How Nigeria Can Leverage on Africa’s Opportunity to Host the World Cup
Buki Oyedemi
Lagos’ ‘Own the Game’ was an effort to sell Lagos to the international community during the FIFA Under 17 World Cup. Destination branding platforms were used to showcase the business, tourism and sports opportunities that abound in Lagos. Though the football fiesta was held in Nigeria, it was on world stage and Lagos latched on the opportunity to place her potentials before the world.
Come June 2010, South Africa will host the world for the senior football tournament. Expectedly, brand custodians are taking meticulous approaches towards marketing their brands. Experienced FIFA sponsors and partners such as MTN, Adidas and Coca-Cola among others are already working on World Cup marketing strategies in order to get improved returns. Football oriented messages by official and unofficial sponsors are flying around because this is a good platform for any brand to play itself up positively into the people’s minds.
Being what many refer to as a once in a life time opportunity for Africa, African countries especially those close to South Africa, are already opening their doors to the world. For instance Mozambique, which is to the south of South Africa and Zambia which shares its inland borders with Zimbabwe and Swaziland, according to Shepherd Nyaruwata, the Executive Director of the Regional Tourism Organisation for Southern Africa, have built new stadiums “to persuade teams to train there ahead of the 2010 tournament.” Zambia is also sure of an increase in tourists visit to the fabled Victoria Falls with preparation for such surge in visitors reported to be in place.
Having seen what other African countries are doing, it would not be wrong to ask what opportunities there are for Nigeria and how government, individuals and brands can leverage on the opportunity. Speaking on the advantages Nigeria has in tapping into an event of this magnitude, Mitchell Obi, Executive Vice Chairman, Mastersports International says; “When you look at the global TV audience for the World Cup, the number of eyes that will be focused on a sporting event for more than one month, a country cannot have a better opportunity to emphasise its own message and showcase its different abilities and competences. Nigeria is an active player and the World Cup is readily available to us. What is paramount is how we leverage on the presence of the Super Eagles. It’s a brand in flight, and it should be fully explored and utilized for it to give value to its own public.”
Contributing to the discourse, Muyiwa Moyela, Senior Consultant with The Quadrant Company, agrees that “Nigeria and South Africa are leading economies and Nigeria should be proud and ready to use this opportunity to learn from South Africa on how to host big-ticket events.”
Opportunities
Toeing the line of the adage ‘charity begins at home’, Spiff Sagbamah, CEO Hally Sports International posits that tapping into the benefits of the world cup should begin here in Nigeria. “People will travel out of the country to watch the matches which if properly amassed will accrue revenue for the country. In terms of following football outside its boundary, no other country has the Nigerian culture where people travel en mass to go and support the Super Eagles.” People, including first timers, will travel and will have to obtain passports through the immigration service and monies will be remitted to the government. Money will be paid to the embassy, the travel agencies will also get tickets and reservations with different airlines will be made. All in all, money will be expended and if properly managed, government will get a large chunk of it. These could help boost the economy in this time of economy recession especially within the banking industry in Nigeria.”
Moving away from home to the event proper, Obi says that Nigeria can market its own football if the game is given full vibrancy. “The Super Eagles in action depicts what you will imagine a Nigerian is capable of doing, by that I mean the strength and the surprise element. When you are talking about marketing, the surprise element is key and that could work well for the Nigerian team. This being that Nigeria is in the same group with Argentina and we are playing on June 12 which is the opening match and also a landmark day in Nigerian political history. Though we still have a struggling Super Eagles as they just got a new coach and time is not on our side, this can work for Nigeria if we can use the surrounding heritage of that particular day in making an impact that will be global in terms of beating a one – time winner of the world cup – a team fancied by pundits all over the world.
He adds that “we have some football ambassadors who are known beyond compare. When you mention their names, people might not want to know the name of the president of the country but they will want to identify with these ambassadors. We can bring them in to carry the message of Nigeria on how we are trying to build our economy.”
Suggesting that Nigeria could take advantage of the media for publicity stunts, Spiff reasons that during the World Cup, company’s that are not FIFA sponsors or partners cash-in on the situation to organize media briefings. Nigeria can take advantage of that and hold media briefings where they can talk to the world about Nigeria. All that will be required is a notification to the Local Organising Committee through the Nigerian embassy. “The world media will be there and holding a briefing with some of our players in attendance to sell the country in positive light will not be a bad idea.”
Strategies
Great opportunities are waiting to be tapped at the World Cup. What will determine the benefits accruable to brands or countries are what the brands or countries do or how they approach the fiesta.
Obi’s stance is that with the World Cup being hosted in Africa for the first time, all efforts to market Nigeria should not end in South Africa but it should be sustained and made to transcend to other World Cup events until it becomes a part of all stakeholders. “For me, the message should be simple. It should reflect the spirit of teamwork, the beauty of excellence, diligence and the consummate unity of purpose. Everything done should be juxtaposed with an acceptable message that can be easily imbibed. It should become an enduring legacy thereby making Brand Nigeria well accepted. The World Cup takes place every four years so if we use the first one in Africa as a turning point for repackaging and selling brand Nigeria, we have to sustain it by using the SMART (Strategic, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Tangible) concept in executing the project for other World Cups.
Emphasizing that brands/countries can also benefit greatly from the World Cup, Moyela says they can be involved in destination marketing, which South Africa is currently engaged in, planning safari trips and distribution of branded gift items/momentous. These, according to him will help promote the country as well as increase commercial and business links.
Spiff also recommends “placing various welcome messages on billboards at strategic locations such as the various stadia where the games would be played to give the country some visibility. Advert placement such as logo flashes on TV during the games will definitely achieve destination branding purposes.”
Measuring what the World Cup could do for Nigeria, Kola Amodu, a seasoned PR expert explains: “the World Cup is a global platform and the national team is a good instrument for branding Nigeria at the games. The Ministry of Sports, .National Football Federation (NFF) and National Sports Commission (NSC) should take advantage of this because anything we do at the games will eventually rub-off on us. Though South Africa has the infrastructure, Nigeria still plays the leadership role and that should be reflected in the brand messages.” He adds that the ministries of trade and culture could form alliances with the South African Tourism Commission and use such opportunities to market the tourism opportunities in Nigeria.
Nigeria has qualified for the World Cup and this is an added incentive. The fact that it is the first on the continent should give the continent’s leader the impetus to emphasise its presence on the world stage. The World Cup is a global stage that not only brings people together but serves as an economic booster to any country that sees beyond its nose. The gains might not be instantaneous, but in the long run, Nigeria will benefit from telling its own story to the world, Amodu concludes.
