what I learned from Fela

Dear You,

My friend, Lemi Ghariokwu, shared something insightful about Fela Aníkúlápó Kútì [Fela] with me, and I couldn't help but acknowledge the genius behind his experiential branding and marketing experience. So, Fela, a Nigerian artist [a.k.a King of Afrobeat] was the genius behind the Afrobeat genre who sang political songs but made them so danceable that people often resonated with the music and eventually came to terms with the politics of the lyrics. He was an influential global artist who loved ice cream [I don't know why I just added that part, but I'll leave it. Now you know a fun fact about Fela]. Lemi shared so much about Fela in our recent episode of unbranded conversations. You should watch it here. It was a powerful episode that shared details about how they met, their complex friendship, and an insight into their lives in the 70s. Watching it, you'll learn a lot about Lemi and Fela.

Anyway, back to the conversation. Fela was also very popular for his outstanding performances, and one amazing part of this is that he held mini-concerts every week at the famous Fela shrine. So, while speaking to Lemi [who was really close to Fela back in the day and designed most of his album covers], he told me that Fela often had four performances a week:

1. Ladies' night: Every Tuesday, he performed free for ladies, and their male friends, boyfriends, and husbands would pay.
2. Yabis night: Every Thursday, he performed his very political songs aimed at verbally calling out the government and politicians. "Yab" is an urban slang rooted in Nigeria's pidgin English that means a satirical jibe, diss or roast directed at an individual or institution. So, on these nights, he performed his songs aimed at dissing the government and politicians.
3. Comprehensive show: Every Saturday night, he hosts an entire show where all the dancers [about 20] come together and perform a holistic choreography and performance in unison. On Saturday, he performed his traditional religious worship as well.
4. Sunday jump: Every Sunday, he hosts a more family-friendly show.

Listening to Lemi talk about this, I couldn't help but acknowledge how much of a genius Fela was. He performed his songs live in these shows, and once he put them in an album, he never performed them again on stage. So, if you want to hear it, you buy the album. If you're going to experience it, you come to Fela's shrine before it becomes an album. And you never really know when it might be the last time you see him perform your favourite song. So, if you wanted to put the song on repeat, but he hadn't released it as an album, you'd have to come to the Fela's shrine and pay for the show. It was so clever! The experience of it all, the fact that no two shows are ever exactly the same, and you get to experience a concert every week in 4 different ways.

Three things that stood out for me were:

1. He segmented his audience beautifully, making it easier for his customers to enjoy him fully as their authentic selves. If you wanted to enjoy Fela as a family, you could do so on Sunday and have an entirely different experience with your friends and colleagues on Tuesday. If you were more focused on the political advocacy side of things, you could enjoy that on Thursday and avoid the spiritual parts on Saturday. It was such a genius lesson on marketing the same product [Fela's music] in different ways and creating distinct experiences for your customers.
2. His monetisation channels were impressive. He put a price on it. In every scenario, he made money and promoted his music in dynamic ways every time, even when it was imperfect. If you attended his shows, you'd pay. If it were a free night for girls, they most likely would come with men who would pay or tell their other female friends about it. Every show was him practising and perfecting a song. He was constantly experimenting with his shows, which were so beautiful to watch. I love that even if most shows were an experiment where he tried at least one new thing, he gave it his best and asked people to pay. I loved that he monetised work in progress and still monetised his perfected works packaged into an album.
3. He provided personalised and unique experiences that made his customers feel special. No two experiences were ever completely the same, and your experience on Saturday would be different from your experience on Sunday. All experiences were unique. He stretched his team, and everyone who attended those shows returned with a story. It was a marketing channel that made people feel something every time they experienced it.

It was interesting for me from a marketing perspective, and I wanted to share it with you. If you're curious about Fela, you should definitely watch last week's unbranded conversation.

Reading this, what stood out for you? Tell me in the comment section.

With Love,

Blessing Abeng

Sidebar: share this letter with someone who would love it [maybe someone who works in marketing, runs a business, loves Fela, or someone you just want to see succeed].