I must admit this is one article I have hesitated writing since the Canal2’OR ceremony. The timing has never seemed right as the protagonists have found themselves caught in some continuous bad press. Somewhere I feel that I am not exactly helping the situation. But at this rate I will never publish this whereas I kind of feel obliged to because it is about things I have learned and which you may find valuable.
As for what caused the recent bad press, I won’t mention it. Try Kiki. Maybe she carries it.
Any-ha
Around this time last year, I wrote an article about two talented ladies, Muriel Blanche and Marcelle Kuetche. I tried via that article in question, not only to introduce them to the principally Anglophone audience we have here but also to highlight some lessons we could all take home from them and their webseries.
It would seem I spoke too fast, judging how things have turned out. In fact, I wrote that article in March 2018 when Season 2 of their show was starting and basically every lesson I brought in that article pertained to Season 1. And the article is still relevant.
Season 2 however, was lacklustre and lacked the charm and I daresay the funny bone of the first season. Humour can sometimes be subjective and I speak for myself when I say the second season just wasn't it. I stopped waiting for Wednesdays at 3pm when a new episode was released on Yutbe. I know a few people who did too.
What happened to them is a disease that affects many businesses and ventures in Cameroon. Remember how we joke often that when a business opens everyone is nice and customer service is great, but after 6 months things start going awry?
I think with the case of the PAKGNE ladies, a major factor to them losing their magic was the introduction of other celebrities in their sketches in the second season. The writing, and most of the acting suffered from this. I remember watching one of such episodes with a cringe.
Also, they let a lot of their audience into their personal lives and business via social media. And with the internet being the terrible place it is, that did not play in their favour. A number of ill-advised exchanges with some of their followers (with insults traded) led to a good number of these followers ganging up and forming a block to vote against them for the best Webseries category at the Canal2’OR.
I read so many bitter comments right here on Fcbk and I can deduce that most of their audience members felt betrayed and left out because they felt they had made the show popular by sharing and tagging and they could not digest the fact that these same persons that they had helped promote just a year ago could look at them from on high.
And you know what? In a twisted way…they are right.
And I clearly think it all boils down to a lack of focus. I follow the two ladies on social media and I noticed also that a lot of things changed on their social feed when the second season started. It began to be more about the hair, the makeup, the looks, the living la vida cara, and their association with “nos nouveaux amis les celebrites.”
And the repercussions of all of that showed on their work. The creative direction in which the series went in the second season is the evidence of that. My opinion, of course.
The deal they signed with Vox Africa should have helped them to get more help; starting with writers. Even Trevor Noah, a brilliant and seasoned comedian of his stature has people writing for him for the Daily Show. Neal Brennan wrote for Dave Chappelle on “The Chappelle Show.” If you don’t who these guys are, I’ll just let you know that Dave Chappelle was paid $40 million by Netflix in 2017 to do two stand-up specials. In other words, Dave Chappelle was paid $20 million to talk to a crowd of people for an hour. That’s how important other writers are even to the most brilliant of comedians.
And what about their relationship with fans? Muriel Blanche made the terrible mistake after the Canal2’OR ceremony to complain that they had been cheated out of the award. Two thousand comments went under that post. 95% of them were insults. Yep, it was that bad. You can check for yourself. Another indication that they have not learned to surround themselves with other professionals that can help them with handling certain situations.
Talking with a PR professional might have gone a long way here to help her image. Mais helas.
All this reminds me of an article by a writer, Zat Rana. He said there is a usual pattern that is common to every success story. This pattern happens in three steps.
1. A period of proactive consistency 2. A period of growth enabled by critical mass 3. A breakout caused by the intersection of three to four independent but simultaneous factors.
You have to know where you are as person and as a business. Right here at PoiseSocial, we are at Stage One. Judging from the way we have been growing since we started, it may take us another 4 years to get to stage 2. And another 4 years before we get to Stage 3. That will make us a 10-year overnight success.
We could get carried away now and think we have arrived and start acting like we are at Stage 3. And trust me, the number of solicitations we get in our inbox can easily make us feel that way, but we know better than that.
If you asked me, I’d tell you PAKGNE is on Stage 1 too. But do they know that? There lies the question.
Zat Rana wrote “meaningful pursuits often take time and being consistent is one of the biggest advantages you can gain. That said, it’s important to maintain the effectiveness of that consistency. Making it purely habitual and showing up alone isn’t enough.”
All this to say that focus is the key. And delivering consistent quality is important. Sometimes I write an article and shelf it for a week because I think it’s not PoiseSocial worthy. Then I rewrite it after a week with a fresher mind and then publish. And I don’t even get paid for this! Lol.
Until you achieved your breakout result, you have to keep the focus. Nothing should waylay you on your way there.
Muriel and Marcelle are two very talented ladies who have inspired us here at PoiseSocial and I certainly hope they can bounce back from all this and make us laugh once more. I sincerely hope they do and not end up to be what they seem to be right now – just another cautionary tale.
- Wandji Wilfred.
P.S* To those interested, you can read the article we wrote a year ago about the PAKGNE ladies by clicking here; https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1752862561418689&id=1428575063847442
The link to Zat Rana’s article will be in my comment in the comment section.