National Research Group (NRG), a global insights leader at the intersection of technology, content, and culture, launched its “Capstone Series,” a first-of-its-kind exploration into the culture, content, and technology driving leading-edge global growth markets.
NRG is part of Stagwell, the challenger network built to transform marketing. In partnership with SBI Media, a Lagos, Nigeria-based media agency and part of Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Network, NRG kicked off the series with “Exploring Nigeria,” a future-leaning view into the technology, culture, and entertainment trends shaping the Nigerian landscape.
“Our Capstone Series is a research undertaking combining a global viewpoint with on-the-ground perspective and expertise at a level of depth we’ve not seen before in emerging markets,” said NRG Chief Strategy Officer Chris Rethore.
“The proof of that is in our inaugural study, which has given us a nuanced, layered understanding of Nigeria’s shifting cultural landscape – showing us what makes Nigerians tick, how their identity impacts their consumption behaviors, and what can be done to better serve these passionate consumers.
We hope that media, entertainment, and tech companies find value and actionable intelligence in this and future studies to help shape decision-making in vanguard markets over the next few years.”
“This study would not have been possible without the partnerships we have built through Stagwell’s Global Affiliate Network, now numbering nearly 80 partners across APAC, EMEA, LATAM, and North America,” said Stagwell Chief Strategy Officer Anas Ghazi.
“Partners like SBI Media accelerate our global research, survey, and insights capabilities at Stagwell, adding an authentic understanding of local markets around the world.”
“We are delighted to collaborate with the innovative team at NRG on this landmark project — the first of its kind in the Nigerian and sub-Saharan African market,” said SBI Media Group CEO Rotimi Bankole.
“We are convinced that the findings in the NRG Capstone Series will provide brands, artists, creatives, and the larger stakeholders in the entertainment and content industry uncharted insights to decipher, discover and leverage engagement opportunities in the market.”
Exploring Nigeria
Anchored by a robust survey of 5,000 in-market consumers with added expert viewpoints of academics, industry insiders, and in-person consumer interviews, “Exploring Nigeria” provides a broad understanding of the cultural pillars that drive the country and its people.
The research dives into 10 key topic areas exploring consumer habits and attitudes in Nigeria today, including the criticality of mobile, the rollout of 5G, the creator economy, content consumption, streaming services, audio and gaming as growth verticals, the power of social media, the future of money, and more.
Key takeaways include:
Mobile is the gateway to connectivity. Mobility is table stakes when it comes to streaming, with 78% noting it’s very important that streaming services work well on mobile. Over half (55%) of all movie and TV consumption is on smartphones, while viewership on laptops, smart TVs, tablets, and desktop devices is less frequent. Smartphones are also the overwhelming method for gaming (83%).
5G will “transform my country for the better,” say 81% of Nigerian consumers. With internet connection quality viewed as the biggest tech problem in the market, nearly 70% are aware of the pending 5G rollout, with the primary benefit seen to be enhanced speed (74%).
YouTube leads as the top streaming service with 82% of respondents using it weekly, and 40% of those who use it multiple times per day. On a daily basis, 64% use it the most often over other services such as Netflix (46%), Prime Video (25%), and AREWA24 (44%), the Hausa-language channel. Of the top five daily activities in general, 66% said they watch a short-form online video.
Nigerians want Nigerian content to positively reflect their culture and values. Of the top five features that make film or TV feel most authentic, 60% indicated the characters should demonstrate Nigerian values (e.g., family/community work ethic, integrity) and should portray a positive image of Nigeria to the outside world (52%).
…But Hollywood is still the dominant entertainment source. U.S. content owns the largest share of film viewing (75% of Nigerian consumers have watched Hollywood films in the past 6 months), while American TV is a close second behind Nigerian-produced TV (61% vs. 68%).
English-language content from other non-US markets also has appeal. Where other countries have flourished with local content, streamers can heavily feature English-dominant titles from their global catalogs – 80% say they most enjoy watching content in English.
The audio is ready for a shake-up. Due to limited internet connectivity, music streaming has yet to really take off in Nigeria – only 49% stream music through a streaming service. Nigerian consumers are more likely to depend on downloading and back-packing content.
Big Tech = big influence. Tech companies including social media companies have a “great deal” of impact on Nigerian culture (64%), second only to religious institutions (73%).
Finance-related technology that can directly benefit Nigerians fuels their desire to succeed professionally, to learn and grow, and to make money. More than half of respondents indicated they are aware and knowledgeable about cryptocurrency (90%), mobile wallets (85%), artificial intelligence (78%), 5G (76%), blockchain (71%), virtual reality (65%), and NFTs (59%).
NRG’s planned upcoming Capstone Series reports include Indonesia (Q4 2022), Argentina (Q1 2023), and Turkey (Q2 2023).
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