Event Marketing and Brand Visibility: A Study of Nigerian Music Festival Sponsors in Lagos

This study examines the relationship between event marketing and brand visibility, using the case of corporate sponsors of Nigerian music festivals in Lagos State, South West Nigeria. Nigerian music festivals including Afrofuture, Detty December events, and several headline concerts have become major brand platforms, attracting significant sponsorship investment from consumer goods companies, financial institutions, and telecommunications firms. Despite the growing commercial significance of event sponsorship in Nigeria, empirical studies assessing its impact on brand visibility remain limited. The study adopts a descriptive survey design, with 290 festival attendees and 20 marketing managers of sponsoring brands participating through separate questionnaires and semi-structured interviews respectively. Attendee data are analysed using descriptive statistics and regression, while sponsor interviews are coded thematically. The study measures brand recall, brand visibility perception, and engagement levels arising from event marketing activities. Preliminary findings suggest that experiential brand activations at festival venues generate significantly higher brand recall than passive signage placements. Sponsors with interactive booths and live engagement strategies achieve superior visibility outcomes. Recommendations address marketing managers, event organisers, and sponsorship strategists on maximising brand returns from Nigerian music festival investments. This study adds to the event marketing and sponsorship effectiveness literature by contributing Nigerian festival-specific empirical evidence. Keywords: event marketing, brand visibility, music festival, sponsorship, Lagos