Musicians as influencers in SA: A guide to brand partnerships

With fewer physical spaces to market their brands, companies are investing a large portion of their marketing budgets into social media or influencer marketing – an advertising strategy where brands employ individuals with huge and committed followings to advertise their goods.[2] In this context, brand partnerships – such as ambassadorships, endorsements and collaborations – have emerged as one of the most lucrative streams of revenue available to musicians.[3]

This article focuses on influencer marketing as a revenue stream for South African musicians. According to Music In Africa’s Revenue Streams for Music Creators in South Africa 2022 report, this is a potentially lucrative income source for creatives in the music sector, with product endorsements bringing in an average monthly income of R10 701 and persona licensing not far behind at R10 583.

Brand ambassadorships/endorsements

Popular musicians tend to garner large social media followings, which makes them attractive to brands. As a brand ambassador, “you become an extension of the brand,” says Lebo Kgothadi, senior brand partnerships and sync manager at Universal Music Group, one of the industry professionals interviewed during the research for this article.[4]

When an artist becomes the face of a brand, the partnership becomes exclusive. Brands, knowing that thousands of eyes are on artists, pay them to assume the role of walking billboards, exposing the brand to their fans at every opportunity (although this is, admittedly, usually done in an entertaining and culturally valuable manner). For instance, as an ambassador for Reebok in the late-2010s, AKA could never be seen wearing any other competing brand in public.[5] Likewise, hip hop artist The Big Hash is always seen dressed in adidas from hat to toe since partnering with the brand a few years ago.[6]

More recently, Cassper Nyovest used the government’s 2020 alcohol ban to cheekily promote his partnership with luxury vodka brand CÎROC.

Collaborations

With ambassadorships and endorsements, the artist’s functions boil down to them marketing a brand’s product. However, some artists and brands have extended these partnerships into collaborations. In such cases, the brand and the artist create a custom-made product that bears both of their signatures.

Rapper Khuli Chana’s partnership with Absolut included an EP (One Source, released in 2017), visuals and a music festival that ran for a few years in the mid-2010s.[7] But the most direct and popular types of collaborations have been tangible items as championed by US stars Travis Scott, with his popular line of customised Nike silhouettes), Kanye West’s successful adidas Yeezy sneakers and Post Malone’s fast-selling Crocs collaboration. At this stage, countless artists have partnered up with many of the major sportswear and high-fashion brands for an exclusive gear release. It’s an avenue that, currently, contributes highly to musicians’ earnings at the top end of the industry.[8]

South African artists have so far been reasonably successful in following in the footsteps of their international counterparts. In 2019, rapper AKA became the first African artist to collaborate with Reebok on custom Reebok Classics called The SneAKA. The partnership made sense: as a sneakerhead and lover of sports, AKA was a good fit for Reebok, a sports brand that has previously partnered up with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd. And, in yet another groundbreaking deal, AKA, who has been an ambassador for Cruz Vodka for years, collaborated with the brand on a custom watermelon flavour of the brand’s vodka.

While the Cruz deal is still intact, Reebok and AKA cut ties in 2019, with AKA claiming he was owed royalties for the SneAKA, of which 600 pairs were produced and sold. Reebok, meanwhile, claims to have met all its contractual obligations.[9] This incident underlines the importance of always clearly understanding the terms of any brand partnership contract you sign onto.[10] 

Video: SneAKA Episode 2 

Brands and their cultural impact

Brand partnerships can extend beyond individual artists. Some brands do a great job of aligning themselves with entire music genres or artistic movements. For example, in the 1990s, Sprite aligned itself with hip hop and street culture while the genre was still niche. As hip hop migrated across the globe, the brand travelled with it.[11]

In South Africa, Sprite has aligned itself with the genre since its humble days in the 2000s by sponsoring basketball tournaments, hip hop radio and TV shows, and even tours. In 2006 and 2007, Sprite sponsored the Sprite Hip Hoop Tour, which aimed to find undiscovered talent across South Africa’s nine provinces. Via its Ventilation street tape series, this initiative played an instrumental role in unearthing local rapper Kwesta, among other artists.[12]

Coca-Cola, on the other hand, has positioned itself as a brand that believes in collaboration. From the 2000s’ Coca-Cola Popstars talent show to The Collaboration, a 2004 album consisting of collaborative songs by the likes of Thandiswa Mazwai, Karen Zoid, Godessa, Skwatta Kamp and many others, this collaborative spirit has been continued by Coke Studio Africa. This platform, “a convergence of a diverse number of prominent African artists coming together to produce exciting new performances and combine various genres of music from all around Africa”,[13] maintains a popular YouTube channel.

Another recent example is how Castle Lite aligned itself with South African hip hop in the mid-2010s. The beer brand partnered up with Cassper Nyovest for his daring Fill Up The Dome concert in 2016 – and stayed on as a partner for all the subsequent Fill Up concerts. The brand also partnered up with Shane Eagle for his Yellow Tour in 2019, and since 2011 has hosted the Castle Lite Unlocks concert series, bringing US superstars such as Drake, Kanye West, Travis Scott and Nas to headline line-ups featuring numerous South African artists.

Artist-brand partnerships are an extremely valuable revenue stream – though they require a significant social media following in order to entice brands into working with you. Nevertheless, these marketing deals may help musicians make money from their social capital and extensive fan bases. What’s advisable for artists looking to form brand partnerships is to maintain a clean image by shying away from controversy and remaining authentic. Brands are quick to dissociate themselves with artists who are surrounded by bad press and controversy.[14]

Video: A Sprite commercial featuring Drake. 

Resources and citations

• [1] Ansell, G. (2020). “Nearly half of South Africa’s live music workers may quit the industry for good”. The Conversation. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://theconversation.com/nearly-half-of-south-africas-live-music-workers-may-quit-the-industry-for-good-151484 
• [2] Ward, R. (2021). “How influencer marketing thrived during the pandemic”. WARC. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/how-influencer-marketing-thrived-during-the-pandemic/en-gb/4304 
• [3] Hall, S.B. (2020). “This is how COVID-19 is affecting the music industry.” World Economic Forum. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-music-industry/ 
• [4] Original interview for Music In Africa with Lebo Kgothadi, Senior Brand Partnerships and Sync Manager at UMG: November 20, 2021
• [5] Mkhabela, S. (2020). “Here’s Everything You Need to Know About AKA and Reebok’s Upcoming Sneaker Collaboration”. Okay Africa. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.okayafrica.com/aka-x-reebok-collaboration-the-sneaka/ 
• [6] Peyana, A. (2019). “The Big Hash Opens Up About His Collaboration With Adidas!”. SA Hip Hop Mag. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://sahiphopmag.co.za/2019/11/the-big-hash-opens-up-about-his-collaboration-with-adidas/ 
• [7] Adcomm. (2017). “Khuli Chana broadens Absolut partnership with One Source Live - a festival of African creativity”. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://adcomm.co.za/khuli-chana-broadens-absolut-partnership-with-one-source-live-a-festival-of-african-creativity/ 
• [8] Interview with Lebo Kgothadi. Ibid.
• [9] IOL. (2020). “Reebok responds to AKA's claim of non-payment for SneAKA collab”. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.iol.co.za/entertainment/celebrity-news/exclusive-reebok-responds-to-akas-claim-of-non-payment-for-sneaka-collab-47923763 
• [10] Interview with Lebo Kgothadi. Ibid.
• [11] Ibid.
• [12] Reverb Nation. (2022). “Kwesta - About this artist”. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_bio/artist_676066 
• [13] Coke Studio Africa. (2022). “About”. YouTube. Accessed on January 13, 2022: https://www.youtube.com/c/cokestudioAfrica/about 
• [14] Interview with Lebo Kgothadi. Ibid. 

This article is part of the Revenue Streams for African Musicians project, supported by UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity in the framework of the UNESCO 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the Siemens Cents4Sense programme, Siemens Stiftung, Goethe-Institut, the National Arts Council of South Africa and Kaya FM. 

Editing by David Cornwell and Kalin Pashaliev