Shoko Festival 2020 Digital Campaign Case Study
How do you help a festival completely change its identity and business model to meet the limitations of a global pandemic?
About Shoko Festival
Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s most popular and longest-running urban culture festival. Shoko is all about promoting urban culture, free expression and new ideas. Over the years the festival has provided a platform for hundreds of young Zimbabwean rappers, comedians, musicians and spoken word artists to perform, collaborate and express themselves. Shoko also curates cutting edge collaborations between local and international acts and builds international tours for young Zimbabwean artists.
This case study highlights how Point Black helped Shoko Festival transition from an in-person event to a fully digital festival during a pandemic.
Objectives
The objectives for Shoko Festival 2020 were;
Increase social media following by 10%
Help rebrand the festival to a digital-first offering
Help identify artists for the program
Handle all design work for festival assets
Handle all Public Relations for the festival
How We Helped
This was Point Black’s third consecutive year working closely with Shoko Festival to help put together their program and handle all their agency work. Shoko has a long-established brand known for delivering a unique festival that is as much about the experiential offering as the art on display. Scheduled to be held in September 2020, the festival fell right in the middle of the global COVID 19 pandemic where Zimbabwe was in a lockdown that restricted movement and banned the gathering of any crowds.
Shoko’s team at Magamba Network out together a plan to host a fully digital festival with a difference and recruited Point Black to help bring this vision to life.
Implementation
With limited time Point Black devised an audience awareness campaign that focused on generating conversation and interest via original content, media partners and influencers. However instead of simply talking at potential “attendees”, Point Black and its team generated original content and conversations that revolved around the festival to drive interest and awareness.
This was coupled with a comprehensive 3 tier paid media campaign and a massive Public Relations drive.
Along with all this Point Black worked with Magamba to adapt their festival assets and design their promotional assets. In total the following was produced
5 Event Specific Logos
280 Different Posters
39 articles and interviews in major press publications
Numbers
4045480 Total Impressions
10,450 % increase in engagements
5,213 % Increase in audience
Assets
Press Release: Sha Sha, Ti Gonzi, Poptain and Jah Master to Headline Shoko Festival
For Immediate Release
As Shoko Festival’s week-long digital offering kicks off the festival’s team have announced their second batch of headline acts.
This year, Zimbabwe’s longest-running urban festival will run from 21 to 27 September 2020 where all sessions and performances will be screened live onto Shoko Festival’s Facebook page and their website. This year’s iteration, dubbed “The Phoenix Edition” has announced that Zimbabwean BET Awards Winner, Sha Sha will be headlining the festival. The South Africa based multi-platinum songstress and “Queen of Amapiano” will be supported by Zim Hip Hop star Ti Gonzi who will be launching his new album “Best Mero Volume 2” live at the festival.
Despite the change in execution, Shoko Festival will still be presenting its signature events such as the Shoko Comedy Night, Mash Ups Night and their headline event Peace In The Hood.
This year’s Peace in The Hood will be headlined by Zim Dancehall stars Jah Master and Poptain as well as Zim Hip Hop’s new generation of stars R Peels, BlacPerl and Holy Ten. The event will be hosted by the energy god, Dhadza D & the new kid on the block, Cody Rank Marshall.
Mash Up Nights will open with a set from Millz Million before hosting a Pungwe Sessions Live set with performances from Simba Tagz, Chengeto, Boss Pumacol, Sylent Nqo, ASAPH, and RayDizz. As well a Women Faya Set featuring Anita Jaxson, Sibo and Natasha Muz. Mash Up Nights will then culminate in the performances from the headline acts Ti Gonzi and Sha Sha on Saturday the 26th of September.
Shoko’s Comedy Night will once again fall on a Friday and will be headlined by veteran comedian, Doc Vikela, and social media comedy star Ray Vines. The night of laughs will be accentuated by The Bang Bang Comedy Show featuring Alfred Kainga (USA), Munya, Tinaye Wayne, King Kandoro, Mr Lorraine, Maritawana and Kadem.
As part of the festival’s digital transformation, this iteration will present an experimental live Sungura Tv show hosted by the Monkey Nuts titled Mvenge Mvenge 2.0. The special offering will feature presentations by Probeatz, Dumi Right (USA), Synik, MotoMzhinji and Brother Matabele. Mvenge Mvenge 2.0 will be presented on the 23rd of September and will be hosted by Energydokta
A full program of the events slated for the festival is available on the Festival’s website. Other programming features will include the Battle of the Cities Poetry Slam (Monday 21 September) with special guest poet from Zambia Van Van and Simuka’s Top Comedian competition (22 September).
Shoko Festival will also offer a weeklong digital media conference titled The Hub Unconference that will host a number of diverse panels such as The Mayor’s Forum featuring Mayors from Kwekwe, Masvingo, Mutare and Chitungwiza, The Video Indaba, the Africa Satire Convention, Zim Hip Hop Masterclasses, the second iteration of the Women Create Worlds panel and, many more panels that will be hosted by both local and international delegates.
“Shoko 2020 is gonna be such a vibe!” says Festival Director, Comrade Fatso, “We have such an exciting lineup of cutting edge urban performances, hilarious comedy shows and unique curated events that will really push the boundaries of what’s possible in Zimbabwean entertainment! This week we will rise like the Phoenix with humour, creativity and positive energy!”
More information about this year’s edition of Shoko Festival can be found here
For any press queries please contact:
Phil Chard
phil@pointblack.africa
+263772419739
Kim Kute
shoko@shokofestival.co.zw
+263 77 237 7955
About Shoko Festival
Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s most popular and longest-running urban culture festival. Shoko is all about promoting urban culture, free expression and new ideas. Over the years the festival has provided a platform for hundreds of young Zimbabwean rappers, comedians, musicians and spoken word artists to perform, collaborate and express themselves. Shoko also curates cutting edge collaborations between local and international acts and builds international tours for young Zimbabwean artists. The festival also hosts free conferences, workshops and panels on music, tech & digital. The Shoko 2020 edition will run under the theme “The Phoenix Edition”. The festival, which is entering its 10th edition, will deliver an incredible and unique iteration during these socially distanced times. Shoko 2020 will feature A week-long Hub Unconference #DigitalMediaWeek, Shoko Comedy Night, Peace in the Hood concert, Digital Poetry Slams, Mash Up Night, Top Comedian Battle, Voice 2 Rep Competition, #ZimbabweanLivesMatter Cipher, and, some of the most innovative live performances of lockdown! Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s longest-running festival of urban culture and is a production of Magamba Network.
Press Release: Shoko Festival Announces Innovative New Format for 2020 Edition
Zimbabwe’s longest-running urban culture festival - Shoko Festival has announced that its 10th edition running from the 21st to 27th September 2020 will feature some of its most innovative and unique programming to date. This year’s edition, dubbed “The Phoenix Edition” will feature a completely digital implementation with live sets streamed from both Harare and Bulawayo for all 7 days.
Shoko 2020 will feature performances from popular urban acts including Poptain, Jah Master, Ray Vines, Natasha Muz, Anita Jaxson, Pro Beatz, and many more local acts. The festival will also release the name of its surprise international act soon.
This year’s edition of Shoko Festival will see a mixture of new and old formats as we optimise the experience for the streaming audience on Facebook and other online platforms. Digital attendees can expect amazing live performances, Peace In The Hood, Mash Ups Night, The Bang Bang Comedy Show, a Digital Poetry Slam, a Top Comedian Battle, #DigitalMediaWeek hosted by The Hub Unconference, a #ZimbabweanLivesMatter cypher and the Voice2Rep competition amongst many other scheduled presentations.
“As Shoko Festival we’re all about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and what can be performed. Because of Covid-19 we’ve had to pivot our programming and its challenged us to come up with a brand new virtual programme of cutting edge curated events, brand new musical collaborations, daring comedy game shows and an inspiring digital conference too!”
says Shoko Festival Director Comrade Fatso,
Shoko Festival will continue to provide a platform for upcoming artists in different urban culture genres, and also collaborate with more established acts from different genres via our Peace in The Hood event and Mash Ups Night. In true Shoko tradition, the festival will be presenting never-seen-before collaborations including man-of-the-moment Poptain featuring rapper BlacPerl & seasoned poet Madzitateguru. Another explosive collaboration the festival has curated will see popular new singer Anita Jaxson joining forces with rising rappers Natasha Muz and Sibo.
“We are proud that even in these trying times Shoko Festival is able to be one of the few cultural platforms where upcoming and talented poets can perform alongside the biggest acts in the country, and, the same festival can also host some of the best comedians and rappers while also running a cutting edge week-long conference that covers the state of the internet and engages our political leaders on critical issues“
says Shoko Production Manager, Tongai Makawa AKA Outspoken.
Shoko’s main sponsors this year are the Prince Claus Fund, Norwegian People’s Aid, Accountability Lab & the Heinrich Boll Foundation. More information about this year’s edition of Shoko Festival can be found on their website
For any press queries please contact:
Phil Chard
phil@pointblack.africa
+263772419739
Kim Kute
shoko@shokofestival.co.zw
+263 77 237 7955
About Shoko Festival
Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s most popular and longest-running urban culture festival. Shoko is all about promoting urban culture, free expression and new ideas. Over the years the festival has provided a platform for hundreds of young Zimbabwean rappers, comedians, musicians and spoken word artists to perform, collaborate and express themselves. Shoko also curates cutting edge collaborations between local and international acts and builds international tours for young Zimbabwean artists. The festival hosts free conferences, workshops and panels on music, tech & digital. The Shoko 2020 edition will run under the theme “The Phoenix Edition”. The festival, which is entering its 10th edition, will deliver an incredible and unique iteration during these socially distanced times. Shoko 2020 will feature A week-long Hub Unconference #DigitalMediaWeek, Shoko Comedy Night, Peace in the Hood concert, Digital Poetry Slams, Mash Up Night, Top Comedian Battle, Voice 2 Rep Competition, #ZimbabweanLivesMatter Cipher, and, some of the most innovative live performances of Lockdown! Shoko Festival is Zimbabwe’s longest-running festival of urban culture and is a production of Magamba Network.
Artist Education Workshop at Shoko Festival
As part of its effort to educate artists and their partnership with Goethe-Zentrum Harare/ Zimbabwe German Society, Point Black held an extensive educational workshop that invited industry experts from across the creative spectrum including Keen Mushapaidze (Jah Prayzah’s Manager), Michael Mangondoza (Takura’s Manager), Fungayi Zvirawa (ShaSha’s Manager) and MR. Wiseman Ngubo (Chief Operations Officer of CAPASSO).
Topics covered included,
The Role Of Managers
Intellectual Property and Monetisation
Producer and Brand MasterClass with Rymez.
