A young University of Lagos (UNILAG) undergraduate and two others have recently emerged winners of the online vocal challenge, the Shaltoux Lozenges’ ‘My Voice, My Identity’, an initiative of a leading pharmaceutical company, Shalina Healthcare.
The contest, which was organised for budding musicians and music enthusiasts to showcase their unique voices and win exciting prizes ran for four weeks where every contestant created a freestyle 30 to 60-second-video, followed by Shalina Healthcare’s social media handles and invited friends to follow.
At the end of the day, eight finalists emerged for the grand finale from the pool of hundreds of entries which were judged based on their video’s creativity and tractions, as well as voice quality, creative rendition and number of engagements. Featuring of packs of Shaltoux Lozenges or creative use of the product in the short video was also considered as an added advantage.
At the grand finale held at the company's corporate head office in Lagos, Oluwatimilehin Fadimimu Fortune, an undergraduate of UNILAG became the winner and went home with a sum of five hundred thousand naira, while Aniete Akpabot and Otobong Bennet emerged as the first and second runner up, winning three hundred thousand naira and two hundred thousand naira respectfully.
Meanwhile, during the contest, there were also weekly prizes, which included one hundred thousand naira each for two weekly winners in the four weeks and fifty thousand naira each for five runners up weekly for the four weeks of the online vocal challenge, as well as consolation prizes and lots of branded items.
Speaking at the programme, Pharm. Folorunsho Alaran, head, Corporate Marketing, said the company is proud of the product, Shaltoux Lozenges and also proud to connect the product with its consumers in a very resourceful way.
“We are proud to have a product that restores identity which is your voice. We are proud to have a product made of natural ingredients to take care of your voice. And we are proud that with the product we are touching Nigerians in many positive ways. With this contest, we have brought out hidden talents in many Nigerians which we are rewarding them today” He said.
Also speaking at the event, the company's Head of Business (Pharma) West Africa, Arum Raj said: “Shalina is not just here for business, but also capacity building, development of the pharmaceutical industry as well as bringing the best out of its consumers, saying the company is employing different ways to touch the lives of the people.
In the same vein, Sandeep Sahu, head , brand marketing of the company who also spoke at the event said the company is positioned to “provide quality medicine that is affordable and available all over Africa.
“We are in over 15 countries in Africa and we have over 350 products in 12 therapeutic categories. Shaltoux Lozenges is one of them”.
Speaking on the concept behind the online vocal challenge, the company's consumer brand manager, Oluwabusayo John said; “Shalina came about the vocal challenge taking into consideration two things that unite Nigerians- sports and music. “Music is one aspect of life that connects Nigerians and when you have a product like this, you should connect with music to resourcefully connect with a good number of your consumers. Every popular musician is identified by his or her voice. And it is a thing of joy that people across Nigeria, far and wide keyed into it and participated.”
Beaming with a smile after receiving the Grand Prize, the grand winner of the vocal challenge, Oluwatimilehin Fadimimu Fortune, who was visibly elated, thanked Shalina Healthcare for giving him the opportunity. According to him; “this is unprecedented in my life and I would continue to cherish the experience.”
In their respective remarks, the host of the vocal challenge, a Nigerian video jockey and television presenter, Adams Adebola popularly known as VJ Adams and one of the judges of the contest, Iloose ‘Ilowitdflo' Omohinmin, a media personality, TV presenter and On-Air Personality, appreciated the company for the opportunity given to them.
According to Adams; “it's an honour to do it with Shalina. It is a great privilege. And I must say that Shalina is not selfish, some companies are just concerned about selling, but Shalina is discovering and rewarding talents, as well as developing and giving back to the people.”
Remarkably, the concept which has the highly experienced team of 3Ps primal productions and promotions headed by cerebral Prince Adeyemi Aseperi- Shonibare as part of its development and execution teams are centred on objectives that sought to connect the products to its loyal consumers’ lifestyle and aspirations.
Meanwhile, one of the highlights of the event was the celebration of the memories of Lanre Fasasi, a former Nigerian musician and music producer, popularly known by his stage name, Sound Sultan. Until his death earlier this year, he was the initial host of the contest which was earlier billed to run from February to April 2021. To cap the celebration of his memories, a one minute silence was held in his honour.
 undergraduate and two others have recently emerged of the online vocal challenge, the Shaltoux Lozenges’){kind=link}