Who starts the corporate endorsement move?

If there is one thing the Forbes African Magazine research has taught us in this industry, then it will be the need to look for more endorsement deals as an artiste no matter the stress it will take to get there.

Sarkodie was lucky to be selected among the most bankable artistes in Africa because just as the details showed, he has more endorsement deals than many musicians in Ghana.

We are not in any position to debate the authenticity of the findings but what we are looking forward to do is to encourage our own people to also find ways in getting some of these endorsement deals.

In Ghana, endorsement deals in the entertainment industry became rampant when telecommunications company Glo signed a good number of our movie and movie stars as their ambassadors.

Despite complaints from some of these people about their earnings, our “eyes were opened” to the reality that we can earn some extra cash from endorsement deals.

Right after Glo, there were other corporate organizations who joined the band wagon and signed on some few celebrities. Now, we are asking just this question and we hope we get genuine answers for our followers.

“How do the endorsement deals come about in this industry? Is it the corporate people who look for the celebrities to sign them or the celebrities rather chase such deals to ink their signatures on their sheets. Flex newspaper spoke to some chief marketing executives and they provided us with these answers.

“The reality is that it differs on the period and the occasion the organization needs that celebrity for an endorsement. For instance, if an organization plans of an activation project and they decide they will need the image of a celebrity to make it smooth, they will decide on which person will be right for the project.

In this case, the organization will be looking out for who can give them better returns and not just any body. On the other hand, an artiste with his or her management can also prepare some juicy proposals which will be sent to their targeted organizations and if all goes well as per the plans of the organizations too, an agreement can be reached to ink such a deal.

So like I said earlier on, it depends on the occasion and season of such deals” this marketing officer who wants to hide his identity because celebrities might chase her after this publication told Flex newspaper in an interview last Monday.

So what are the celebrities in Ghana waiting for? Samini is really enjoying his MTN deal and it is obvious, whilst Sarkodie seems to be bagging more of such deals day in and day out.

R2BEES inked a deal with rLG phones last year including DBlack and they seem not to be looking back. Okyeame Kwame is enjoying more deals but on a low profile. His deals include Coca cola, MTN, and Horseman Shoes and may be more. Meanwhile, a bunch of our people (celebrities) are still not decisive on the Glo deal (apologies to Aletse Tinny and Asem).