The mind of a Kenyan shopper

[Carole Kimutai] It is that time of the year - the season of promotions, raffles, freebies and sales. But marketers in Kenya have to work twice as hard because of high inflation that has seen the cost of living go up. Basic commodity prices have almost doubled in the last 12 months and consumers have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets and make tough choices when it comes to purchases. 12 Dec 2011 16:00

Research shows radio is king in Kenya

[Carole Kimutai] The latest media research from Kenya reveals that radio is still the preferred media. According to latest statistics from media research company, Synovate conducted under the Kenya Audience Research Foundation (KARF), radio leads in overall media consumption followed by the mobile phone, television, newspapers, and the internet respectively. 12 Dec 2011 13:58

AccessKenya realigns marketing strategy to target youth

[Carole Kimutai] AccessKenya Group, a corporate internet solutions and IT services provider has realigned its marketing strategies to increase interactivity with youthful internet users through targeted media campaigns in a bid to encourage fixed-price internet connectivity and increase the number of customers in the next financial year. 15 Nov 2011 10:50

Canon makes a comeback to Kenya

[Carole Kimutai] Canon Middle East, a subsidiary of Canon Europe has re-entered the Kenyan market, taking on a more tactical and aggressive approach to its business development strategy in the country. 14 Nov 2011 09:44

Kenya: Bank sponsors business reality show

[Carole Kimutai] CfC Stanbic Bank will sponsor a television reality show, CfC Stanbic Bank Magnate, which seeks to find and nurture Kenya's future entrepreneurs. The business reality show, which started yesterday, Thursday 27th October 2011, will air on national television broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and Kiss TV. 27 Oct 2011 16:56

Kenya's advertising guru nominated for business leader award

[Carole Kimutai] Bharat Thakrar, CEO of Scangroup Limited, has been nominated for the 2011 All Africa Business Leader Awards in the Africa Entrepreneur of the Year award category. Thakrar has been recognised for his entrepreneurial skills in building Scangroup into a powerful pan African business. The awards aims at recognising business leaders and companies that have excelled in Africa over the last year. 18 Oct 2011 11:02

Kenya gets YouTube domain as internet users grow

[Carole Kimutai] Online video sharing site YouTube, has announced the launch of a Kenyan domain, www.youtube.co.ke. YouTube Kenya will offer video content from around the world through a local interface that will promote the most relevant content to Kenyans. Already Kenyan broadcasters Nation Media Group, the Standard Group Limited, and Homeboyz Entertainment Limited are among the top YouTube channels viewed. 10 Oct 2011 10:21

PR profession in Kenya under scrutiny

[Carole Kimutai] Kenya's Public Relations sector is one of the fastest growing in the East African region; but a recent report on the practice of PR in Kenya has revealed serious gaps in the profession. The report highlights three areas of grave concern; a general deficiency in understanding of PR, lack of standardised training, and puny PR ethics, regulation and standards. 10 Oct 2011 09:45

Kenya's Nova Nee eyes more East African markets

[Walter Wafula] Nova Nee, a public relations agency in Kenya has set its eyes on the East African market amidst cut throat competition for accounts by established domestic and multinational firms in the region. Beth Maina-Mwaura, the firm's managing director spoke to Bizcommunity about the firm's plans. 21 Sep 2011 13:27

Kenya gets GOtv on DVB-T2 technology

[Carole Kimutai] The new pay TV provider, GOtv, which recently launched in Uganda, officially launched the digital terrestrial television service in Kenya last week and went live on 14 September 2011. The new pay service is aimed at giving Kenyan TV lovers access to news, children's programming, documentaries, series and movies. 19 Sep 2011 11:10

Airtel Kenya's CEO resigns

[Carole Kimutai] On Monday 5 September, managing director of mobile operator, Airtel Kenya, Rene Meza announced his resignation. In Kenya's highly competitive telecom sector that has only four players, Meza's exit was big news. 12 Sep 2011 12:55

London based PR agency to market Kenyan tea

[Carole Kimutai] In a strategic bid to further enhance awareness on the distinct Kenyan tea attributes in the international markets, the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) has retained Phipps PR, a food and drinks public relations agency to handle its publicity brief in the United Kingdom. 10 Aug 2011 12:08

Kenya launches Africa's first mobile commerce platform

[Carole Kimutai] MobiKash Afrika Limited, a private company incorporated in Kenya, has unveiled an innovative independent mobile commerce ecosystem. The platform will work across all Kenya's four GSM networks (Safaricom, Airtel, Orange, and Yu) and across participating banks. 1 Aug 2011 07:53

Dealfish tops in mobile advertising

[Carole Kimutai] Through a mobile advertising partnership with InMobi, an independent mobile ad network, Dealfish.co.ke is now one of the most visited local websites in Kenya. Dealfish, a free, online classifieds site for local communities, provides users with a means to buy, sell, rent and find products, services and jobs. 5 Jul 2011 10:46

Kenya heading for shared mobile money transfer system

[Carole Kimutai] Following the success of Safaricom's mobile transfer service MPesa, the government of Kenya has formed a taskforce to look into the possibility of developing a common system for facilitating mobile money transfers across networks. 5 Jul 2011 10:39

Conditions impeding growth of African journalists

[Gregory Gondwe: @Kalipochi] An assistant professor and director at the Institute for International Journalism at Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication, Dr. Yusuf Kalyango last week told a health and development communication workshop in Kenya that bad conditions that prevail in Africa are impeding the growth of African journalists. 4 Jul 2011 10:16

Health, development communications training underway in Kenya

[Gregory Gondwe: @Kalipochi] Media practitioners from Malawi, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania will be in Kenya for six days where, among other things, they will undergo health and development communication training. The training commenced on Saturday, 25 June 2011, on health and development reporting followed by a session on computer-assisted investigative reporting at Internews in Nairobi. 27 Jun 2011 11:00

Gina Din PR wins SABRE African Consultancy of the Year

[Carole Kimutai] East African PR agency Gina Din Corporate Communications (GDCC) has been awarded the African Consultancy of the Year Award at the 2011 SABRE awards held in Prague, Czech Republic. The agency bagged the international award for their consistency in delivering PR strategies and campaigns over the years. 17 Jun 2011 09:50

Kenya now brands its tea

[Carole Kimutai] Tea, Kenya's leading export, is set for a massive branding initiative that will be used to identify and promote the tea in local and international markets. Towards this end, the Tea Board of Kenya has appointed the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS) to implement a globally recognised mark of origin for Kenyan tea. 10 Jun 2011 10:07

Marketing initiative set to promote Kenya's exports sector

[Carole Kimutai] As a way of building the Kenyan brand, the country has launched Export Brands Kenya, a new marketing concept for Kenya's exports sector. This is Kenya's first ever attempt to showcase the country's export potential among local, regional and international audiences. 7 Jun 2011 08:50

Kenyan film industry to get a boost

[Carole Kimutai] A creative content task force has been formed to spearhead the promotion of the residual capacity and economic potential of Kenya's broadcast and film industry. The initiative by the Kenya ICT Board is expected to promote Kenya's underutilised creative content economy. 20 May 2011 07:39

Kenya: Airtel cries foul over mobile number portability service

[Carole Kimutai] Barely two weeks after the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) launched the mobile number portability (MNP) service, one of the mobile players is crying foul. Airtel Kenya MD Rene Meza has raised a red flag saying several anti-competition tactics were being used to block customers seeking to move to its network. 13 Apr 2011 09:16

yu launches internet-free Facebook

[Carole Kimutai] yu, the mobile phone brand of Essar Telecom Kenya has added Facebook to its Peperusha platform making the social networking site available to subscribers without the need for an internet connection. 7 Apr 2011 11:04

Kenya: African Laughter launches service for media

[Carole Kimutai] African Laughter has launched an online news and information centre for the Kenyan media. The website is a press release news service for journalists and editors seeking extra news leads, or who want to stay abreast of the day's media events and releases. 16 Mar 2011 09:58

Kenya: Mobile money innovators at AITEC conference

[Carole Kimutai] Kenya's software developers active in developing mobile money applications are going to have a chance to showcase their products at this year's AITEC Banking and Mobile Money Conference in the Young Innovators Mobile Applications Hub, sponsored by Google. The event will be held 2-3 March 2011. The Hub is being organised by AITEC in partnership with iHub and the Kenya ICT Board. 28 Feb 2011 07:29

Young & Rubicam wins Essar Telecom Kenya account

[Carole Kimutai] Essar Telecom Kenya has signed a deal with Young & Rubicam Brands that consolidates all marketing communications activity behind the YU brand. The partnership allows the advertising agency to provide the YU brand with integrated marketing communication solutions through advertising, media buying, direct and digital marketing, as well as public relations. 10 Feb 2011 12:04

Y&R get Jubilee Insurance PR account

[Carole Kimutai] Jubilee Insurance Kenya has appointed Young & Rubicam Brands to provide it with marketing and advertising support across the East African region, the Indian Ocean and West Africa. 7 Feb 2011 06:05

Kenyan media on the spot over slanted coverage

[Carole Kimutai] Kenya Union of Journalists and Allied Workers secretary general Eric Orina has accused the media of slanted news coverage and unprofessionalism. In a letter to media owners and editors, Orina called for objectivity from the media rather than subjectivity. 2 Feb 2011 08:01

Kenya: 2011 Africa Business Reporting Awards launched

[Carole Kimutai] Diageo has launched the annual Africa Business Reporting Awards in Nairobi, Kenya. The six year old awards is an initiative of Diageo - a premium drinks business with majority shareholding in East Africa Breweries Ltd (EABL). In 2010, 700 entries from more than 25 countries were received. 26 Jan 2011 11:39

SAT hosts mobile site for Kenya travellers

[Carole Kimutai] South African Tourism (SAT) has turned its marketing sights on the Kenyan market with the launch of a mobile site. Visitors to the mobisite will be required to register which means that they only receive information they are interested in. 7 Dec 2010 12:44