photo: www.africaknows.com

The mass media have been excellent allies to retail businesses. All business owners have to do (or used to do) is book advertising space, pay, blast your marketing messages and pray consumers respond by fattening your cash registers. As a bonus, businesses can also score PR points by associating with charity, especially during the festive season, and invite the media to take pictures of smiling business executives posing with equally smiling beneficiaries.

Disrupting cozy set up

Well, the rise of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and blogs have upset this cozy relationship. Customers are increasingly turning to their friends and influential bloggers for advice on which brands ‘rock’.  So if you advertise on mass media that you provide quality products which break after 48 hours, you will be named and shamed, if you advertise on mass media that you provide excellent service but your front line staffers wear sullen faces in front of customers, you will be named and shamed. If you advertise on mass media about ‘special offers’ that in reality are accompanied by tonnes of terms and conditions, your retail business will be named and shamed on social media. If your commercial vehicle is spotted being driven recklessly, its number plates will be named and shamed.

There are over 1 million Kenyans on Facebook, for example. You still don’t believe that your retail business will be unaffected by the social media revolution? Well, have a look at this Facebook page about angry Kenya Airways’ customers.

image courtesy: www.bdafrica.com

Our November 1 post celebrated the first batch of the 2011 Top 100 Mid-sized Companies which have established a Web/social media presence.

Today’s post highlights the second and final batch. Kudos to those Kenyan SMEs that understand the importance of Internet/social media marketing (and don’t forget to constantly update and vary your content). But for those SMEs without websites/’website under construction’ and social media pages, you are losing out on effective and measurable Internet marketing platforms, big time.

41 ) Gina Din Corporate Communications

Website: http://www.ginadin.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gina.din1?sk=wall

Twitter:  @gina_din

42)  Viva Productline

Website: http://www.vivaproductline.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000156533063&sk=info

43) Capital Colours

Website: http://www.capitalcolours.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Capital-Colours/160780357298885?sk=info

44) Faram East Africa

Website: http://www.faram-ea.com/

45) The Phoenix Ltd

Website: http://thephoenixltd.com/

46) Kandia Fresh Produce Suppliers

Website: http://www.kandiagroup.com/

47) Creative Edge

Website: http://www.creative.co.ke/

Twitter: @crea8ivedge

48) Marketpower International

Website: http://www.marketpower.co.ke/

49) Waumini Insurance Brokers

Website: http://wauminiinsurance.com/

50) Stoic Company

Website: http://stoiccarcentre.com/

51) Alpine Coolers

Website: http://www.alpineone.com/

52) Toolcrafts Ltd

Website: http://www.toolcrafts.com/

53) Circuit Business Systems

Website: http://www.cbskenya.com/company.htm

54) Wines of the World

Website: http://brand2d.com/wines/?page_id=2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/WINES-OF-THE-WORLD/118583948186688

55) Airtouch Cooling Systems

Website: http://www.airtouchcooling.com/

56) Limelight Creations

Website: http://www.limelight-creationsgroup.com/

57) Axel Engineering and Manufacturing

Website: http://axel.co.ke/

58) Virgin Tours

Website: http://www.virgintours.co.ke/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VIRGIN.SAFARIS

Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/virgintours-virgintours/41/b60/232

59) Skylark Creative Products

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skylark-Creative-Products-LTD/133504736723584

60) Desbro Engineering

Website: http://www.engineering-desbrogroup.com/

61) Tiger Brands (K) Ltd

Website: http://www.hacotigerbrands.co.ke/

62) Catalyst Travels

Website: http://www.catalysttravels.com/

63) Premier Industries

Website: http://premierindltd.com/index.php

64) Parapet Cleaning Services

Website: http://www.parapetcleaning.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Parapetcleaning?sk=wall

Twitter:@parapetcleaning

65) Travelshoppe Company

Website: http://www.travelshoppe.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/travelkenya?ref=ts

66) Rangechem Pharmaceuticals

Website: http://www.rangechem.co.ke/

67) Varsani Brakelinings

Website: http://varsanibrakelinings.com/

image: www.africaknows.com

No question about it, Kenyan shoppers are so price driven that even Citizen TV has dedicated a time slot every Sunday on its 9pm news bulleting to rate the various supermarkets’ prices for basic commodities. As a business owner you may have experienced this price psyche at work: Kenyan callers enquire about your goods’ or services’ availability, and the next question won’t be about the quality or delivery deadlines or referrals from past consumers, but about price. ‘Unalipisha pesa ngapi?’

This trait or virtue, depending on which side of the commerce fence you sit, makes group buying in Kenya an attractive suggestion, especially during this festive season. How does group buying work online? A business offers discounts on one or some of its products through a specialised website such as Rupu, Zetudeals and Mocality. For these discounts to be successful for both the businesses and websites, a certain number of people have to sign up for them. Once this number has been met, buyers then print their individual vouchers and then claim their discount at participating businesses. You and the website share the proceeds according to a pre-determined ratio.

Should your SME participate in group buying especially during this festive season? Below are some of this tactic’s pros and cons.

The pros

• Kenyans already possess an insatiable appetite for discounts, so you won’t be introducing them to a new concept that will need time and awareness for them to adopt.
• There is an existence of ‘match making’ websites, giving you a choice of sites to choose from.
• Group buying is a lightning fast way to build your brand name in your potential consumers’ minds and encourage them to visit your business.
• Your chosen website typically publicises the deals, saving you the work and the expense.
• You can measure the effectiveness of your festive season discount campaign against receipts.

The cons

• Nairobi-based shoppers are the overwhelmingly active participants in group buying because of their exposure to such trends and Internet access. This limits your SME from spreading your festive marketing offers to other counties if you have branches there.
• You risk attracting bargain hunters who only make your cash registers ring when you offer discounts. I.e. you won’t see them again after January 1, 2012.
• Without access to hard data about which website attracts the most eyeballs, you risk engaging in guess work regarding which site to place your offers in. Insist on each site’s Google Analytics’ information for at least 3 months prior to the festive season.
• Some people are questioning not only the long-term viability of group buying websites’ business model such as Groupon, currently the world’s largest site for example. Concerns about the commission rates businesses currently take are also contentious issues.
• Companies may decide to get rid of group buying sites, save that money and announce the deals on their own websites. You risk making a loss if this happens.
• Your brand risks being labelled as a discount brand, robbing you of the ability to increase prices when you need to.

Group buying in Kenya, just like any other festive season sales bait, should be used only after you set goals.

image compliments of www.africaknows.com

Businesses try all manner of tactics to increase sales during the festive season: from raffles to promotions to discounts to roadshows to increased mentions on popular breakfast radio shows.

Festive season specific TV ads also increase, if not completely outshining other ads. But there is more that TV can do to catalyse your sales: home shopping. Home what? Home shopping means you pitch your festive season offers through a dedicated TV shopping programme such as the GBS TV. Customers then call a hotline, pay using a credit card or M-Pesa (GBS TV offers this option).

Star power

But for a home shopping network to work for your business during this festive season, operators will have to rewrite the script to reflect the season’s sales urgency. First, they will have to temporarily replace their current presenters and bring in celebrities who can push sales. People with a stage presence: We’re talking about Daniel Ndambuki aka Mwalimu King’ang’i, Maina Kageni, Eve de Souza, etc.

Second, operators will have to negotiate with TV stations with a national reach such as Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) or Citizen TV to get prime-time slots for their shopping programmes. In the late 80s for example, KBC (then known as VOK), used to screen a charity programme called Ring Us Up between after the 7pm news and before the 9pm news bulletins.

Third, still on the issue of star presenters, GBS TV will have to recruit presenters from the major ethnic groups to promote their wares to different audiences. And no it’s not tribalism, it’s just that we tend to readily trust those people who look like us, speak like us, share the same values like us… Still don’t believe it? Well, look at our voting patterns every five years.

Fourth, businesses will have to stick to their delivery timelines. If it’s 24 hours delivery after receipt of payment, then it’s 24 hours. No African time please. Otherwise, customers will stick with the malls they are used to.

These are the basic conditions that current home shopping networks have to implement before you consider placing your festive season offers on their advertising slots.

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology’s (JKUAT) Society of Computer Science and Information Technology (SCOSIT) held its SCOSIT hackathon between 28/10/11 and 29/10/11. The theme was: ‘Using selected APIs to build real world apps’.

Ukulima.net, developed by Pamoja Media, was one of the application programming interfaces (APIs) the JKUAT students developed applications for. The winning group in the Friday 9pm- Saturday midday hackathon, led by Patrick Ndung’u, developed an application called Agri-Soko that enables registered ukulima.net users to sign in, connect, buy, sell, and also source for produce via Google Maps. Payments are made via PesaPal. “This was very catchy and easy to use,” says Evans Gikunda, one of Pamoja Media’s software developers and hackathon judges. Patrick’s three-group members each won a 500-GB external hard drive.  Other APIs the 59 participants developed applications for were PesaPal and BEEP (a bill presentation, payments, real-time settlement and reconciliation system) for Cellulant.

Pamoja Media, PesaPal and Cellulant sponsored the SCOSIT hackathon. Below are some photos.

Briefing 101: Comark Maloba, Pamoja Media's chief technology officer, outlines the ukulima.net platform to the SCOSIT hackathon participants before the games began

Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki (left), Comark Maloba (seated) and Evans Gikunda troubleshoot the ukulima.net platform

Well done: Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki presents the 2nd-placed SCOSIT hackathon group with their prizes

You've hacked it: Amos Wachanga of the SCOSIT hackathon winning group receives his group's prizes from Bundi of Cellulant

Some of the SCOSIT hackathon partipants

Participants get on with the SCOSIT hackathon

Feet first: Pamoja Media's Ishuah Kariuki 'toklezearing' during the SCOSIT hackathon

Caffeine fix:Good thing Kenya is a major coffee producer

image compliments of www.africaknows.com

The last two Pamoja Media posts have outlined how SME owners can use social gaming and email marketing to boost their sales during the 2011 festive marketing season. However, we realise some of you may not want to rely sorely on metrics such as Facebook Insights or Google Analytics to measure your festival marketing results. You want foot traffic to your bricks-and-mortar business and physical receipts to complement these tools.

Web appetizers

You will still need to debut your festive season offers online whether you use Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, or email marketing. The fine print will be that your customers will have to redeem the offers at your physical location. The advantage of this tactic is that you have an opportunity to introduce them to other products and services you provide through physically interacting with them, a chance that you can miss if you finalise the transaction online. If you run a coffee shop the better for your cash registers. Kenyans tend to shop in ‘packs’ during the festive season, so there’s no way the voucher winner will redeem the voucher and leave those accompanying her to spectate.

Location-based applications such as niko hapa can also aid your business increase sales during this festive season. Basically, location-based applications function like ‘live report’ transmission stations. People tell their friends via social media like Facebook that they have ‘checked in’ to your shop. You can then offer a discount which is normally stored in a quick response code to anyone who says they are in your establishment, in the hope that their friends will join them. But first observe whether a substantial number of your regular clients have smartphones before you opt for the location-based method. Basic handsets can’t scan quick-response codes.

Theatre and charity

But perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of online marketing-into-offline sales are theatre troupes and charities. Plays and charity concerts are a festive season staple.  Both parties can promote their wares online, but require their audiences to buy the tickets at a physical location.

Using online marketing strategies to benefit your brick-and-mortar business is a great interactive strategy that should not only benefit your bottom line during this festive season, but also assist your brand to remain in your consumers’ minds even in the New Year.

image compliments www.africaknows.com

One word you can bet big brands will temporarily adopt into their vocabulary during this year’s festive marketing season is ‘discounts’. You will see it online, hear it on radio, watch it on TV. No problem, you as an SME owner are free to follow the pack, problem is unlike the big brands, you can’t afford the mass media advertising rates that will also allow you to peddle your holiday discounts to your customers.

As yesterday’s social gaming post outlined, a lack of a deep bank account shouldn’t discourage you from promoting your SME’s value proposition. In fact, this situation should force you to be creative. Email marketing is another inexpensive tool you can use to position your SME as a 2011 holiday discount contender.

Contact list

We will assume you have been communicating regularly with your customers via email since 2011 began. One of the results of this back and forth communication is that you have created familiarity, trust and a rapport. The other result is that your holiday discounts emails won’t end up in your customers’ spam folders. Good.

You will need to decide the percentage of discounts you will offer your customers. Will they have to order online (the better) to qualify for the discounts or will they have to call you? Set a deadline for the discounts offer. Encourage them to forward the discounts emails to their friends, associates, etc. Consider awarding a goodie bag to the customer who refers the highest number of new customers because of forwarding the original holiday discounts email. Keep the emails brief and the subject title precise.

This being the festive marketing season, you will have to design your emails to reflect the holiday mood. If you lack design skills you will have to hire a freelance designer to do that. You can download excellent email design tips from Demographica, a digital database marketing company.

Email marketing in Kenya isn’t given the thumbs it deserves. It’s inexpensive. It’s targeted. It’s measurable. It could just be Kenyan SMEs’ most potent weapon this festive season.

image compliments of www.africaknows.com

Kenya’s end-of-year festive season marketing tactics resemble a rugby scrum: brands attempt to outmuscle one another to make the greatest sales. The usual suspects are raffles, ‘special offers,’giveaways, ‘part of the proceeds will be donated to charity,’ etc. In other words, de ja vu.

It’s only natural that small and medium enterprises in Kenya salivate to join this scrum, but they are discouraged by the high cost of membership and therefore, the stereotype that you need deep pockets to make a splash during the November/December festive season endures.

That was true, until the Internet’s arrival and specifically, social media sites. Facebook, (over 1 million Kenyans have Facebook accounts) Twitter, YouTube, blogs, anyone? These sites are (un)fair hunting ground for SMEs to attract and retain customers long after the yells of ‘happy new year, happy new year,’ have stopped. Social gaming is one effective festival marketing tactic. Social what? Yes, social gaming. Observe: During the festive season, Kenyans are generally relaxed and in the mood to play.

You want proof of successful social games before you consider this idea further? Well, there’s Angry Birds and Farmville. These are not just successful games, but more like movements.Now that you are convinced there could be potential for your SME to use social gaming as its festival marketing tool to create awareness and drive up sales, there are a few basics that you will have to remember:

Audience

What audience are you targeting? Young children, teenagers, women?Your audience will create what game you will conceptualise. (Confession:  if you cater to young children then this festive season is yours to lose).

Community

Despite our pandering to individualism between January and November, during the festive season we love to be around family members and relatives. So, design games that can be played by many pairs of hands and eyes such as online board games.

Uniqueness

Don’t copy games from abroad and then substitute them with your brand name. Not only will piracy potentially result in a lawsuit against you, but think of your personal and SME’s reputations too. Design games that are unique to our environment. For instance, you could play with the theme of Jamhuri Day.

Data Capture

Before players can activate the game, they have to register on your website or Facebook. This way you have captured a free database for both your festive and post-festive season marketing offers.

Freemium or premium

Also consider charging players to progress to the next stage of the game or make some parts free and others premium content. You can consider partnering with mobile-payment systems such as M-Pesa.

Review

Encourage players to share feedback about the gaming experience, you can even throw in an incentive such as a free goodie bag for the suggestion/s that garners the most votes from other users.

Lightweight

Kenyan Internet speeds are still a long distance from high speed and cheap, so avoid adding elements to your games that will take forever to download, especially if you are designing games for mobile phones.

Social games are not only inexpensive (no paying fees to the Betting Control and Licensing Board for Christmas raffles, for instance) ways to promote your brand during the 2011 festive marketing season, they’re measurable and have the potential to endure after December 31^st, as long as you update them regularly. May the fun and games begin.

image courtesy: www.bdafrica.com

Today, Pamoja Media’s blog post salutes 40 Kenyan 2011 Top 100 SMEs that have enlisted a Web presence in their marketing armour. Kudos to those who have gone further to establish LinkedIn pages and YouTube channels in addition to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The next roll of honour will appear soon.

1) Jungle Nuts Ltd: http://www.junglemacadamias.com/index.html

2) Pentapharm Ltd: http://www.pentapharm.co.ke/

3) Kema (EA) Ltd): http://www.kema.co.ke/, https://www.facebook.com/kema.nairobi

4) PG Bison (K) Ltd: http://www.pgbison.co.za/

5) Software Technologies: http://www.stl-horizon.com/

6) Kentons Ltd: http://www.kentons.net/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kentons-Kisumu/172582906123085?sk=wall, Twitter: @kentonskisumu (http://twitter.com/#!/kentonskisumu)

7) SBO Research: http://www.sboresearch.co.ke

Lee Construction: http://www.leeconstruction.co.ke

9) Satguru Travels and Tours: http://www.satgurutravel.com/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Satguru-Travels-Tours-Services-ltd/112818115426503?sk=wall&filter=12

10) Dawa Limited: www.dawalimited.com, http://www.linkedin.com/company/dawa-limited-kenya

11) Trans Business Machines: http://www.tbmlimited.com/@tbmmachinesKe, https://www.facebook.com/pages/TBM-Trans-Business-Machines/199575210077253

12) University of Nairobi Enterprise Services: http://www.uonbi.ac.ke/node/97, https://www.facebook.com/uonbi.ac.ke, Twitter: @uonbi (http://twitter.com/#!/uonbi)

13) Printfast Kenya: www.stickyp.com

14) Gap Marketing: http://www.gap-marketing.com/oindex/

15) Radar Ltd: http://www.radar.co.ke/

16) Victoria Furnitures: http://victoriafurnitures.com/

17) InvesteQ Capital: http://www.investeqcapital.com/, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000132508491&sk=wall,Twitter:@InvesteQcapital (http://twitter.com/#!/InvesteQCapital)

18) Canon Aluminium Fabricators: http://www.canonaluminium.com/

19) Kenbro Industries: http://www.kenbro.co.ke/

20) Lantech (Africa): http://www.lantech.co.ke/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/LANTech-Africa-Alumni/210072809061801?sk=wall&filter=12, Twitter @lantechafricalt. (http://twitter.com/#!/LANTechAfricaLt). Linkedin: Lantech (Africa) Limited. (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lantech-africa-limited/2b/87b/b12.)

21) Oasis Ltd: http://www.oasisltd.co.ke/

22) Seasons Restaurants and Hotels: http://www.seasonshotelskenya.com/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elementaita-Country-Lodge/214980778557484?sk=wall&filter=12,

23) Charleston Travel: http://www.charleston.co.ke/https: //www.facebook.com/pages/STA-Travel-KenyaCharleston/235009900966?sk=wall

24) Sheffield Steel Systems: http://www.sheffieldkenya.com/

25) Brown’s Cheese: http://www.brownscheese.com/?home,26

26) Biselex Kenya: http://www.biselex.co.ke/

27) Planning Interiors: http://www.planninginteriors.com/

28) Computer Planet: http://www.computerplanet.co.ke/https://www.facebook.com/ComputrPlanet, Twitter:@computrplantet (http://twitter.com/#!/ComputrPlanet)

29) Avtech Systems: http://www.avtechsystems.co.ke/

30) Tyremasters Ltd: http://www.tyremasters.co.ke/

31) Complast Industries: http://www.complastkenya.com/

32) Hebatullah Bros: http://hebatullah.co.ke/

33) Optiware Communications: http://www.optiware.co.ke/

34) Ganatra Plant and Equipment: http://www.gpe.co.ke/Default.html

35) Africa Tea Brokers: http://www.atbltd.com/

36) Sai Pharmaceuticals: http://www.saipharm.com/index.htm

37) Silverbird Travel Plushttp://www.silverbirdtravel.com/, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Silverbird-Travel-Safaris-Fun-Club/192226154150549, Twitter:@silverbirdtours (http://twitter.com/#!/silverbirdtours), YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/silverbirdtravel )

38) Warren Enterprises: http://www.warren.co.ke/

39) Pelican Signs: http://www.pelicansigns.biz/profile.html

40) Chemserve Cleaning Services: http://chemserve.co.ke/

image courtesy: www.mycarpentry.com

John Wanamaker (1838-1922), an American businessman, wouldn’t have known his now famous statement, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half;” would profoundly change traditional advertising after the Internet’s arrival.

But even before the Internet gave TV, radio, print and billboard advertising a panic attack, traditional advertising once enjoyed a ‘bling’ era that birthed and celebrated its ‘owners’ like David Ogilvy, James Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett. Brands, especially fast moving consumer goods, believed they had to advertise, and spend heavily at it, if they wanted to gain traction. Prices soared as everyone from agencies to media houses to the government salivated for a meaty piece of the dish. Advertising effectiveness wasn’t judged on return on investment, but by awards ceremonies such as the Cannes Festival of Advertising . If you weren’t a Fortune 500 company with a deep wallet, you couldn’t afford to promote your brand/s, especially on TV during sporting events such as the Super Bowl.

The Internet attacks Adland’s comfort zone

Then cracks began appearing. Billboards were labeled a source of pollution, leading to Sao Paulo banning billboards in 2007. Pay-TV remote controls came with ad skipping options. Fast food advertising was blamed for rising obesity cases in ‘first-world’ children. Then Google happened! The company was formed in 1998, giving advertisers eyeballs, options such as customized budgeting and best of all, analyses that enable you to calculate the return of investment.

One feature that characterises advertising in Kenya and hinders SMEs from exposure, is the high cost of traditional advertising. Observe the billboards as you drive, the TV ads in-between the news, the radio ads, the full-page advertisements on the major newspapers: almost all the brands are either multi-nationals, NGOs or the government.

The Kenyan government has implemented policies that have enabled the easy adoption of ecommerce by both businesses and consumers: from zero rating of computers to lobbying Internet service providers to reduce Internet access fees after the arrival of underneath cables such as Eassy that have improved speeds (though ISPs contend they have to first recoup their investments in these undersea cables before they reduce prices) to establishing the Kenya ICT Board in 2007 whose roles include ‘positioning and promoting Kenya as an ICT destination.’

Facebook and Google inducements

Google recently launched Kenya Business Online, an initiative to fast-track SMEs’ establishment of a web presence. You already know about the search engine’s vital statistics, so we won’t bore you by repeating them. However, we will outline its Google Analytics feature and how it helps you track the effectiveness of your ad spend on its Adwords platform. You can track: sales and conversions (number of people who buy your product or service from your website), email campaigns and banner ads, and trace transactions to keywords and campaigns, among other numerous benefits.  Visit www.google.com/analytics for more information. To sweeten the KBO offer further, Google is offering you a free Kshs5,120 Adwords voucher.

Facebook, Google’s advertising  competitor, already allows brands to create free pages. It too plans to offer free advertising worth $50 (approximately Kshs5,000 at the current exchange rates) from January 2012, but it’s unclear whether SMEs outside America will enjoy this benefit.  It’s unfair to Kenyan SMEs because slightly over one million Kenyans are active ‘Facebookers’. Facebook also allows you to measure your advertising effectiveness courtesy of its Ad Manager feature.

Google and Facebook founders owe Mr. Wanamaker a drink, don’t you think?