This Week On The Desk
Behind The Campaign: CKay 📰
Signings ✍🏾 - Terrace Martin
Creative($) of the week 👩🏽🎨 - The Compozers
Links 🔗 - Theron Thomas
Behind The Campaign: CKay
Artist: Ckay | Labels: Warner Africa / Parlophone
Song: love nwantiti (693M Spotify Streams)
Team Members
Parlophone: Kosi Sompeta, Anya Du Sauzay, Jack Melhuish, Charlie Martin, Thomas Jones, Sam Palm, Dave Rajan, Natalie Nichols, Grace O’Neill, Imran Malik, Anu Ogunseye-Babajide, Selina Chowdhury
PR: Aarti Popat (Imran Malik PR)
Warner Africa: Temi Adeniji, Garth Brown, Unopa Xulu, Neil Naidoo
CKay Management: Favour Ogbolu, Asa Asika (The Plug), Anthony Awopetu
Chocolate City
TikTok: Alice Razack
Sanctuary Ldn: Esi Akpalu Mark, Abigail Bauzon
Creed
Music House – Niven Govinden, The Compozers
Overview of Campaign
When ‘Love Nwantiti’ was first released, in 2019 the world couldn’t imagine the heights it would then reach three years later. Up until then, ‘Love Nwantiti’ was a recognised hit in Nigeria, before having a second sign of rebirth, firing up in North Africa.
At that time, the UK accounted for under 5% of his followers (Instagram) and views (YouTube); however he was still generating 30k UK streams daily but wasn’t yet to hit core tastemaker spaces outside of TikTok.
From that point the objective and challenges were clear:
1. Converting organic consumption into genuine excitement for the artist;
2. Unlocking tastemaker, media and partner support to consolidate the wider audience exposure/consumption;
3. Unlocking a sense of the African diaspora’s pride to get behind the phenomenon.
The robust influencer campaign involved a range of micro and macro TikTok influencers to broaden content strands. That became a starting point to wider audience exposure.
This – in conjunction with the targeting of key blog pages, CKay Fan pages, repurposed content and phased ad spend – played a huge role in unlocking the African diaspora’s sense of pride, seeding topics around the rise of Afrobeats, placing CKay at the centre of those discussions bi-weekly with “The first/only African artist to...” comms.
The anticipation for his arrival was built through a series of “Hey London, if you don’t yet know about love Nwantiti, you soon will – (signed) CKay ‘Africa’s boyfriend’” outdoor. The purple roses and pearls became a recurring theme.
They sent tastemakers a bouquet of roses, pearls and a personalized card inviting all to a “one night only” free debut show with The Compozers.
CKay made a second trip back, partnering with TikTok to host an exclusive livestream with his first Brit’s nomination, performing on a boat across the Thames with fans and the creators.
Results & Key Learnings
• Brit Award Nomination: Best International Song of TheYear
• Platinum Certified (UK) and becomes one of two African artist to ever receive platinum certification as primary artist
• #1 Shazam Global Charts
• #1 UK Shazam Charts
• #1 UK Afrobeat charts (CC)
• 25m creations on TikTok
• 1.8bn global streams
• Highest Spotify monthly listeners across the continent of Africa
• Peaked: Radio Top 20 Airplay Charts (Playlisting across: Radio 1 A List, Capital S List, and more)
• #3 UK OCC Charts
• Highest charting solo artist in UK Official Charts
• Joint second-highest charting single from African artist in UK History
• Became the first African artist in 50 Years to hold a top 5 position for more than four weeks and a top 10 for nine weeks
• Top 5 most-used sound on TikTok
• Most-viewed African Artist in under two weeks (58m views)
Campaign budget: $30,000 - $60,000.00
Audience demographic: Age 18-24, 25-34
Location: UK, US, France, Nigeria
Signings ✍
Terrace Martin signs with BMG
Terrace Martin signed with BMG for records.
Creative($) of the week 👩🏽🎨
The Compozers - Band | Instagram
Links 🔗
#WhoeverNeedsToHearThis
A wise man was asked “What Is Anger?” He gave a beautiful answer, “It is a punishment you give to yourself for somebody else’s mistakes.”
