Telco endorsement Porting deals: Who is winning?

By Kayode Badmus 

The drama continues among telco firms in Nigeria over the endorsement of entertainers with confirmation that Wizkid has now moved from MTN to Glo.

This apparently is a slap on MTN who failed to get the pop star to renew his deal with them weeks ago fueling speculation that the Starboy boss might be speaking to the rival telco.

First it was comic actor Hafeez Oyetoro popularly known as Saka who dumped Etisalat for MTN in a deal reported to be worth over 20 Million naira. Then Mike Ezuruonye, a former Glo ambassador moved to Airtel months after he was dropped by the former.

Now the latest episode sees Wizkid, a pop superstar with an incredible fan base, joining the Glo family weeks after the expiration of his deal with MTN.

Sources told NET that MTN tried unsuccessfully to get him to append his signature to a renewal despite the involvement of his girlfriend, Tania who is the head of talent bookings and celebrity endorsement manager at Upfront Bookings, the agency which handles MTN endorsement deals.

MTN announced last week that they were dropping Wizkid as well as Timaya and Sean Tizzle in a move which has raised eyebrows.

Reports have also went viral that Glo days ago dropped Lynxxx and Naeto C in a bid to focus on bigger stars.

MTN before now had more A-list acts as ambassadors: Don Jazzy, Dr. Sid, Tiwa Savage, Kcee, Chidinma and many others while Glo had mainly top nollywood stars and a sprinkle of musicians and comedians. Last year they signed Dbanj for a second time, in a move many say was to experiment with the MTN model of content monetisation. The DB records boss joined the likes of Psquare, Flavour, Wande Coal, Mi, Waje and Basketmouth who were already ambassadors.

Etisalat has also renewed the endorsment deals with Olamide who calls the brand home, alongside Genevieve Nnaji and Iceprince.

As observers and subscribers continue to watch, the big question to ask is: who is winning? Hopefully, it will be the entertainment industry at the end, and thousands of practitioners who desperately need to enthrone a system that works; a system that will ensure players no longer see endorsement deals or corporate patronage as a favour or privilege.