MTV's version of rebranding Africa

Rebranding a country is not only about setting aside billions of dollars to hire consultants and experts to change the situation, but also about having leaders who are able to lead and inspire people to realise and fulfil their potential, according to Nigerian thinker and author Dele Olojede who was a speaker at the Branding Africa session at the Africa Leadership Retreat on Saturday, 10 July 2010 at the Sandton Conference Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

MTV, re-imagining and rebranding Africa

It is now crystal clear why MTV, which reaches 48 countries in Africa and understood well that philosophy, embarked five years ago on a journey to 're-imagine' and 'rebrand' Africa through culture.

Alex Okosi, CEO of MTV Networks Africa, said last week that his organisation's fundamental rebranding strategy was to get Africa to develop its music, build a commercially viable proposition and create initiatives that empower, among others.

"We focused on all music videos, which we believed was of a poor quality. For example, we could not play Nigeria's music videos due to its extremely poor quality," Okosi said.

Building talent

"We employed people and got them to work with experienced video directors," he said, adding that MTV built talent through, among others, 'Coca-Cola VJ Search' and 'Making the Video with Shell'.

And in the process, a great deal of transfer skills took place, which enabled, for instance, many young Africans to now make music videos.

He added: "MTV's vision was to create a pan-African musical scope, unite Africa through music and get talented African and international artists on the same platform."

MTV said it put mechanisms in place to build world-class African content and fed it to its audiences around the world. It created an award afterwards and started to promote African musicians.

Engaging with global leaders

"We did not only limit to that," Okosi said. "We created platforms whereby young people could engage with global leaders regarding matters such as HIV/AIDS."

And research shows that the MTV's 'Shuga Drama' series was watched by 65% of Kenyans, and 80% who saw it believe that it dramatically changed their thinking about HIV/AIDS.

"The effect of our work? African music videos have been making MTV European charts in the past five years and African artists are now touring the continent and making money worldwide.

Pan-African collaboration

"We are now seeing a lot of collaboration on a pan-African level, and more brands are now actively engaging with the youth through music-based initiatives. Brands are also seeing value in youth content and are improving their quality.

"Young Africans are now coming back home, and we have seen a lot of pro-active requests from various global music quarters to experience Africa."

Okosi said in closing: "Any initiative you take about rebranding Africa needs to be substantive, especially content.

Good infrastructure needed

"It has to be real - people need to see it, feel it and believe it. Merchandise it to the world through powerful and relevant mediums."

Apart from South Africa, the rest of Africa's infrastructure is aged and in a state of deterioration, prompting African musicians to settle in Europe and the US to seek better working conditions. Okosi said in order to reach your goals about rebranding Africa, you also need to have good infrastructure in place.

That is basically MTV's version of rebranding Africa.