Differentiate or Die: The story of Omawumi Magbele

Few weeks ago I was with my BFF as he lamented the poor performance of Nigerian artistes at Basketmouth’s latest show held in London in August. He was particularly angry that he’d bought a ticket to watch Nigerian Artistes lip-sync at that event. For a Britico like him, it was big deal, for a Nigerian like me who’s seen this over and over again, it wasn’t. Although I shrugged it off, it doesn’t make it right. On the contrary, it is very sad that we have so many artistes who are acclaimed to have gone ‘international’, go on tours yet perform over a playback CD and get paid handsomely. It is simply criminal!

I do take a moment to however recognise several other great talents like Omawumi Magbele, Asa, Dare Art Alade, Timi Dakolo and others who are true artistes and clearly belong to a different league because they learnt the ropes. Today’s post celebrates Omawumi Magbele, a true artiste who knows what it is to perform with the full complement of a band. A proudly Nigerian artiste whose concert tickets are their money’s worth.

I have followed her right from her audition at West African Idol about five years ago, and as marketing people say, Omawumi was top-of-my-mind after the audition because she sang my favourite of Christiana Aguilera’s songs - Infatuation. Thereafter, she put up a great show and emerged second place at the Idols competition. After her launch to stardom, I had my first physical encounter with her at a Malta Guinness launch event. She had done a theme song for the brand and performed it at that event. Her voice was strong and she sounded even better than she did on TV. Her stage presence was also superb.

As a young marketing executive several years ago, I read an article titled: Differentiate or die. The gist of the article was the need to clearly standout and carve a niche as a business. Omawumi has done just that with her music.

From her first single ‘In the Music’ with a beat which had a South African tinge, Omawumi has continued to up the ante. But what has struck me most about her in recent times is her ability to make the ordinary the extraordinary, and her decision to sing in Pidgin English without any apologies. Call it her strategy; it is certainly paying-off. She’s entertaining but beneath it all, she communicates a distinct message.

Talking about turning the ordinary to the extraordinary, “If you ask me…” is an ordinary phase but Omawumi has made a hit track of it; Bottom belle I’m told is a re-make of an old highlife song which connects with our parents, and Kpamurege which she used in that song is a word we played with in primary school…

Like it or not, Pidgin is our unofficial lingua franca. Some people fane ignorance and would rather speak English with a fake British or American accent, but not Omawumi. She has a proudly Nigerian identity and she is not ashamed of it.

 I acknowledge that it is important to speak Queen’s English as it is our official lingua franca and Omawumi certainly does. English makes you a citizen of the world; but Pidgin, makes you a citizen of Nigeria.

No female Nigerian artiste rocks the Ankara like Omawumi, she is proudly from Warri and I celebrate her for flying the proudly Nigerian flag. And guess what, it certainly pays-off to be; it is the best career accelerator in the Nigerian entertainment industry.  If you doubt it ask artistes like Iyanya, Djinee and others whose break didn’t come until they went Pidgin or local.

To succeed in business in Nigeria, remember that it is a game of numbers, and the numbers are at the bottom of the pyramid - the Pidgin English speaking people. Marketers say “KYC” – Know Your Customer. Omawumi certainly knows them.

A salute to GTBank security personnel

Four months ago I tweeted:

“GTBank has lost its value for customer care with long queues, smelling branches, no parking space and security men who can’t direct customers on where to park.”

One word to describe how I felt, IRRITATED!

I was irritated because I had visited a branch at Alausa to use the ATM and the security man said it was okay to park along the road as the car park was full and my car got towed.

According to him, the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) grants a concession on Fridays allowing roadside parking during prayer time because of the traffic to the mosque which is located close to that particular branch. As LASTMA officials are unable to tell who goes into the mosque or bank, I wasn’t at risk of my car getting towed or impounded.

Events however did not pan out in my favour as my car was towed by LASTMA during the few minutes I spent using the ATM. It was quite a horrendous experience because not only was it a Friday at 3.50pm by the time I located the LASTMA office, which meant I couldn’t pay the fine until after the weekend, I was stranded without a car for the weekend and Monday which I had taken off to study ahead of my exam on Tuesday was spent at the bank, the Lagos state secretariat and the LASTMA office, trying to retrieve my car.

However, I have since forgiven the security man whose name or face I cannot remember but have made it a duty not to visit that particular branch anymore. My most recent visit to the bank was last Friday amid the rush toward the public holiday, and I couldn’t but once again appreciate the work those fine gentlemen do.

As I learnt that the first week in October of every year is Customer Service Week globally and dedicated to recognise the efforts of customer service professionals who serve and support customers, I like to salute all GTBank Security men with this post. A lot of people may think customer service week and choose to recognise the efforts of the frontline customer service within the organisation but I choose those behind the scenes whose efforts we take for granted.

For 10 years and counting, I have banked with GTBank and I dare say that they have been consistent. If in all my years of banking with GTBank I have had just one negative experience and the personnel in question was respectful and very apologetic then I believe they are worth celebrating. Afterall, Jesus recommends we forgive 70 x 7 times.

Their security men are polite under the sun or in the rain. They have never asked me for a tip and always manage the mad rush at the bank which has now become commonplace at GTBank branches in the last two-three years. I dare say GTBank has a culture and it hits you right from the experience with the security men through the tellers and so on. They understand the concept of brandingbeing a customer’s total experience with all touch points including security men and not just the bank’s logo.

I really hate the crowd at the bank these days and it could mean one of two things:

1. Positive word of mouth (WOM) has spread about GTBank that virtually everyone now owns an account with GTBank

2. Customer service has declined

But I choose the former because with all the innovation around e-banking, I hardly have a need to visit the bank.

You may wonder why all the fuss but in a country such as Nigeria where good customer service is a privilege or everything is paid for such as someone demanding money because he gave you directions to your destination, or selective treatment at salons in which those you give the higher tips get attended to first, then the comportment of the GTBank security men is big deal.

So to GTBank, I doff my hat in admiration of your ever so comported security personnel.