The Nigerian social media was recently inundated with the news surrounding an artiste and His management. We must be careful about what we read in the media (including social media) these days, so I am not narrating this as verified fact, but the news more or less came out in the following sequence:
· i. Artiste
is reported to be dead
· ii. Artiste
is subsequently reported to be not-dead
· iii. Manager-
& record label exec is alleged to have falsified the news of the Artiste’s
death as a publicity stunt
· iv. Co-Artiste
(& Co-Label Owner) apologizes for the false alarm of Artiste’s death; he further informed that the Artiste Manager
& record Label Exec. responsible had been fired.
v. Label
Chairman (who happens to be brother of Co-Artiste is accused by someone-
probably on social media- of attempting to use the Artiste for “Money Ritual” and Co-Artiste decided to clear the air on that as well.
· vi. Label
Producer is alleged by Co-Artiste to have
caused the misinformation leading to the "Money Ritual" accusation; he also said
that the Label Producer was on suspension as he spoke.
·
vii. Artiste
finally speaks- according to reports, he said:
“ This is not the first time this is happening to me. It’s
like a blackout which occurs anytime I’m over excited. It’s happened two times…”
I
had a feeling I should write when I first heard it might have been a publicity
stunt, but this last statement by the artiste was the tipping point for me. So
here are 7 lessons- learned- for Artiste Managers (including record label
owners and artiste promoters)
1. Not
every publicity is good publicity-
Yes; I know you’ve heard that- especially for entertainers- any publicity is
good publicity. You & I both know that this is not true. You don’t. Do I really
need to explain that? I don’t think so. You do? Ok let me try:
In
the past 18 months, the Nigerian entertainment space has provided some controversial
stories about Artistes, which were later alleged and/or claimed to be publicity
stunts.
These
ranged from a popular twin brother group purportedly planning on a split, to a
producer/musician and wife claiming pictures of her face allegedly bruised
& battered by Him was all a stunt- for real?? Maybe it was photo shopped- as
was claimed by the two popular and usually controversial male entertainers
making out in photos. There was also the one where a 23 year old pop singer,
offered her virginity to boko haram members in exchange for the kidnapped
girls.
What
these diverse “publicity stunts” had in common was the public back-lash they
generated. Some of the not-so-nice words used to describe these “stunts”
included “dumb” & “dangerous”…. I
hope that’s clear enough
2. You
do not need to respond to everything:
I have a theory that 8 times out of 10, responding
to rumors only make them more popular and begin to assume the nature of truth, sometimes the response itself then becomes a rumor then we find ourselves
dealing with a whole other issue, than the issue that started it e.g “Money
Ritual”
3. If you need to respond, think your response
through:
let me explain this by using a simple
logical thinking model:
·
Major
Premise: Artistes should be very
excited when they are performing at shows
·
Minor
Premise: Artiste X says He blacks out when He is very excited.
·
Logical
Conclusion: Artiste X should not be performing at shows
Now,
a conclusion can be logical without being valid, but imagine if it was an concert
sponsor or a show promoter coming to the above logical conclusion; Artiste X may
not be getting on their show. L
4.
If you need to respond,
respond with one voice: There
was a lot of communication about the one artiste from different artiste
management sources- no one person be able to communicate unilaterally for the
corporate body, on such a sensitive issue, without a go from the group.
5. If
you need to respond, respond with one message: Nothing kills a brand like
multiple, mixed, inconsistent messaging. Branding is about finding an anchor in
the minds of the brand audience. It is easier to build a brand when people know
THAT ONE THING the brand stands for.
6.
If you need to respond, use
a consistent and competent spokesperson: I
often advise that artistes, should as much as possible, focus on their art, and
minimize engaging with key partners on corporate brand issues. Just as with getting
a good lawyer and finance managers, it is important to engage a good PR
Manager, agree a communication strategy that is consistent with your brand,
then get the hell out of their way at let them do their work.
I
believe some of you may be thinking about the costs, but there are bootstrap
ways of innovating around that challenge- more in subsequent posts.
7. If
you need to respond, be careful about throwing people under the bus: Another
way of saying this is; try not to burn bridges, or I could say; fight all your
personal fights in-house, before coming
to fight your corporate fights out-house … the team is always bigger than the
individuals that make it up; finally Leadership -whether by Manager-ship,
Co-Owner-ship or Chairmanship- should be about taking responsibility, not
hanging out scapegoats to dry, I am not saying that is what happened in this
case, but I hope you get the point.
Meanwhile, while we are on the topic of scape
goats- there’s a question that’s been nagging at my mind, which is:
How do you
suspend a producer? I’m thinking:
No producer, no production; no production, no product; no product, no
packaging; no packaging, no promotions,; no promotions, no purchase… no pay… So
I
ask again: how do you suspend a producer? Answers, anyone? :)
