First off, what is a publicity stunt? This is a staged public event or incident meant to generate public interest and awareness. They can also be called PR stunts. In most other countries the actual question would be, ‘do publicity stunts still work’? This is because in other countries they have been a norm for years. Some of the most popular feuds between musicians have been said to have been publicity stunts. I recall growing up hearing that the feud between Nas and Jay Z was just a publicity stunt. If so, the idea was to create enough buzz for people to follow and buy both artists’ music. You see, that is the usual catch in publicity stunts – making money. In essence, you get taken for a ride whilst someone or some people make money in the process. Does this work in Zimbabwe though?
Enzo Ishall’s Retirement From Music – A Publicity Stunt?
Lately, this has been a subject of debate on social media. About a month or so ago, Enzo Ishall revealed that he would be quitting music. In his own words, he said, ‘I have decided to quit music and focus on my family and businesses. I have done enough in the music industry; it is time for me to enjoy life with my family. He was also hosted by KVG on Star FM where he seemed to be quite unwell, emotionally whilst discussing the subject. It was a huge social media discussion with most people feeling very sympathetic towards him. Some felt he was facing financial challenges from music not being lucrative. Some felt maybe it was some deep issue that he could not disclose.
He then went on to release a song called Ehee which was uploaded on YouTube. He said that was going to be his last song. A few days ago, the song surpassed 1 million views, in just about a month. Shortly after his retirement announcement, President E.D. Mnangagwa’s sons set up a paintball arena for Enzo. Interestingly, a couple of days ago Enzo released a song called Zuva Risingasvike. The song was uploaded about a week ago and now has over 250 000 views. This came as a surprise for someone who had said he was retiring from music.
Here is what he recently said regarding this song release: ‘I am just fulfilling some obligations with my fans, not that I am back in the studio and that music is my full-time profession, not it is not, I am now centred on business and I am happy that I am financially and mentally stable. I thank those who helped me.
All of this is just barely a month after he said he was quitting music. This is still a huge debate on social media and if it was all a publicity stunt it was well played. Many people strongly believe it was a publicity stunt. The thing is; it is really hard to tell whether or not it was. On one side he really might have been going through some stuff. On one side he could have taken all of us for a ride and looking at the outcome, it worked like a charm.
Zimdancehall Musician Ndunge Yut Goes ‘Insane’
If you are an avid user of social media you might have come across a video of Ndunge Yut recently. The video was of him behaving like a mad man, even smashing the windscreen of a nearby vehicle. Social media was awash with people saying Ndunge Yut is now running mad. People gave all sorts of possible reasons why he was now running mad.
Some did dispute it all and say that the video was all fake and staged. The truth finally came out today; a song by Ndunge Yut featuring the late Souljah Love has just been released. The song has a part where it says ‘all those saying I am mad you are the ones who are mad’ – I translated it into English. The title of the song is Vanoti Ndinopenga i.e. ‘they say I am insane. So it is clear that the video was all just a publicity stunt.
This shows us that Zimbabwean music artists are leaning more on publicity stunts. Is it a good idea though? Let us look at some important things:
Some Things To Consider
Public stunts can work but not always – it is a risky terrain to navigate. This is because the opposite can happen; you can end up falling out of favour with your fan base. There are 3 things that I consider to be central to coming up with good publicity stunts. These are Positive Perception, Brand Alignment, and Value Alignment.
Positive Perception – people are supposed to perceive the public stunt positively.
Brand Alignment – the publicity stunt must align with your brand identity.
Value Alignment – it must also align with your values.
Remember, people follow you because they have a positive perception of you, love your brand and what you stand for (i.e. your values). If your publicity stunts are far-removed from that, you might have problems. With that said, I would say if what Enzo Ishall did was a publicity stunt that was a slippery road. Especially in a place like Zimbabwe where publicity stunts are atypical, it is a huge risk. It might have probably paid off for now but we are not sure how things will pan out. One thing I know is that Zimbabweans do not like to be taken for a ride. They can punish you dearly for that in the future. The Ndunge Yut publicity stunt was somewhat a safer bet in my opinion.
So what is your take on this subject? Did Enzo stage an elaborate publicity stunt? Is it a good idea to do publicity stunts in Zimbabwe? It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
