Ndani is swahili for ‘inside’ and represents the company’s singular proposition, to take you inside Africa. The most fascinating thing is the obvious – knowing that the internet sensation was set up by the Nigerian bank with the most vibrant, youthful customers – GTBank. What originally started as a digital magazine has now morphed into a full-on content vehicle. Somehow; post-2014, banks in Nigeria suddenly realized the importance of content marketing, the increasing rise of internet users and their uptake of technology, and then started creating platforms to reap the benefits. Since it’s launch, NdaniTV has gained traction and has become popular with productions like Frank Donga’s The Interview, The Juice (hosted by Toolz), Skinny Girl in Transit, Lagos Big Boy, Gidi Up, Rumor has it and Ndani Sessions.
In this age of clickbait, everyone in the business just wants to push more content, compromising on quality. While it is easy to attribute the success of the media house to the size of it’s budget, it’s also very fair to note her handful of experienced and talented content creators like Jadesola Osiberu, Abimbola Craig, Onos Overuaye and Toyin Jolapamo. In a country where reaching a wide audience can sometimes be a challenge, social media has provided an effective channel for GTBank and NdaniTV to identify and communicate enhancements and problems, recognizing the unique needs and demographics of their customers. If you pay attention to the stream of Ndani’s content, you’ll see the careful need to juxtapose and link real life experiences in the best presentable ways. So the bone of contention isn’t how NdaniTV is breaking boundaries that mare the average internet user in Nigeria, it’s their constant rush for meaningful targeted media and the rate of engagements championed by mostly millennials. Their leverage of YouTube in a country where data remains a luxury commodity and good content is a mirage is stunning and at the same time; isn’t so much bewildering as it is obvious that a strong YouTube culture is building up across metropolitan Lagos and other suburbs, evident in their current spree of advertising money and the launch of their services in Nigeria, let’s not forget the population size here too and GTBank’s propensity to access them. While many say the bloom is a seek for escape from Nigerian reality by clinging to comedy skits and music videos online, Youtube definitely has numbers to prove it. In 2017 during a visit to Lagos, Google boss Sundar Pichai announced a series of products for the country, including Youtube Go, a platform where users with slow internet can preview and save videos.
While everyone awaits the day of pentecost, or is it the day the internet subscription numbers become real and there’s so much content to feed from, NdaniTV is definitely one of those brands that will lead the internet independence for widespread consumption by Nigerians.
