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FROM FILM MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND

DIGITAL MARKETING: EXPLORING NOLLYWOOD'S POTENTIALS

Conference Paper · November 2021

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FROM FILM MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA
AND DIGITAL MARKETING: EXPLORING NOLLYWOOD’S
POTENTIALS

Professor Barclays Foubiri AYAKOROMA

(PhD, Fsonta, fta, fimc, cmc, mnipr, mnim, DGN)
Department of Theatre Arts
University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT)
Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Website: www.uat.edu.ng
Email: barclays.ayakoroma@uat.edu.ng

Abstract
The Nigerian film industry, popularly called Nollywood, has been adjudged by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), as the second largest
film industry in the world, in terms of production quantity, after Bollywood, the Indian film
industry. Despite that rating, marketing and distribution of films have been undergoing harsh
conditions in recent years. The film markets at Upper Iweka Road (Onitsha), Pound Road
(Aba), Idumota Road and Alaba International Market (Lagos), among others, are more or less
living on their past glory. The collapse of the cinema industry in Nigeria, largely due to the
economic conditions the country went through in the early 1980s, was aggravated by the
structural adjustment programme (SAP). The implication was that cinema houses were
abandoned and subsequently provided ready accommodation for new generation Pentecostal
churches. However, the advent of the video film format, which heralded the contemporary
Nigerian film industry, has provided a lifeline for business executive to explore the potentials
in operating cinema theatres. Furthermore, the operations of the big three cinema houses appear
to be more of a replay of the dominance of the executive producers during the early days of
Nollywood, as producers find it difficult to have their films exhibited in these theatres. Since
some of them are going in productions, they appear to have their preferred behind-the-camera
crew and star actors and actress. Based on theoretical armatures like the agenda-setting,
cultivation, and social marketing theories, as well as the AIDA model, this paper argues that
digital marketing and the social media have curbed the excesses of the executive producers,
who had a stranglehold on the industry in the first 15 years. Consequently, the paper
recommends, among other things that producers should explore digital marketing, including
blogs, YouTube, Netflix, Onyenze, and other such platforms, like multi-level marketing, to
market and distribute their films.

Introduction
The Nigerian film industry, popular called, Nollywood, was adjudged by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in a 2012 study, as the 2nd
largest film industry in the world, in terms of production quantity, after Bollywood, the Indian
film industry. Being second means that the Nigerian film industry produced more films than
the highly celebrated Hollywood, British, French or Chinese film industries. Nollywood was
said to be producing over 50 movies a week, generating about $600million (over N200billion)
annually to boost the Nigerian economy. This underpins our thinking that the industry is an
untapped goldmine, which government needs to exploit. However, despite this favourable
rating, marketing and distribution of films have been undergoing harsh conditions in recent
years. The erstwhile vibrant film markets at Upper Iweka Road (Onitsha), Pound Road (Aba),

1
Idumota Road and Alaba International Market (Lagos), among others, are more or less ghost
towns now.
It will be recalled that the collapse of the cinema industry in Nigeria, largely due to the
economic conditions the country went through in the early 1980s, was aggravated by the
structural adjustment programme (SAP). The implication was that cinema houses were
abandoned and subsequently provided ready accommodation for new generation Pentecostal
churches. Somehow, the advent of the video film format, which heralded the contemporary
Nigerian film industry, has provided a lifeline for business executive to explore the potentials
in operating cinema theatres. However, the operations of the big three cinema houses appear
to more of a replay of the days of the executive producers, as producers go through several
roadblocks to have their films exhibited in these theatres. Since some of them are veering in
productions, they appear to have their preferred camera crew and star actors and actresses.
Drawing from the agenda-setting, cultivation and social marketing theories, as well as
the AIDA Model, as theoretical pedestals, this paper argues that digital marketing and the social
media have curbed the excesses of the executive producers, who had a stranglehold on the
industry in the first 15 years after its emergence. The work affirms the fact that stakeholders in
Nollywood could explore and exploit the potentials of the industry in Nigeria through social
media and digital marketing. It recommends, among other things that producers explore digital
marketing, including blogs, YouTube, Netflix, iRoko tv, Ibakatv, Onyenze, and other such
platforms, like multi-level marketing, to market and distribute the films.

Definition of terms
There is need for us to explicate the key words in the topic of our presentation. The words are
film marketing and distribution, social media, digital marketing, exploring and potentials. This
is in order to properly situate the discourse.

Film marketing: Marketing involves all the processes involved in offering goods for
prospective clients to purchase. In a given firm, when you generate revenue for the financial
personnel to manage and those on the production line to use in creating products and services,
you are involved in marketing. Thus, the survival of any business organisation is dependent on
how the target consumers patronise its goods and services (Ayakoroma, 2014a, pp.76-78).
According to Stanton (1981, p. 3), “any type of relationship involving an exchange (or a
transaction) is marketing;” and the essence of marketing is “a transaction; an exchange intended
to satisfy human needs or wants.”
A key part of a film’s success is dependent on how well it is marketed. The extent to
which this could be realised is dependent on the marketing concept (or marketing mix) of that
firm (Ayakoroma, 2014a, p. 78). This is the way to make people know that a film has been
released into the market. In Biblical parlance, “One does not light a lamp and put it under a
bushel.” When a film has been produced, it needs to be advertised very well, like any other
products, in order to get the audience excited for them to decide to see it. Consequently, the
basic thing about independent film marketing is the ability to know who your target audience
is, their interests, and whether they will be passionate about the content of the new film.

Film distribution: Film distribution is the process of making a movie available for the various
publics for viewing. This is normally the task of a film distributor, who determines the strategic
marketing plan for the film, the media channel through which a film is to be exhibited or made
available for viewing, and set the release date and other related matters. A film may be
exhibited directly to the public through premieres, cinema houses, television stations, or
personal home viewing (including DVD, Pay-TV, video-on-demand, internet download and
television through syndication). For a commercial movie production, the distribution is usually

2
preceded by an aggressive promotion. In the days of cinema, films were taken to rural areas
through the mobile cinema project. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the National Theatre, Iganmu-
Lagos and several other cinema houses (Glover, New Rex, Odeon, and so on) were beehives
every day, as film lovers trooped into various cinema houses to watch movies.

Social media: According to Wikipedia, social media are “interactive computer-mediated

technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and
other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.” Provided users have the
necessary devices, for instance, desktops, laptops, iPads, or they download social media
applications (Apps) to their mobile devices (Androids, smartphones and tablets) that offer
functional social media access, to enable them browse freely. As users engage with these
electronic services, they create highly interactive platforms through which individuals,
communities, and organisations can share, co-create, discuss, participate and modify user-
generated content or pre-made content posted online.
Networks formed through social media change the way groups of people interact and
communicate. According to Kietzmann and Hermkens (2011), they “introduce substantial and
pervasive changes to communication between organisations, communities, and individuals.”
Some of the popular social media platforms include Facebook (and its Facebook Messenger),
WhatsApp, WeChat, QZone, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter and Google+. Others are 2Go, Badoo,
LINE, LinkedIn, MeWe, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, Viber, VK, Weibo and
YouTube.

Digital marketing: Digital marketing is the process of marketing products or services using
digital technologies, mainly via the global information super-highway, the Internet. However,
with developments in information communication technology (ICT), digital marketing now
includes the use of social media applications even with mobile phones (Androids) and laptops,
display advertising, and some other digital media.

Exploring: To explore is to look at the possibilities in a person, group, situation, or venture.

The idea of exploring is to extract the required item or end product in that person, situation and
so on. It when one explores a situation that one can exploit and enjoy the dividends.

Nollywood: Like Hollywood or Bollywood, Nollywood is the name which the Nigerian film
industry has come to be known for. Dating back to 1992, after the collapse of the cinema
industry, Nollywood has been “a child of business circumstances.” This was when an electronic
and spare part dealer, Kenneth Nnebue, produced the trailblazing Living in Bondage (Obi-
Rapu, 1992). The commercial success of this film made him to produce Living in Bondage Pt.
2 (Onu, 1993). As noted earlier, Nollywood had been adjudged by UNESCO as the second
largest film industry in the world, after Bollywood, in terms of production quantify. The
industry provides over 300,000 jobs in Nigeria, contributing about 1.4% to the country’s
rebased economy, as at 2014.

Potentials: This is having or showing the capacity to develop into something better in
the near future. Put succinctly, it is the latent abilities in person, venture, industry, and
so on, which could be developed to yield positive results.

Theoretical framework
Basically, theories are facts that have been hypothetically tested and proven to be true in given
situations or conditions. This study focuses on the potentials of digital marketing of Nollywood
films, given the fact that there had been overdependence on executive producers (EPs), who

3
had total control over film marketing and distribution. As noted earlier, the paper will draw
from agenda-setting, cultivation and social marketing theories as well as the AIDA Model. It
is necessary to briefly highlight the basic conceptual frameworks of each of them.

Agenda-setting theory: The agenda-setting theory emphasises the ability of the news media to
influence the importance of an issue or person in the public domain. As a social science theory,
agenda-setting theory also attempts to make certain predictions. That is, if a news item is
covered frequently and prominently, the audience will regard the issue as more important. In
other words, if you are important, you appear on television or feature in the media; and if you
appear on television or feature in the media, you are important. By comparing the salience of
issues in news content with the public's perceptions of the most important election issue,
Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, in 1972, were able to determine the degree to which the
media determines public opinion. Several other studies have shown that what the media decides
to expose in certain countries correlates with their views on things, such, as politics, economy
and culture.

Cultivation theory: The cultivation theory is an offshoot of the stalagmite theory of mass
communication, which likened the effect of the mass media to the formation of rocky segments
on the floor of caves. The stalagmite is formed by a little, gradual and steady dripping of
limewater from the top of the cave until it develops into a huge stalagmite. Propounded by
George Gerbner in the 1960s, the theory asserts that persistent and long term exposure to the
media (television) has small but remarkable effects on the perception of the viewers. It
postulates that excessive exposure to television cultivates exaggerated ideas or beliefs on the
viewers. According to analysts, the cultivation theory, in its most basic form, suggests that
television is responsible for shaping, or “cultivating” viewers’ conceptions of social reality.

Social marketing theory: The social marketing theory in advertising, PR, marketing and
consumer behaviour and business communication, focuses on how socially valuable
information can be promoted. This theory has been used by organisations to help promote or
discourage different behavioural patterns. The theory outlines frameworks that can be used to
design, implement and evaluate information campaigns. The target audience is identified based
on their information need. Once this is done, the information is packaged and distributed in a
manner that will be easily accessible to the intended audience.

AIDA model: The acronym, AIDA, stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. This
communication model is widely used in marketing and advertising to describe the stages in the
marketing process, from the time a consumer first becomes aware of a product, service or brand
to the time when the consumer likes a product or takes a decision make a purchase. Since many
consumers become aware of brands via advertising or marketing communication (marcom),
the AIDA model helps to explain how an advert or marketing communication message engages
and involves consumers in brand choice. In essence, the AIDA model proposes that advertising
messages need to accomplish a number of tasks in order to move the consumer through a series
of sequential steps from brand awareness through interest, desire, to concrete action (purchase
and eventual consumption).

Film marketing and distribution in Nollywood – The beginning

The contemporary Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, sprang up due largely to the Idumota
(Lagos) and Upper Eweka Road (Onitsha) electronic and spare parts dealers. Incidentally, the
marketing approach had been conditioned by the “petty trader” orientation. This was because

4
of the fact that, until recently, most of them were hardly educated. But Ejike (2005, p. 2)
contests this view, stating categorically that,

the so-called ‘electronic trader’ is not a fool, but a highly experienced

international businessman, who is in most cases educated to secondary school
or university level, but found himself constrained to trading as an alternative to
joining the long unemployment line. I know what I am talking because I owned
shops at Idumota and Balogun and my colleagues there were rugged and highly
astute Ibo traders who do not know chemistry or biology, but are masters of the
essential knowledge of economic survival, gifted with legendary mercantile
acumen.

Incidentally, while artists got pittance in the name of artist fees, the marketers smiled
to the banks after every production. It was thus a welcome relief when stakeholders adopted
the guilds system and forced a 3-months recess on the industry in early 2002 to check the
excesses of the marketers. This went a long way in bringing sanity to the industry. Though
there was scepticism as to the gains of this action, one dividend of this exercise was the
formation of the Film Cooperatives of Nigeria (FCON), an alternative market for the industry.
FCON established a video film market at Babs Animashaun Street, Surulere, Lagos, to offer
an alternative outlet for prospective producers. Ironically, the market soon became a ghost town
shortly compared to the bustling Idumota (Lagos), Upper Iweka (Onitsha) and Pound Road
(Aba) film markets. The marketers soon metamorphosed to a cartel so much so that they operate
like a market union, ready to check the rising profile of other stakeholders. This was the case
in the banning of eleven actors/actresses and a director in October 2004 (Ayakoroma, 2014b,
p. 72).
The above action was due to the marketing approach; there was no established star
system in the industry basically. The marketers dictated the pace of the industry as they
provided the funds for the producers (who are the professionals) to produce the films. For an
independent producer, he designed the jacket of his film and approached marketers to help
market his film. He would count himself lucky if a marketer agreed, and offered what he would
pay per jacket. Incidentally, a marketer’s readiness to market a new film depended on the
number of films he had to market at that point in time. To avoid a glut, the marketers came out
with the frequency of film releases: the number bi-weekly or weekly. This was usually
accompanied with aggressive publicity: posters, billboards, radio and television.
In spite of the foregoing, McCall (n.d.) sees Nollywood as “one of the only bright spots
in the country’s gloomy economy” (p. 100). He observes that while Africa’s celluloid cinema
depended largely on foreign funding, schooling, and inspiration, Nollywood is profitable and
self-sufficient, becoming one of the fastest growing sectors of the national economy.

In a strikingly entrepreneurial country where economic opportunities are

practically non-existent, the video industry has laid the groundwork for what
might be called the Nigerian Dream – a genuine opportunity for legitimate
financial success and even celebrity, open to just about anyone with talent and
imagination (McCall, p. 102).

It is pertinent to mention here that one marketing strategy of the EPs was what they
called, “use of selling faces.” This means featuring a blend of star actors in films to attract
viewers to purchase such productions. Unfortunately, the shelf life of a Nigerian film is just
about four weeks. Immediately a film is released into the market, the EP starts working on the

5
next job. Thus, EPs are constantly in search of avenues of saving production costs – from the
use of star actors, directors, costumiers, locations, hotels, and so on.
Onwochei (2005) captures the Nollywood production and marketing model from a
practical experience. According to him, the model is straightforward. A producer acquires
funding to shoot a film. Sometimes, the producer could double as the script writer and director.
After production, he hands over the master tape to a marketer, who mass-produces the master
for distribution. The producer would have printed posters and jackets for the video cassettes
(VCs) and video compact discs (VCDs). The jackets are handed over to the marketer, and a tab
is kept on the sale of the film, as the marketer may demand for more film jackets from the
producer. At the end of about four weeks, both parties (producer and marketer) sit down to
settle account of the sales. In some instances, the producer could demand for payment upfront
which sum is arrived at from the estimated sales. The producer would probably start another
film project with the proceeds, while still expecting additional balance of payment from the
previous film. Except for the extremely successful ones, the actors themselves are usually
supportive, as they sometimes work for the producers on credit bases. Unlike many other film
making nations, the Nigerian model skips exhibition, pre-sale of TV rights, and pay-per-view
channels. These opportunities are usually explored after the video releases. It could be averred
that in the first 15 years of the industry, more than 95% of the films went directly to the video
market.
On the international scene, Tony Abulu’s Film Association of Nigeria (FAN), USA,
contributed immensely towards drawing global attention to Nollywood. After studying the
various channels of distribution used by the marketers – Idumota, Onitsha (Upper Iweka Road),
Aba (Pound Road), petrol stations, broadcast stations, and video clubs – FAN, USA, opened
avenues for international distribution in USA, Canada, and Europe. He did this to check some
unscrupulous individuals were dubbing Nigerian films and selling them, even on the Internet:

The initial trend was that continental Africans would purchase single copies of
Nigerian film products in Nigeria and around Africa and illegally ship and mass-
produce these titles for sale…. This development created a huge continental
African fan base with a population of approximately 1.5million Africans
residing in North America and Europe, but unfortunately, no income came to
the Nigerian filmmakers, and by extension, no foreign exchange was realised
by Nigeria (Abulu, 2005, p. 21).

The above development charted a new direction in the marketing and distribution of
Nigerian films. Abulu was thus of the opinion that if properly harnessed, Nollywood had the
potential of generating huge foreign exchange for the country to the tune of over $50 million
annually from the United States alone. Babalola (2008) also throws light on how Nollywood
films found their way to the United Kingdom and many other European countries.

Current trends in film marketing and distribution

Having highlighted the situation of film marketing in the early beginnings of Nollywood, it is
necessary to now examine the current trends. The channels at the disposal of producers include:
film festivals, film markets, cinema theatres, video clubs, viewing centres, broadcast
organisations, and various digital/online platforms.

Film markets: Film markets are places where deals are made between sellers and buyers of film
productions. These are fora organised in specific locations and they are limited in time. The
subjects of the auctions can be film productions and also film projects at various stages:
preproduction, production, or post-production. New scripts or partially completed scripts,

6
sound ideas of films, and other works can also be offered for sales and purchases. For instance,
Sithengi, a South African TV/Film market, which used to take place in Cape Town, attracted
key players in the film and broadcast industry in the mid-2000s, including Nigerians. However,
like various local film markets in Nigeria, Sithengi has lost its visibility, unlike the Cannes
Film Market, which takes place during the Cannes Film Festival.

Film festivals: Film festivals offer opportunities for film producers to market their films. In
fact, they are strategic platforms for the marketing of films. Once a movie is screened in any
highly rated film festival, chances are that it will attract international distributors. Writing about
the relationship between film markets and film festivals, John McCabe notes thus:

Unlike film festivals, a film market is not a place to go looking for a job, so it’s
not for actors and directors looking to get work, although they can certainly go
to market to sell their packages…. You will encounter a lot of production
companies at film festivals. Many of them have recently wrapped their entry to
the festival and are looking forward to starting their next film. If you are an actor
or crew person looking for a job, you may run into someone looking to hire you
for that job. This isn’t true of film markets because most are there to sell their
film, package or script or are there looking to buy those products; they’re not
there to hire cast and crew for their next film (www.videomaker.com).

Put simply, film festivals are cultural events for host communities while film markets
are like trade fairs, depending on the scale. To get a film to be selected for a festival, it must be
formally accepted into the festival. This involves sending a copy of the movie to the organisers
for them to preview and approve it. This underpins the idea of film festivals having curators.
There are no such gatekeepers in the organisation of film markets. If you take a movie, a script
or a storyline (film idea) to a film market, you are on your own (OYO). If the movie, script or
idea is good, it will sell; if the reverse is the case, you have wasted your time, energy and
resources.

Table 1: Some international film festivals

S/N NAME OF FESTIVAL YEAR FOUNDED
1. Cannes Film Festival, France 1946
2. Edinburgh International Film Festival, Scotland 1947
3. Berlin International Film Festival, Germany 1951
4. New York Film Festival, USA 1962
5. Toronto International Film Festival, Canada 1975
6. Istanbul International Film Festival, Turkey 1982
7. Dublin International Film Festival, Ireland 2002
8. Abuja International Film Festival, Nigeria 2004
9. BFI London Film Festival, United Kingdom 2005
10. Enugu International Film Festival, Nigeria 2007
11. Zuma Film Festival, Nigeria 2010
12. Eko International Film Festival, Nigeria 2011
13. Kaduna International Film Festival, Nigeria 2018
Source: Research by Author, 2020

Cinema Houses: In Hollywood convention, cinema theatres are the first places that films are
premiered and shown to the public. This theatre window proffers an opportunity for the
producers to recoup their investments before the film is marketed in video home system (VHS)
7
tapes and then syndicated for television broadcasting or as video-on-demand (VOD). During
the glorious years of the cinema industry in Nigeria, cinema theatres were very popular in the
exhibition of films. They penetrated the rural areas with mobile cinema vans to project films
for the enthusiastic rural audience. The eventual collapse of the cinema industry necessitated
the turning of such cinema houses to warehouses, dens of criminals or, at best, places of
worship by new generation Pentecostal churches. However, the narrative has changed as the
advent of Nollywood has breathed life into the cinema culture, Silverbird Cinemas being the
front-runners.
As a point of fact, the big three cinema houses in Nigeria currently are: Silverbird
Cinemas, Filmhouse IMAX, and Genesis Deluxe Cinemas. Apart from various outlets in Lagos
and Abuja, these three have cinema outlets in Ibadan, Akure, Benin, Warri, Asaba, Port
Harcourt, Uyo, Owerri, Enugu, Jos, Kano and even Accra, Ghana (Silverbird Galleria). Other
entrants into the cinema business include 5D Cinema 9ja, Grand Cinemas, Ground Zero
Cinema, Magic Kingdom Cinemas, Magnificent Cinemas, Nu Metro Cinemas, Onyenze
Cinemas, and Ozone Cinemas. Also, Dews Cinema, Excel Cinemas (in Yenagoa), Marturion
Cinemas, Nollywood Cinemas, Nostalgia (in Port Harcourt and Yenagoa), Room 7 Studios,
and Royal Cinemas, are on the list of those revitalising the cinema culture in Nigeria.

Video clubs: From the days of the VHS tapes, the sales and rentals of foreign films became
lucrative business. People registered in video clubs in order to rent films to view at home. The
club owners came out with their terms and conditions and members were expected to comply
with the regulations. The video club operators went to Onitsha, Aba or Lagos every week to
buy new releases. The more a club had current film releases, the more the clientele. The posters
that adorned every space on the walls of the video mart, the TV screen inside and sometimes
at the doorway, showing a film attracted customers. In fact, when Fountains Movieland, a
subsidiary of Fountains Productions started post-production studio at its Opolo-Yenagoa
office around 2006, there were no plans to operate a video club. Somehow, the demands were
so much that the company started a video club, as one of the services.

Viewing centres: Another outlet in the distribution of films is viewing centres. This is a
seamless business venture, unlike the Mobile Cinema approach. Viewing centres are always
patronised, as far as there is space and probably a bar to sell drinks. This business has received
a big boost due to the appetite of Nigerians for football as exemplified most especially in
English Premiership League (EPL), Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and
French Ligue 1.

Broadcast organisations: Television and cable satellite channels are actively involved in the
marketing and distribution of Nollywood films. Ironically, instead of the streams of advert
revenues that accrued to them in the early years of Nollywood, broadcast organisations now
resort to broadcast syndications and sometimes enter into buy-off agreements with producers.
This explains why broadcast stations like AIT, Silverbird, MITV, Galaxy and TVC broadcast
Nollywood films. Furthermore, cable satellite providers and channels schedule regular
broadcasts of Nollywood films. In fact, DSTV’s Africa Magic and MyTV Africa’s Nolly
Movies channels have become very popular across Africa. Other windows for film marketing
and distribution include Ebonylife TV, Wazobia TV, WAP TV, and ROk TV, among others. I
recall that as at November 2010, the then newly established Citizen TV in Nairobi, Kenya, used
Nollywood films to attract wide viewership in the country.

Online platforms: In the last few years, a number of interactive digital/online platforms
marketing Nollywood films have emerged. Somehow, they have made quite an impact in the

8
industry, providing seamless services for producers who would not have had that latitude if
marketing and distribution of films were still under the stranglehold of executive producers.
Some of such film marketing and distribution platforms include Amazon, Netflix, iRoko.tv,
Ibakatv, Cotequest.tv, Linda Ikeji TV, Onyenze TV, YouTube.com, Hulu, Vudu, Sony
Corporation, and Tubi, among others. In recent years, Nigerian brands like www.jumia.com,
www.konga.com, and www.shopify.com.ng have also become key players in digital marketing
of Nollywood films. Table 2 shows some foreign online film marketing sites.

Table 2: Some foreign online film marketing platforms

S/N WEBSITE FILMS COYS BUYERS LAUNCH
1. www.cannesmarket.com 4,000 2,000 4,000 Cannes 2000
2. www.onlinefilmsales.com 1,400 60 N/A Cannes 2000
3. www.filmbazaar.com 3,000 271 600 Cannes 2000
4. www.rightsmart.com N/A N/A N/A Cannes 2000
5. www.screenexchange.com 150,000 6,300 19,200 Cannes 2000
6. www.reelplay.com 3,371 4,480 1,259 October 1999
Source: https://variety.com/1999/digital/news/online-film-market-sites-1117781214/

Services rendered by the above companies include, but not limited to, rights tracking,
trailers and other marketing materials, email, faxing, sales transactions, corporate profiles,
messaging, searchable databases, news, synopses, credits, one-sheets, website creation, plan to
offer, custom folders to save and organise products for future follow-up, live and online auction
of films, intellectual property protection, and royalty collection for films and TV programmes.
For instance, with www.picturepipe.com, one can easily:

 Create one’s content registration form to collect the film data one needs.
 Invite film makers, production companies or world sales to easily upload their film
files, film data and press kits.
 Build one’s own online or on-site video library.
 Create one’s own categories to organise one’s video library.
 Easily connect buyers and sellers through a notification system.
 Create different screening rooms for different groups such as journalists, buyers, and
so on.
 Develop activity history which makes it possible to keep track of plays and engagement
per video.
 Automatically export one’s data in one’s catalogue.
 Have payment history which makes it possible for one to keep track of transactions.

The implication of the foregoing is that one can create an online video library for a
customised film or TV market, which can be accessed before, during, after or year-round by
industry professionals. One can also have a Viewing Library on site during one’s event; and
easily track activity and statistics, invite or assign users or groups, create categories around any
topic.

Table 3: Some popular Nollywood film sites

S/N NAME WEBSITE REMARK
1. IrokoTv www.irokotv.com Mobile App. Founded 2011

9
 2. Afrinolly www.afrinolly.com Mobile App. Has Afrinolly
Creative Hub
3. Nollyland www.nollyland.com Mobile App.
4. IBAKATV www.ibakatv.com Mobile App. Founded 2011
5. NaijaTube www.naijatube.com.ng
6. TvNolly www.tvnolly.com
7. RealNollyTv www.realnollytv.com Mobile App.
8. Nigerian Movies www.nigerianmoviesnetwork.com
Network
9. Netnaija www.thenetnaija.com Mobile App.
10. NaijaOnPoint naijaonpoint.com
11. Okiki okikiapp.com Mobile App.
12. Nollywood www.nollywoodmovies.tv Mobile App. Founded 2008
Movies
13. NaijaPals www.naijapals.com Founded 2011
14. Naij.com www.naij.com 6million plus audience
monthly
15. Nigerianfilmz www.nigerianfilmz.com
16. Buzz Nigeria www.buzznigeria.com
Source: Research by Author, 2020

Digital Marketing
Digital marketing of Nollywood films is done on various social media platforms currently.
Some of them include Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, cinema
houses, as well as websites/blogs. Netflix is an American media-services provider with
headquarters in Los Gatos, California. Founded in August 29, 1997 by Reed Hastings, with
Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, its current stock price is about US$343, making it
the 7th largest internet company in the world by revenue (en.wikipedia.org).
In carrying out digital marketing of a movie on YouTube, for example, one creates an
account and agrees to the terms and conditions. Once the movie is uploaded, depending on
one’s marketing plan, one gets paid according to the clicks/views. For internet browsers, as far
as you spend data to watch a movie on YouTube, you are paying money. Part of that money
goes to the producer of the film. This is where the film marketing plan becomes relevant. An
online platform, Filmdaily.tv, recommends a 7-Step approach thus:

1. Design a marketing strategy – work out who the target audience is;
2. Conceptualise the film audience – figure out how big your target audience will be;
3. Prepare the film promotion plan – research how you are going to reach your target
market;
4. Set up the marketing schedule – to have timelines for expected outcomes;
5. Calculate the film marketing budget – to control spending;
6. Design the electronic press kit (EPK) – to the best of publicity for the film; and
7. Connect with influencers that apply to the keywords – so that they can expand the
borders on the distribution of the film (www.filmdaily.tv).

Impact of Digital Film Marketing and Distribution on Nollywood

Digital film marketing and distribution has impacted on Nollywood to a large extent. In this
paper, I will only look at the phenomenon from the perspectives of piracy, the executive
producers/marketers, media advertising, and film outlets.

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Piracy: Piracy is a scourge in the Nigerian entertainment industry, including Nollywood, which
has defied solution. Producers have resigned themselves to fate, being content with the modest
gains they make from their productions. The result, as it were, has been an obtrusive malaise
that has festered over the years. Piracy, as an infringement on the intellectual property of a
person, entails stealing someone’s idea or work and reproducing it in that form or in an adapted
form for commercial gains. Specifically, piracy is seen in the way script writers simply pick
Hollywood story lines, recast and give such stories Nigerian perspectives. Also, some
unscrupulous businessmen and video club owners dub fast-selling film productions and sell or
rent them to viewers at very low prices. In all of the foregoing, as noted by Abulu (2005), the
proceeds from such criminal acts do not get to the copyright owners. This phenomenon
impoverishes the creators of original works of art and continues to plague the entertainment
business globally. In fact, piracy could be likened to the popular Nigerian aphorism: “Monkey
dey work, baboon dey chop.”
From the above, it can be deduced that piracy of intellectual property has certain
implications:

i. Consumers may not get to see the original creations.

ii. Creators of the original works do not get the proceeds from such works.
iii. It breeds corruption as the perpetrators deliberately subvert justice.
iv. It destroys the industry considerably.

However, digital film marketing has gone a long way in short-circuiting the above.
Also, the need to curb piracy has necessitated the resurrection of the cinema culture. Producers
now screen their films in cinema houses before releasing on DVD to the market. Films like
Last Flight to Abuja (Emelonye, 2012), 30 Days in Atlanta (Peters, 2014), The Wedding Party
(Adetiba & Akinmolayan, 2016), 10 Days in Sun City (Makun, 2018), and Lionheart (Nnaji,
2018), are among some of the films that were box-office hits in Nigeria. The implication is that
there are prospects of producers getting higher returns on their investments on film productions.

Table 4: Some high grossing Nollywood films

Highlight indicates films still running in theatres |* indicates the film grossed more
globally
DOMESTIC
S/N TITLE YEAR STUDIO(S) DIRECTOR(S)
GROSS (₦)
The Ebonylife Films/FilmOne/
1 Wedding 2016 452,000,000 Inkblot Production/Koga Kemi Adetiba
Party Studios
The Ebonylife Films/FilmOne/
2 Wedding 2017 *435,000,000 Inkblot Production/Koga Niyi Akinmolayan
Party 2 Studios
Chief
3 2018 387,540,749 EbonyLife Films Niyi Akinmolayan
Daddy
King of
4 2018 244,011,753 Kemi Adetiba Visuals Kemi Adetiba
Boys
FilmOne
5 Sugar Rush 2019 243,965,878 Entertainment/Jungle Kayode Kasum
Filmworks

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 DOMESTIC
S/N TITLE YEAR STUDIO(S) DIRECTOR(S)
GROSS (₦)
Merry
Men: The
Corporate World
6 Real 2018 236,000,000 Toka Mcbaror
Entertainment /Gush Media
Yoruba
Demons
Merry Men
7 2: Another 2019 232,056,213 Gush Media/ FilmOne/CWE Moses Inwang
Mission
Your
8 2019 183,090,348 EbonyLife Films Funke Akindele
Excellency
A Trip to
9 2016 181,000,000 Corporate World Pictures Robert Peters
Jamaica
10 Days in Corporate World
10 2017 178,000,000 Adze Ugha
Sun City Entertainment
Living in Play Entertainment
Bondage: Network/Michelangelo
11 2019 163,449,842 Ramsey Nouah
Breaking Productions/Natives
Free Filmworks
30 Days in
12 2014 163,000,000 Corporate World Pictures Robert Peters
Atlanta
Bling Bolanle Austen-
13 2019 120,135,139 FilmOne Entertainment
Lagosians Peters
Source: Culled from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_Nigerian_films

EPs/Marketers: A major setback to sustainable development of film marketing in Nigeria had

been the formation of cartels or cliques. In the early years of Nollywood, the EPs gradually
transformed to producers and directors; or they used their apprentices to understudy trained
directors. In the bid to cut costs, such apprentices soon became directors. The taking over of
the production process by the EPs in Nollywood had some implications on the industry:

a. Unlimited powers of executive producers;

b. Maximisation of profits;
c. Background of the marketers;
d. Back-to-back productions;
e. Creation of stars;
f. Rise of artist fees;
g. Release dates;
h. Rise of support services; and
i. Domineering influence of executive producers (see Ayakoroma, 2014, pp. 55-56).

The recourse to digital marketing has brought a paradigm shift in Nollywood. Producers are no
longer at the mercy of EPs as they can use any of the available digital channels, including the
cinema houses, to get across to their target or prospective audiences.

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Media advertising: Posters, radio and television adverts were ready features in the early days
of Nollywood. Poster and handbills, radio and television jingles, as well as mobile adverts were
to create audience awareness about new films. This is not the case currently due to the window
of opportunity offered by digital marketing. In other words, the huge revenue accruable to
dealers on papers and other printing materials, printers, radio-television and print media, are
drastically reduced as there is recourse to social media by producers and directors to create
awareness about their films. For instance, through the use of Facebook Accounts or Pages,
Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp Groups or Broadcast Lists, Instagram, and so on,
one can reach out to millions of people across the globe with a click.

Film outlets: Idumota Road and Alaba International Market in Lagos, Upper Iweka Road in
Onitsha, and Pound Road in Aba were big film hubs in Nigeria. Though these outlets are still
in existence, it is not business as usual. The same applies to video clubs. The renting of films,
as it was during the VHS, VCD and DVD days, is no longer in vogue. All one needs to do is
go online, download and watch movies one is interested in.

Exploring Nollywood’s potentials

Having examined the marketing and distribution of films during the analogue age and the
contemporary approach in this digital age, it is necessary to delineate some of the potentials,
which need to be explored and exploited by stakeholders.

1. More independent producers can work confidently without being frustrated by the EPs.
2. More cinema outlets can spring up and cinema operators cannot also deprive producers
from independently marketing their films digitally.
3. More viewing centres can be set up as the business is attractive and combines with
sports entertainment.
4. A new crop of star artists will emerge, as the question of selling faces will be gradually
relegated to the background. The case of Mark Angels Productions – the popularity of
Emmanuella is a case in point.
5. There are prospects of more artists receiving global acclaim. A ready example is the
case of little Success Ade, whose life changed, when the video: “I no say I no go pay.
If dem want to flog me, dem go flog me until dem tire,” went viral.
6. More jobs and wealth will be created for the teeming unemployed youth as several
independent productions can take place at any point in time.
7. There will be significant improvement in the revenue generation profile of the industry.
8. There will be gradual improvement in the production quality of movies as producers
will be playing predominantly in the global space.
9. Government will eventually look the way of Nollywood having realised that the
industry is an untapped goldmine.
10. The industry will be better organised, with functional professional guilds.

Conclusion
In this paper, it has been observed that as far back as 2014, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), had adjudged the Nigerian film industry,
Nollywood, as the second largest film industry in the world, after Bollywood, the Indian film
industry, in terms of production quantity. Despite that rating, marketing and distribution of
films have been facing harsh economic conditions in recent years. The film markets at Upper
Iweka Road (Onitsha), Pound Road (Aba), Idumota Road and Alaba International Market
(Lagos), among others, are more or less living on their past glory. Furthermore, the operations

13
of the big three cinema houses appear to be more of a replay of the dominance of the executive
producers during the early days of Nollywood, as producers find it difficult to have their films
exhibited in these theatres.
Based on theoretical armatures like the agenda-setting, cultivation, and social
marketing theories, as well as the AIDA model, the paper argues that the social media and
digital marketing have curbed the excesses of the executive producers, who had a stranglehold
on the industry in the first 15 years. The paper submits that there are immense potentials for
key actors in the industry to explore and exploit to reposition the industry. In effect, it is
possible to adopt a multi-level marketing (MLM) or network marketing aggressively to re-
invigorate independent film marketing in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper recommends,
among other things that producers should explore digital marketing, including blogs, YouTube,
Amazon, Netflix, iRoko, Ibakatv, Onyenze, and other such platforms, like multi-level
marketing, to market and distribute their films.

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SELECT FILMOGRAPHY
Living in Bondage 1 & 2 (1992/1993). Dir.: Chris Obi-Rapu/Christian Onu. Prod.: Kenneth
Nnebue. Screenplay: Kenneth Nnebue. D.O.P: Kalu Anya. Perfs.: Kenneth
Okonkwo, Bobmanuel Udokwu, Francis Agu, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Nnenna
Nwabueze, Okechukwu Ogunjiofor, Ngozi Nwosu, Ngozi Nwaneto, Daniel
Oluigbo, Rita Nzelu. Company: Nek Video Links.

*******Being a Presentation at the Faculty of Arts & Education (FAED) Seminar Series,
University of Africa, Toru-Orua (UAT), Bayelsa State, Nigeria. 25 February, 2020.

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