Creativity is like water from a pipe - Okyeame Kwame

Okyeame Kwame is adventurous, selfless and modest. His passion has brought him this far as he produces an interesting, energy-filled Coca Cola commercial that has choreographed handshakes and refreshing Azonto dance steps.

Last week, we did a story on the advert ‘Shake-up your senses’, see link okyeame Kwame shows more versatility in the new Coca Cola . The many people who enjoyed the advert on YouTube asked us several questions regarding the advert.


Did he shoot it himself? Did he choreograph the handshakes and the dance? Some of the people also wanted him to explain what the advert seeks to do.


These questions were transferred to Okyeame Kwame who answered them. Enjoy…


GhanaWeb: Having watched the Coca Cola advert, one will ask, ‘how did it all start’?


OK: Just as everything has a beginning, so does this one too. The team of Coca Cola was present at the ‘Versatile Show’ in 2012 at the National Theatre in Accra. They had fun watching what we could do. We were just putting our creativity into action. We were just making sure that we put up a great show and make a mark for ourselves and the future. So after the show, we got a call from them, got a concept put together, got the necessary logistics and today, the advert is history.

GhanaWeb: How did the concept come to mind?


OK: After the Versatile show, Coca-Cola, who were one of our sponsors, were very happy about the show. As they are also about extreme creativity, they enjoyed what the versatile show stood for. They called us in and asked us to produce an ad for their ‘shake-up your senses’ communication. I started seeing images, ideas and hearing sounds that befitted the briefing the team gave me. I rearranged its complexity to a simple story-line that I believed would bring people together to share excitement.


GhanaWeb: Throw more light on the advert itself…


OK: The concept borders on passion and energy. The love theme is for the passion, the sports, cheers, handshakes and dance also expresses energy. So literally, it’s actually about a young man momentarily saying his goodbye to his girlfriend. The lady’s friend encourages her to join their fun of football game and cheers. They go to see the acrobatic scoring of the game and celebrate it with Azonto dances and drinking Coke.


GhanaWeb: Did you shoot the advert yourself?

OK: I built the concept, produced it; finding the cast, costume and props, and location. But the actual shooting and editing was done by Gyo of Phamous Philms.


GhanaWeb: How long did it take you to put the advert together?


OK: The advert took us one full month to produce. I wrote the script with Nii Tete Antoni, who also choreographed the handshake and the ‘Azonto’ dance. Phamous People (Gyo was Director of Photography, and the general production was produced by me (Okyeame Kwame) for Firm Bridges Communication.


GhanaWeb: What were some of the difficulties you encountered producing this advert?


OK: The advert took one whole month of designing and redesigning. But the actual shoot took only two days. I believe when a man plans well he must not work too hard. However, we had the weather to deal with. Our plan was to shoot the ad in the evening between five and six pm. So we rented the lights and generators and invited the cast to wait the whole day and at five it started raining. See it was my fault. I didn’t check the weather. I can't say I had any problems with the cast because we had about fifty crates of coke on set. Energy overload was the easiest way to describe the feeling during the shoot.

GhanaWeb: Don’t you think that merging adverts to music can adversely affect your career?


OK: Affect my music? I don’t see that in anyway happening, not even in another life time. Rather it will help my thinking ability, it will enhance the way we see and analyze things. You see I believe that creativity is like water from a pipe, when the one in front comes out, then the ones following can flow. It will bring more money into the pocket. This means greater songs, better videos. And even international collabos. It will instead better the Okyeame Kwame brand.


CLICK the video below and shake up your body





Okyeame Kwame is saying that you can be part of the fun by using your phone, camera or any device that will record you and your friend(s). Create your own version of the ‘handshake’ and Azonto dance’, then post it on YouTube and drop the link on the Coca Cola Facebook page. Remember that the best ‘handshake’ and Azonto dance’ person(s) will get the opportunity to win mouth-watering prizes as well as feature in Okyeame Kwame’s next video.

Let’s get down to business!