Earlier this year, Orange Cameroon surpassed MTN to become the telecom network with the highest number of active subscribers. It would be interesting to know more details about the kinds of subscribers each company has but this is not the country where such information is easily found.
One big difference between MTN and Orange has been in their approach to marketing. MTN has always been more aggressive and widespread with its marketing, over time, building a reputation of the common man’s network while Orange on the other hand has historically been more subtle with marketing strategies that seemed to cater to a more sophisticated or should I say elite customer base. Orange also has been a bigger player in business to business markets with big clients like The U.S Embassy.
In every major city, MTN billboards and other signage have become integral parts of the cityscape. MTN has always been on top of Orange when it comes to both ATL and BTL marketing strategies and tactics.
Above The Line (ATL) advertising is where mass media is used to promote brands and reach out to the target consumers. These include conventional media as we know it, television and radio advertising as well as print. This is communication that is targeted to a wider spread of audience, and is not specific to individual consumers. ATL advertising tries to reach out to the mass.
Below-the-line advertising is an advertising strategy in which a product is promoted in mediums other than radio, television, billboards, print and film. Types of below-the-line advertising commonly include direct mail campaigns, trade shows and catalogs.
Things like the famous MTN ifest will fall under BTL marketing, as does The recent Show by Orange which was specifically for the promotion of new their new data bundles. The greatest irony of all was the fact that you couldn’t even access the internet from the venue. How counter intuitive?
In the past, when you hear of major concerts in Cameroon, both stand alone, and part of events like trade fairs and university games, it has always been MTN doing the heavy lifting in the telecom sector. Orange is now trying to take it from where MTN left off (as it may seem) as concerns event based BTL marketing. Salatiel was recently in Maroua for the university games. Locko and Ko-c were also recently in Dschang all brought to us by Orange Cameroon and in promotion of new Orange services like Orange Pulse which is basically a community networking and informational portal for students.
All the above might not have been necessary for the article but I just thought I steal the opportunity to talk about some marketing stuff.
Any-Ha!
Back to the show.
Generally, we have come a long way in Cameroon when it comes to the organization of concert events. We are still quite far from what one would consider a world class standard. Sometimes in Cameroon, it is hard to tell when the problem is the lack of true professionals over when things just don’t work because people take their personal interests and politicking and put them over the need for things to be done right.
Once again, The Show by Orange reminded us that end end up on top of decision making around musical events do not know very much about the concert experience. I have hardly ever enjoyed a concert in Cameroon. Not because I don’t like the artists or their music but mostly because the whole concert experience is lacking. We have issues like incessant insistence on playback performance by artists, poor song programming, poor sound, poor lighting, and a general absence of auxiliary activities and/ props that add more to the whole concert experience.
A. ON SOUND
The sound at the venue was so poor and that is easily the single reason why many concerts here will get a negative review. The problem is, even the people giving the negative reviews at times will just say it or the artist was boring without knowing exactly what caused them to end up with that feeling. I had an interesting observation which I shared with my friends at the concert. The crowd was always excited when every song was about to start but less than 10 seconds into the performance, it would seem it was not the song they expected to hear. I remember the crowd asking Magasco for SOKOTO and then when it came up, everybody was silent.
Which reminds me of Yao Ba, the famous greek owned cabaret in Bastos, Yaounde. When they wanted to install the sound system, they were introduced to a guy, Moto -who happens to be one of the few professionally trained sound engineers in Cameroon with more than 3 decades of work experience. The guys wanted to be cheap and wouldn’t pay what he asked. They went out and got Jovi to do the work and Jovi, who in my opinion is one of the best sound engineers we have in Urban Music, was unable to produce satisfactory results. Of course they ended up going back to Moto who now had to charge them more for their stupidity. Till date, I have only had a good concert sound experience in Cameroon when the sound was done by Moto. I am telling this story to show you not only how important good sound is for a satisfactory concert experience but also how hard it is to get it done right - consequently making a case for the need to use those who can do it well.
Back to The Show by Orange. The acoustics at the venue gets at best a 3/10 for me, the 3 points just for the fact that sound actually came out of the speakers. 10 meters from the stage and you couldn’t even feel the bass. If you know anything about music, you would know one of the often underemphasized sounds in music is the bass. Even though it is not played on its own, a bass instrument is fundamental to any musical performance.Try listening to music without bass and one with it and you’ll notice the difference. For more clarity, if you have a sound system, you will notice that the music is complete when the bass is enhanced and sounds hollow without it.
Research has been carried out to find out what role bass plays in music and how it should be appreciated. Studies show that there is a range of frequencies within which human beings discern sounds. Below this range, we are not able to clearly distinguish the sounds produced. The only way we are able to discern them is through our other senses – not by hearing. Another interesting fact about low pitched sounds is that even deaf people can discern them. This is because they aren’t perceived through the ears. I can go into more details but this is not a crash course in sound engineering. I’m sure you get the point I’m trying to make here about the importance of good acoustics in delivering a awesome concert experience.
Still on SOUND:
It is sad enough that most of the artists performed fully on playback but that even basic mixing effects that should have been done live we don pre is a no no. There is a often used effect where high frequencies are EQ’d out which usually removes the vocals from a track, giving the crowd and opportunity to chime in. You can’t just assume when the crowd will be feeling the vibrations enough to come in for the artist. For the effect to be effective, the DJ has to be the one doing the reading. If not you will end up with something like what Magasco’s entire performance was - hollow; too many seconds interspersed throughout the performance when neither the beat, nor the artist, nor the crowd was saying anything - really awkward moments.
Added to the fact that most of our urban artists are still working with mix engineers that are still learning, it was a sonic impasse.
ON THE ARTISTS
I have already touched on the artists a little bit above but I want to go a little bit more specific about the performances I watched.
STANLEY ENOW:
We all know he is probably going to go down in history as one of Cameroon’s finest showmen but his performance was all over the place. Stanley Started his performance with the best entrance I have seen in Cameroon and I dare say ever. It was right up there. I was mesmerized and it is really hard to get me there. Then he over did it and spoiled everything for everyone. I mean, we have vibed to his songs, sampled from our catalog of nursery rhymes but no national anthem bro. This is not the occasion. You can make it an occasion but he didn’t. It could have been an opportunity to add more light to what Magasco did by telling us what you want for the future of our country because it is the most important topic at this time. He could say with his important voice that he stands for a united Cameroon and for that we should sing the national anthem but then again that would still not be the right move because the national anthem in English is different from the one in French. That’s why I say he should’ve left the anthem alone. This wasn’t my opinion alone by the way. The moment was awkward for everyone around me.
MAGASCO:
Magasco had the worst performance I watched. His sound was so poor and he sang like he still needs to practice. I have seen him perform three times. He has the interaction and movements all right but he not sounding nice on the mic. I saw how the crowd wanted to love him more but it was just not giving, I think, to the level that they have placed him in their minds.
The brighter moment of his performance was when he got the crowd to send a message to our ‘leaders’ asking them to find a solution for the current crises we face in the country. That was before he performed his soulful tune ’Zamba.’ His performance of this sing also revealed another thing I’ll talk about later.
TENOR:
Tenor seemed to make one forget about the sound problem. His show was less singing and much show of his energy brand. I would say many artists should learn from him but most are too old and you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. I think all the young artists need to watch him - I did not copy.
The most engaging moment of his performance was when he performed LVMH. We need to pause here and rethink what we think about the place of Hip Hop in our urban culture.
MAAHLOX:
Maahlox came on stage with a broken voice and did his best to go through with it but it wasn’t going for me. He was the last act and I wasn’t staying for that.
ON THE PEOPLE
It was a full house but from what I saw that got put into marketing the event, I would have expected a larger crowd. I don’t think Orange used the show as a direct means of making profit so it would be wise for independent show organizers not to use this show a reference for making plans for their own shows. 2k for a 3000 capacity venue equates to 6 brick which I don’t think is financially feasible for such a show if organized by an independent body for profit making. Organizers like those behind the Douala Hip Hop Festival can learn a thing or two about price sensitivity here.
Nonetheless, there were very many moments that showed you people really want to go out there and enjoy such concerts but there are a couple of factors that hold them back from going or when they go, hold them back from enjoying themselves.
Of course things like the poor sound make it hard for people to enjoy. When the sound is hollow and people can’t feel the vibrations of the music, they are less likely to be active. they’ll just stand and fold their arms.
Another interesting observation I made was that people were not all just interested in mindless, numb and hype music. Magasco’s most touching moment during his performance was when he did ‘Zamba.’ That’s a song I have never heard playing anywhere but people seemed touched by its soulfulness.
ON THE COMPLETE EXPERIENCE
There are many things that go into creating a memorable concert experience and many of them were not taken into consideration here.
First of all, with a venue that large, they could have employed the two LED screens flanking the stage alternatively. Those screens were not being used as part of the stage design and could have been placed further back from the stage to bring the people there closer to what was happening on the stage. Instead they had the video showing to the people who had the best view already - stupid.
Good concert organizers know that they have to transport people psychological from their homes and make them present fully at the event. That is usually done in many ways some of which could be as simple as distributing glow sticks, glow bracelets, and glow neck rings. Stuff like these add to the experience and makes people psychological get a feeling of this does not happen everyday so let me go all in on this one. These glowing props can then be integrated into the show - maybe an artist performing with just a spotlight and the effect of 3000 glow sticks could be a memorable one.
Then there was no merchandise - do I still have to explain how important this could have been for the organizers and more so even the artists? Not to talk about the idea of creating a culture around concert going.
CONCLUSION
Orange gets a 4/10 for this one. They could do so much better. I hope the turn up to the event gives them the courage to do more next time. A for effort though.
- Tino Foy