Wanito…branding master? After making considerable impact with his debut album, songwriter and singer Wanito is making a subtle comeback, and preparing the musical terrain for his sophomore album. He’s not only concerned about showing his artistic growth, but he’s also coming at his fans in a big way with a major image overhaul. Here are some branding and rebranding lessons we can learn from the singer.

1. Communicate your desired message, and keep reinforcing it
Wanito wore leather pants and jacket for his “Leve Defi” a video…a vast difference from the t-shirts and flannel shirts and jeans that were the norm for most of his appearances. And in a lot of his public perfomances…there he was in a suit and sitting on a stool. Wanito’s message: I’m growing up and this is a new day.

2. Use the power of the internet to control your image
Wanito’s official website Wanito.com debuted, and boy, does it have some bells and whistles. Designed by the creative firm THE CCWC NETWORK CORP, the site features tabs where fans can keep up with Wanito’s tour dates, buy his latest tracks, and join his fan club. On the website, Wanito has full reign on directly communicating with his fans and the music community. Even in the 21st Century, an artist’s personal website yields power. In searches, it’ll most likely be the first hit for the name “Wanito”.

3. Be about branding, be about business…
There’s Wanito bamboo hoops now…and Wanito-branded boots for fans and supporters to purchase. I personally haven’t seen much merchandising offerings from the konpa/Haitian music genre, so power to Wanito.

4. When you don’t have any new material or product out, take little steps in letting fans know you’re still good and well.
It’s less work you’ll have to do when presenting them with new product. You must do your best to remain in their minds. Prior to releasing a new single and video, Wanito remained active on social media, and shared photos of appearances at events, including the African Entertainment Awards, where he walked the red carpet and performed. And the single and video were released weeks apart—but not too far apart—so that fans didn’t have to wait too long. At the same times, the gap between single release and video release allowed fans to absorb the single first, and set the tone (and anticipation) for the video.

5. Solidify your message with visuals
Wanito does this most expertly with his video for his track “Viens Avec Moi”, featuring singer-songwriter and fellow guitarist Mickael. In the video, a bearded Wanito shows that not only can he sit there and moan and groan about the problems of the world, but when the times call for it, he can be a most romantic leading man. He dances with, he twirls the beautiful and well-shaped leading lady in the video. Yes, he’s no longer some teeny-bopper singing about Haiti’s problems, but a grown-man who wants to be seen as one. And the video allowed for Wanito to demonstrate a new dimension of himself and his talent…he co-directed the video, so he was not only the leading man in the video, but the leading shot-caller on its production set. Within Twenty-four hours of its posting, the video received 50,000 views on one Youtube channel alone. Building anticipation and delivering within a reasonable amount of time yields fruitage.

There you have it folks, Wanito branding and rebranding lessons we can learn from the singer. Artists and other folks out there…how many can you relate to? And which one do you feel is most clever?

Your girl Kreyolicious signing off.

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