In this episode of Black Genius, Lanre Aina discusses his life, his ideas on Black liberation, and the importance of messaging in commercial media as well as sports media. As the creator of ATHLST, an African-focused sports entertainment venture, Lanre brings an interesting perspective to sports media and its ability to tell stories the same way cinema does. He highlights that sports media presents a tremendous opportunity to spread positive African stories.
The Africa Cup of Nations is watched by 600 million people globally. People are more likely to know about Jay Jay Okocha the athlete than Genevieve the actress, he says. Sports media can be a great way of telling African stories by switching out the actors with athletes. He explains that our brains cannot tell the difference if we are watching a DIY video, a vlog, or live football–it is all registered as entertainment because we get the same dopamine effect. If we understand that fundamental principle, then it’s all a matter of finding the right opportunity to tell stories that will stick. Sports media is that opportunity because it is such a huge and widely viewed platform.
Stories that stick should be the focal point of the media. Lanre says “This is what the fans and customers really want; emotive stuff, messaging that really touches. It has nothing to do with the production”. He gives this nugget of advice in reference to a Mother’s Day commercial his company Content Garage produced for Bailey’s in 2015. In the commercial, a Therapist interviews several participants about their relationship with their mothers, while the mothers watch from off set.
The mothers’ reactions to their responses are recorded as well. Lanre recalls mothers who mentioned how they did not know their children thought so highly of them, even though they fought a lot, and all the loving things that went unsaid between them. When everyone reunited, it was a very tearful and emotional moment. When Bailey’s posted the commercial on Facebook, it received 700,000 views in a week and 7,000 re-shares. Lanre says this commercial was the lowest quality production-wise he had done that year, but it was his favorite. It received so much attention because the story and the messaging were very personal.
On Black Liberation, Lanre cites oneness and unity as key components to achieving mutual support of successes for African people and people within the diaspora. When African Americans succeed, he explains, they have an opportunity to come back to Africa, to places like Ghana and Nigeria, and start businesses without the limitations from white America that comes with being Black in the US. “We are not in competition, we complement each other”. Lanre highlights the growing collaboration between Africans and the diaspora in areas such as entertainment, sports, VC funding, technology, and leadership; and how those types of collaborative interactions are needed to build and liberate Africans worldwide.
You can listen to Lanre’s episode or Watch the full video below!