Friday 4 April 2014

Ghanaian Stars are too dim to bright



In Ghana, it is very easy to resent and develop apathy for Stars and possibly be labeled a hater or whatever name that fits, but is that really the case?

Social media has made it very possible to have all our Stars congregating at one place e.g., Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to basically interact with their fans and just anybody, but it appears they are far-removed from our society. Sometimes, you can't help but to inbox a Star just to express your unadulterated admiration to them and in extreme cases, to interact and ask them for some experiential guidelines only to be ignored forever. They don't even acknowledge your presence on their pages let alone the Mentions.

If you are already a Star or almost on the verge of becoming one, you have to take people seriously, especially giving them timely feedback on their enquiries and any meaningful interaction they initiate as though it is an obligation so that, they can in turn take you serious.

Growing up in the 90's, we used to write to Celebrities like, Van Damme, Oliver Khan, Commando and what have you and they replied us with lovely pictures and sometimes souvenirs, and I'm sure their devotion to making everyone count helped in surging their fan base. I want to believe that trying to draw the fine line between stardom and one's private life is not an easy task but again, it is a calling you have responded to, so if you don't have time for all of those PR stunts, it's prudent to hire a Publicist.

You don't need a professional to handle some of these social media activities such as liking or retweeting your mentions for you. These Publicists can even do more than that except sitting in interviews on your behalf. There are so many creative Writers or Public Relations Experts on everyone's timeline and these people can be asked to come on board for a pittance i.e. if you believe in the power of numbers. It may even help them improve their lots, given that their now interactive platforms will help them reach out to a larger section of the public while they, as brands or cash cows concentrate on whatever brought them to stardom.

Some of these Stars, be it Footballers, Track Athletes, Dancers, Celebrated Writers such as Novelists and Poets, Musicians and anyone who performs in the public domain appears versatile and can do most things on their own but the idea of writing their own songs, the composition, the recording, the publicizing, the marketing and all the other activities that characterizes the final work in the case of a Musician is certainly not the best since it doesn't leave space for specialization and quality output of their work and I would implore those who have a know-how or are well-to-do to revolutionize the art industry for exponential growth.

Most of the stars have complained and decried the attitude of Ghanaians on TV about their inability to hail or celebrate them when they site them on the streets but I’m sorry, nobody celebrates an ignoring narcissistic personality only because he plays football or sings and even in cases where you are hailed, your celebration is short-lived. Stars have to prove over time that, they are humane; they have to genuinely like their fans that practically famed and fanned them to the top. They have to acknowledge the presence of their fans and most of all brand themselves from their primal personalities, so that people would want to identify and associate with them in their Cars, Offices, Homes and that would be the beginning of widespread signing of autographs and endorsements in Ghana without ado. 
  

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