Over the years, Generations has grown to one of South Africas best and loved soapies. It used to be a prime time pass time. It was part of peoples routine. You went to work, came back, sat in your living room with a plate of food on your lap and watched while you ate. It was perfect. Generations changed their cast and death was cast on the soapie. People like change that is incremental, but not radical.
The thing is, Generations has been changing all along. It was change that happened over an extended period in dribs and drabs. The actors have over the years changed but it was one or two actors at a time and the actors were carefully blended into the storyline seamlessly.
If you believe in dinosaurs, youll know that it was radical change that caused their extinction. They had absolutely no time to adjust and adapt. I think the dinosaur analogy may be fitting here to describe what happened to Generations’.
There was a complete overhaul of the soapie as it was known: the actors were substituted, the storyline changed but continued to carry the essence of the original soapie when it began all those years ago.
I think the possible oversight on the producers part, was taking for granted the giant of a brand ‘Generations’ was. The producer thought that the soapie was bigger than all the actors and the people who watched it, in that they could chop and change it however they saw fit and the soapie would not be affected.
In all fairness, the current cast of ‘Generations’ is not even the issue. The failure (I use failure here in terms of viewership and public opinion) has very little to do with the actors, or even the storyline. Give the soapie a different title and air it on a different channel and I personally think that you have a hit. I think the actors are great, well established with superior profiles, and their CVs speak for themselves. I actually like this new Generations The Legacy thingy mabob. Many have argued that Jonathan for example came back speaking Tswana as opposed to Zulu, and that Tau had died and therefore shouldnt have been resurrected.
The problem is that people are continuously comparing it to what they know, so The Legacy will always play second fiddle to the old Generations.
That is the difference between Isibaya, Rhythm City, Scandal and now Ashes 2 Ashes (it is supposedly really good and people like it); they are all new content. They are what they are and cannot really be compared to any other soapies.
From a branding perspective, you simply do not and cannot take Coca-cola, turn the red labeling into purple, use Helvetica font and change the black liquid to red and expect people to still ‘open happiness’. Again, in the same way that there isnt anything wrong with the current actors on Generations The Legacy, there really isnt anything wrong with a soda or beverage that has a purple label, written in Helvetica font, and the liquid red in colour; but you cant name it Coke and have the same sales expectations.
The irony of the title is that people do want change. Its a sign of progress but dont impose it on them like load shedding: one minute theres light, the next there isnt. People dont like that. Not even dinosaurs liked it.
I think that the lesson here is: no matter how big your brand seems to be, it is never bigger than the people who buy or consume it. It is never about the CEO, MD, nor the producer – it is always about the people. Whatever decision you make as a brand, always consider your paying customer and those who use your brand.
“WOMEN LIE, MEN LIE, BUT NUMBERS DON’T”:
I think Jay-Z was famously quoted as saying the above at some award show. So, with that said; lets look at what the numbers say:
Old Generations: 8 million viewers/week
Generations The Legacy: 4.6+ million viewers/week (as of February 2015)
Ideally, the people you are targeting should inform any decision that you employ.
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Source: channel24.co.za (Viewership)
Bogosi Motshegwa 