Radiocity banner at Club Venom |
Competition—defined to mean, “A contest of skill or
knowledge” in the Webster English dictionary but it beats my comprehension when
competitors take it a notch further by stooping to a new low!
What am I talking about?
Look at the picture on the right here and tell me what you are thinking. Me too, I
was like: “what the hell??” “Is this supposed to be a joke??” “Sanyu FM actually
did this??” I was as speechless as you are right now. The hash tag
#ThingsSanyuFMCanCopyFromRadiocity went viral on Twitter this Friday morning
that I started reading every tweet and the responses were not kind to our
fellow radio station but whose fault is it? Why do this and go ahead to upload
it to your official Facebook page??
Sanyu FM uploaded the pic on its Facebook page |
You may look at the photo and say someone from the Sanyu FM
camp did it but it does not mean it is Sanyu FM to blame… but my dear, it is to
blame. Its brand was used to try and make fun of another brand. No one should
be this naïve and unprofessional to pull such a move no matter the competition.
What some people do not understand is that when you are a part of a company or
brand, you are no longer seen as just an individual. Whatever you do or say
reflects on the company//brand you work for. I have friends at Sanyu FM such as
Seanice, Crystal, Fat Boy, DJ Pita, Timothy to mention but a few and this is what makes
it so damn disappointing and surprising. I doubt they had a hand in it because
to me it is ridiculous. So I ask myself, “Who would do this to Radiocity? Is the
competition really that strong that someone has to deface the Radiocity brand?”
Not funny and not cool at all.
One thing I have observed with our Ugandan market is that
people do not know how to compete and still be friends or get along. Somehow things
become personal. We have a problem and difficulty of failing to separate
business from pleasure. In Uganda, it is as if a competitor is an enemy. So
many now spend a lot of time planning how to bring others down or shame them in
order to devalue them and then get more customers/clients… in this case,
listeners. From the tabloids to the newspapers, TV & Radio stations to
musicians, business people, politicians and so on, there is a hostility brewing
and I do not understand where it is coming from or why it is necessary. The Baganda
say, “Butayagaliza bano kibi” (hope the spelling is right)… meaning “not
wishing the best for others is bad” and this is a vice that is going to kill
our industry that has so far been growing and progressing well. Why can’t we
all just get along??!
Back to Basics by Mister Deejay & Val |
At Radiocity, we are a team and we like working with others or giving credit
where it’s due whether you are a competitor or not. For example; Mister Deejay
likes to incorporate other deejays and presenters from other radio stations in
his “Back to Basics” event such as Alex Ndawula & Val Oketcho (Capital FM),
DJ Pita (Sanyu FM) and others. This is just one of the few examples. If it was
about him thinking “I am Radiocity and they are not so I cannot work with them”,
that would be stupid. Let’s get work done and let us be there to push the
entertainment industry higher with all our various ideas and brands without
killing each other—in whichever way.
Let us all be wise and compete in a mature way. We all work
for different brands/companies but let us not make it a reason to breed hate
and stab others in the back, or be malicious in order to get ahead. Karma does
catch up with you one way or the other—you can never fully escape it. It is
like death! So watch how you treat others for soon you might have to reap what
you sowed—good or bad—it is up to you. I wouldn’t want to be the one to say, “You
got served!”
Seriously though, Sanyu FM, I think someone owes Radiocity 97fm
an apology.
Unfortunately healthy corporate competition in Uganda seems to be on the acidity side of the PH scale, guys think whoever belongs to the other side is against us! Very absurd! Steve!
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