Big Brother Africa is one of Africa's biggest and most popular reality TV shows, particularly among Gen Z & Y in Nigeria. Aside from viewership, the reality show gets some of the most widespread coverage in the media. But this year, it wasn’t alone when it came to media coverage, with the Nigerian National Elections running at the same time, a time when advertising is at threat with Government officials taking over OOH and the airwaves. This meant limited availability of channels, and for brands, this meant being careful with messaging so as not to be seen as being political.
Desperados Beer, a sponsor of Big Brother Titans, saw a unique opportunity to amplify the Desperados message of “Made to be Different” by driving awareness, meaningfulness and differentiation. Not only did we roll out this campaign in two weeks, it was executed outside of traditional advertising touchpoints due to the restrictive nature of advertising alcohol during the election period.
Did it work? Desperados, a brand looking to expand its appeal among Gen Z & Y audiences, leveraged the popular reality TV show’s massive viewership, creating captivating content that resonated with both existing and potential consumers. In fact, the sponsorship not only brought relief for viewers from electoral news, it connected the brand through pop culture, reaching our audience in an unconventional way that saw them choosing a Desperado beer first