Introduction
Considering Nollywood’s anonymity in the global movie market, it is ironical that Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry, is considered the third largest film industry in the world. Such irony is further compounded by the fact that despite being the world’s third largest, Nollywood leads Bollywood and Hollywood in terms of the number of movies produced every year.
Most importantly, Nollywood came into existence in the 1990’s, long after Hollywood’s and Bollywood had been established. Nollywood is a unique case study for a number of reasons. The film industry is located in Nigeria the most populous country in Africa. Nollywood’s tremendous growth can be attributed to a ready market within Nigeria and the sub-Saharan Africa.
However, Chawdhury et al. (2008) asserts that struggling economies characterized by poverty and low level of income as having a significant impact on the growth of Nollywood. This is manifested in two ways. One, most of the African countries struggle economically, which affects national development including developing basic infrastructure.
Secondly, the economic hardships experienced in these countries mean that the level of income of the average citizen is very low. Actually, people survive in less than a dollar a day. This implies that people’s purchasing power is greatly diminished (Uwah 2008).
The combination of low purchasing power and poor infrastructural development, ironically, has contributed to the growth of Nollywood. Chawdhury et al. (2008) assert that the affordability of Nollywood movies within its current market is of paramount importance. As such, Nollywood seeks to employ simple marketing techniques that do not add unnecessary cost.
As such, marketing of moves largely relies on informal marketing and distribution networks. Ironically, Informal marketing and distribution techniques are credited with much of the success in marketing and distribution not only within Nigeria but also in sub Saharan Africa. Due to this, no attempts have been made to venture into the global market.
But as Okome (2007) acknowledges, there are more than 160 million English speaking Africans living outside Africa. These constitute a sizeable market for Nollywood movies. In light of this, the following hypothesis seems relevant:
- Nollywood ought to develop a new marketing strategy to exploit existing opportunities in the global movie market, especially targeting160 million English speaking Africans living outside Africa.
To effectively address the basic hypothetical assumptions, the following thesis question seems relevant:
- What new marketing techniques can Nollywood employ to tap into the new market?
To answer this question, however, there are a number of issues which needs to be analyzed. The analysis provides answers to this question. These issues are diverse but are outlined in form of questions. These issues are outlined as follows:
- What is the exact nature of Nollywood industry?
- What are the current market conditions?
- Do these conditions bear on the existing marketing techniques?
- What are the existing marketing techniques?
- How do these techniques bear on both the local, regional and global market?
- Are there new marketing methods that Nollywood ought to employ to exploit the new market?
Nollywood: the background
Nollywood, the Nigerian film and movie industry, is said to be the third largest in the world, after India’s Bollywood and America’s Hollywood. The growth of Nollywood can be attributed to a number of factors, but the failure of the Nigeria’s TV industry is largely cited as the main reason for Nollywood’s growth (Chawdhury et al. 2008).
It is imperative at this juncture to point out that much of current Nollywood production largely borrows from different sources. While Kunzler (2007) acknowledges the influence of Mexican soap operas as a primary source of ideas for Nollywood movies, Pfaff (1999) disagrees and argues that most of the themes in Nollywood movies are based on African traditions.
Onuzulike (2007) agrees with Pfaff (1999) and asserts that while developing the Nollywood films along the African traditions promotes the African philosophy to the international audience, cultism and witchcraft pervasively dominating thematic concerns. This obscures real African philosophy, and presents African in negative light.
Regardless of the varied and almost conflicting perceptions about Nollywood, the significance of the industry to the Nigeria’s economy ought not to be overlooked. While the National Bureau of Statistics (2011) acknowledges Nollywood as a significant contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, Chawdhury et al. (2008) present a less rosy picture. Chawdhury et al. (2008) asserts that by 2005 Nollywood contributed slightly above 0.7% of the total GDP.
Chawdhury et al. (2008) figures, compared to National Bureau of Statistics (2011) seem outdated. However, Chawdhury et al. (2008) acknowledges the assertions by National Bureau of Statistics (2011) on Nollywood’s contribution towards economic growth and adds that other than creating employment, Nollywood promotes both domestic and foreign tourism.
Regardless of the varying statistics on Nollywood’s input into the GDP, the Nigerian government acknowledges Nollywood importance in promoting economic growth, since it provides jobs to hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who would otherwise be unemployed (National Bureau of Statistics 2011).
In light of this, the government of Nigeria, in collaboration with foreign investors have in the recent past injected large amounts of money, inform of stimulus packages to spur further growth. For instance, the 2010 stimulus package topped US $ 200 million (Rotilu 2011).
Such interest from the government and foreigners indicates the importance of Nollywood’s performance compared to other industries. While Chawdhury et al. (2008) puts Nollywood’s annual turn over at slightly over US $ 540 million, a recent survey by CNBC speculates the figure at almost US 600 million (Brown 2009). Ganiu (2011) notes that on average, Nollywood export market accounts for US$100 million annually.
Chawdhury et al. (2008) asserts that, unlike Hollywood and Bollywood, Nollywood relies on digital technology. Regardless of this, most of the movies are of very low quality. Chawdhury et al. (2008) add that, despite relying on digital technology, most of technicians and directors lack the necessary expertise.
However, Okome (2007) skirts the issue of technological deficiencies and asserts that low quality movies can be attributed to mass production. With regards to mass productions, different sources cite varying figures. For instance, while Chawdhury et al. (2008) puts Nollywood ahead of both Hollywood and Bollywood, at 2300 movies annually, Uwah (2011) puts the figure at just 2000, a majority of which are produced in English.
This appears to be an insignificant figure. However, it is a worthy consideration that each movie sells thousands of copies, both within and without Nigeria. Indeed, Rotilu (2011) asserts that each movie is likely to sell over 35000 copies, while Chawdhury et al. (2008) notes that blockbusters sells more than a million copies.
In sum, this implies that there are billions copies of movies in circulation within the local and regional markets. As such, Nollywood’s chain of marketing and distribution is brought into sharp focus.
It is imperative to note that there are technologies and marketing techniques that would make distribution such vast amounts of movies an easy task. However current Nollywood’s marketing and distribution techniques are somewhat antique by modern standards.
Chawdhury et al. (2008) asserts that Nollywood heavily relies on outdated technologies such as CDs, DVDs and VHS. Such marketing and distribution techniques seems to be justified by the fact that consumers of Nollywood products are low income earners and would not afford products marketed through expensive technologies.
Additionally, the movie industry in African is in its infant stages and thus there are no formal marketing and distribution channels (Aderinokun 2005). Aderinokun’s (2005) assertions indicate that there are certain marketing challenges facing the Nollywood. These are discussed in details here in after.
Nollywood marketing techniques
To understand the current marketing techniques prevailing within Nollywood, it is imperative to analyze, albeit briefly, Nollywood’s value chain. Nollywood value chain is a three stage linear process. Nollywood movie making begins with production, a process that takes a very short time, mostly between 10 to 20 days (Chawdhury et al. 2008).
This, as Uwah (2011) argues, is largely attributed to the fact that Nollywood movies are low budget productions. Immediately after production, copies of movies are released straight to the consumer through video renting stores, through DVDs and VHS. There are very limited copies released for theatrical shows. The main reason for releasing movies through DVDs and VHS is determined by factors within the market.
The choice of DVDs and VHS seems to be motivated by the fact that consumers of Nollywood products are low income earners and cannot afford to pay for theaters shows. Additionally, as Aderinokun’s (2005) asserts, the lack of formal marketing networks implies that Nollywood has to rely on informal distribution networks to reach its market.
Since DVDs and VHS are cheap and easy to use technologies, it becomes easier and cheap to duplicate and distribute movies through the informal marketing networks. It is imperative to note that within the informal distribution networks, video rentals play a very significant role in marketing new releases.
To reach the target audience, rentals utilize simple technologies such as DVD and VHS players where movie trailers are played to advertise new releases. Posters and other print adverts are pinned at strategic locations. Additionally, the target market seems to prefer movies in DVDs and VHS formats for their relative affordability and the availability of complementary technologies such as DVDs and VHS players.
As such, rentals stores are not only the primary marketing tools but also distribution channels. Moreover, rentals stores act as major market research tools from which valuable information about customer preferences are relayed back to movie producers (Chawdhury et al. 2008)..
The assertions above indicate that current marketing techniques are determined by certain factors within the market, and are outlined as follows. DVDs and VHS are cheap technologies which facilitate mass production. Since the film industry in Africa lacks proper marketing and distribution channels, overreliance on informal distribution and marketing channels makes DVDs and VHS most appropriate.
Through these technologies films and movies are distributed in format supported by available technologies in form of DVDs and VHS players. The lack of distribution and marketing channels exposes the film industry to the threats of piracy. Indeed, as noted by Rotilu (2011) most of the movies in circulation are pirated. This is necessitated by the fact that DVDs and VHS are produced locally, making them cheaper.
Duplicating movies through DVDs and VHS is even cheaper since a pirate only requires a duplicating machine, mostly constituting a computer connected to numerous DVD writers. Therefore, both movie producers and pirates find mass production through DVDs and VHS cheaper, easier and faster. Therefore, distributing and marketing of movies through other technologies is currently impossible.
In light of these findings, it is possible to make the following deductions. Marketing techniques for Nollywood movies is as a result of prevailing market requirements. To maximize on gains, producers decompose consumer preferences into worthy utility products.
Movie producers have identified the consumer preferences as well as favorable conditions within the African movie market, and aligned their marketing and distribution techniques along these. This implies that marketing activities for Nollywood products follows the theory of Conjoined Analysis.
Under Conjoined Analysis, manufacturers analyze consumer wishes, preferences and other prevailing factors within the market and develop products and services that are not only of value to the consumer but also profitable to the manufacturer (Walters and Lancaster 1999; Kotri 2006).
As explained earlier by Aderinokun (2005), marketing of Nollywood products is not formalized. This has a numerous implications. Informal marketing techniques are designed for low income consumers, most of whom live in rural Africa and low income urban areas. In addition, as explained by Chawdhury et al. (2008) most of the movies are produced in English.
This implies that most of these movies target English speaking consumers within Africa, especially in sub Saharan Africa. This locks out a large segment of the African market especially in non English speaking African countries, and English speaking Africans living in other parts of the world. As explained by Madichie (2010) the maldevelopment of Nollywood’s marketing techniques emanates from a number of reasons.
Madichie (2010) cites poor quality production, which emanates from low budget production as secondary to poor marketing mix. This implies that Nollywood employs poor marketing mix for its marketing activities. Additionally, these marketing strategies hinder expansion into the global market. As such, African movies, more so Nollywood productions lack box office appeal.
Chawdhury et al. (2008), sees piracy as an advantage since it facilitates the distribution of movies across the African market, which is in stark contrast to Bayley’s (2007) assertions that piracy is a major threat to the global film industry.
Therefore, as Madichie (2010) states, Nollywood marketing incorporates poor marketing mix coupled with poor marketing communication and therefore making it impossible to penetrate the global market. Moreover the reliance on informal distribution and marketing networks, as well as cheap and outdated technologies creates a false sense of a success.
This obscures the need to exploit the global market (Evuleocha 2008). As Madichie (2010) and Chawdhury et al. (2008) assert, such rudimentary techniques makes it impossible to establish links with other major players in the global film industry. In addition to this, Okome (2007) argues that there more than 160 million English speaking African in the Diaspora.
This market segment is largely ignored by current marketing techniques employed by Nollywood marketers. In light of these findings, a global marketing strategy seems relevant, especially targeting 160 million English speaking African in the Diaspora.
Developing a global marketing strategy
Nollywood is the third largest movie industry in the world. Regardless of this Nollywood lags behind Bollywood and Hollywood by far in terms of global market penetration. Developing Nollywood’s global marketing strategy ought to start with the formalization of distribution channels within its existing market. This is achievable through establishing formal retails stores and outlets.
This however, should not be a challenge since there exists thousands of rentals in Nigeria, which can be turned into formal outlets and retails stores through government registration (Madichie 2010). This will go long way in formalizing in internal distribution channels, but does not address the problem of piracy. Additionally, it does not formalize the distribution channels across borders.
This can however be effectively addressed through franchising, a method through which marketing and distribution rights are awarded to private investors within certain market segments (Chikweche and Fletcher 2008; Kaufmann and Eroglu 1999).
However, there needs to be other methods of combating piracy. Currently, there are numerous antipiracy laws in place, but which are hardly implemented. An anti piracy task force would go along way in helping to implement these (Chikweche and Fletcher 2008).
In developing a global marketing strategy, Franchising and formalization of the distribution stores is a prerequisite and only streamlines Nollywood’s marketing activities. To tap into the global market, Mahajan and Banga (2006) assert that entrepreneurs need different marketing strategies than those used in local and regional marketing, a view shared by Madichie (2010).
The global film market is extensive, diverse and complicated. In the global movie market, Nollywood is anonymous (Chawdhury et al. 2008) and as such creating awareness about its products is paramount. This can be attained through network and relationship marketing (Fletcher and Fang 2006).
Madichie (2010) states that network marketing can be effectively achieved through networking events while Chawdhury et al. (2008) states that film festivals, organized in English speaking countries outside Africa will largely popularize Nollywood and its products.
These festivals ought to target English speaking Africans living in these countries. Madichie (2010) further adds that networking events not only establish communication channels with consumers but also creates the relevant forum through which experts share ideas, market information, technological information and technical skills.
Conclusion
It is evident that Nollywood largely depends on simple and outdated marketing techniques. However this is justified by the existing market conditions as explained through Conjoined Analysis theory. This implies that Nollywood producers respond to prevailing market conditions, characterized by poor infrastructure, lack of government regulation and low purchasing power.
Producers develop products and services for consumers within its target market based on these requirements. It is imperative to state that the prevailing market conditions and consumer preferences do not require expensive and complicated marketing techniques. As such, Nollywood largely depends on informal marketing and distribution channels.
Ironically these techniques have ensured a vibrant and success movie industry with vast market in Nigerian and Anglophone Africa. The success created by such marketing techniques seems to obscure the need to explore new markets. As such, Nollywood movies are largely restricted to Anglophone Africa. This further implies that Nollywood’s performance at the global movie market is unexplored.
There is a significant market segment within the global movie market which Nollywood ought to serve. This market constitutes more than 160 million English speaking Africans living outside Africa. However, to tap into the global market there is need to explore new marketing techniques since the current mix of marketing methods only address the local and regional markets.
This can however be attained if the existing marketing techniques are streamlined through formalization and franchising. This sets the pace for venturing into the global market, with the aim of targeting Africans living in Diaspora.
But since Nollywood is unknown in the global movie market, network and relationship marketing coupled with film festivals seems the most appropriate marketing tool. Once this market is captured, then opportunities to exploit other opportunities within the global market can be explored.
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