision to go with Globacom this time is not an act of spite against MTN. I simply seized an opportunity to move from Yellow land to greener pastures. God bless,” he said.

With these record breaking endorsements, Glo has stepped up its support for the arts and has thus attained the largest portfolio of brand ambassadors by any company in Nigeria. Interestingly, Glo’s massive support for the creative industry spanned themed concerts, reality TV competitions, events promotions and campus tours, which have over the years impacted the creative industry to becoming an economic hub for income generation.

The new ambassadors are nine, while 20 have been with the company for some time. The ambassadors include  Sani Danja,   Sammie Okposo, Ego Ogbaro, Peter & Paul Okoye  (P-Square), Bright Okpocha (Basketmouth), Funke Akindele, Ini Edo, Ime Bishop Umoh, John Okafor (Mr Ibu), Helen Paul, Chiwetalu Agu and Wande Coal. Others are D’banj, Omawumi Megbele, Bezhiwa Idakula (Bez), Chinedu Okoli (Flavour), Jude Abaga (M.I), Damini Ogolu (Burna Boy), Bimbo Oloyede, Bovi Ugboma, Ayodeji Makun (AY), Patience Ozokwo (MamG), Odunlade Adekola, OC Ukeje, Reekado Banks, Korede Bello, Hadizah Blell (Di’ja) and Ayodeji Balogun (Wizkid).

The mega deal is another major statement about Glo’s commitment to the growth of entertainment industry. Globacom has been consistent in supporting the   industry. Apart from supporting through endorsement deals, Globacom avails the industry of its massive infrastructure to facilitate distribution of practitioners’ works. It is estimated that mobile operator including Globacom has generated millions of Naira for artistes by helping them to sell their music as ringtones. Through this deal, Globacom is ploughing hundreds of millions of naira into the entertainment industry. No doubt, the network provider has been able to turn the lives of many entertainment stars around. It is such a deal as this that some up and coming stars need to blossom into mega stars.

Bez, for instance, has metamorphosed into a huge star since he was signed up by Globacom several years ago. Glo is also developing different segments of the entertainment industry as the ambassadors are drawn from Nollywood, music, comedy and broadcasting.

It has also launched a world-class online entertainment portal for the enjoyment of its teeming subscribers across the country which would also help to expose ambassadors to a larger audience.