The growth
of technology and new media has birthed the rise of instant celebrities all
over the world and Nigeria is no exception to this trend.
The case of Olajumoke Orisaguna has taken the country
by storm seeing as just over two weeks ago she was a bread seller but is,
today, a model and eye candy for companies and brands across the nation.
Olajumoke
Orisaguna, walked onto TY Bello’s photo shoot featuring international
superstar, Tinie Tempah in late January 2016 and her story has since changed.
Olajumoke
as at February 7, had gotten a modelling contract, a THISDAY Style cover,
catwalk and photography jobs, as well as being profiled on international and
local media including Huffington Post, CNN, The UK
Telegraph, Daily Mail, TheNET.ng, Star.ng and more.
BHM Research and Intelligence conducted a research on
the Olajumoke Orisaguna incident to find out what made Olajumoke go viral
and here are a few PR lessons to be learnt:
·
Get
your platform right:
What made
Olajumoke go so viral? Olajumoke was first introduced to us on Instagram and
Twitter and seeing that these media in themselves are mobile and facilitate
sharing and immediacy, virality was inevitable.
·
Get your content right:
BHM R & I found out that Olajumoke’s story
possessed the right “ingredients for a hearty virality soup” seeing as it
was a grass to grace story featuring “an amateur/unknown/underdog in an unscripted
moment”. Her story also evoked emotions, which is key in getting anything
viral.
·
Your
story should be sustainable: After the initial buzz, the continued search for
Olajumoke, the gifts and endorsements given to her and her family, her husband
stepping out with her and her modelling, interviews and even speculation about
her marriage and a potential divorce due to her instant success aided the
virality of the story, made it sustainable enough and garnered the attention of
millions of people around the world.
·
Novelty is key: The combination of a
local-bread seller and a global superstar made the story all the more special
seeing as it couldn’t have been made up. Olajumoke’s story rose and drew from
Tinie Tempah’s popularity as he
himself keyed into her story by making her his Woman Crush Wednesday, posting
her picture online and sending her greetings.
·
Audiences
crave a resolution or happy ending: There was no better ending
for Olajumoke’s story than a happily ever after as her dreams came true and
people could key into the story as we all have dreams and Olajumoke’s came
through. The story in itself was overwhelmingly positive.
·
Be conscious of trends and also know when to fall
back: Brands
should be aware of trends and always be ready to make use of ‘strategically
placed “PR” baskets’. There is also the need to plan ahead for
cultural moments.
Stanbic IBTC joined the Olajumoke bandwagon through
the use of a simple message with an already-viral image of Olajumoke stating
that: “We’re
inspired by Olajumoke, we’d love to move her forward #neverstopmovingforward”. The bank moved on to
make her its brand ambassador, and set up trust funds for her children.
On the other hand, when businesses fall over
themselves to associate their brand with a celebrity, it might not necessarily
be the best idea to also jump on that wagon. The National Identity Management
Commission (NIMC) learnt this the hard way when they tried to cash in to the
Olajumoke trend but suffered a backlash.
The NIMC tweeted a picture of Olajumoke, using a
spin-off of the viral “Be Like Bill” campaign to ask Nigerians to register for their
National Identity Number (NIN) and “be like her,” who by their own accounts
walked into the NIN centre “unsolicited.”
The
backlash was almost immediate as people noted that they were yet to receive NIN
cards despite walking into NIN centres over a decade before Olajumoke.
Commenters also asked the agency to “get serious” “stop pandering” and realize
it had “let people down” while one pointedly called the organizers “bastards
trying to jump on the Olajumoke bandwagon” leaving the NIMC to handle a salvo
of complaints.
·
Retaining
the USP of the “commodity” is key: Olajumoke was first introduced to
Nigerians as a natural beauty and the surest way to distort her image would be
to meddle with it, as evidenced by the backlash that greeted Olajumoke’s spread
for designer, April By Kunbi. Some people responded negatively to her look not
taking into cognisance the fact that Olajumoke was a working model and the
pictures were serving the client’s purpose. When an Instagram account was
opened for Olajumoke, with a translator posting in English, some took to social
media to express their disapproval stating that Olajumoke should tweet,
Instagram or Snapchat in Yoruba, pending her learning of English. This in
itself could maintain the uniqueness and simplicity that endeared her to the
public in the first place.
As with
trends and instant celebrities, like Olajumoke, and brands planning ahead and
being careful is key. Trends come and go but the lessons learnt will always be
relevant and could be used in other PR circumstances.
Download the full report here
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