Usually, young Africans have been the ones to adopt Western online fads, but with Master KG and Nomcebo, it appears to be the other way round.
The hit song 'Jerusalema' by South African musicians Master KG featuring the voice of Nomcebo Zikode has caught the attention of the world's greatest. Christiano Ronaldo, Janet Jackson, Cyril Ramaphosa, are all going crazy about the 'Jerusalema' dance challenge that has gone viral around the globe.
Leading choreographers from around the world have taken up the dance challenge and even uploaded YouTube tutorials. Easydance Celleno from Italy joined fellow choreographer Franky Roy from France to teach others on how the dance is performed.
In Zimbabwe, Bitumen World Private Limited was one of the first companies to participate in the Jerusalema dance challenge. By the time the video was published, very few people knew about the company.
When the video was posted on Twitter about three weeks ago, many Twitter users liked and shared the video but at the same time, people were asking about the owners of Bitumen World and what the company actually does apart from good dancing.
The video was hilarious. It caught my attention, I watched it until the end. The manner in which the employees danced on the dusty ground in a spectacular fashion was just out of this world. The management and staff of Bitumen World got the dance routine right. Kudos to the choreographer and the effort that was put by the employees.
Social media moguls had mixed feelings about the video. Some opined that, only employees receiving their salaries in foreign currency would be the only ones motivated to take up the challenge.
Others were of the view that, apart from money, a strategic human capital management system in an organization can motivate employees to do the unthinkable.
Was the video a marketing strategy?
YES! After the date of publication of the video, thousands if not millions of people and prospective clients got to know about Bitumen World. The world now knows that there is a civil engineering firm in Zimbabwe.
If the Bitumen dance video was not an excellent marketing tool, then I doubt other marketers would have decided to mimic the idea. Fifteen plus companies from strategic sectors of the economy have since taken up the challenge and more videos are yet to come.
Well, that is the marketing culture in Zimbabwe, when one company in a particular trade does something unique, the crowd follows suit.
As we saw this happening early this year, when companies rushed to sponsor breakfast to a 3 year-old, Zimbabwean boy; Zoolian Karendo after a video in which he was lamenting about missing bread for breakfast went viral on social media.
Was the dance challenge a team building exercise?
Yes! The ingenuity and creativity at Bitumen is not only witnessed on the infrastructural development works but also cuts across all departments, from the human resources department to the marketing division, operations, admnistration, sales and finance.
After watching the Bitumen dance challenge, you can tell what the employees spend most of their time doing. The heavy duty trucks parked behind the dance floor shows us the kind of work they do.
Majority of the work is done outside the office, there are largely involved in road rehabilitation work, construction of bridges, roads etc. They deal with heavy machinery and the equipment is just too big and expensive. It's not a walk in the park for the men and women at Bitumen.
A get together was necessary. The old traditional team building outings at Masiye Camp wasn't going to be appealing for 527 employees who spend most of their time in the middle of nowhere, building road networks.
Coming together as one unit with their managers was cool, especially when you are working on the dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge road. An important and major project that will boost economic activity particularly trade and the transportation of goods from one end of Zimbabwe to the other.
The workforce at Bitumen is racially balanced, Apart from color, race and gender, the team is united. Andre Zietsman established the civil engineering giant in 2012, with innovation, professionalism, effectiveness and customer focus set as the guiding principles.
The Jerusalema song is on point. The dance routine if properly choreographed is fun to watch. Does the dance challenge serve any purpose, yes it does.
Apart from Bitumen World, insuarance companies, law firms, manufacturing companies have taken advantage of the challenge to promote their brand and market their products and services.
In the same vein, it was a necessary human resource management activity especially after the economic effects of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
As companies slowly open after the lockdown setbacks, bringing the workforce together in a fun and memorable manner reignites the mood and morale of the organization's human capital. It simply sets the tone for a motivated major come back.
Should we see more of these videos? Socialite and radio personality, Misred suggests otherwise. I guess she is aware of the tendency that most companies have. Misred has probably listened to identical adverts that lack variety and interest on radio.
People are sick and tired of imitators and monotonous marketing tactics
If world class celebrities saw the challenge worthwhile, then to me, I see nothing wrong dancing to the song to market your products and services while at the same time bringing your team together.
