Perception is vital
in humour marketing
By Sun News Publishing
Monday, October 16, 2006
 |
• Gbenga
Adeyinka
Pix: Sun Publishing |
| |
To Gbenga Adeyinka, a comedian, comedy makes people happy
and enjoy a stress-free life and even makes them live longer.
In this interview, he speaks on other issues.
May I meet you?
My name is Gbenga Adeyinka. For the sake of what I do, I like
to add (CFR) Comedian of the Federal Republic.
What did you study at school?
I studied English at the University of Lagos, although I don’t
speak a lot of it now because I want to be counting money.
What made you go into this business?
I had always known and people have told me also that I have
the ability to make people laugh, but I never considered it.
I believe that what you are meant to do or become in life,
you just find yourself knowingly or unknowingly heading towards
that direction. I know God has had a plan for me to do this
business because with the benefit of insight now, every time
I think of the past, it has just been an unconscious drift
toward stand up comedy. When I was in school, I was in a cultural
troupe called Theatre 15 and most of the roles I did were
very comic roles. I was always asked to be an MC in an occasion,
so I guess it was an unconscious effort and I believe that
was what God had destined me to do.
How do you market humour?
Basically, I think humour markets itself. I was telling someone
that a lot of times when you give out your complimentary cards,
its not the card that get you customers, but the humour in
you. When you finish an event and people keep asking if they
could have your card, it’s the humour that you have
exhibited that markets you; that is looking at it from the
pedantic point of view. Perception is also very important
in humour marketing. People want to know you are appropriate,
you have to be versatile, so that you could be called to do
other things like TV shows, programmes, to be MC and not just
being a comedian only. The best way to market humour is to
be versatile.
Where do you get your jokes?
I get my jokes from our environment though mostly , it’s
just an inspiration from God. I read a lot, all those books
you see there are joke books, I browse the Internet. I listen
to the other comedians and I develop and modify what they
have said. I also get jokes from Nigerians. Getting jokes
isn’t much problem but delivering the joke is where
the problem is, I thank God for the journey so far.
Why do we need comedians?
It has been medically proven that when you frown, your face
gets wrinkled faster and when you smile or laugh, you exercise
your face and the tissues and muscles get stretched. It has
also been proven that when you are sad, your blood pressure
goes up but when you are happy your blood pressure comes down
and stays normal. It has also been proven that your heart
beats faster when you are excited. Comedians are so important
in Nigeria now because of the tension in the land, tension
caused by lack of money, EFCC, DDF and so on. We need the
age of comedy to keep people happy and stress free and it
makes them live longer.
How do you market yourself?
I do quite a lot of things. I have TV programmes on four stations
or channels, I have a magazine called (LAFFMATTAZZ), I do
a TV Game show for Star which I have done for four years.
I think visibility is my strongest asset when it comes to
marketing. Once in a while, I place advert in newspapers and
I use to place small adverts in the source-selling medium,
I think the best way to market yourself as a comedian is what
comes out of your mouth. No matter how dressed you are, though
you have to look good to be accepted by the audience but what
markets you more is the words that comes out of your mouth.
Even the Bible said that it is not what goes into a man that
defiles him but what comes out of him.
What is the name of your company and how did you come about
it?
The name of my company is Laughter Incorporated. When I started,
I made up my mind that anything I was going to do will have
to do with laughter. I went to register my company’s
name with Laughter Incorporated. I said let us just incorporate
laughter.
Gbenga Adeyinka has become a household name, how did
you build this brand?
It has been a five years of consistent support from God, people,
hard work on my part. The truth is that no matter how hard
a job is, if you enjoy it, you won’t even notice how
hard the job is, it is part of terrain and is what I have
decided to do. I just thank God because mostly people ask
about the down side of being a comedian, I just look up to
the good side because there were some comedians who started
before me and God has not blessed them as much as he has blessed
me, when I say this, I mean the love of the people which is
unquantifiable. I believe I was able to build this brand through
the support of God and human with constant hard work.
What makes you unique as a comedian?
I am the comedian with the biggest stomach in Nigeria. When
I started, every comedian wanted to come from Warri or to
be a buttered comedian but when I came into the scene, I saw
something that people were not using and we see them in Lagos
all the time (the area boys). So I decided to talk about Lagos
which made me unique in those days. Now, after I got the acceptance,
I decided to go to another level. I dress like one from the
South-South with my bowler hat and walking stick, when people
see me they keep asking are you from the South-South? It is
all about perception. I am the only comedian that comes on
stage and greets you in different languages and this makes
me different. For me, comedy is a way of life, the way you
are holding your paper now tells me that when you were in
school, you don’t like people copying from you.
How big is your brand?
I will say my brand is growing by the day. I hope to take
the brand out of Nigeria. I have been to Ghana to perform
as the 1st Nigerian comedian and I have taken other comedian
there too. Right now, I am the biggest Nigerian comedian in
Ghana, I have been to Sierra Leone and I have done shows in
the U.K. The brand is growing by the day and we are just five
years. What makes me happy the most is that I go to places
like Bayelsa, people see me and recognize me, ooh shine shine
bobo, it humbles me and this shows that the brand will get
bigger by the day.
How did it start?
Starting was not easy. I had a dream and I believed I was
going to make it. As a person, it takes me a long time to
start something. I met Ali Baba about 13 years ago, then I
just left school and finished serving. He was pioneering the
stand up comedy then. He was going from place to place doing
this, it was not easy, may be I would have given up if I had
started then. I met him at an event where I was given the
microphone and I said a couple of jokes. He asked me what
I do and I told him I work with a Construction Firm, he told
me I was wasting my talent. I wish I had started then, once
I make up my mind to start anything, I go out all the way
towards getting results. Initially, my family members were
complaining, that I was sent to the best schools in the country
and now I want to be Baba Sala. I told them it was what I
wanted to do and I thank God I have a wife who is very understanding.
I am still moving and I will get to the Promised Land when
I get my private TV Licence.
How have you created a niche for yourself?
Creating a niche is something that happens almost unconsciously
when I started, I asked myself what other comedians were doing,
at the end of the day, I decided to do what they were not
doing which later because my unique selling point. It was
a conscious effort work on the details of all of them that
cuts me apart.
Who are your benchmarks?
My benchmark is working that is why I call myself the (CFR)
working in as many as the 33 states of Nigeria and still remain
strong. Taking my brand of comedy all over Nigeria, outside
Nigeria, getting awards from organizations, being on TV consistently,
week in, week out and feeding my big stomach.
How do you deal with your competitors?
In the comedy industry, we don’t see one another as
competitors even though we have what we call healthy rivalry,
where you walk up to a comedian on stage and tells him, he
has done well with a hug and a pat on the back. You are unconsciously
telling yourself that you will do better when you come on
stage, this is what makes the comedy industry unique. We see
ourselves as brothers in an economy and that makes the economy
to grow.
From your own business perspective, how would you
define marketing?
Marketing for me is letting people know where that thing they
so much desire is and making them know how important it is
to have it. Letting the product and creating awareness of
the product to the consumers or customers. Marketing is about
creating a yarning in people for what they need and letting
them know why they need it.
How important is marketing in life?
Without marketing, you will just be the best there is and
nobody will know. Someone prays to God everyday that he wants
to win N1, 000,000 in a pool and when God got tired of his
prayer, he said go and buy the ticket first because before
you talk of winning, you have to purchase a ticket. You can’t
get things done, unless you market.
|
