A few days ago, telco giant MTN announced that they were not renewing endorsement contracts with a host of their brand ambassadors including Wizkid, Sean Tizzle, D’Prince and Timaya, although they renewed contracts with other celeb brand ambassadors namely Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Davido, BankyW, Iyanya, Chidinma, Sound Sultan, KCee, just to mention a few.
But, for a super star artiste like Wizkid, he didn’t have to wait for too long before nabbing an even better deal with a competitor, as rival telco company Globacom reportedly signed a multi-million naira endorsement deal with the celeb, as reported by Tribune!
Several media outlets however reported that Wizkid was already unhappy with MTN because the company had allegedly delayed his payment and his current 2 year deal with Glo pays a whole lot more than his MTN deal.
Explaining why they dropped Wizkid, MTN reportedly said:
Although there is a finite number of brand ambassadors we can have at any point in time, Nigerian artistes can continue to monetise their intellectual works through our distribution channels such as the Caller Tunez and Music Plus platforms. As was originally conceptualised, the ambassador ship will continually evolve to accommodate new talents and cater for diverse segments.
This year, we are using a segmented approach and there will be ambassadors for each segment of our market. Using this criteria, new artistes like Cobhams Asuquo will be coming on board the MTN Ambassadorial family. In May 2015, stars including Davido, Don Jazzy, Tiwa Savage, Dr. Sid, Sound Sultan, Iyanya, Chidinma, BankyW, KCee as well as Saka, Osuofia, Mama Geeand others all renewed their contracts with MTN.
The list of those who won’t be staying with MTN contains Nigerian pop stars like Wizkid, Sean Tizzle, and Timaya. The list of those who won’t be staying with MTN contains Nigerian pop stars like Wizkid, Sean Tizzle, and Timaya.
!
