TheCable

The buzz generated by Globacom’s recent blockbuster  TV commercial starring world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, is getting even louder. This follows the release of the sequel to the campaign by the grandmasters of data.

In the debut commercial which was launched on February 1, Joshua did not only endorse the telecommunications giant, but also  drew global attention to the fact he was proud of his Nigerian roots.

“There is always been a big piece of my heart as a Nigerian and I do believe that it is that piece that sets me apart. It always says to me, ‘never give up, dream big! We come from a nation of warriors and that is why I believe in Glo. We have that same tenacity, that Nigerian fighting spirit that makes us game changers! We are relentless. We don’t just face our challenges, we step into the ring to win again and again and again. If you believe in yourself, there is no limit to what you can achieve. Yeah, I used to be a bricklayer in England but now I am heavyweight champion of the world!” declared the boxer.

While the dust of the Joshua commercial, generally acclaimed as a coup in the advertising industry, is yet to settle, Globacom raised the decibels higher on Wednesday with the unveiling of   a follow-up to the endorsement campaign.

In the sequel, we see Nigerians from different spheres of life reacting to the quintessence of the message underlying the campaign.

The well produced advert opens with a female student of the University of Lagos watching the first Anthony Joshua commercial. A teenage boy is seen also watching the TVC in his father’s sitting room. The TVC then zooms on fishermen throwing their net  into the Lagos lagoon hoping for a bumper harvest and then to a tailor in Aba, Abia State, drawing strength from Anthony Joshua’s inspirational message.

Also shown connecting to the rallying cry by the boxing legend are a group of female basketballers watching the advert on an ipad on the court and students in a classroom setting in Sokoto watching the same message on a laptop.

The TVC also shows a young boxer who, after taking tutorials from the world champion, later won his bout, while a lady executive in Abuja is also shown watching the message on her phone.

From Lagos to Aba, Sokoto to Abuja, the message by the telecom operator is the same. These cities are used to emphasise the nationwide coverage of the Glo 4G which and the resilience of the Glo brand which AJ, as the boxer is fondly called, epitomizes.

Indeed, the boxing icon outlined the characteristics he shares with Globacom. These include “the never-say-die, unlimited, can-do spirit”.  He queried: “You need strength?” And then retorted, “Yeah, that comes from the hard knocks that life throws at us. And we are Nigerians, we know all about that”. This symbolizes the philosophy that has set Globacom apart in the telecommunications market.

AJ then goes on to deliver more inspirational lines to show how he rose from being a bricklayer to becoming a World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and also to encourage people to fight to conquer life’s challenges. “You don’t stay down, you’ve got to fight. You have to dig deep to be a world champion”.

He also uses the “Always in your corner” pay-off line to show the support reliable partners can give to achieve one’s goals. The line is a boxing metaphor that symbolizes the succor boxers get from their corners where their trainers will dry their sweat with towels and offer them tips to defeat their opponents.

The AJ commercials are indeed masterstrokes, and underscore Globacom’s tradition of churning out ingenious television adverts.

Last December, the company won six gold, two silver, and four bronze medals at the 2018 Lagos Advertising and Ideas Festival (LAIF) for its creative television commercials and radio jingles produced during the year.

With the TVCs, the company, on the one hand, succeeded  in attracting further attention by getting a global  icon to endorse its brand, and, on the other hand, played up the unique proposition which its nationwide Glo 4G coverage represents.