Making reviews of devices was a passion project I felt I had to start, and it took investing my life's savings, having almost zero earnings for around six months, and pitching to companies about what I did. I started making the kind of videos I wanted to watch and that brands could easily partner with. For one of my early reviews I was loaned a smartphone from Tecno, and that video quickly reached over 20,000 viewers at the time.
Many global brands like Apple and Google don't launch their smartphones in Nigeria at all, so we don't get any early review units. We buy them at full price, out of pocket and sometimes at exorbitant amounts, to create informative content that the Nigerian audience can relate to. But companies like Transsion (who make Tecno, Infinix and iTel), Xiaomi, and Samsung prioritize this market with high-end and affordable smartphones. We can get review units from these brands quite early and shape opinions early on.
I don't always have viral videos, but whenever we unbox new gadgets in the silent, ASMR-style, we almost always strike out at the local audience and get viral pretty quickly. Our last video on Meta's AI Smart Glasses had over 27 million views on Instagram just a few days ago, and they cross the 1-million mark frequently. In terms of success, though, connecting with the audience matters more to me. If the video can make them feel something, learn something or feel a change, it's a success.
Collection
[
|
...
]