Advertising Agencies Cheat Nigerian Artistes- P Square

P-Square, duo of Peter and Paul are from the same Okoye family. They are hot currently. There third album, Game Over has added values to their lives. But one thing is still missing. Brand endorsement has been major link that makes a musician remain in position in the face of his or her lovers. For products, it plays crucial role for brand positioning as well in the face loyal consumers. Due to this, Tijani Adegbola spoke with the reigning stars about brand endorsement. Therefore, revealing the main reasons advertising agencies have been a threat to signing endorsement deals with Nigerian artistes. Excerpts:

Managing P-Square Fame After New Effort
Life has been very wonderful. People always have this thought that as an artiste if you make it first,second time you can’t make it for the third time. I mean, coming out with a hit which every body in the entertainment industry would always talk about.P-Square has done this for the third time. To God is the glory. It is not that because we are P-Square but God made it possible. Coming out with Game Over, life has continued changing positively for us. We have been managing ourselves well. We are more matured now.

Game Over Sold Copies
We are looking at 3 million copies sold. According to our Marketer, the first six days the album came out,it sold a million copies. I would say perhaps it is due to the Christmas rush. After Christmas, it slowed down. Suddenly when people started feeling the song, it started picking again. Recently, we had meeting with our marketer. He told us that he still needs to supply 900,000 copies somewhere. So calculating this together, it means we are looking at four millions copies. Currently, we are looking at three point something millions. 

P-Square as Brand Ambassador
We know it is important. But some people go hype what is wrong. People do endorsement and they claim what is not right. We have had lots of experiences. Brand pay you pea nut but you start hype that a brand has paid you huge amount of money. So, we therefore looked at it that if we go join them, we are killing it. We are killing Nigerian artistes. Since P Square came out into the lime light, we are role models to young artistes and lots of people generally. Everything we tell people is real. We don’t want to lie. Yes, they come to us. How come the money you want to give me can only cover one concert? You will put our picture on the billboard and you want me to start making hell of noises in the papers that you have given me big money. You want me to tell the whole world that you pay me 100 million? Forget it .We don’t do that. I think that has been major challenge. If it is coming, let it come on a good side. Lots of brand managers have come to us. We will disagree with them. At the end of the day, another artiste will call them or they will call the artiste for the job. They might give out pea nut but they will be making lots of noises in the papers that the money is big. In fact, when we hear this, we laugh! If the job will come, let it come as a merit.

Events organizers always say that P-Square is the most
expensive artiste in Nigeria. How? 

We don’t have brand endorsement yet. We spend lots of money on our videos. We are investing back into the music industry in term of production. We are not begging for brand endorsement. If brand endorsement will come, it should come on a merit. Brand or no brand, they should relax. There are lots of businesses than brand endorsement.

Brands & Showbiz Exploration
It is not that they don’t appreciate showbiz. They appreciate showbiz than using you for endorsement. For example, a brand comes. We give them our price. They will use us in their adverts: billboards, jingles, TVC. After discussion, you find out that they go back to see another artiste that is probably cheap. Do you know the annoying thing; you will tell them this is what we want to collect. But they would refuse and compel us to lie to the public on the amount they want to give us. They tell you how much they can offer but this is what you would tell the public. That makes it
very bad. As far as P-Square is concerned, it is not acceptable. We have had lots of people coming to us for endorsement. If you can’t pay us what we want, sorry we are comfortable.People might say perhaps we don’t want to take ourselves so cheap or those guys are arrogant because I don’t accept your offer. These brands that want to endorse P Square would come out and spend lots of money on events.20 million naira event that would just happen for a day. To organize that kind of event, it would take probably 40 days for planning. Therefore, you want to bring me out as a celebrity. Placing my picture out on your billboards every where. Whenever people look at it, it would be like they have given these boys 50 million naira. But, it is not true. Some people would even tell you that the problem we have with P Square is because they are two. Yes, we are two and we like it that way. If we are coming for endorsement, we are not telling you that you are paying a group. Just have it at the back of your mind that whatever you are paying us, if I divide it by two, it must be comfortable for but of us. So, if it is not comfortable for both of us, forget the endorsement. We are not saying that we don’t appreciate or identify with brands. By and large, we don’t think it is the brand that is causing this
argument, but it is the advertising agencies. The brands work with the agencies that will consult you. So I think the advertising agencies are cheating artistes in Nigeria! In fact, we prefer signing a deal out side Nigeria to sign deal in Nigeria. The reason is, Nigerians don’t absolutely appreciate their artistes. Within African countries, people pay P Square million dollars for a concert. I don’t know why we can’t get that value in Nigeria that is mother of these small countries. Another example is, many artistes had been mentioned. They would tell the whole world they received lots of million naira deal. How many of them live in their own build houses. If truly the amount they say on the pages of newspapers is real, how come they can’t afford to build their own houses? How come they are still in renting apartment? If P Square endorses a brand, it means that Paul or Peter is building his house some where. 

Nigerian artistes can’t continue this way. How long do we want to deceive the public? 

But they don’t know they are deceiving themselves. We don’t want to join that. That is why we are very patient for brand endorsement