Ozcan Deniz is born in Elmadag, which is a small province in the capital of Turkey - Ankara, has first showed up in screens and tabloids in early 90s as a teenager. Ankara is located at the heart of Anatolia and during the time the Arabesque (which is also a classical music genre) was massive in the region and had an influence in an entire generation and the country alike. The efforts from The Legendary Orhan Gencebay, The Emperor Ibrahim Tatlises and The Godfather Muslum Gurses has helped the music genre rise incredibly. There were people literally cutting their skin into pieces with razors during concerts, crying, screaming and all that good stuff. Not very much into dancing, except some funky gipsy-influenced songs of Ibrahim Tatlises.
Arabesque was a rather depressive, problematic and troublesome expression of music that described a nation which suffered 3 coupes by that time, experiencing economic difficulties, still paying the dues of a delayed catch-up of the industrial revolution's innovation. In fact, one can state that the problematic nature of Turkey in infrastructure, industrial, education and economic domains is caused by this which is still problematic to date. I mean, it is 2019 and Turkey still does not have a proper tax regulation to support tech companies or SMEs or NGOs - despite some efforts - and Turkish Lira has lost value significantly during the course of last several years. One can also state that this will provide the momentum of late catch-up culture of Turkey with The Internet Revolution (or Smart Phone revolution which I like to name it more like that but whatever) will also has consequences in the next 20 to 40 years considering the country has no proper environmental policy on top of all that previous stuff but let's leave that to a different article.
Ozcan Deniz was a youngster when he first came up, and due to the depressive nature of Arabesque music, performers and artists of the genre mostly (erm.. more like always) positioned themselves coming from 'really difficult times as a kid' and 'experienced every kind of drama in life'. It's not like I am unsymphatetic to any of the so called difficulties those individuals experienced, but obviously there were scams, flops, hypocrites and all kinds of applications you can think of when someone tries to get on to the fad train to gain fame and money. Like the start-up environment on our age today, instead people are starting companies with fancy one pagers for ICOs etc. nowadays - rather xtech then a depressive music style like arabesque or a Rap or R&B song.
Ozcan Deniz at his early days
Ozcan Deniz in his earlier days was a boy with huge afroish hair, rather 'natural' on his 'looks' despite some shiny accessories (probably gifted by their producers as arabesque come from Arabic in nature and I guess everyone knows the influence of Gold and its colour in the culture - does that come from Egypt originally?) claiming yet another pain story from his past with a powerful voice singing songs of love, agony, loneliness, solidarity, homesickness and basically any topic one can relate to arabesque.
As soon as he made to the stage, his transition started. There was stiff competition and most of the performers were positioning themselves as - sorry - losers, poor people who experienced unbearable miseries during their life and still maintained their faith in their beloved ones and The God, waiting for an update while singing. Crying on the stage while having booze and kebabs off the stage. They were the Drama Kings. Everything was bad and everything was like 'Oh God, what did I do to you, I am such a naive person and I sin not, yet you punish me with these experiences. Oh God I believe you so much and praying in you will definitely make things better in the next 50 years and worst case scenario I'll die and join you in heaven and that's when things will definitely be better. In Islam some claim that 40 hot chicks will welcome you in Heaven - Aloha! - if you be a good boy. Like Smurfs, you get to see them if you be a good boy, but in a more adult way. Funny such application from The God is never mentioned for the ladies, but I guess the Islamic POV of woman is pretty obvious, so. Nothing to worry about that, right?
I love you so much you make me dizzy, my white butterfly - Album by a rather more evolved Ozcan Deniz in later years.
A later Ozcan Deniz, on the other hand, positioned himself as a powerful guy - modern, handsome, taking good care of himself. He basically let go of the fad and became a more up to date performer who repositioned somewhere between Pop and Arabesque (Pop was big at the time also which made peak in Late 90s and Early 00s in Turkey). That was the 'breakeven point' for Ozcan Deniz. He became an early influencer, yet I doubt he even himself knew it. That doesn't mean of course it was very witty and smart of him to spot such gap in the market. Just like the start-ups, in a sense, there is a condensed market and someone comes up doing something in a way not very thought of before and succeeded with strategy. One can easily spot the transformation he performed from his early times to later 90s, with a nice suit and piercing looks and more sexy title which translates "I am losing my head for you because I am so much in love with you, my white butterfly." - Eww for me but it was significantly different positioning when compared to another arabesque-something like 'I am not even a human being because you have no interest in me, baby'.
His new strategy and line captured interest of producers, when Ozcan Deniz started showing up in series and movies. He started showing up in series and TV movies in mid 90s but his rise to the scene definitely happened in Asmali Konak, in which Ozcan Deniz was a landlord in South-East part of Turkey (close to Syria border) which had very dense cultural implications - these individuals are called 'Aga' in Turkish and basically 'own' the people (villagers, employees, etc.) in the area they live in. So basically he was that rich, educated nice guy who still had ties to his heritage and past. He was experiencing difficulties and drama but he stood so solid and cool ultimately he solved all the problems and issues. He was the new Drama Lord with a Modern look and Positive attitude.
In later years, he played in more shows. Let's take a quick look at his characters:
- Asmali Konak - Seymen Karadag: Respected landlord of Asmali Konak.
- Kader - Ali Asyali: Wealthy businessman who runs construction business internationally.
- Haziran Gecesi - Baran Aydin: Wealthy businessman who gets education in Italy.
- Istanbullu Gelin - Faruk Boran: Wealthy businessman, CEO of a multinational company (so wealthy to buy an airlines company, I mean, that wealthy).
You can spot the pattern, I guess. After his transition, Ozcan Deniz consistently positioned himself helping his cause in TV, eventually giving up the music business and becoming a phenomenal TV character. His series are mostly in top 5 of the rating list, became one of the highest earning movie stars and a publicly acclaimed individual who is widely respected - nothing to do with Arabesque only folks now. He has a reach on multiple domains.
Looking good, eh?
Ozcan Deniz became a self-made George Clooney of Turkey and deserves credit for his consistency, strategic execution and how he managed his transition so glamourously. Most of the Arabesque performers of his generation, old ones, young ones, mid level ones no longer exist in the scene or reach a minor audience nowadays, while Ozcan Deniz shows up on TV in every couple of years with a new series where he makes tons of money.
In a nutshell, what he has done to achieve this is:
1. Enter the market with a widely accepted business plan in potential.
2. Spot a gap in the market.
3. Reposition and rebrand in accordance to the gap.
4. Set a north pole of his own.
5. Strategically execute each move consistently - small like a paparazzi stand up chit chat after leaving a restaurant or big like positioning his character in an entire TV production - based on the direction of his north pole - a cultural transition.
Ozcan Deniz and his achievements can give a great depth of insight - a refined lesson - on what you or your company is today, and what it can become over time. If the gap you are looking for has a strategic potential, go for it, plan for it and execute it relentlessly - regardless of what others say. I am pretty certain when Ozcan Deniz first started rebranding his more sophisticated outlook by giving up on his gold accessories, many people criticized and did not support him. These people are long gone, retired or bankrupted while Ozcan Deniz is adding up to his bank account with ads, shows, live concerts and productions.
On the other hand, this also means that if you have followed a fad and keep the same business strategy and culture, you will also become non-existent over time.
Ozcan Deniz on the other hand has been influencing generations of Turkey since 2002.
Ozcan Deniz's success shows us what it takes to rebrand and transition your culture, and what it can take from you not to rebrand and evolve your culture and application over time can result into - loss and misery - and a few days later you find yourself with a big bottle of Raki, listening to 'that' arabesque song.
