Besides July 1 being the day Neptune’s moon S/204N1 was discovered in 2013 and the world’s first international telephone call was made between St. Stephen and Calais in 1881, it was the day the first and longest running television reality show by Gulder was launched in 2004.
Christopher Okagbue, winner of GUS season 8.
Gulder Ultimate Search (GUS) enters its 11th edition this year with the theme ‘The Mission’ and it is set to continue as a participatory driven show.
Nigerian Breweries (NB) Corporate Affairs Adviser, Kufre Ekanem, said GUS has contributed to youth empowerment, job creation and consumer appreciation in the past 10 years.
Ekanem, who spoke at the unveiling in Lagos, said “today is unique because it is a day that will be recorded in history; it is the day our hunt for men with intellect, determination and guts begins; it is the day that we go all out to empower our youths and reward them for striving for success.”
The brand handlers said the television programme remains a major platform for the Gulder brand.
NB Marketing Manager (Gulder, Legend and Life), Emmanuel Agu, added that “the Gulder brand is experiencing exponential growth year on year. Gulder Ultimate Search is still a platform for the Gulder brand.
“The impact of Gulder Ultimate Search continues to rise and the popularity continues to grow brand equity.”
Agu said GUS has impacted the brand positively, because “whenever you talk to any beer drinking person in Nigeria and ask if the person knows Gulder, even if the individual cannot remember any other thing about the brand, he will recall Gulder Ultimate Search.
“Gulder Ultimate Search has helped grow Gulder’s brand awareness. If the return on investment were not positive, we would not be able to sustain the programme.
“Nigerian Breweries commits a lot of resources to the production of Gulder Ultimate Search and this is only possible because the brand is very profitable.”
He explained that GUS is being hosted this year “because it is still relevant to the lives of our consumers. And that is why we will keep on producing the programme until we get the feedback from the consumers that Gulder Ultimate Search is no longer relevant to them.”
NB Corporate Media and Brand PR Manager, Edem Vindah, disclosed that the deep Aguleri forest in Anambra State will play host to the 11th season of GUS.
“For 28 days starting October 3 to October 30, 2014, we will be entertained by an original Nigerian adventure programme produced to international standards. The daily highlights will be aired on national terrestrial and satellite TV stations,” he said.
“This year’s GUS would be innovative and suspense-filled. There are a lot of things that we are not revealing. We are keeping these secrets because we want you to really pay attention to this year’s edition. These secrets will be unravelled as the show progresses.”
The TV commercial for GUS 11 was also unveiled to the media. It features two past winners, Dominic Mudabai (GUS 4) and Michael Nwachukwu (GUS 5). The commercial depicted them being sent by the Council of Elders to retrieve a long lost object of inestimable value.