#New Shout-out App, Amaze seeking to monetize fandom for African celebrities goes live
Amaze, a unique social networking application that connects talents has been launched at an exclusive ceremony in Lagos with some celebrities in attendance such as Don Jazzy, Bisola Aiyeola, Lasisi Elenu, Mimi Onalaja.
The app which offers an innovative structure for celebrities to organize their fandom and leverage it for monetization is sparking excitement within the African creative spectrum.
Amaze pulls together one of the largest pools of talents in one space across music, sports, art, TV and radio, politics, business and religion.
With Amaze, fans can now get closer to their favourite celebrities and get personalized videos and shout-outs for themselves and their loved-ones regardless of the occasion by simply logging on to www.amaze.africa. Amaze eliminates long wait times in celebrity DMs or comment sections and reduces the perennial risk of online scammers.
Other celebrities at the occasion included Mimi Onalaja, Lilo Aderogba, Dorathy Bachor, Sophia Alakija, Lasisi Elenu, Chef Fregz, Lala Akindoju, Kunle Remi, Linda Ejiofor, Ibrahim Suleiman, Koye Kekere-Ekun, Folaremi Agunbiade, Fola David, Biodun Stephens, P.Priime and Magixx.
Amaze which is powered by The Temple Company, a Lagos-based full service talent agency and partners such as I&I VC, Don Jazzy and Bisola among other entities who have thrown their full weight behind the new app.
Speaking at the launch, Ebun Feyisetan, Product Manager, Amaze references Cameo, a popular American app as a solid proof-of-concept which declared a profit of $100 million in gross revenue during the pandemic year 2020, up 4.5 times from the year prior. According to her, Amaze is positioned to scale African talents and make impossible moments possible for their loyal fanbase across the world.
She said, “aside from the revenue opportunities, onboarding talents are also forging a stronger connection with their fans. Three major things are of note: first of all, there's the flexibility of price, talents have the freedom to preset their price and can change same whenever they want to. Secondly, they have control over incoming requests. Talents can determine which requests they want to take or otherwise. Number three, talents can determine their availability. For instance, they can take their platform offline depending on personal schedules. So there's a lot of flexibility, generally in this exciting experience.”
Describing Amaze as a win-win for fans and celebs, Don Jazzy said, “Considering the fact that I know the amount of requests that I get on a daily basis from fans that want a shout-out to wish their loved ones a happy birthday, congratulate them on their exams or wish them good luck on some other things, all these were something I do all the time. Now that we have a platform that can monetize interactions in our fandom, it is all well and good.”
“Fan engagement plays a huge role. For me, everybody knows that I have been somebody that communicates with my fans a lot. So, this should not be any different. Let’s communicate and make some money,” added Mavin Records head-honcho.
