From Endorsements to Equity: The Urgent Case for African Brands to Co-Create with Artists

The Missed Opportunity

Scroll through African brand campaigns and you’ll see the same pattern: A hot artist is announced as a “brand ambassador,” a flurry of social posts and billboards follow, and within three months the hype fades — replaced by the next “ambassador.”
Meanwhile, in global markets, artists are co-creating products, co-owning sub-brands, and building businesses with corporations. Rihanna’s Fenty partnership with LVMH and Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack collaborations with Nike and McDonald’s aren’t endorsements — they’re equity partnerships.

The result? Cultural products that feel authentic, live longer than a campaign, and create mutual value.

Why African Brands Stick to Short-Term Endorsements

The reasons go beyond “we didn’t think of it.” They’re structural:

1. Risk Aversion & Legacy Mindset
   Corporate teams are used to controlling every pixel of brand output. Co-ownership means giving artists creative freedom, and that scares boardrooms.
2. Budget Cycles & Procurement Rules
   Marketing budgets in Africa are typically annual, with tight procurement controls. Multi-year co-creation projects are hard to justify to Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) looking for quarterly Returns On Investments(ROI). Government procurement guidelines reinforce short-termism.
3. Short-Term Sales Pressure
   Many Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) categories face razor-thin margins. The pressure is to deliver “spikes” — short, loud campaigns — rather than investing in cultural assets. South Africa’s FMCG trends show this clearly.
4. No Intellectual Property (IP) Strategy
   Endorsements are treated like media buys, not IP plays. Few brands bring their legal or IP teams into the conversation early enough to structure shared ownership. Africa’s fragmented IP systems make this even harder.
5. Talent Management Gaps
   Brands often outsource artist relationships to agencies, resulting in transactional deals instead of building trust and shared vision. Talent gaps in Africa are a major business obstacle.

The Rise of Influencer-Led Challenger Brands

Globally — and increasingly in Africa — artists are skipping the middleman and launching their own products:
• Burna Boy Energy Drink (hypothetical… but not for long)
• Uncle Waffles’ festival merch line
• Sho Madjozi’s kids’ culture brand

Every time a consumer buys these, your brand gains cultural relevance and potential revenue.

What Deep Artist-Brand Co-Creation Looks Like

Instead of: “Artist X drinks our soda”
Think: “Artist X co-creates the soda, owns part of it, and builds a scene around it.”

Example Models:
• Co-Created Products → Limited-edition flavour, scent, or packaging designed with the artist’s style.
• Shared IP & Revenue → Artist gets a percentage of profits or royalties — incentivising them to market the product far beyond campaign windows.
• Ecosystem Activation → Artist-led events, pop-ups, or content where the product is naturally part of the experience.
• Cultural Sub-Brands → Entirely new product lines co-owned by artist and brand — e.g. Heineken x Amapiano DJ launching a signature party beer.

Why This Is Strategic

• Mutual Skin in the Game → Artists market harder when they have ownership.
• Deeper Cultural Embed → Products become part of music, nightlife, and fashion scenes — creating defensible cultural territory.
• IP as an Asset → Instead of renting attention, the brand co-owns a cultural product with long-term earning potential.

The Play for African Brands

If Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands want to thrive in the next decade, they must shift from endorsement spend to equity investment in culture.
That means:

1. Identifying artists whose cultural capital aligns with your brand’s positioning.
2. Structuring multi-year, shared-IP deals.
3. Integrating product development with the artist’s creative process.
4. Measuring both cultural equity and sales uplift — not just impressions.

Music, as Pharrell said, is “the master key that unlocks the soul.” In Africa, it’s also the key to market share. The brands that unlock it with artists — not just through them — will own the future.