BACK, BACK,FORTH N FORTH

The title of this post  actually is a song by the late great Aaliyah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a02dBbBGSPg. for it describes the product revamp of Kenyas most famous cooikng oil KIMBO

 Pika kwa kimbo meaning  cook using kimbo is a televison commmercial that kenyans can sing for it is their hearts.

For a long time period between 1993 to the year2001 kenyans had only a few variety to choose from in the supermarkets for it was Kimbo and Kasuku who were dominant in the market. With the on set of health concerns of solid cooking oil came liquid cooking oil and kimbo slowly disappeared form the shelves and kimbo was no more.

With growth comes change Kimbo is under the Bidco Africa. like the title of this post  they decided to go back back forth n forth. they have revamped and kimbo is now from solid to  liquid oil and  i must say the packaging is quite impressive.

  It comes in diffrent sizes  from 3 litres to 500 mm. Another bonus that Kimbo  have made is the pricing of their smallest liqiud oil is retailing at 80 Ksh at the super market a friendly price for the common man.

 The Re invetion of Kimbo fro solid to liquid oil is  genius fro now Kimbo has a new life line . It comes to whats in a name? Is it brand value by what it makes the heart of consumers feel or simlply the memeory they associate the product.

HUMANE MARKETING

From the Oxford dictionary the meaning of Humane is having compassion.Its synonyms are compassionate,kind,considerate,and sympathetic.

The world rather man kind forgets this act of being  humane and commits crimes against humanity.For example Slavery,The Holocaust,World wars and so forth.
"It is in your nature to destroy yourselves"

these are the words of T 1000 Terminator 2 (Judgement Day) played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Which brings to my point that time and time again Hollywood will Make and a film that will market  Humane -ty.The Clever strategy Hollywood uses to show Humane ness in its purity is the starring of the film is not be a human being.

If you watch Planet of the Apes the full franchise ( The rise of the planet of the apes)

starring Ceaser Played by Andy Serkis in one scene he has an option of letting the other apes kill the human but he shouts "NO' and spares the humans life by putting him in the cage.

You will excuse me I love the whole franchise of Planet of the apes.In 1972,S conquest of the planet of the apes

Ceaser played by Rody Mcdowall ,after he liberates the apes this is what he tells Mac Donald

,Caesar: But now... now we will put away out hatred. Now we will put down our weapons. We have passed through the Night of the Fires. And who were our masters are now our servants. And we, who are not human, can afford to be humane.

What am saying is humanity should be reminded what it means to be Humane and Hollywood does it again in the film Chappie.

Chappie is a futuristic sci- fi  film of a a robot with artificial intelligence capable of human emotion and a Conscience.
Played by Sharlto Copley  is subjected to the hate for he is different and his parents his father teaches him hate and violence while his mothers shows him love and compassion and empathy.
Finally Chappie makes his own decision for he has a conscience.Watch the film and you will understand what am saying.
Be Humane

Eric WINE AINA

"One of the things Nederburg needs is expertise and seeing something through until we perfect it" these are the words of Mr. Wanaina at his acceptance speech at Que Pasa bistro as he was crowned Nederburg ambassador.

Like wine Mr. Waniana sorry Mr. Wine aina has matured.
From the days when K.T.N was channel 62 and he was famous rather an ambassador for a campaign against drugs ( drugs will hurt you or desert you, live you crying empty dying turn away say no today, use your life don,t throw it all away) to Nchi ya kitu kidogo to Kenya only which i think is Kenyas second national anthem.

 I believe the criteria Nederburg used  to pick Mr.Wainaina is consistency and an everlasting quest for perfection.
He has been in the music industry for more than twenty years and produces excellent and timeless music. Lesson learnt work incessantly and with all passion to achieve your dream.
Congratulations Mr. Wineaina.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

He who pays the piper calls the TUNE.
 This saying does not apply in Kenyan Marketing and Advertising. Actually a few Corporates have tried  their hand at marketing through Music.

The first one bieng Tusker with its T.V show Tusker Project Fame

which ha run for six consecutive  seasons, the winners of the show however do not have exactly successful music careers.
 Another Trial was by Orange Telekom. Orange beat ya street.

This was a dance show targeted towards the youth

 It was televised for about three months and winners announced and that was about it.

The next casualty is Airtel. with its Airtel Trace Music Star

 the cycle continues televised for two months winner announced and show is over may be they will be another season next time.

Musical chair for those who never played this game this is how it is played. For example four chairs are arranged in a straight line and they are four participants who go round these chairs as music plays in the back ground.Immediately  the music stops all participants are supposed to be seated. Whoever is not seated is out of the game till one winner is left.

The winner of the Corporate Musical chair is Safaricom.
  Safaricom understand the concept of O M R.

To get the largest market share through music it is not a sprint but a marathon.
Safaricom have employed the  OMR  concept which means.

 1Obtain.Obtaining this is the easy part through aggressive marketing now you have a large audience and have all of their attention.

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2 Maintain. Maintenance here is  where you keep the audience involved and interested.

3.Retain. To retain now here is the most difficult part.Keep the audience always coming back year after year without fail.
Safaricom has not held any Musical competition Instead they invested in festivals.

The Safaricom Jazz Festival. Held at the  Ngong Race Course.It  was packed audience with over six thousand attendants.Every one who attended had something positive about the positive.In another 4 months there will be another Jazz Festival and even a larger audience will attend Kudos Safaricom.

ALL OF THE LITES.

The year of 2015 looks promising for all sectors of the economy especially for Advertising and Marketing.
One particular brand which has come up with a bold campaign which has lit the way literally is Tusker Lite with their new campaign. LITE THE WAY.

In the words of Jeff koinange "wow what an advert".
Tusker Lite in my opinion have rebranded.The main reason for this is for rebranding is Coming of Age. For a long time was associated with a certain age group bieng middle aged and sophisticated, but this new campaign is geared towards the youth for they represent the future and a new untapped market.

 As seen in the commercial they cast a young man from the shoes he is wearing Supras he should early twenties may be twenty two.
Every where he goes he lights up the way.I love the General direction alcohol advertising is taking.
For example if you take the Grants Whisky # IOU It is more than a drink which freinds enjoy when having a good time but friends bieng there when one is feeling low.


# LITE THE WAY

is an inspirational campaign makes the audience feel like a leader a pioneer almost biblical where there is sadness bring joy where there is darkness bring light so to write.

After watching the Lite the Way campaign the next time i went to the sports bar to watch a football match i ordered four bottles of Tusker Lites the waiter was shocked that i din,t order my usual i responded  by saying am not sick am all LITE.

 I even proceeded to order two bottles of Tusker Lite to the hot lady that was by her lone some at the corner.For that i can say I lite the way in approaching the hottie. With a LITE touch.
This campaign gets a ten out of ten.

FACE THE MUSIC

The year 2014 is  one of the worst years for advertising in Kenya.
Where did all the creativity go?.

One particular campaign is extremley poor in every form, manner and kind

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For this campaign Airtel has two T.V Commercials.The first one is of a lady in the office and tries her luck at singing to win a chance to win a trip to be with Akon and get a recording deal.

 Airtel is mocking Kenyan talent, the lyrics which this lady sings are so horrible,"unataka number yangu boy,nina taka number yako girl."now here comes the worst part of this commercial finishes by saying Yeah believing she has nailed it.The lady cannot sing to save her life.

Now the second advert is equally worst.A Chef comes in and starts singing a jaguar song as he cooks.They are already two problems 1.Jaguar cannot sing.2.The chef cannot sing, my advice stick to cooking.

Airtel is mocking kenyan talent.The concept behind the campaign is for one to sing and win a trip to be a trace music star with AKON. Yes Akon is the ambassador.

Here are some facts for Airtel.

1.Every one can sing
2.Not every one can  sing exceptionally well.
3.It is for the above reason not every one should sing.
4.A nice singing voice is a talent a gift which few poses on this planet.
5.For the best results talent is harnessed and nutured to produce perfection.
6.Someone singing through the phone is not an accurate basis to judge a competitors vocal range and ability Akon knows this.Super stars practice fours hours days and years.Trace knows this. Kindly Trace do not insult our intelligence and talent.Hold better and more quality competitions.  
7.A better way to do this competition is actually through auditions.
8.Kenyans can sing however not all Kenyans can sing exceptionally well.
9 Airtel if you want to fuse with music, then open Airtel Music Academy.

BEYOND BLACK

"It  doesn't matter if you are black or white " these are the words of Micheal Jackson.
However according to Guinness it does.
Their  global campaign is # MADE OF MORE.

Now their African campaign # MADE OF BLACK

The African Made of black comes with a commercial which shows black Africans watching black football in a stadium full of black Africans and black football players.
The next scene is a black African man putting on red paint on his face to go and support his black football team.
Guinness African campaign is not success by any measure with an undertone of racism.
While the world is # Made of More ,Africa is #Made of black.

Guinness is black that is a fact. Africans are black.
Another fact is that AFRICANS DO NOT DRINK GUINNESS BECAUSE IT IS BLACK.THEY DRINK IT BECAUSE IT IS A NICE BREW. # CHOOSE BLACK is the campaign they are running as they show English premiere league football matches. The campaign will not make Africans drink more Guinness.

  Guinness rise above color.
 Color has nothing to do with it.Should Africans not drink Milk because it is White.
.#Made of black is a poor thought out campaign.
 If they were going for inspiration then #Made of more is a good campaign.