For a while, there have been debates about the strength and staying power of the Davido brand. A few days ago, the artiste put his brand to the test when he posted a video on Instagram asking his friends for money. He followed the Instagram video by posting his account number on Twitter, and in five hours, he had raised over N100 million.
It was also a few days before his 29th birthday. Overwhelmed by the response, Davido announced that he might give it all away. He would eventually raise N200 million to which he added N50 million to be donated to orphanages.
Several Nigerian celebrities mark their birthdays by spending the day at an orphanage or making a donation to one – it is a run-off-the-mill public relations (PR) tactic for Nigerian celebs. However, none has garnered as much attention as Davido did. The PR stunt executed by Davido and the organic publicity he generated could be explained using the Aaker Brand Equity model.
According to Aaker, ‘brand equity’ stems from the following major attributes;
- Brand name awareness: The extent to which a customer recalls a brand’s name in association with a product or recognises a brand.
- Brand loyalty: The willingness of customers to make repeat purchases not to switch to competitors and to provide word of mouth.
- Perceived quality: Belief in the performance of the product in meeting expectations.
- Brand associations: Associations in the mind of the consumer or how the brand name reminds them of a product category
- Proprietary assets: Intangible assets such as patents and trademarks.
Davido’s name awareness and perceived quality are not in question. The artiste and music executive has numerous brand associations including, OBO, 30 Billion Gang (30 BG), and even “Assurance.” Earlier in the year, Twitter created an emoji in recognition of Davido’s catchphrase, “E choke,” which could be considered as his proprietary asset.
Davido’s ability to raise N200 million within three days is proof of loyalty from his fans. This loyalty is however based on trust built upon repeated performance, although performance here does not necessarily equate to the artiste’s stage performance, but his ability to give back. The PR stunt also generated a lot of buzz on social media that is word of mouth, another proof of brand loyalty.
So, why did this stunt reverberate?
It is Davido. His prominence makes him newsworthy. The stunt was also unexpected. Davido Omo Baba Olowo – the son of a wealthy man – asking for financial help? Launching this “campaign,” if we may call it that, on social media also paid off.
