Let Me Be Your Ears: article

Showing posts with label article. Show all posts

Saturday, October 15, 2022

The Girl Child: “Our Rights Our Future, The time is now!”

Esther Adobea Akuamoah

Although all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; irrespective of gender, age, social status, or religion, the girl child continues to fight for this basic right.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child says that childhood is separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18 years; it is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity, unfortunately, the story of most girls is not like what the convention states. Why then is it so hard for girls to enjoy these basic rights?

Ten years after the institution of the International Day of the Girl Child, girls are still considered to be lesser compared to males in most parts of the world, their rights rarely acknowledged and basic needs sometimes denied. They are exploited and discriminated against simply based on their gender.

Despite initiatives, advocacy, and efforts of girl child activists over the years to increase awareness of girls’ rights and to beseech policymakers and governments to pass and amend laws, the situation seems to be pertinent.

Data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys, the Multi-cluster Indicator Surveys, and the Maternal Health Surveys indicate that Ghana is home to over two million child brides including currently married girls along with women who were first married in childhood. Nine out of 10 of these women do not attend school. How sad can it be that this is still happening in this 21st century?

In Ghana, successive governments, Girl Child activists, Civil Society Organizations, and Non-Governmental organizations have introduced and implemented interventions to eliminate barriers such as child marriage, violence of all kinds, poverty, and lack of access to education that hinder the rights of the girl child, and continue to stall the initiatives and measures being put in place.

One such intervention is the abolishment of cultural practices such as, 'Trokosi' and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which has caused so much damage and wreaked havoc on young girls. Though upholding the rights of the girl child has steadily improved, there need to be more targeted interventions that will reduce gender gaps, and promote and protect the girl child’s rights.

Personally, I believe girl child education is exceedingly important and crucial for the development of a nation. As the former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan once said, “there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women”. To have a society full of empowered women is only when the girl child is educated and empowered.

As we celebrate the 10th year anniversary of International Day of the Girl, let’s raise our collective voices, to promote and protect the rights of the Ghanaian girl child by giving them equal opportunity. Girls’ rights are human rights, the time is now; let us help to secure their future.

By: Esther Adobea Akuamoah (sibaakuamoa35@gmail.com)

About the author

Esther Adobea Akuamoah is a Public Relations Professional, Gender Activist and Sports enthusiast. She holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of Ghana and a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

Let Us Tell Our Stories As PR Professionals

Esther Adobea Akuamoah

On July 16, 2021, World Public Relations Day (WPRD) was launched. The date also marks the birthday of one of the early pioneers, Ivy Lee and honours his contribution to the noble profession.

It is a day dedicated to Public Relations to help in building a unified global agenda towards making the world understand and utilize it better. Often PR is seen as a spin and characterized by a lot of misconceptions and myths. Largely because as PR people we have not told our stories well enough.

For some people, PR professionals are fixers and are therefore called on when there is a crisis and for others, they are spin doctors who can take the truth and use it the other way in your favour. The truth is PR is none of these things stated above. It is time that we start by debunking these myths by educating the public on what PR is. The Public Relations Society of America defines it as a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their public.

As a Public Relations professional telling the stories of organizations and brands thus building trust in the process is one of your many functions. Over the years, brands and organizations have benefited from narratives that Public Relations professionals have told on their behalf yet not much is known about the profession or those who tell these stories. Though not magicians, Public Relations Professionals do shape perceptions and create a positive identity with the audiences they want to reach. This helps them to attract clients, customers, and investors and gives a good understanding of the company’s values, and mission.

The year 2021 marked the first World Public Relations Day (WPRD). Surprising right? I know but that is the reality we face. One would ask how difficult is it for PR professionals to tell their own stories when that is what they do on a daily basis for the brands and organizations they work for and with. Almost every profession in this world has a day set aside to celebrate and tout its contribution to the growth of its sector, society, and the world at large.

READ ALSO: It was a beautiful Dre Day!!!

Why will it take this long for us as professionals to celebrate our practice and its impact on society? It is because we have lost ourselves in telling the stories of others. It is like the mother who refuses to eat because the food can only be enough for her child. In as much as looking out for your child is essential, a mother taking care of herself is equally important because you need to be fit to take care of your child.

Generally, this year’s celebration was a good one with PR agencies, professionals, students, and corporate Ghana celebrating the hard work of the practice and acknowledging how important it is to the growth and sustainability of every organization. Certainly, World Public Relations Day is here to stay and it will always be a day where the hard work of all PR professionals will be celebrated among themselves and around the world.

By: Esther Adobea Akuamoah (sibaakuamoa35@gmail.com)

About the author

Esther Akuamoah is a Public Relations Professional, Event Planner and Sports enthusiast. She holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of Ghana and a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from the Ghana Institute of Journalism.

It was a beautiful Dre Day!!!

When I saw the poster for the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl somewhere last year, the first thing I said to myself was "whoever put this list of artists together must be really really mad."

Today, while I was watching the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, I said to myself again "now this production and set feels just like something Baba Sadiq and his team did last year. Though it also looks like a 'Dr. Dre' celebration', I swear on the two cents in my pocket that every detail was spot on. At a point, Dre himself was mixing the sound and playing the keys. Oh yeah, I mean that is the legendary Dr. Dre, 'god' of good and quality sound, and the one the rest of 'West Coast' call 'the Father of Rap'.

The opening act saw Snoop Dogg and Dre doing a song together. I won't give you plenty of details, watch the video (link provided below) and get the goosebumps some. All I will say about that performance is after Snoop saluted Dr. Dre, "It is the one and only D.R.E. Dr. Dre you lil bastards!!!" you catch the drift?

Oh!!! let me add that whatever Snoop Dogg has been eating, drinking, and smoking, doctors need to study the ingredients and chemical compositions because it appears the guy is just an immortal. Well enough of Snoop.

READ ALSO: Xiaomi Redmi Note 11E 5G Unboxing

50 Cent also took his turn hanging upside-down while he did his 'In da club' song which Dr. Dre produced and co-wrote.

Mary J. Blige took it way down with her 'Family Affair' song which was also produced by the maestro Dr. Dre. She was really 'in the spot' and 'made it feel alright' charley!!!!

Kendrick Lamar literally got out of the box to say 'Nigga!!!, we gon be alright'.

Then came my favorite part when Dr. Dre's musical firstborn, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known to the entire world as Eminem, did his usual entry - appeared from the bottom of the stage doing the song that lets you 'Lose Yourself' in the music. Like fine wine, Slim Shady keeps getting better with age. Well, I had to 'Snapback to reality' cos 'he's dope and he knows that' but 'the clocks run out' all too soon.

And like a son will do to a father to honor him in public or in this case to the rest of the world, Eminem just had to bend the knee to greatness. In response to this humble gesture, Dre took charge of a white piano and played one or two of his legendary songs, and like the boss he is, he ended this short piano performance with his 'Still D.R.E. ' classic before teaming up again with Snoop to do the actual 'Still D.R.E.' song. The entire host of artists joined him on stage.

Though Dr. Dre is grown a lot, he is still ahead of his game and he still got love for the streets.

The 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl was a beautiful Dre Day!!!

By: Nii Ogbamey Tetteh

About author

Nii Ogbamey Tetteh is an Entertainment Pundit and a Communication Specialist who has worked with several brands such as Global Media Alliance, Planet Sports Limited, Noyam African Dance Institute, Daily Guide

Detty December in Ghana: Brands that got it Right

Detty December in Ghana is simply the enjoyment level in Accra every December. It is always that time of the year that the world comes to Ghana.

It is a fine opportunity for the diaspora to connect with their roots - cultural diversity, heritage and “new skuul” lifestyles like pop culture, music and food.

With the elevation of all the tourism value chain elements coupled with Africa being the new market target, many companies are increasingly making their brands relevant to the Gen Z and Millennials.

In no particular order, these are the brands that came out December.

Daily Paper

Daily Paper is an African-inspired fashion brand known for its ready-to-wear garments and accessories with a creative direction fueled by rich African culture wrapped in contemporary designs.

READ ALSO: It was a beautiful Dre Day!!!

The brand has truly become one of the fastest growing fashion brands in Africa and Europe, offering timeless designs across accessories, streetwear and a range of capsules across the season.

During December, Daily Paper which has truly become one of the fastest growing fashion brands in Africa and Europe, opened its sought-after pop-up shop in Accra to drive lovers of streetwear to their hub.

The brand collaborated with other partners such as Off-White by the late Virgil Ablorh, Surf Ghana, Afrochella, NSG, Free The Youth among others to host a line of activities such as parties, networking hangouts, football tournament and other special curated events connected to the culture.

Free The Youth

Free The Youth (FTY) is a collective of young creatives determined to empower young Africans in the area of street-style fashion and culture.

Started as a social media Ghanaian street-style movement, FTY has now developed into a multi-branched organisation with the grand goal of promoting an art-based, youth-oriented movement for creative freedom and community development. It has gradually grown to become the creative mouthpiece for young people.

During the Christmas, the FTY opened its headquarters in Accra, a really impressive space created as a hub for African youth in Ghana. The space, according to the FTY, was a physical representation of Africa’s unmistakable creative evolution.

That grand opening saw a host of paneled talks, the opening of a Free The Youth store, as well as studio sessions and parties which saw likes of Black Sheriff, Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, Oxlade, Rema, Kwesi Arthur, Fuse ODG, Kofi Mole and others passing through to catch the vibe.

Ghana Tourism Authority

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) is the lead state agency in charge of implementing the December in Ghana campaign to its highest optimal points.

Since 2019, the government has had a deliberate tourism campaign championed by the GTA to make Ghana the favourite destination for Christmas vibes.

With a master brand ‘December in GH’, the GTA ensured that a large number of the events in December enjoyed a near perfect enabling environment to attract global attention to the country.

“Thanks to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) under the able leadership of Dr. Ibrahim Awal, this year’s activations were carefully crafted – focusing on more outdoor activities bearing in mind the times we are in,” said Akwasi Agyeman, CEO-Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).

GTA supported most of these events with sponsorship, marketing and promotions, and provided health and safety support among others.

There is no doubt that December in GH has become one of Ghana’s successful tourism brands and an anchor that has created a global wave, perhaps a movement, with people always looking forward to it every year.

Instagram

The picture sharing social media platform was intentional about how to immerse its brand into the Christmas vibes in Ghana. Instagram partnered with Afrochella Festival and was also the lead headline sponsor of the festival’s very first Fashion Night Out event.

Produced by Debonair Afrik, a Ghanaian based fashion brand and Afrochella, the Instagram Fashion Night Out was designed to celebrate the thriving fashion scene in Africa and showcase up-and-coming designers from the continent.

The dazzling event included 13 talented designers, two fashion exhibitions, a panel discussion and multi-brand pop up shops. It was Instagram’s way of celebrating Africa’s diverse culture and the vibrant work of African creatives and entrepreneurs. These activities were amplified by Instagram to its millions of followers to gain wider reach.

Martell Cognac

Throughout the year 2021, Martell Cognac has been busy. Most of the brand’s activations were on the back of partnership it had with Amapiano & Brunch Party which has become Accra’s favorite day party. The party is held periodically at Front/Back, music, food, and art club located in Accra, and it has featured major artistes such as R2Bees, MzVee, Stonebwoy, King Promise, Adenkule Gold, Uncle Waffles, Tiwa Savage and many others.

Martell, in partnership with Polo Beach Club also put together arguably the most-talked about high-end lit party known as the Martell Blue Foam Party. It was an epic night and the post-event reactions on social media was crazy, literally everybody looking forward to the next party.

At any of the events during December, guests had the chance to a sensory experience of Martell’s finest eaux-de-vie produced cognacs.

Surf Ghana (Freedom Skate Park)

For the first time, Ghana opened its first skate park – Freedom Skate Park in Accra. The opening which happened in December was also in honour of the late Ghanaian US-based fashion icon Virgil Abloh who was supporting Surf Ghana, the project initiators, to complete the park.

Unveiling the park, organisers paid tribute to the American designer of Ghanaian origin with musical performances by local artists and skate sessions by both professionals and amateurs. A new sport ecosystem that supports well-being, creativity and entrepreneurship.

The Founder of Surf Ghana, Sandy Alibo, said though skating is a lesser-known sport in Ghana, she believes it will go a long way towards boosting tourism and creating networking opportunities for young Ghanaians.

“We’re not talking only about sports, but we’re talking building self-confidence in the youth, about tourism and developing youth entrepreneurship,” she told AFP.

Ever-since its opening, the skate park has become a converging point for a lot of creative minds to connect with each other in sharing ideas and thoughts.

Twitter

The social media giant announced its presence in Africa in April 2021. Twitter’s presence announcement brought a lot of excitement among Ghanaians.

Per observations, whenever Twitter enters new markets, it invests in local communities and the social fabric through relevant partnerships that touches the emotions of the locals.

Ahead of its outdoor activations in December, Twitter partnered Ghanaian rapper M.anifest to launch a special emoji icon for the rapper’s latest album #MadinaToTheUniverse.

After, Twitter debuted its dedicated @TwitterGhana handle, bringing tweets to life on billboards in Accra. According to AdWeek, @TwitterGhana is the social network’s first dedicated handle in sub-Saharan Africa.

These Twitter billboards covered topics and hilarious moments that were uniquely Ghanaian, hence becoming part of viral conversations and also setting the tone for Detty December. One of the billboards captured the mood for Christmas saying “December in Ghana is just a two-week festival”.

Lastly, Twitter partnered with one of the biggest festivals on the continent – Afrochella Festival which was headlined by music superstars Wizkid and Stonebwoy with other talents. The blue bird social platform set up an art installation at the festival which really brought the brand to live.

YouTube

YouTube has always been a place to be entertained — from your favorite dance trends, new sound to exciting video contents.

Over the years, YouTube has enabled an entire generation of creators who have shared their voice and found an audience of more than two billion people.

YouTube, for the first time brought its brand to live in Ghana. The video streaming platform heavily pushed its YouTube Shorts which is a new short-form video experience for creators and artists who want to shoot short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones. YouTube Shorts is a way for anyone to connect with a new audience using just a smartphone and the Shorts camera in the YouTube app.

YouTube had the biggest brand installation at Afrochella by creating what it called “The YouTube Shorts Playground” for over 10,000 revelers that attended the festival.

The brand also engaged in some music thought leadership programmes to help develop the youth and provide assistance to aspiring music industry professionals.

YFM

Ghana’s number one urban radio and leading music station, YFM launched a new initiative “Y Holiday Havoc” to support key December events with marketing, promotions, ticket sales and on-air talents – Presenters and DJs, all to create unforgettable memories for revelers.

Through the Y Holiday Havoc, YFM partnered major festivals such as Afrochella, Wildaland, Tribvl Jungle Fever, concerts – Gold Coast Carnival, Bhim Concert, and parties – PineXGinja, Gold Block Party. Others include Around the World, Taste of Ghana and Beach Lantern Festival.

For the brand, December in Ghana was right time to achieve two things with YHolidayHavoc Campaign – To create brand awareness and Showcase YFM’s Talents to the world. Talents like Kojo Manuel, Mensah Junior, DJ Loft, DJ MzOrstin, AD DJ, DJ MicSmith became household names at every major event and parties during the December. It was one sure way of winning with the brand.

In setting the tone for December in Ghana, YFM engineered a series of thought leadership conversations on Twitter Spaces talking to stakeholders, organizers and musicians who shared their thoughts on December in Ghana.

The brand also activated its waste recycling bottle radio booth. This was to re-enforce the brand's commitment to encourage plastic waste recycling under the YFM Plastic Recycling Campaign championed by Y Cares.

I want to conclude with special shoutouts to all the events that created the platform for these brands to connect with their audience – Afrochella, Wildaland, Amapiano & Brunch, Polo Beach Club, Tribvl Jungle Fever, Gold Coast Carnival, PineXGinja, Gold Block Party, Around the World and Akwaaba UK Parties.

By: Ekow Quandzie (pequandzie@gmail.com)

About the author

Ekow Quandzie is a Brands and Communications Executive

Celebrating Versatility and Innovation in the Midst of a Pandemic: Even COVID Innovates

Kwabena G. Oppon-Kusi, the author

A brand is something that has a clear-cut identity among consumers, which a company creates by sending out a clear, consistent message over a period of years until it achieves a critical mass of marketing.” - Phil Knight

One word that is often mentioned during conversations about brands is Consistency. The biggest brands in the world, among other things, are believed to have remained consistent in their persona, look and feel, themes, messaging, etc. Even in personal branding, you are advised to consistently speak about one particular field, and carve yourself a niche audience in that field. Consistency is undoubtedly one of the main pillars of successful branding but it should however not be misconstrued to be synonymous with being static, stubborn, or averse to change.

By definition, to be consistent is to be unchanging in nature, standard, or effect over time. Managers of brands and creatives will agree that those are not words that inspire creativity. Having the same look and message over a long time has proven to be counterproductive for many brands. So how are innovation and dynamism so important to a discipline that is built on consistency?

Dynamic Consistency

Consistency in branding is not to be taken literally or swallowed whole. A consistent brand is not exactly unchanging but instead gives a perception of being unchanging while being fully dynamic.

The true value of a brand is the perception one has of it. If a brand is experienced in the mind of its consumer, then that is exactly where its consistency should be measured.

For instance, if a person says two different things to a sad friend, but the effect of comfort or the feeling of joy it gives to the friend remains the same, the messaging has been dynamic but the goal remains consistent.

In the same way, a brand can be dynamic with its message, logo, visual identity and objective, but must ensure that the end feeling or perception in the mind of the consumer is fully or partially consistent. A clear-cut example would be Nike’s campaigns. A campaign about its latest trainers results in the feeling of motivation that is conveyed by their slogan ‘Just Do It.

In the same way when Nike picks up a social cause, as it did for the Black Lives Matter movement, the same motivational feeling of ‘Just Do It’ is still felt throughout the campaign. In this case, the brand Nike has been consistent in perpetuity with its brand name and logo, has been consistent long term with its slogan, theme, and promise but has been dynamic with its messaging, which changes according to the times we find ourselves in.

Innovative COVID

Not to sound insensitive about a global pandemic that has taken and continues to take the lives of many, but there is no denying the fact that there are lessons to be learned from this deadly virus. The Coronavirus has caused brands to think deeper and act differently these past two years, however, this same pandemic that brands are battling through is giving everyone a lesson on branding, consistency, and innovation. The virus started spreading 2 years ago and has evolved every time scientists find a vaccine or solution for it. The virus has evolved, reinvented itself as multiple variants such as Delta, Omicron and so on, showing different symptoms and spread behavior. The virus however remains consistent in its effect. The perception and end goal we have of it hasn’t changed; it is still as deadly as its first variant and is still taking the lives of many.

Brands that are navigating this pandemic without being innovative must first take a look at the opponent, and at the very least innovate and evolve alongside it. The new variants have new brand names and even stronger modes of transmission. In a similar manner, brands must evolve beyond their business as usual and do more to reach their audience. One major example that we saw during the early days of the pandemic was major restaurants evolving to focus more on food delivery because directives did not allow them to operate as they were used to. They needed to evolve in order to survive, similar to the virus that caused the situation.

Brands that are looking to be dynamic creative and innovative need to make a few changes in their way of work to improve this culture and can follow a few simple pointers that I’ve outlined as ‘The ABCD of Brand Innovation’.

A. Acknowledge your Attitude

A brand must always be fully aware of who it is, what are your strengths, your weaknesses, who is your audience, and so on. It is known that you cannot improve yourself if you don’t know yourself. In times like this, it goes beyond Marketing Managers running sentiment surveys and developing a SWOT analysis based on their own experience of their brand. The best way to go is to run a full brand audit via a non-biased third party. This will uncover the truth about your brand and its positioning strength in the mind of the consumer. A brand audit is a thorough examination of a brand's current positioning in the market compared to its competitors and a review of its effectiveness. This can reveal the parts of the brand’s communication or operation that require innovation.

B. Be Bold and Brave

The corporate attitude that always precedes innovation is boldness. Boldness to choose the road less traveled and do something that has not been done before. Boldness to accept change and readiness to behave differently to ensure different results. This is an attitudinal fix that can start with something as small as changing the formats of meetings, the way reports are sent and the way days are spent in the office. Some of the common ways of incorporating a change in attitude towards innovation in any institution are:

1. Spell out the values and behaviors your innovative culture should exude.

2. Develop a plan to effectively communicate your innovation plan to your staff.

3. Change the workspace, or its look and feel, to instigate the change

4. Make sure that those influential positions embrace and act on the new culture

Consider the Crazy

As the Creative Strategy lead at Pulse Marketing, the Digital Marketing Agency of Pulse Africa, the most important comment I look out for during my brainstorm sessions is, “this idea is crazy”. As a creative person, I consider this high praise. When you want to make significant change and impact, you need to think of the craziest and most improbable solution before you distill it to the coolest, safest and possible. Welcome the crazies, it births the true solutions and challenges you to do things that your competitors are not doing. Always create an environment where your team feels comfortable to share the craziest of ideas without fear of judgment or reproach. This becomes the result of properly implementing the second point and introducing an innovation attitude by being bold. A few ways to develop creative ideas are:

1. Oxymorons: Putting two complete and improbable ideas together are a good way to come up with some new ideas.

2. Reverse Thinking: Taking common concepts and thoughts flipping them over and looking at them from an opposite perspective is another helpful way.

3. Fill your space with inspiration from other sources you admire and constantly apply the first two points.

Diversify your Deviants

Innovation is spurred by changemakers or what I like to call, deviants. After creating the right environment to welcome crazy ideas, brands must ensure that the ideas are not coming from a skewed perspective but from people who have varying experiences and are coming from different backgrounds. Diversity has become a key hiring objective for most, including Fortune 500 companies, where diversity and culture leads are well sought after. They recognize the need to ensure that there are different cultures and backgrounds to ensure that there is diversity in the ideas and work output of the company.

Peter F. Drucker’s quote “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old”, is the best guide for brands when thinking about new and innovative ways to attract and engage customers. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in brands pivoting and innovating in the way they communicate and operate as regularly as the virus itself. In summary, if you’re still wondering if you should make that change to find new ways of business, the message I will leave you with is…even COVID innovates

By: Kwabena G. Oppon-Kusi

About author

Kwabena Gyabeng Oppon-Kusi is the Head of Creative Strategy at Pulse Ghana. Kwabena has been crafting and telling compelling and results-oriented brand marketing strategies to achieve the business goals of various companies from diverse industries.

With a Masters’ Degree in Brands & Communication Management, Kwabena has worked on projects for brands such as GCB Bank, Nestle, mPharma, MTN, Access Bank among others

Paa Kwesi Forson, the writer

Once upon a brand, a story is told of a family of Mice who had been living in fear because of a Cat. They came together to discuss how to defeat the Cat. A young Mouse suggested putting a bell around the Cat’s neck so they could hear when the cat approaches. All the other Mice agreed in theory, apart from one wise, old Mouse. The old Mouse asked: “Who will put the bell on the Cat?” The lesson here is that it is never a good idea to boast about an idea until you know it’s going to work when executed.

Having worked at one of Africa’s best Public Relations firms, Global Media Alliance (GMA), I can confidently say that I know what clients want from agencies and why they engage them. From the suggestions of the wise Mice, we are the ones to put the bell on the cat. I’ll explain in a bit. Clients simply want straightforward solutions and not more problems. They need agencies such as GMA to make meaningful connections with the audience through effective branding. Here, branding is what makes a memorable impression on consumers and allows your customers and clients to know what to expect from your company. You can also call it a true representation of who you are as a business, and how you wish to be perceived.

Hence, setting the tone on branding determines the direction, feel, content, vision, and execution of every message that is delivered.

Our team of skilled PR professionals develop and implement tailored communications and marketing solutions to positively influence public perception of our clients, their brands, and products/services. These skilled team members bring experience to bare in satisfying clients in key industries such as Finance, Telecoms, Technology, Travel/Tourism, Healthcare, Automobile, Aviation, Energy, Food, Beverage, Agribusiness, Gov’t relations, and Real Estate industries and more.

BRANDING REALITIES DURING AND AFTER COVID-19

In March 2020 when Ghana recorded its first two confirmed cases of COVID-19, the whole country was in disarray. No one was ready for a pandemic that destabilized economies, claimed lives, ravaged businesses; disrupt our normal way of life, came with job cuts, amongst other challenges.

Companies were in a dilemma on salvaging their businesses or turning attention to the safety of customers or citizens. Coincidentally, customers expected such brands to show their humane side in times of crisis specifically through empathetic actions. The clients GMA works for had to apply tact and sensitivity to the challenging times; we advised maintaining prices, not to burden customers further.

Customers have taken keen interest in scrutinising actions and inactions taken by brands when it comes to safety; this applies to customer, employees and communities in general. Subconsciously, customers and the general public take notice of brand’s efforts at improving society or connecting positively with society; they offer good scores for companies who care and have earned the public’s trust amid health and safety uncertainties. The reverse is true for brands who are making profit but caring less.

The COVID phase of lockdown and its accompanying hardship saw most organizations contributing to the public good; they donated cash, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), among others. Other brands and individuals partnered the COVID-19 Private Sector to construct and stock Ghana’s first Infectious Disease Centre.

More recently, the Appiatse explosion around Bogoso in January 2022 has seen many well-meaning Ghanaians and multinationals donating relief items; mattresses, rice, sugar, buckets, cooking oil, canned fish and toiletries worth millions of Cedis. These were to support the dislocated residents, support towards the rebuilding of the township and commensurate with the grieving families.

THE BRANDING GAMECHANGER

The fundamentals of brand building have remained the same but the “how to build the brand” is different post COVID; it therefore calls for a new or refined playbook that tackles the real issues. Let’s zoom in on some brand game-changing ideas.

Prioritize authenticity to drive action

During the lockdown phase last year especially, the Ghanaian consumers got used to empathy, community support from countless brands. With consumers being served social responsibility by brands, the bar has been raised. The modern-day consumer has outgrown PR and social media stunts, and see right through scripted activities and acting; they lean more towards authentic brands that tell basic stories using great values, messaging and tone of voice; these stories should be just appropriate (not overdone).

Stand for something

To answer why companies and individuals divert huge sums of monies for COVID 19 support and other emergencies, it comes from a place of brand commitment to adjust; and offer innovation strategies to compete against the COVID-19 pandemic-induced market downturn.

To make brands trustworthy, brands are smartly shifting their priority; shifting from solely making profits to ensuring the wellbeing of customers and employees first.

It is as simple as that and a worthwhile investment.

Keep a pulse on what customers want

The major learning during COVID 19 outbreak, lockdown and its accompanying restrictions was that consumers controlled the market in terms of what they wanted and how fast they wanted it; thanks to car-hailing apps, food delivery apps, social media platforms, and others.

In 2022 and beyond, brands must excel at having a clear understanding of customer expectations; and consumer journeys to gain a distinct competitive advantage.

As companies look to build trust, it’s important that marketers own customer experience initiatives across the organization. It’s not enough to have a presence. Marketers must invest in driving engagement mapped to customer needs.

Rethinking brick and mortar module of doing business

The lockdown phase of the COVID outbreak led to schools, offices, churches and all social gatherings being put on hold; that was a wakeup call for clients to revise their strategy beyond physical structures.

Brands today should rethink accolades of having the biggest branch network in a sector or wider on-ground reach; they need to implement agile and innovation platforms to reach a wider market; evolve with their customers and not get left behind.

After two years of living with COVID, brands have no place going back to the old ways of doing business. It’s innovation or nothing.

Hoping unto impactful platforms

In a post-pandemic world, it’s important to promote togetherness online and offline. This will forge a closer bond with your customers at different levels. Virtual connections skyrocketed during the pandemic where people were no longer able to meet up in person; this was due to quarantines, travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines.

To promote togetherness online, brands can host virtual events to engage with customers. For example, banks can host a virtual session to build the capacity of its SME, premium, youth and other segments. It’s about time brands take advantage of platforms like Clubhouse to connect on a deeper level with customers; they can provide helpful advice in interviewing industry leaders and even celebrities.

CONCLUSION: PR AGENCY OPTION

A plane was flying through the clouds and suddenly lost balance. Everyone started shouting in fear. But a small boy kept playing with his toy. When the flight landed safely after one hour, a man asked the boy; “How could you play with your toy when everyone was afraid?”

The boy smiled and said… “My dad is the pilot and I know he will land safely.”

That is the kind of smooth experience the team at Global Media Alliance brings to current and potential clients. We believe the pandemic has been an extremely challenging time for most brands; but innovation can help brands get back on track and even start engaging with customers at higher levels than ever before.

By: Paa Kwesi Forson

Reaping the rewards

Benefits of technological development are priceless and it is therefore incumbent on African economies to capitalize on their strong partnership with China

On July 7, 2019, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement was officially implemented, becoming the world's largest free trade area since the creation of the World Trade Organization.

Among other things, it will create a single continental market for goods and services and provide value for investors because if implemented successfully, accessing Africa's 1.2 billion consumer market should be a smooth ride and serve as a catalyst for foreign direct investments. Africa needs technological support to realize the gains of AfCFTA and other initiatives and it is therefore heartening to see private Chinese enterprises taking up the initiative to invest on the continent.

It is therefore not surprising that the African Union has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with Chinese tech giant Huawei to strengthen sectors including the internet of things, cloud computing, broadband, the rollout of 5G networks and artificial intelligence. This is a confirmation of Africa's need for Chinese technology irrespective of current sanctions from the world's largest economy, the United States.

From smartphones to smart cities, Chinese involvement will continue to be positive in Africa. Chinese mobile phone makers have been smart to tailor their products for the African market with features such as long battery life to address Africa's unstable power supply in certain areas.

China's Transsion, the maker of Techno and Infinix phones, and Huawei have substantial shares of Africa's mobile phone market, 34.3 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively.

Transsion has a factory in Ethiopia for assembling and testing its phones in addition to research and development centers in Nigeria and Kenya. And aside from the creation of jobs through technology, their physical presence on the continent can facilitate the transfer of technology and learning.

On its part, Huawei has partnered with African governments to build much of the continent's telecommunications, offering quality but affordable alternatives.

Meanwhile, in helping African retailers tap into China's large consumer market, China's e-commerce giant Alibaba launched its Electronic World Trade Platform in Rwanda in 2018 to promote cross-border trade between Africa and China. But beyond promoting e-commerce between China and Africa, we believe that, this initiative can be the bedrock for an intra-country e-commerce system boosting trade between African countries especially with Africa's free trade area policy taking shape.

The broadcast media is also not left out of this equation as we see Chinese electronics and media company Star Times playing an active role in the switch from analogue to digital transmission on the African continent.

These examples and many more are evidence of the Chinese contribution to Africa's technological development.

As developing countries are entreated to focus on technology and learning transfer as a means to becoming independent and controlling their technological infrastructure, it is incumbent on Chinese technology companies working with Africa to also exhibit good faith by providing the right training required by their hosts with no holdbacks and withholding of secrets.

Developing higher technology and placing it within the global economic integration has enormous prospects and challenges. And it positions China within the purview of global economic and technological forces.

The prospects of this development is the competitive advantage and global economic edge that China wields over emerging and already developed economies. And this will strengthen China's goal of promoting equitable and efficient global trade.

The Chinese technological transformation and contribution to global development is a success achieved in one generation.

China's economic and global trade growth is inseparable from the systematic and progressive development of its technology. Appropriate and reliable high technology is acknowledged to have been a catalyst for the acceleration of China's economic and infrastructural development. Therefore, with Africa home to the world's youngest population - 60 percent of Africans being under the age of 25 - it is not surprising to see many African countries investing heavily in technology and its related infrastructure.

So, what does this age statistic mean? It shows a booming market for technology and development. And aside from population, other events and indices such as the growing demand for industrialization puts Africa at the same point as China when the latter was beginning its economic transformation in the 1970s.

The benefits of technological development are priceless and it is therefore incumbent on African economies to capitalize on their strong partnership with China, and innovate with China's experience and knowledge.

Timothy Karikari is a PhD candidate at the University of International Business and Economics, based in Beijing. Ohene Opoku Agyemang is a PhD candidate at Jinan University, based in Guangdong.The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

By Timothy Karikari and Ohene Opoku Agyemang | China Daily Global

Four Signs It’s Time To Hire A PR Agency

Once in a while, PR people working in a small agency or team will feel overwhelmed. Occasionally, the workload or new task assigned a bigger team may often require an extra push from an external party. That is where seeking the services of a PR Agency may come in handy.

Organizations sometimes need more time, diverse ideas and more resources to organize a successful publicity campaign. It’s better for them to seek competent, professional advice from an external agency. Such external help brings onboard a more objective approach to the issues at hand. Hiring the services of a Public Relations firm/communications consultant also allows you to focus on your day-to-day operations, and handle much of the work involved in running an efficient campaign.

Here are some four (4) ideas a scaling business should consider when investing in Public Relations:

1. DELIVERING COMPETITIVE EDGE

You see competitors’ news and social media footprint for a reason; it simply means they’re working the public relations better than you. Barbara Corcoran, celebritybusiness mogul on Shark Tank, once opined: “If you’re not being quoted in the press, you’re losing market share by losing limelight.” It’s that simple.

An experienced communications agency is usually an extension of your brand; delivering insight, media monitoring, reporting and strategy in the competitive industry landscape. At the end of the day, your need an ally to help you answer these salient questions:

• On what key themes are your competitors hanging their hats in both the press and other marketing strategies?

• Are there gaps in competitor messaging that your brand can fill?

• Have competitors amped up their press and announcement strategy recently? Why and how can your brand enter the conversation?

• Is there an opportunity for your brand to take a contrarian stance and stand out from the noise competitors are creating?

This kind of insight helps you create a stronger content strategy to win at media coverage, Return on Investment (ROI) and brand visibility.

2. RETAINER NEGOTIATION THAT KEEP YOU TOP OF MIND

Hiring a Public Relations firm for a short-term period and letting them go once the job is done is one of the worst things a company can do. Once newsmakers, key stakeholders and customers don’t hear from you that much, your relevance dwindles.
PR can keep your firm top of mind through thought leadership opportunities to give credibility to your executive staff, creating videos or podcasts on peripheral but relevant subjects to garner attention and conversation around your leadership and company.

3. DAMAGE CONTROL

Many companies (even the experienced ones) may not be fully equipped to handle crisis situations; disgruntled outpour of consumer feedback, due to a fault in the production or manufacture in some of their products and so on. PR firms, on the other hand, are better experienced and specially trained to handle and prevent crisis- like situations which can have disastrous consequences in the long run. An experienced PR agency can swiftly tackle the situation; provide a proper action plan so that maximum damage control can be achieved in minimum time.

4. GAIN CREDIBILITY

Reviewing the success stories of most brands in Ghana and beyond, it is evident that a brand is a marathon and not a sprint; in other words, the long-term effects of media visibility grow over time; in fact, years and this creates amplification.
PR people, work in conjunction with social media, events or charity, develop layers of conversation about product over many years. When you look at the changes the company makes, let’s say over a three-year period, which is a good time to measure, there will be a trajectory. And if that trajectory trends up, you’ve done something right.

CONCLUSION:

Hire a PR firm based on these four items;

• Experience.
Experience of PR firm or PR professionals or experience in a PR industry.

• Case studies.
Case studies are a great way to confirm a PR firm’s experience.

• Testimonials & recommendation
Speak with current and past clients to hear their feedback from working with the PR firm.

By Paa Kwesi Forson

About writer : Paa Kwesi Forson is the Head of Public Relations at Global Media Alliance and Blogger at www.paakwesiforson.com

3 FACTORS TO NOTE WHEN CHOOSING A VIDEO CARD

A new version of your favorite game has been released, but does your computer show a slide show instead of an exciting experience? You need to deal with professional graphics software, but does the machine's slowness make you less productive? So it's time to update your video card. In this article, you will know 3 factors that should be taken into consideration when choosing a new graphics card.

1. WHAT ARE YOUR NEEDS?

In most cases, the middle line - that is, graphics cards in the range of $ 800.00 - are more than enough for the average consumer. With them, you can play most current games on your PC in a good configuration, and you can improve the performance of software such as Photoshop. Our indication today for video card for gaming is the GTX 1050 4GB IT, a video card that has a great cost benefit and already allows to run almost all games.

But if you're keen to play the latest games in full quality games, a high-end video card is the best option. The extra expense may startle at first glance, but it is largely offset by the longevity of the hardware, which often outgrows the cycle of the most modern video game consoles.
Now if you are a professional who needs to deal with heavy graphics software such as AutoCAD, Revit, Solidworks, After Effects and many others, the best choice is undoubtedly the video cards of the Quadro line from Nvidia. Developed in conjunction with the world's largest software companies, they deliver superior performance, high accuracy and durability.

2. WHAT DOES THE VIDEO CARD OFFER?

Currently, the companies that dominate the market for graphics cards are AMD and Nvidia. Both produce good options for both work and fun purposes - and the choice of the brand does not make so much difference if the models are equivalent.

Of all the elements that configure a graphics card, what you should take into account is the number of processing cores (CUDA Cores in the case of Nvidia or Stream Processors in AMD models).
The more RAM your video card has, the more data and textures will be processed by the graphics chip. However, be aware of factors such as - 256-bit interfaces outweigh 128-bit interfaces - and the RAM type - DDR3 models have lower performance than GDDR5.

Do not be fooled by older video cards, always strive to acquire a state-of-the-art model, many companies still advertise old boards with a high bandwidth (128, 256, 384 bits) as if they were still powerful.

Also note the differences in hardware between Quadro and Geforce video cards, often frames have a lower number of cuda colors compared to Geforce video cards.

But that's not to say that professional boards have poor performance, as their drivers are optimized for professional applications such as AutoCAD, Revit, SolidWorks (among many other software), it can deliver far superior performance with lower hardware, allowing -to be more warm up less and be more stable.

In some software, such as the Siemens NX, a 2GB P600 Quadro can deliver 3x performance over an 11GB Geforce GTX 1080 video card, so it's always good to check which video card is recommended by the software manufacturer or ask for help from our experts to help you choose the best option. Already software with Lumion, which has a game graphics engine, has superior performance with a Geforce GTX 1070 TI compared to a P4000 Quadro.

Finally, note the outputs that the card offers to connect the computer to an external monitor. Most current models have HDMI and DVI connections, but some already offer DisplayPort and Mini DisplayPort output. Escape models that offer only the old VGA output: the technology is already outdated and transmits only the analogue image, with a considerable quality loss in the image.

3. IS YOUR HARDWARE COMPATIBLE?

Any video card may have compatibility issues, especially if your machine is older. Common problems include such things as the power supply and the size of the board itself - it may not even fit in your cabinet.

Overall, intermediate video cards of the moment require a PCI Express x16 slot, and you'll have to measure the distance from that slot to any component that might interfere with your graphics card. So check the GPU dimensions, which can be checked on the manufacturer's website, and make sure you have a little extra space around.

Also check if the board will need an external power supply. Some low-cost boards get enough power from the PCI port on your motherboard, while others require you to connect to the power supply of the machine. If you need to use more power, your source will need to use the proper cables or you will have to find an adapter.

Finally, make sure that there is enough power to maintain good computer performance . Depending on your choice, you may need to replace your power supply with a more powerful one.

Madina – Adenta – Aburi Highway... Blessing or Curse?

Not a single footbridge (from Madina Firestone to Adenta) has been completed since the construction of the Madina – Adenta – Aburi Highway.

What shocks me is that the uncompleted footbridges have become advertising sites for politicians (incumbent and aspiring MPs) and some organizations among others.

Before you think of politicizing this post, let me remind you that both political parties have sat unconcerned as innocent Ghanaians die trying to cross this highway. Corporate Ghana also looks at these structures that have become ‘white elephants’ and see an avenue to sell their brands by advertising on them and I believe government also makes money from this by charging these organizations money before they advertise on the uncompleted footbridges.

According to reports, more than 190 deaths have occurred on that highway as pedestrians are forced to compete with speeding drivers to be able to cross to the other side of the road. Just last night, a friend told me of another death that occurred on that same stretch.

For once, I think people need to be angry enough and tell those in authority to fix these bridges immediately else we might wakeup someday and the worse would have happened.

For those who ‘had’ and ‘have’ the opportunity to fix these footbridges on the Madina – Adenta – Aburi Highway but ‘turned’ or ‘turn’ a ‘blind eye’, I dedicate Damian Marley’s ‘Sabali’ and Worlasi’s ‘You Saw Me’ songs to you. #fixourfootbridgesnow .

By Nii Ogbamey Tetteh (email: ogbameytetteh@gmail.com)

Meet Nii-Tete Yartey, Ghana’s Extraordinary Dance Director

Nii-Tete Yartey

It has been 4 years since Nii-Tete Yartey took over as director of one of Ghana’s most prestigious artistic institutions, the National Dance Company of Ghana (Ghana Dance Ensemble).

As one of the youngest directors to hold such a position in Africa, Nii has envisioned his work in his field as a re-contextualization of traditions, with a particular focus on the development of dance theatre and contemporary Ghanaian dance.

Nii-Tete Yartey is the son of Ghana’s foremost dance choreographer and teacher, the late Professor Francis Nii-Yartey.

Over the years, Nii-Tete Yartey, has worked on Projects like ‘Diema’, ‘Aza’, Panafest, ‘Alkebulan’s awakening’ and the Ghana at 60 celebrations, where he drew from the many regional dances to beautifully express Ghana’s historic and contemporary dance traditions.

It has come as no surprise that he will be the one in the director’s positions for the National Theatre’s 25th Anniversary production, ‘Agoro’, a collaboration between, the National Theatre of Ghana and three of its prestigious resident companies, (The National Dance Company, National Symphony Orchestra and National Drama Company) and Ohio University and Azaguno, Inc. from the United States of America (creators of Diema 2015 and AZA2016).

The exciting international festival and concert dubbed ‘AGORO’ will be performed live at the National Theatre of Ghana from June 25 – 30, 2018, as part of the 25thAnniversary celebrations of the National Theatre of Ghana.

AGORO, a concert of New African Music, Dance and Drama will be an educational and transformational cultural experience for all.

According to Nii, the celebration will bring back excerpts from ‘Diema’ and ‘Aza’ to be performed by The National Dance Company, National Symphony Orchestra, National Drama Company, International Artists representing the United States and Canada in addition to several of Ghana’s own nationally and internationally recognized groups and will also feature new works by prof Paschal Younge, composer and prof Zelma Badu-Younge

AGORO will mark the third collaboration of its kind organized by the National Theatre of Ghana, Ohio University and Azaguno Inc.

As part of this program, a 3– day Symposium and Workshops focused on the theme: “ARTS, HEALTH, and WELLNESS” will also be organized on from 25th to 27th June in collaboration with the Ministry Tourism, Arts and Culture; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Youth and Sports; Ministry of and Gender, Children and Social Protectio; University of Ghana (Korlebu Teaching Hospital ) and Psychiatric Hospital.

Nsem Pii : Confessions of A Former Armed Robber

Nyansa Boakwa interviewing the repented armed robber

Day in, day out, lives and properties are lost to individuals and groups who attack us in our homes and offices. Lives that are spared are scarred with trauma.

Though they act inhumanely, they are human just like we are. This leaves us wondering who these people are, why they do what they do, how they know when and when not to attack and how they even come by the weapons they use against us.

These questions will be addressed in the below confessions of a repented armed robber.
At noon on April 19, a young man willingly walked into the studios of Happy FM at Asylum Down after listening to the confession segment on Happy FM’s ‘Nsem Pii’ show.

In an interview with Pastor Nyansa Boakwa, host of Nsem Pii on Happy FM, here is what the 42 year old repented armed robber who will be called ‘Koo’ for the purposes of this story and on grounds of security has to say as he makes these hideous revelations.

According to Koo, negligence from his father and his inability to excel academically resulted in him dropping out of school at an early age. He started gambling at the age of 15. As a result of greed, this habit of gambling landed him in prison when a rich man he gambled with and cheated reported him to the police for stealing from him.

Koo recounted that he connived with the woman who sells the playing cards and tampered with them. When he was done, he told the woman to sell those particular cards that had been tampered with to the rich man.

After the rich man had purchased the playing cards, Koo and the said rich man gambled in the latter’s home where he won 7,000ghc. The rich man refused to accept defeat so he went back to the same shop to buy another set of cards and he was sold another one of the tampered cards. Upon reaching home, he was defeated again and this time around, he lost 3,000ghc.

The rich man refused to let Koo leave his house with his 10,000ghc so he attacked Koo with a knife but Koo got a hold of it and injured him running away with the money. He went to pay the cards seller for her participation.

The rich man later reported the incident to the police and said Koo attacked him in his house and stole from him. The police took the rich man’s word and didn’t believe Koo when he said they gambled and he won.

Koo was arrested after two months when he had already squandered all the money. He was tried and jailed for two years.

Koo had heard rumours of sodomization in prison and that was his fear. But when he got there he realized it was a choice.

According to him, life in prison was not easy. He had to wash clothes of some inmates for one cedi and that was how he was able to buy certain things he needed.

“The food served there was so terrible that it was not fit for a dog. The banku had no salt and the soups were so light that you could see your reflection in it,” Koo stated.

He also revealed that being sodomized in jail is a choice one makes if they decide to enjoy their stay in prison. An older man or a longer serving inmate with money will have sexual intercourse with an inmate who allows it in exchange for giving him good food and basically providing a comfortable life for him.

We have all heard that Indian hemp is sold in jail, I am sure just like me, you wonder how the Indian hemp gets into the prisons to be sold to inmates.

According to Koo, the inmates insert the ‘wee’ into their anus when they go out for communal labour and smuggle into the prison. These inmates before they leave undergo an exercise to widen their anus by inserting a big battery in there. They leave it in there for three days. Other objects that are not allowed in prison like cell phones are also smuggled into the prison through the anus. The people who do this are referred to as ‘cargo’.

Koo went to jail as a chronic gambler, instead of getting reformed in there, he came back worse. There are different blocks for different crimes and Koo knew where each was. He went to the robbery block and as he passed by, he overheard an argument where one person was being accused of being the reason ‘they’ got arrested. He got closer upon hearing this, when he was asked what he wanted, he told them, he was like them, implying that he just wanted to mingle. He was then asked the offense that landed him prison, in order to fit in and impress them, he lied and said he was jailed for shooting someone he went to rob.

He became friends with them and they planned how they were going to go on robbery operations when they were released. In there they get phone calls from people on the outside giving them information about who to rob but since they were incarcerated, they called their counterparts out there and transferred the jobs to them.

The source of the information is the scary part. The information comes from house helps, drivers and personal assistants among others. These are trusted people in our everyday lives.

When Koo was initiated into the robbery gang, he and some other interested participants were trained at the prison backyard which was their meeting place. In the course of the training, there were 99 laws to abide by and if one goes against any, he was fined and inability to pay the fine lands him in a jail set up by the leaders of the robbery gang community inside the prison.

When Koo returned home after 2years with the feeling that he had been left behind in life and needed to catch up with his peers.

His family also stigmatized him and so he left home feeling like an outcast. He then contacted some armed robbers whose phone numbers he had gotten from his new friends in prison.

He moved in with them and served them as a houseboy. He got paid for doing this but he wasn’t participating in their robbery activities. After a while he decided to go with them for the robberies.
Koo’s first robbery operation was in Awoshie. A house girl had informed the gang that her employer was coming home with a sum of 80,000ghc .

Koo disclosed that “we didn’t have any guns but there were some police men who rented out the guns to us in exchange for one third of the money we stole.”

They had told the police they were going to get 30,000ghc when in actual fact they were going to get 80,000ghc. After they had rented the guns from the police, they met with the house girl who aided them to duplicate the keys to the said house.

This, according to him, was done by pressing the keys on a bar of soap to get the impression and the soap was later sent to a locksmith for the duplication.

He added that the house help instructed them to attack at 1am so they did. When they entered they slapped the house help in the face to fake an attack on her. She started screaming for help which called the attention of her boss.

He arrived at the scene but refused to hand over the money to them, his wife joined in and pleaded with the robbers to take the money and leave her family unharmed. As the man struggled with them, they hit him hard on the head with the gun getting him unconscious.

Koo was instructed to rape the 13 year old daughter of the couple who was also present at the scene of the attack, he refused to do it but another member was delighted to have that unfortunate opportunity passed to him, the young girl was mercilessly raped in front of her mother as she cried out “I have given you the money, why are you doing this”.

When the father gained consciousness, he asked what was going on upon seeing the blood stain from his daughter’s rape. Another one wanted to rape his wife, he fought to stop them but they overpowered him and tied him up as they raped his wife right in front of him “at that moment, I thought to myself, what kind of job have I gotten myself into”, Koo said.

“After everything, we took the money and left. We later met the house help at the Accra Mall to give her share of 5,000ghc to her. We met the policeman who provided us with the guns too and gave him his share of 5,000ghc”, Koo stated. He added that he also got 5,000ghc which he was very happy about.

The story continues with Koo recounting his meeting with a different gang who were more established than the previous one and had support from some police officials and Judges for two more robberies on Happy FM’s Nsem Pii. He said they met at Ashaiman.

Over there they were contacted by a banker who called to inform them that a client was about to make a withdrawal. She gave them the time the client was going to pick up the money -which according to Koo was 50,000ghc - , the model of car he was going to bring and the car registration number.

They picked up their guns which they had already purchased from some police men at the cost of 9,000ghc and 6,000ghc. They then drove in cars they were given by the police to Dansoman where the bank was.

They went ahead of time and waited for the man outside. They spotted him when he got there and when he went inside the bank to withdraw the money, the lady called them to alert them that he had the money and he was stepping out. They followed him closely from Dansoman till they got to Circle, a little beyond Odo Rice.

One of the cars overtook his car and stopped abruptly in front of him. He got out of the car demanding for explanations, they also got out wearing face masks and gave warning shots.

They immediately took a pinch bar from their car to force open the trunk of the man’s car and made away with the money leaving a small stick in the ignition to prevent the man from chasing them. Bystanders could not go after them maybe because they were afraid of getting shot.

Koo further disclosed that the cars they used had the real number plates in front whiles the ones behind were fake number plates so they could not be traced. He also revealed that armed robbers never go on any operation without reliable information from an insider.

He made 5,000ghc from that robbery, the banker made 5,000ghc and the police also got 10,000ghc.

Koo spoke about another operation, this time around at East Legon.

Just like the first robbery the house girl gave them the information about her madam returning from abroad.

“She gave us the time of arrival and the kind of car that was going to pick her up,” Koo added.

Again they went ahead of time and waited for her to come out of the airport. They followed her from the airport until they got to her gate and attacked her right there. The house girl had come out to open the gate so she fell to the ground when they got out of their cars and gave warning shots.

“The woman was refusing to give us the keys so we took them by force and opened the trunk to take out the luggage and drove off in our cars. She had children at the back seat crying.” Koo narrated.

When they got home they burnt the other content of the luggage. All they needed was the money and keeping those other things was a risk they were not ready to take.

They found 30,000 dollars, the exact amount the house girl told them they would find.

He detailed that there are big police officials and judges who assist them when they get into trouble, they assisted them by reducing their charges when they are arrested. For instance, if it is robbery or murder, it could be reduced to stealing. This reduces their jail term to about two years. When they have more money they could get the judge to arrange an appeal for them which further reduces it and possibly lets them free.

Koo said he is a changed man now, because he is afraid he would be forced to kill or become an accomplice to murder eventually. He has cut all ties with his friends and has even approached the police three times to tell them what he knows but they always tell him to go and bring the guns he has. That, he says, has been very difficult to do because he cannot just walk to the robbers and demand that the hand their guns over to him.

He concluded by saying “I want to help end robbery in Ghana and I am ready to talk on any platform, I don’t care if I die and if I die, I die for my country Ghana,” he told Happy FM’s Nyansa Boakwa on Nsem Pii.

By: Susan Amoako Agyemang

Top Four Public Relations (PR) Trends for 2018

It’s that time of year again where Public Relations (PR) persons will gather to strategize for the 2018 fiscal year. To make this year’s planning different, I will be sharing some strategic ideas, communication trends and international best practices.

If you plan on soaring in 2018, here are some ideas to pay attention to.

VISUAL STORYTELLING

In 2017, many companies spent a chunk of their communication budget on broadcast media alone. We can’t keep paying over GHS 6000 for TV news coverage when Facebook Live is free, effective and interactive. We can’t pay for a channel or segment our target audience don’t watch, listen to or read. Feel free to disagree though.

Ask yourself this: “are the demographic factors of my target audience in sync with my choice of media platform?” At the end of the day, we as PR practitioners must review what works in our industry and what doesn’t.

The power of video is undeniable. More than 8 billion average daily views and 100 million hours of video are watched every day on Facebook. As PR and business practitioners living in Ghana, I’m not sure we have milked the dawn of video storytelling enough.

I don’t know if you have noticed also that attention span is shortening. People hardly read newspapers from cover to cover. People hardly listen to news from the beginning to end, etc.

Dear PR people, if you are not harnessing the video era, start now. Go to Udemy, Skillshare and the Khan Academy to take free online courses.

MEASUREMENT

Most people at agencies or with client start off their PR career doing media monitoring and clippings. This necessary evil has become a trend the world over. Because of time and staff constraints, the average PR practitioner monitors for monitoring sake. No trends, patterns, opportunities and the deeper analysis are suggested for planning. I dare say the absence of project/campaign measurement has fuelled the perception that PR doesn’t bring much to the table.

In 2018, let the relevant measurement tools and analytics do the talking in our reports. Tools like AMEC Integrated Framework and Google Analytics can help with PR campaign measurement. You can take free webinars on measurement at Ragan’s Measurement for Communicators Conference.

Let’s look at more PR measurement tools below:

TrendKite: Trendkite’s PR analysis helps to know PR’s true impact. It does this by measuring impact, enhancing quality coverage, and strategically shaping your approach to PR.

Gorkana: Media database, monitoring and social media analysis

Meltwater: Meltwater offers the largest global media database, ensuring you’ve found all of your media mentions. With intuitive dashboards and one-click reports, it’s easy to demonstrate campaign performance and ROI.

Newsmeter: Newsmeter is an online global news tracker service with an award-winning indexing technology. Our platform traces all the global news resources around the world continuously. Our platform has the capability to gather all published news together and generates detailed reports on topics that interest you by analyzing these news articles.

Talkwalker: Protect, measure and optimize the impact of your brand communication with our leading social listening and analytics suite

Hootsuite: Manage all your social media in one place. From finding prospects to serving customers,
Hootsuite helps you do more with your social media.

TweetReach: Monitor all the topics and profiles important to you on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Improve your social media strategy and execution across social media with Union Metrics.

MUST HAVE TOOLS/SOFTWARE

Departments like Marketing, Finance, Operations, etc. have always questioned how PR budget is used. Some practitioners are not able to justify in detail how a campaign’s performance is linked to ROI. In an era of Artificial Intelligence (AI), PR divisions must invest in platforms that provide value and analysis on projects.

Cision: The award-winning Cision software brings together the elements you need to engage the right influencers, get coverage, achieve measurable results and manage your campaigns. Cision circulates media stories globally and with so much convenience. Hence there’s no need to bother media cabal here in Ghana to publish your stories for you; the system does the distribution for you.

Trello: Trello lets you work more collaboratively and get more done. Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible and rewarding way.

Mention: Mention monitors millions of sources in 42 languages, helping you stay on top of all brand mentions. It monitors social networks, news sites, forums, blogs or any web page. The app lets you keep track of your team’s actions, shares alerts and assigns tasks. Generating reports and exporting mentions can help you get a snapshot of your mentions by source or language over a selected period of time.

By Paa Kwesi Forson

About the Writer

Paa Kwesi Forson's writing love started after some girl broke his heart 'yayaaaya' (a Twi phrase meaning painfully. lol). That negative experience helped unearth the best in him. He officially started blogging on Myfirstcopybook.blogspot.com and moved it to www.paakwesiforson.com

Mr. Forson never knew he was this funny till he started blogging. He noticed that whether he is writing a piece on nostalgic moments, religion, social issues, or business, there is always a satirical and/or humorous touch to it.

Aside being busy at his day job at Ghana's biggest Public Relations Agency, he love making music, relaxing with his family, reading stuff and many more.

COMMENTARY: WATERING OUR WITHERING CULTURE THROUGH TV LICENSE

Some of you may think I have taken things exceptionally personal about the appeal for the TV License. I started practicing journalism about exactly a decade ago but have not been practising for about half a decade now. That should qualify me considerable as a member of the Ghana Inactive Journalists Association.

This is a surreptitiously averse union which many members are not proud of. (Mind you, if you are a practising journalist and you are not a registered member of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), or your stories have not caught the attention of the GJA to nominate you for an award, you need no membership fee or periodic dues to automatically qualify as a member of the my imaginary and nascent Ghana Inactive Journalist Association).

One thing about the inactive journalist is that, gate-keeping means such as “soli” and editorial scrutiny have no influence of what we write or say, and in seldom cases, think. We may not have the remote control to set the agenda but we can, in our own infinitesimal ways coax or coerce decision: One of them, among the many, is the push for the payment of TV License fees.

I have read the views of many on why Ghanaians must not pay the TV License and reasons associated do not transcend the personal feelings or experience of those against the payment of the TV License.

One of such views that my attention was drawn to were those of Mr. Bright Simons on Facebook. I learn a lot from notable personalities like Bright Simons everyday even though I am yet to meet him in person: I hope one of my occasional visits to Graphic affords me such an opportunity. My unending interest in meeting him has even made me replace my son’s picture with his as my phone’s screen saver. You can sense my love and admiration for him.

In a Facebook post, Mr. Simons recently stated that the GBC must not benefit a Cedi from funds generated from the TV License. I felt should the smallest unit of the Ghanaian currency (Pesewa) been commonly used, he would have wished GBC not even receive a single Pesewa.

I copy these points from his Facebook post: “Even if we are to pay for TV licences, there are at least 5 reasons why GBC mustn't receive a cedi until it fully reforms its ways and norms.

1. It (GBC) competes with the private media agencies for advertising money. Adding tax money on top of that is unfair. The decision to give a sop out of the licence money to the private industry lobby group, as a counterbalance, is a cynical tactic that only worsens the illogicality of the whole endeavour.

2. It does not respect public interest advocacy. When I used to help manage IMANI's events, GTV was the only station that refused to honour a single invitation despite detailed written explanations regarding the public interest value of those events. They refused to carry comments and cover treatments on STX, China CDB loan, China Hassan, etc. All of which became matters of topical public interest.

3. It charges for covering non-commercial events, even those of obvious news value. I have seen invoices issued by GBC to cover newsworthy events of a non-promotional and non-commercial nature. This means that GBC considers its airwaves as available to the highest bidder. To use taxpayer's money to endorse such a retrogressive notion of broadcasting is tantamount to subsidizing unethical broadcasting. This is because charging to cover an event requires that the said event be treated as an advertorial and not as news (viewers need to know that airtime has been paid for by a party connected to the subject or event being covered). GTV regularly flouted this basic ethic.

4. Unlike public broadcasting systems elsewhere, GBC is not organised properly as a Public Trust. It's governance and management are highly susceptible to government of the day influence. Though recent assertiveness of the NMC has somewhat improved the situation there remains insufficient safeguards against state influence in the appointment of board members, managers and other key functionaries.

5. GBC is no longer the primary community broadcasting medium. It's audience share across the country has shrunk to a point of near irrelevance. There is now no basis to suggest that a tax funded model is more effective in delivering any content or covering any niche that the advertising funded model cannot penetrate. GBC's own "strategic business units" probably recognises as much hence the limited investment made to date in community broadcasting and the increasing, even if also awkward, attempts to match the private stations in entertainment programming. Why should public taxes go to underwrite this lifestyle?

It is shocking that the government is allowing the controversy about the TV licence 'wahala' to go to waste. What happened to "strategic policy making"? Isn't this the right time for Government to ride on the wave of discontent to announce wide ranging reforms to public broadcasting with a view to fixing what is clearly a very broken model?”

It is clear that Mr. Simons’ IMANI scenario is just like saying the president should not develop a region because it did not vote for it. Isn’t that too personal?

We can deduce from Mr. Simons’ post that one (if not the only) way GBC could reform its norm is to have honoured IMANI’s invitation on events such as STX, China CDB loan, China Hassan, etc. This, according him, are all of which became matters of topical public interest (which Ghanaians are discussing currently).

It is axiomatic that GBC happens to be the major beneficiary of the TV License. It would, however, be very hypocritical of Ghanaians to downplay the relevance of funds generated from the TV License; It transcends funding, largely, the oldest media house in the country.

Even though many arguments have been raised about whether funding of the GBC by government is not enough, we should not forget that Ghanaians are the most powerful, though invisible, arm of government but not Nigerians, Mexicans or Indians. Even if elected government is to pay for the TV License for us, let us not forget that “He who pays the piper, call for the tune” (https://www.tvlicence.com.gh/qna.php ). And, government has for almost two decades been calling for the tune on (G)TV content ever since Ghanaians stopped paying the TV License somewhere around 1999.

One thing about the one who calls the tune is that, he ensures it goes with the dance steps of no other person than himself. And, if you are among the few who have similar dance step, you enjoy too. This, however, has not been the case of the viewers of GBC.

Let us not forget that ever since the TV License fees collection took a long pause, those who continued funding the GBC were the periodically elected government. And we all know that one of the ways government brings an institution under its subtle control is by stifling their budget or funding.

The only way we can have our share of say is to use the alternative means of funding which we once used about two decades ago—the TV License. Don’t forget that the world's oldest national broadcasting organization, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which almost all broadcasting organizations emulate, is still being funded through the TV License fees.

This is charged to all British households, companies, and organizations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts has helped in making the BBC since its establishment to what it has always been till today. The BBC is a corporation incorporated under Royal Charter granted by the Queen under the Royal Prerogative and currently came into force on 1 January 2017 and runs until 31 December 2027.

This explicitly recognises the BBC's editorial independence and sets out the Corporation's public purposes and sets out the BBC’s public obligations and funding arrangements by mandating the BBC to collect the TV Licence— (http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-about-tv-licensing-AB15 ).

This is not entirely different from the Ghana legislation which says the “TV licensing Act 1966 (NLCD 89) as amended, directs that a “a person shall not install or use a Television receiving set unless there is an existence in relation to that set a valid television receiving set license by the licensing authority under this Act.” Section 1.

As a young boy in the 1990s, I realized we exuded a more Ghanaian identity irrespective of our diverse culture or ethnic background. We have done it before and Television content made a clear cultural sense. That, however, cannot be said now.

Ghanaians nowadays only exhibit their cultural identities through dropping of their first (foreign) names and put on Friday (African) wear. We tend to focus on surface identity and throw away every form of knowledge about our culture in terms of language, festival and lore (history). Who told us history and lore more than the GBC in terms of program content?

Whether to entertain us from BY THE FIRESIDE to SHOWCASE (IN AKAN, GA, EWE, HAUSA, DANGBANI etc), or to inform us through NEWS or THIS WEEK, the GBC programs were carefully tailored with a touch of culture irrespective of the diverse demographic and psychographic factors. The Ghanaian was well informed about his or her diverse culture without necessarily leaning from classrooms or visiting respective rural areas.

Nowadays, the program content of the new Ghanaian have been operationally defined on TV screens: Entertainment is redefined as “foolishness”; Love is redefined as pornography and Ghanaian culture have been raped by foreign ones. How long would we pretend and overlook how appalling our TV screens have become lately? The influx of Asian and Latin American telenovelas exacerbates the current situation of the Ghanaian culture since these programs generate more income from sponsorship and advertisement.

The new Ghanaian gets lost gradually on what actually entails our culture and other independent broadcasters have overlooked all these cultural details since they do not generate more profit.
It should ring a bell for you that this never happened when GBC was GBC two decades ago. And what made GBC GBC was when citizens were committed to paying their TV License fees. GBC was better when my father and other existing septuagenarians were paying their TV License fees for their respective household, though not many, at that time.

They say sleep is the cousin of death. The difference is that the former is temporary while the other is permanent. While we have the ability of waking up or being woken, the latter needs divine abilities to resurrect or be resurrected.

GBC was asleep but not dead. This has been a long sleep induced by the attitude of most Ghanaians on payment of TV License Fees. Doesn’t one get hungry after waking up? This is enough reason to pay the TV License Fees.

Source: Elorm Dogbo

About the Writer

Elorm is an experienced Customer Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the food production industry. Skilled in Advertising, News Writing, Propaganda, Business Process Improvement, and Business Ethics. Strong support professional with a Communications Studies focused in Public Relations/Image Management from Ghana Institute of Journalism (G.I.J).

Saturday, October 15, 2022

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Monday, February 14, 2022

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Monday, April 15, 2019

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Thursday, April 26, 2018

Friday, January 26, 2018

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Categories

Unordered List

Sample Text

Blog Archive

My Blog List

Advert

Video Of Day

Find Us On Facebook

Recent Posts

Followers

About Me

Video Of Day

Search This Blog

Live Traffic Feed

Ordered List

Advertisement

Popular Posts

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

Live Traffic Feed

Text Widget