The Nigerian Movie Industry ‘Nollywood’ – A Nearly Perfect Marketing Case Study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the marketing challenges facing the Nigerian movie industry – Nollywood. The paper also attempts to make a case for due recognition to this multimillion dollar industry in management research as opposed to being pigeonholed in the domain of media, film or cultural studies. Design/Methodology/Approach – The case study benefits from a mixture of survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus groups drawing on a range of themes from Nollywood’s target audience in the diasporas over a three-year period (2005-2007). Findings – Explanations for why African movies – as epitomized by the case of Nollywood – continue to lack box office appeal cannot be detached from the poor marketing-mix strategies adopted – notably weak marketing communications and poor product quality. Research Limitations/Implications – The paper is restricted to a convenience sample of respondents and may arguably suffer from a weakness of generalizability. Practical Implications – Nollywood directors, producers, distributors, marketers and all other stakeholders must organize national, regional and international networks/networking events in order to guarantee the requisite forum for shared access, ideas and more importantly technology and technical know-how. There is also the need for skills upgrading and more robust marketing communications. Originality/Value – This is the first major attempt to move the discourse of cinematic consumption away from the field of media studies to general management – notably marketing. The paper exudes of a powerful message – this is not just art, it is big business!