Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo, a prominent figure in the Nigerian film industry, recently made waves with her bold stance on modern movie promotion techniques. In a world where attention spans are shorter than ever, she argues that filmmakers must adapt or risk being left behind.
In a heartfelt video shared on her Instagram page, Iyabo addressed the criticism faced by fellow filmmakers like Funke Akindele for their unconventional promotional strategies involving dance and skits. She reminisced about the early days of Nollywood when producers had to resort to elaborate tactics to attract audiences to their movies.
“This is something that has been happening as far back as when I joined the Yoruba film industry,”
she expressed passionately.
“The only thing different is just the method in which we do it.”
Iyabo painted a vivid picture of how marketing used to be a hands-on affair, recounting how they would drum up excitement outside the National Theatre with traditional songs and dances just to entice people to watch their films. The hustle was real as they embarked on city tours from Ibadan to Osogbo, Akure, Ekiti, and Ilorin, spreading word about their productions.
“You can’t bring out a movie and just put it in cinema and just expect people to watch it,”
she emphasized. With today’s digital landscape dominating consumer attention, passive marketing simply doesn’t cut it anymore.
Drawing an analogy with global brands like Coca-Cola that continue to invest heavily in advertising despite their popularity, Iyabo questioned why filmmakers shouldn’t leverage every available avenue to promote their work effectively.
“If Coca-Cola is still running adverts back to back on their products,”
she pondered,
“I wonder why I or anyone else can’t use any method.”
While acknowledging that not everyone needs to dance for promotion,
“everybody doesn’t have to dance,”
she affirmed. Whether through drama, comedy skits or other creative means,
“do what you gotta do,”
urged Iyabo.
She encouraged producers and artists alike not to shy away from showcasing their talents through various platforms such as social media or local billboards.
