Ghanaian rapper, Sarkodie is arguably one of Africa’s finest music brands. Aside his musical prowess which can be said to have helped him attain his current standing as one of the best music artistes we can attribute his dominance, relevance and success to a carefully crafted yet tremendously appealing brand.
One name that keeps popping up whenever the conversation of branding comes up in the Ghanaian music and entertainment scenes is Sarkodie, which largely signifies he is doing something right. Just like in business, people have their preferences as to which brands they want to associate with, which brand appeals to them, which brand they want to patronize and which brand aligns with their personal values and needs. But a combination of strategic efforts puts a brand on the right path to get their target audience to fall in love with them and that is exactly what has earned Sarkodie the ‘King of Branding’ title in Ghana music like he occasionally drops in his songs “…the brand is solidified…”.
We put together a few tips small businesses can pick from Sarkodie’s branding book to help them grow their brand as Sarkodie has done over the last few years.
Collaborations and partnerships:
Sarkodie is arguably the artiste the most features in the last decade, featured other talents and been featured. Strategic collaborations has helped him penetrate the Nigerian scenes, which is largely speculated to be difficult to penetrate by artistes of other countries. He is also one of a few Ghanaian artistes with huge international appeal and presence, and this can be attributed to collaborations with international artistes, producers and music industry players. Collaborating with the new breed of artistes has increased his appeal to the younger generation who did not grow up listening to him, consequently causing him to stay relevant no matter how many new acts come into the scene.
Furthermore, most of Sarkodie’s songs with the highest views and listens on platforms streaming platforms such as YouTube and Spotify are songs he featured other artistes on.
Having a mutually beneficial partnership with other brands of similar values and objectives as yours helps your brand tap into a new set of audience for higher reach, increases your brand visibility and appeal and enhance the perception of your brand. If your marketing strategy is starting to look a little stale, a brand partnership could be the perfect solution to liven things up. Customers love to see new products and offers, so collaborating with another brand can re-energize your customer base and reward them for their loyalty.
Consistency:
Show up every day! For over a decade Sarkodie has consistently fed us with good music, releasing at least 10 songs coupled with good music videos each year. Not only that, he has at least one hit song every year since 2009.
From his first album releases in 2009, he has consistently released an album every two years having released Makye (2009), Rapperholic (2011), Sarkology (2013), Mary (2015), Highest (2017) and most recently Alpha EP and BlackLove (2019).
Success requires consistency, and for your brand to go you need to be very consistent with everything that affects your brand’s growth. Brand and marketing consistency helps to build awareness that allows the customer to easily and immediately recognize your brand. Consistently engaging with your audience on social media and all other communications channels is a sure way to make them know of your brand and get others to notice you.
Not only should you be consistent with your social media content but also with your service delivery. A consistent and great service delivery will turn your customers into evangelists of your brand and bestow your brand with a reputation of good service delivery.
Loyal Audience/Fan base:
No doubt, Sarkodie’s success in music can be partly attributed to his large following on social media and loyal fan base. The fan base of artistes, over the years, has played instrumental roles in championing the artistes’ image and songs. They also help in making musicians or entertainment personalities relevant.
Sarkodie’s has accumulated a loyal following from ground up who believe in him and his craft, stream his songs, promote his songs ad brand generally at their own will. They eagerly want to see the brand at the top and by association with the Sarkodie brand; they feel very special and part of a community.
This comes to enforce the saying “get them to fall in love with your brand and they will buy whatever you sell. This statement is true for big brands such as Apple and Nike who have won their people’s hearts, people who patronize whatever products they bring to the market and go every extent to promote and defend the brand.
In order to truly establish audience loyalty, you need to take responsibility for your brand. There is something in the way you communicate and engage that makes people want to keep associating with a follow your brand, for that they will keep coming back. Once you get them to fall in love with your brand, they will buy anything you sell and get others to patronize you as well.
Storytelling:
Stories are scientifically proven to get a person’s attention. By using storytelling in his music, Sarkodie has been able to link what he stands for to the values he shares with his listeners. From talking about his hustle and journey in his songs, and music themes that focus on issues that concern his audience such as politics, socio-economic, family and relationships and a host of other themes, he is able to bring his audience into his world. He also tells backstories of his music making process, general routine, behind the scenes and real stories from his fans, producers, co-artistes, his team and other people he works with. He also keeps reinforcing why he does music and how his fans are at the core of every music he makes, ‘will they love this’?
You can have a great product, but a compelling story puts the company into motion. The best way to reach a customer who is deciding what and when she will buy is to stop pushing your products so hard and focus more on why your business exists at all. When you tell this story and explain your values, you will engage the customers who share your values. When you find the people who share your values, there is a much better chance they will stay loyal to you. Create compelling content they can relate to; more specifically, create a story that your company and consumers can both benefit from. If you share a story consumers can instantly relate to, they will take the time to listen to your message and learn about the benefits of using your brand.
Appearance:
Brand is everything, and Sarkodie knows that. After becoming mainstream, he has put deliberate effort into making sure he appears appealing enough. Sarkodie has surrounded himself with a team of professionals including stylists, beauticians and photographers so he always appears his best. The appearance of an artist is like icing on the top of a cake. It can heavily influence people’s perception of how good the cake or musical quality might be. Though it does not directly determine how good he is as a musician, it makes people want to pay attention to his music and take him serious. It makes him appeal to varied sections of music lovers as well as corporate brands who would want to partner with him or even enter into an ambassadorial deal with him because he appeals to their audience as well.
For businesses, appearance is not limited to having a good logo or color scheme only. The way an organization goes about their business, how others perceive them and the way they speak to consumers is all tied to their brand appearance. To ensure your brand appearance is reinforced correctly, each contact with consumers needs to be consistent and appropriate. For brands, a book is judged by its cover. A good and appealing appearance is what attracts people to notice you, take you serious and subsequently do business with you and makes it easier for customers to recognize their favorite products and remain loyal, whether they are on social media, shopping in a brick-and-mortar store, or perusing Amazon. Cohesive brand appearance shows that your company is stable and trustworthy.
