By The Qoheleth
In the recent time, one of my case studies of local marketing using local content was Bruno Oguzie, the bongo artist. The young man is one of the best marketing strategists in the recent time. He might have done what he did unknowingly, just as many people who initiated many areas of life without knowing so.
The young man is one of the most talented bongo artists in Nigeria today. This feat did not just start one day. On a good day, he will tell his own story. I am not here to tell his story for him but I am using him as a case study on how you can market your skill, product or vision effectively using what is available to you.
When Bruno started his music career, he did not have musical instruments. He didn’t have a bus nor a car. What he had in abundance was his extraordinary talent which he was willing to showcase to anyone who was willing to hear. One strategic tool he efficiently applied was a reversed brand strategy. What this means is instead of promoting very important rich, and notable people around Imo State and Nigeria (I’m quite certain he knew quite a few), he started moderately by promoting his kinsmen and townspeople. I thought it was deliberate. That’s how charity begins at home.
The good thing about this strategy is it promotes the brand and music more than the alternative. Anyone he mentioned in the first album must have distributed it to hundreds of people. This is because in so doing, the person was promoting himself too. Furthermore, he never expected financial benefits from those he mentioned their names in his first outing. He rather expected them to assist him in promoting his music. I knew this because he told me at that period about this. It gave him joy when his music was appreciated.
Bruno, unlike some other Bongo artists who were going into prominence avoided women, alcohol and drugs. His concern was to promote his music and brand. He was not also afraid of failure even when he didn’t get the best from his marketer then. He was patient. One thing I also noticed was that his music was original. He developed a personal brand of music devoid of any copyright. He told me at that period that he had the ability to sustain this originality for a long time. He has kept this.
Udara onye uwa as he is fondly called was aware of the competitive market. He didn’t compete with other bongo artists by showing his connections with notable people neither did he compete with them on his level of financial success. His war head was his brand of music which was unique and was penetrating the market like a hot knife on butter. His level of engagement started from his home town Umuekwune, then Ngor Okpala, Imo sate and then outside the state especially Lagos. Jokingly stating that he went to back to Lagos to pick his bag which he left hurriedly, Bruno, through his friends and relations penetrated the music space in Lagos. I recall when I presented his debut CD to a radio DJ in one of the radio stations in Lagos, the man told me that the artist would go places. Those who came in that year from diaspora fell in love with his brand of bongo music. It became an anthem at events they had in the US, Canada, UK and South Africa. Bruno was one time invited to perform outside the country.
The Umuehieze Umuekwune born talented musician is an entertainer but not a showman. He was loved but not proud. He measured his growth pattern, concentrating on improving on his style of music and increasing his followers’ space. That was why, subsequently he became the favorite bongo artist within Imo state and beyond. Many young musicians have also followed his footsteps in coming to limelight.
From all indications, this is the morning for Bruno’s success. He rode to stardom on the back of Umuekwune people and has showcased the name of his town to the world. He is a brand to be associated with today and has registered his name on the hall of bongo fame. He stated where he picked the palm seed and it has produced a frothing pot of palm wine for him. Bruno is a homemade Ambassador.
