The Nigerian movie industry “Nollywood” – a nearly perfect marketing case study

Abstract

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 – Nollywo...