WannaBeGeek got of the phone with @mbithi who co-directed -with legendary Jim Chuchu the now infamous “Ha-He” music video, by Just-A-Band. The video has literally given “Makmende” a life of his own, with dedicated facebook and twitter account(s), website(s) and even competitions for Makmende merchandise! Just this morning, a local radio station was giving out goodie bags for the best ‘Makmende’ lines texted in.

Apparently, according to the self confessed geeky boy band, they are in no way affilliated to the websites that have spawned as a result of his popularity. These, as we have learnt, caught the outfit totally off-guard as they did not anticipate the monster he’s become. Pun intended. The band have moved swiftly to trademark the ‘Makmende’ brand and the results have seen changes made to the websites although the domains are yet to be settled upon.

Makmende T-Shirts on Sale

I think this is a lesson well learnt for the outfit and for the Intellectual Property agenda in Kenya. The band are set to do their own branding of the character but are not too quick to disclose their preferred channel. I’d assume true Makmende fans would wait for the band to officially launch their brand since they should be the real beneficiaries of the hype. I will.

Check out other interesting links for analyses on the Makmende phenomena.

Ethan Zuckerman on Makmende’s Wiki Page

Afrinnovator analysis on Viral pattern.