Event Sales Strategy from the Black Panther Sensation in Nigerian Cinema
Black Panther was released in Nigeria a day after Valentine’s day in top Nigerian Cinemas. And there have been a lot of raves about the black superhero which, according to critics, is the first of its kind where both the lead character is a black superhero and supporting characters are also black with the main setting in Africa.
It’s no wonder that this movie is making waves round the world. But much more than that are the little lessons we can pull from the success of this movie in Nigerian cinemas and apply it to event sales. Because if Black Panther or ‘Wakanda Forever’ was an event, it would most definitely sell out.
Before we Wakanda forever, let’s dive into some of these strategies for selling out your event …
Social Media
Always have a social media plan for increasing ticket sales for your event. Social media played a huge role in propelling the sensation Nigerians had about viewing Black Panther in Nigerian Cinemas. Channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, including WhatsApp status kept flooding people’s timeline with ‘Wakanda’ themes from the movie, pictures and videos and so on. Even the director of the movie, Ryan Coogler, acknowledged the impact of social media amongst other things that help the movie’s rating worldwide.
Big Names and Huge Public Figures
Is a public figure attending your event? Drop their names and drop it hot! Whether you accept or not, people went to watch the movie because big names and huge public figures in Nigeria announced their intentions to watch in a Nigerian Cinema (and did watch it). Also, looking at the cast of the movie, with the likes of Forest Whitaker (of The Last King Of Scotland), Sterling K. Brown (of This Is Us TV Series), Angela Bassett, (of Akeelah and the Bee), Lupita Nyong'o (of 12 Years A Slave) and more, were enough to draw a lot of attention of international communities to the movie.
Creative Public Stunts
Good public stunts can help increase sales of tickets for your event if you are creative with it. Can you remember when the IMDb website that detailed the cast of Black Panther got “hacked” (so they said) and our very own Funke Akindele and Genevieve Nnaji were said to be a cast? During the periods between the first and second hack, when the names of the popularly loved Nigerian actors appeared on the website, there was a lot of rave about the movie Black Panther. Even popular blogs in Nigeria were quick to celebrate them which even led to a wider spread of the rumour.
Rumour or not, it did get a lot of people talking about the movie. What better way to get the attention of sleeping fans of huge public figures by telling them that their favorite Nigerian actors were featured in a Hollywood movie? I mean seriously? Who wouldn’t grab their phone, google it and try to get the real facts about their favorite actor. Unfortunately, they didn’t see a glimpse of these actors in any Nigerian cinema that showed the Black Panther.
Have A Good Track Record
If you have handled an event in the past, this is a good place to bring out your commendable track records. The easiest way to increase sales is to market the truth because the truth will always sell itself. Black panther is a huge success because of the story, the cast, crew, director all have good track records. And those that watched it in any Nigerian cinema can attest to the fact that the movie delivered on its seemingly impossible expectations.
You can also read:
4 Creative Ways To Target Event Attendees in Nigeria
How to organise a stand out event in Nigeria