Sony exec hails Wizkid’s ‘unreal’ star power

In an interview with Music Week on Wednesday to discuss the triumph of 4th Floor Creative’s Wizkid-Tommy Hilfiger Pass the Mic advertising campaign at the 2022 Music Week Awards in the UK, Omoregie described the artist’s status as “unreal”.

Sony Music won the Music and Brand Partnership category at last month’s awards after involving Wizkid in a Tommy Hilfiger ad campaign in September last year. Apart from the traditional marketing features, the promotion also adopted a live in-store event with the singer and designer in London, as well as an outdoor campaign in New York, Paris and London that coincided with the artist’s sold-out 2021 O2 Arena dates in November.

Reflecting on the win, Omoregie attributed a huge part of the success to Wizkid’s role in the campaign.

“Wizkid is such a significant artist for us as well, given the fact that Afrobeats has crossed borders and boundaries. This has been its time, so it’s been amazing,” she told the publication.

“We worked with an artist who has created such a significant imprint across Africa, but then also globally. I think Wizkid’s profile and scale over the past year has been unreal. So to have someone like Tommy Hilfiger partner with an African artist has been so important for us. I think that’s why it won, because it’s two big giants in fashion and music coming together.”

The exec said the achievement proved that brand partnerships had expanded in recent years to embrace new genres and artists.

“If brands want to partner with real cultural storytellers and people who have impact, musicians offer that across different genres and different cultures. That's why this whole sphere has opened up even more,” Omoregie said.