The Department of Trade and Industry (dti) had such fun harmonising tariffs it decided to harmonise its call-centre message and produce a company song for the benefit of callers-in.
After a run-through of the different departments you can dial, a courteous voice gives way to guitar strumming and voices softly singing: “Amohelang … dti … dti e tlo le thusa kaofela [Welcome to the dti, the dti is there to help you].”
Lucky listeners who are asked to wait a while longer are rewarded with the strains of an mbira player letting loose on the thumb piano, a funky percussion kicking in and voices chiming: “The dti is there for the people. The dti is serving the nation.”
So is the dti a recording company or a government department?
“A government department,” responds Clement Manoko, a department marketer. “The song is relevant to who we are as the dti.”
The department has long led the bureaucratic pack in advertising: its lower-cased, bold-lettered acronym has proven more resilient than the short-lived “Team Treasury” and its commercials assure the public that “the dti does not support crime”.
Other departments have shown interest in the dti’s publicity strategies, says Manoko, who does not mind if they crib the dti’s style: “They can sing or talk about home affairs or land affairs, but they will have to customise their ideas accordingly to their departments.”
The public’s response has been “mild and positive,” he says. Some listeners have asked where they can buy the CD, while others want a more informative recording instead of a song.
“When I hear the song, I just think, someone please save me and answer the phone on the other side,” DJ Naked, a well-known hip-hop DJ, told the Mail & Guardian.
The instrumentals are “not so bad”, he says, adding that it reminds him of Juluka and sounds like it is designed to appeal to black and white listeners.
“They have a song? Wow,” is DJ Bionic’s first response. After hearing the song, Bionic, who is also a producer, comments: “For hold music, it’s perfect. Probably it would do well as world music. Respect to the dti for doing a song.”
He says the song is a sign that the department is finally investing in the music industry.
Further research is needed to determine whether the department’s jingle has improved its productivity function or will fetter its growth.
One call-centre employee thought it was “nice, very nice”, while another was oblivious to its existence.