At the 8th Annual Calabar entertainment conference organised by Hit Fm Radio, the Organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, the biggest travel expo in West Africa shared his concept of known and Unknowns as a tool to expand the revenue of Carnival Calabar.
He started by giving a disclaimer the 4 concepts of Known and Unknowns he will be sharing are not originally his own.
That he is just adapting it for demonstration purposes. He said former US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld made it popular during the second Gulf War in his famous press conference that is about things we know we don’t Know.
Ambassador Ikechi Uko, a leading African Tourism Promoter and the international Consultant to Carnival Carnival described the Carnival as the biggest invention by Nigeria in the last 20 years.
In his words, the Carnival is the gene pool of the contemporary Nigerian cultural expressions including music, dance drama and entertainment.
It embodies all of what modern Nigerian artistic expression has become. He praised the founders and those that sustained it over time.
He then moved into his paper. By asking “What is Carnival Calabar as we know it?”
Then he shared his insight using the 4 concepts of Know and Unknowns.
“There are KNOWN KNOWNS of Carnival Calabar .” The things we all know and can quantify are the dance and performances on the street .
1 We know how many bands are, and probably how many dancers are.
2 We have the Christmas Village. We have an idea of how many shops and stalls operate there.
3 We have the shows and entertainment.
4 We have the sales round the City of Drinks and Food.
5 We have the busy hotels.
6 We know about the booked flights and the crazy fares.
7 We know about the product placement by advertisers. We can quantify them.
8 We know about advertising
WE HAVE THE KNOWN UNKNOWNS. Things we know we don’t know.
We know it is happening. We can see the effect, but we do not understand and cannot quantify it very well, and we may not be able to calculate the value.
Like:
1 The exchange of friendship for value between the sexes (Male & Female)
2 Social Capitals
3 Socialisation of the Society – Community Pride
4 Brand Equity
5 GDP growth. We should be able to track the GDP growth in December, but do we?
I Understand The MD, CRSTB & State Bureau Of Statistics Is Following Up On Verifiable Data .
The UNKNOWN KNOWNS. These are things we do not know that we know. Things we do not really understand, but we know they are possible.
These are the potentials that are available that we do not know exist.
Let us divine a little but looking at the knowns to unlock the UNKNOWN.
With a detailed forensic outline of every sale, every business, and every exchange of value that happened, we can mine the data afterwards.
Statistics and data are invaluable :
1 Tourism. It is happening, but we don’t control or direct it. It is happening. People want to come, but we are unable to tap or unlock the money trail. Any time someone moves, tourism – Happens.
How do we exploit the tourism potentials? The only tourism we know is booking a hotel. But can we do a Calabar type Airbnb for visitors accommodation?. What of hiking routes in Calabar and nearby communities like Kwa Falls, National Park, etc.
The only lowland Gorilla in the world is here. Rwanda charges $1500 for Mountain Gorilla trekking per person. How much do we charge?
What of boat trips to Duke Town and Creek Town.
What of food shows in between the Power Week? Just Food can bring more revenue.
What of Craft and Curio Sales? Nike and Addidas do annual designs. Do we have annual sales of designs from Carnival Calabar? Fashion from the Carnival. What of Street Parties or Fetes? Anybody coming to Calabar at Christmas wants to party, so give them the parties.
UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS
These are the things we do not know and we do not understand. We do not even know they exist.
These are the opportunities that exists that we do not know are available.
These are the areas that we hire consultants to assist in developing a pathway to value exploration and exploitation.
Suggestions to unlock the hidden economic potentials of the Carnival
Will as follows:
1 A simple cell will not thrive and excel in the modern world. So, a cell has to develop complexity to thrive.
2 Concentrating only on the Known Knowns will not create wealth.
3 We should raise the complexity of the Carnival product to further differentiate the Carnival. The more complex it becomes, the greater its capacity to drive economic growth and value for indigenes
4 We should scale whatever makes money to make more. Set high targets each year and drive the investments in time and resources for more income.
5 Merchandising. No Band has tried merchandising its brand globally through Jersey Sales or Totems
6 Block parties. No street parties advertised and sold online. Every street can hire DJ and do street parties. The potential for this is massive. People can buy tickets
7 Copy and paste any idea that has worked at the Rio Carnival or Mardi Grass. Chale Wote in Ghana has the Graffiti Art Section that is appealing to collectors worldwide.
8 T and T Carnival offer opportunities.
9 We should not wait for the government to drive the whole businesses of the Carnival.
The Carnival happens every 12 months, so we know it will happen. We have enough time to plan.
