#GetFamiliarGH® though having come a long way from a concept to an actual brand, has not been sitting on its oars.
Two years and counting down the line, and #GetFamiliarGH® true to its mission, still provides services for people who want to stay in touch. #GetFamiliarGH® is a Ghana based social media/advertising, event publicity, entertainment (music promo), PR, marketing/promotions and brand awareness company.
The company started out as an idea of one young gentleman, Albert Kwesi Appiah (Kinto Rothmans) through his use of Blackberry Messenger (BBM). In its early stages, #GetFamiliarGH® utilised BBM solely for marketing purposes, and later introduced a website (http://www.getfamiliargh.com), while utilising Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Later on, the company introduced an application for use on Android operating systems, although remaining extremely popular on BBM. The availability of BBM to the Android and Apple markets thus serves well for the company, especially as a message to its detractors who were of the view that #GetFamiliarGH® is limited, as its marketing and advertising reach only Blackberry users.
In an earlier interview, the CEO of #GetFamiliarGH® said, “In some years to come, #GetFamiliarGH® is going to be one of the biggest companies in the country”. It has been less than a year since that interview and it appears the company is well on its way to achieving this feat.
Notable amongst events organised by #GetFamiliarGH® is #FridayFriends, which is run by the company and takes place every Friday inside the Silver Lounge of the Accra Mall. The idea behind #FridayFriends is to host friends/fans/followers of #GetFamiliarGH® at one unique location for the purpose of socialising and basically having fun.
Before #FridayFriends, #GetFamiliarGH® promoted numerous other events. That was when the realisation struck that the company has the power to organise its own event, due to its unbeatable ability to drive massive traffic. Each Friday at #FridayFriends is characterised by a theme accompanied by beautifully designed graphics by Majid Osman, a graphic designer and member of the #GetFamiliarGH® team. When pink sheets were trending in Ghana, the theme at one edition of #FridayFriends was “Pink Friday”, where patrons were to come dressed in something pink and gain free entry up until a certain time. The 64th edition of #FridayFriends was dubbed “Men in Black”, and all male patrons dressed in black got in free up to a certain time.
#FridayFriends has been going on consistently for a little over a year with 60 plus editions, and it has already chalked some successes. The weekly club event, #FridayFriends was adjudged Best Weekly Club Event at the 2013 rlg Accra Nightlife Awards. Officials of Research in Motion (RIM) now Blackberry, makers of the Blackberry line of smartphones, paid a visit to Ghana and actually requested to be at one edition of #FridayFriends. #FridayFriends recently played host to mahou beer, official beer sponsor of Real Madrid Football Club. #FridayFriends was one of the destinations selected to be a part of the Mahou 5 star party tour, which hit Accra throughout September and October 2013. A few events were selected with the aim of promoting mahou beer in the Ghana, and #FridayFriends is proud to have been one of the selected few.
Kinto, the CEO, sees #GetFamiliarGH® as the mother of entertainment and showbiz across Africa and beyond and #FridayFriends a household name all over Ghana, and not just Accra in a few years to come. #GetFamiliarGH® prides itself as being the most consumer-centric organising team in the country, especially since its weekly themes really are derived from what is trending among Ghanaian youth at the time. These themes are widely accepted and embraced by patrons of #FridayFriends. It really was exciting to see patrons at the Silver Lounge of the Accra Mall during the “Colour Blocking” edition all clad in a variety of colours. The fusion of colours was just amazing.
According to resident photographer of #FridayFriends, Kwabena Awuku of Kwabena Awuku Photography, “#GetFamiliarGH® in its own way spices normal Friday nights up. Now everyone has something to look up to every Friday night. Not forgetting job opportunities for DJs, photographers, bouncers, etc and the #GetFamiliarGH® crew itself”.
#GetFamiliarGH® really has just started out and is still looking up to corporate Ghana and the international community for support in its endeavours. For the support #GetFamiliarGH® already has, the CEO says a huge thank you. “Keep supporting us, and we will not let you down. From here, there really is nowhere else to go but the top”, said Kinto.
For all young Ghanaians, Kinto had this to say, “I want everyone to embrace the can do attitude and outlook towards life. Young Ghanaians can do anything they put their minds to. No attention should be paid to negativity. Because when I started #GetFamiliarGH® I had a lot of people who made me feel I was wasting my time, but clearly as we can all see, it has really paid off and this is even just the beginning. So they should all put their minds to achieving greater heights and they will”.


By: Belinda Dentaa Oduro
Email: berlyndiz@gmail.com
Blog: http://www.dentaa.blogspot.com