Blakk ID’s modest groundbreaking launch

Product launches must soon become a collector’s item in the very near future. Brands try to outclass each other; innovating their way to mass attention leaving in their wake creative landmarks that sometimes even outlive the brand itself. Some of the activities can be that extreme. One worthy of note in recent times is the Star FM launch that featured camels and the works. Now that was a launch in a class by itself and it did get national attention. Perhaps it was all worth it as it seems to have worked miracles for the Star FM brand. I suppose it is what you can call a successful launch because it had the knock-punch effect—you couldn’t have missed it.

But is there an ethical question to be addressed in running these campaigns? Are the brands simply looking for attention or are they offering more. The world has gone past just doing things for your benefit only. Beyond that, phones now have cameras and flash lights. Some even have radio and TV. Innovation is when you can give more than your core promise in a creative way. A brand that seems to have captured this idea and is presenting what we think is bound to be a trend-setter is Blakk ID.

What if a fashion brand can sprinkle dashes of CSR over the launch even before they are fully in the market? Now, that will be a new way of thinking that also presents the full manifestation of the win-win-win idea. It also demonstrates that they are not just in the market to sell clothes; they also care about society they operate in. We can be sure then, that when they make a billion, they will give some of it back to help improve the lot of their fellow humans. Now that is a trait of a modern brand and the guys at Blakk ID clearly understand the dynamics of this thinking. So what are they doing exactly? They are going to the Akropong School for the blind to stage a fashion show as part of the launch of their fashion brand in an event dubbed Colours of Black. You might think there is nothing innovative about that until I tell you that all the models will be blind students. To answer your question, YES! Visually impaired people can model too. You may be familiar with the maxim “disability is not inability”. What it simply means is that, people you think are disabled may be abled in other departments and these blind students are going to demonstrate this idea in its fullness through fashion all made possible by Blakk ID.

YES! They have the materials; long legs, slender waist, muscular torsos — the whole works and Blakk ID is going to put them all to work on the 21^st of May at the Akropong School for the blind. If you want to support a blind student, witness a trendsetting launch, experience top-end fashion and be inspired, let’s see you there on the 21^stof May.

Blakk ID is an Accra based fashion brand run by Berima Kenneth Kobina Mensah; a Takoradi polytechnic trained fashion designer who has been passionately involved in clothing and dress making since his junior high school years.  

Blakk ID formerly known as Color Blakk is set to take African fashion to the next level. At SPiD-UP®, we are excited about the quality of their output and believe the future is bright for the Blakk ID team. It will be exciting to see you at Akropong on the 21^st.  Whatever you do, be the best you can be. #spidup 

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THE 7 LAWS OF SHATTA WALE

By Bernard Kelvin Clive & Jeremiah Buabeng 

Shatta Wale is a household name. No debating that. Before you start a long argument about your position on his brand and influence, pause and read what these thinkers/professional speakers Bernard Kelvin Clive and Jeremiah Buabeng have to say about the phenomenon that is Shatta Wale. 

1. The Law of Controversy: if I can stir a controversy at every unique point in time, I can keep my name on the lips of the Ghanaian on the street and therefore sustain my name recognition and my relevance. That's it! The Shatta brand thrives on controversy. And he doesn't fail to deliver one every now and then for our entertainment and for his profit. 

2. The Law of Anti-Establishment: Wale is not unaware of growing public sentiment against institutions such as Charterhouse. He takes advantage of it by calling them out for a duel every now and then and posturing as the victim. Does it work? You bet! 

3.  The Law of Disruptive marketing: he, unlike, other artistes always knows how to start top of mind and get the media to keep talking about him. In that way he thrives. He uses his cunning disrupting ways to break the news about his music and movements. Thinking about the fake Adidas move? Yeah! You have got the drift now! A savvy business man, he is! 

4. The Law of the Rebrand: When the first brand isn't working, rebrand! Wale strategically and successfully rebranded from the then 'Bandana' brand that failed to attract him the needed clout to the much widely revered brand “Shatta Wale".  His rebranding is arguably the most successful by any contemporary artist. It has worked wonders and still thriving. He didn't only secure a name rebrand, but also devised a strategy to annex his genre of music - dancehall. 

5.  The Law of the Tribe: he has built an enormous tribe - The Shatta Movement (SM), something most brands, his predecessors and even peers couldn't build or manage. He has a raving fan base that has become his core tool to push his brand to the masses and consequently to the top. A strategy emerging artistes must learn and adopt but of course one that takes genius to execute. 

6. The Law of Unconventional: it's the 21st century, folks, and you can't capture people's imagination if you are doing what everybody does. So Shatta's response to this is: be unconventional! Break the rules! Challenge everything the people are used to seeing and hearing. Some will hate you but that hate will still fuel your fame and keep you on top of your game! It's a formidable Shatta law and it works!!!

7.  The Law of the Ghetto: Shatta is popular for the same PRINCIPLE that made Peace FM worked; he reaches out to the masses, the people on the street, the ghetto. If you a Harvard-schooled prim and proper person, Shatta will likely not be your man. Unfortunately, for you, people like you are in the minority. The majority are on the street. He identifies with hustlers; people who have no strategy to succeed and are counting on their street smarts and aggressiveness to push them to the top. 

So there they are, the 7 laws of Shatta Wale. Now, let the controversy begin. 

"If you build a solid brand, even when you wear 'FAKE' it will be hot 'CAKE', because you have raving fans who will defend it to their death!" ¬ Bernard Kelvin Clive

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Edward Effah leads Fidelity to 79% Profit increase

In March 2001, Edward Effah was selected as one of the best twenty young leaders in Ghana for the inaugural class of the Ghana chapter of the Africa Leadership Initiative. Since then his name has never left the top performers list. Fidelity Bank under his leadership has recorded some phenomenal successes over the years and shows promise of continuous growth. In the industry, the bank has won several awards including the prestigious Best Bank- Customer Care for the Ghana Banking Awards under his leadership. He is by all standards a high performing individual.

In 2014, the nation was faced with an economic downturn that presented a turbulent period to the financial sector. In spite of this challenge Fidelity Bank recorded an appreciable performance under the leadership of Mr. Edward Effah in 2014 when profits increased by about 79% from the previous year’s GH¢63 million to GH¢112.5 million in 2014.

At the bank’s annual general meeting, Mr. Effeh said; “In the year under review, operating income was GH¢326 million, representing a growth of 67 percent over last year’s figure of GH¢195 million. Growth in operating income was as a result of a 59 percent growth in the net interest income from GH¢117 million in 2013 to GH¢186 million in 2014. Growth in fees and commission on the other hand increased but was below expectation due to the shortage in foreign currency and decreased international trade activities in the year”. He said that effective cost savings, notwithstanding the higher inflationary environment, supported the profit performance, saying “operating expense for the year came to GH¢183 million, 57 percent above that of the previous year.”

According to a news item published on the company’s website; assets of the group soared significantly by 85 per cent from GH¢1.69 billion in 2013 to GH¢3.14 billion in 2014. The bank’s profit after tax increased by about 90 per cent from GH¢43.86 million in 2013 to GH¢83.38 million at the end of last year, buoyed by about a 71 per cent growth in operating income from GH¢197.1 million in 2013 to GH¢336.7 million in 2014.

Mr. Effah attributes the Bank’s performance to improved internal processes substantially, enhanced delivery of service to customers and increased footprint in the Ghanaian banking landscape. He said the bank brought on board IBM, a leading IT company to provide the latest technology platform to serve its customers, invested in a state-of-the-art contact center to serve customers as well as the acquired ProCredit Savings and Loans Limited to ensure expansion of its activities. These factors are largely responsible for the growth. Mr. Edward Effah noted that the integration has been very smooth and that Fidelity currently has the best combination of Human Resources in the sector.

Board Chairman of the Bank, Dr. William Panford Bray, touching on the acquisition of ProCredit noted that the acquisition of ProCredit had helped the bank to increase its footprint across the country with an extended network of 80 branches and 110 ATMs. With the integration of processes and credit methodology well integrated, The bank can now boast of customer base increase from 485,000 to 621,829 helping to improve deposit base by 31 per cent to GH¢1.8 billion.

High performance in the financial sector enables high performance in all other sectors of an economy. With the likes of Edward Effah at the helm of affairs, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Africa as the Cheetahs, slowly move to the front-line. Mr. Effah is a classic example of high performance; a person who’s very presence in any group forces change in the upward direction.  Team SPiD-UP is working hard to find out what his driving philosophy is and when this is done, we hope to bring you an inspiring article that will encourage you towards being the best you can be. In the meantime, keep brightening your corner. #SPiD-UP

If you know other high performers, nominate someone into the performance recognition Program

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David Sakyi Recognized for High Performance

Since we announced our search for high performing individuals i.e. ordinary people doing ordinary things in extra-ordinary ways, we have received all kinds of nominations. The initial list was overwhelmingly long and the truth is that were not prepared for it. It took a while to go through it all. The very necessary assessment was another task in itself. We had to visit nominees at their locations to be sure they are what nominators say they are.

While some were a difficult decision to make, others made it very easy. One of the easy decisions was Mr. David Kwaku Sakyi; a well-known radio and TV personality who also runs the famous Kwaku David Photography here in Accra. Most people do not know that he also serves as a minister with the Lighthouse Chapel International. He is also a passionate speaker and has been featured on many frontline events like TEDx and PESC. He’s also been hosted on the KSM show.

But it is not his Jack-of-all-tradeness that fascinated us the most. It is more how he does what he does when he chooses something to do. Without training in radio, he very quickly became the main voice of Hebert Mensah’s Xfm when he hosted the Xpress Breakfast Show for almost 2 years. His outstanding voice and depth of knowledge won him a large following that is still growing with everything new thing he does. When he decided to move to TV, he was invited to host Capital TV’s morning show almost immediately after he had been guest on the show which was then hosted by Kwame Danso (E-nice) of Echo fame.

After leaving Capital TV, David was swooped up by TV Africa to co-host the flagship show Media Today. At the end of his tenure, David decided to concentrate on his photography business but was soon called into action by the Citifm’s breakfast show team. He had previously been a regular on Jessica’s drive time show, Traffic Avenue.

I have personally seen Kwaku David as he is affectionately called at work in his photography hat. What he does with a camera is astounding. He literally talks to the camera and makes it do the most amazing things. He talks passionately about unusual angles and going the extra mile to get shots that will bring memories to life. He puts a lot of time and energy training and retraining his team very regularly because he wants to make say they are always on point. But that is just the thing with people who go the extra mile. They always have some unusual idea in their head that needs to materialize. It is not the same with a person who shows up, points and shoots. He and his team travel regularly around the country and the continent taking pictures in the most unusual of places.

As an astute businessman, he has recently evolved his operation into what is now the KD Group where all his many hats have been brought together under one roof. Mr. Sakyi might be a jack of many trades but the various trades are not too far apart and he demonstrates passion in every one of them. Upon our assessment, it was easy to recognize him as a high performing individual who is also very likely to make the SPiD-UP® Fellowship status in the very near future. If we learnt something from Mr. Sakyi, it is passion for what you do and the ever elusive high performance mindset. 

Look around you; there are high performing people everywhere; working, pushing, fixing, growing, impacting and doing above-average things. You can brighten your little corner too by simply nominating them into the SPiD-UP® Performance Recognition Program to show your appreciation and contribute towards a better Africa. Most importantly, let Mr. David Sakyi inspire you to give your best wherever you find yourself. He will be speaking at our workshops in the very near future. Be sure to join us then. #SPiD-UP®

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