KENYAN SUPERSTAR AMANI HAS DEPARTED FOR CHICAGO

The wait is over and a music revolution has begun - after weeks of speculation ONE8 is here!

Kenya’s own superstar Amani left for Chicago over the weekend to join the other members of the Pan-African super group ONE8 as it prepares to record with an international mega-star who has shaped R & B music.

Never before has a coming-together of African musical talent happened in such a way. The collaboration on the single and video is also shattering the typical mode of Africa / Western projects.  ONE8 is taking centre stage on this project and working hand-in-hand and as equals with the Chicago based international megastar and his team who are very excited to be working with such amazing talent.

Amani is one of the most talented and beautiful female stars ever to come out of Kenya.  Her name is a Swahili word that literally means peace and tranquility, and the soothing sounds of Amani’s music reflect exactly that. Amani’s soothing music is urban and African, uplifting with unforgettable melodies that showcase both Amani’s vocal and song-writing talents. This talent has not gone unrecognised in the awards category with Amani having won numerous awards including the Kenya Kisima Award in 2006 for Best Female Artist and Best Collaboration, and in 2007 for Best Female Boomba Artist. Amani has also been nominated for a Channel O video award in 2008 for Best Female Artist East Africa. In 2009 she won the MTV African Music Award (MAMA) for Best Female Artist Pan Africa alongside a slew of nominations at the 2009 Channel O Music Awards.

As all eight artists record the song and video in the USA, fans will be connected with them around the clock through the website, mobile site or mobisite, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and live webcasts on location.  Millions of fans will experience this music revolution and historic journey as it happens. They will also experience their favorite stars up close and personal and roam where no fan has roamed before with digital ALL ACCESS PASSES delivered personally by these superstars to their fans!

You can follow ONE8 around the clock on the following official portals:

Website: www.myone8.com

Mobisite: myone8.mobi

Facebook: facebook.com/myone8

Twitter: twitter.com/myone8

YouTube: youtube.com/one8TV

This PC costs $17,000!

http://www.techpowerup.com/130496/Origin-PC-Announces-The-Big-O-Gaming-PC-Fuses-PC-Might-with-Xbox-360-Capability.html

This machine by Origin PC at first glance seems to be a little out of this world, and that is exactly the case.   The Big O is featured in CPU Magazine's annual Dream Machine review roundup. "If you want the ultimate PC, the Big O is it" said CPU Magazine. "By integrating an Xbox 360, the Big O offers everything and the kitchen sink." 

This machine is made for PC enthusiasts, with an intergrated Xbox 360 with liquid cooling, i.e no fans. How much will such a machine set you back? Well the lower model will go for $7,000 with 1 year warranty, and the high end model will bankrupt you at $17,000! Thats Ksh 1.37 million! Basically a Subaru Forester 2004. 

You might ask who buys these machines? The truth is, it is not that simple. When a company does something like this it is purely for the free brand advertising they will get from pc magazines and online reviews. They send out press releases with pictures and promos getting websites to feature this machine, with chances for the public to win 1 of them. With all the hype created for this machine, they build significant momentum in the tech community. Normally they will only sell a handfull of these machines, but they might gain a significant number of contracts from distributiors for less expensive technology.

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Digital Signage & Technology

Digital signage in Kenya is an industry that has a lot of potential in consumer awareness and brand awareness especially in supermarkets and point of sale outlets. The current phase of digital signage looks and feels expensive in Kenya with multiple screens that are over 40 inches or more costing at most 80k to import. But with a massive consumer base that can be reached in outlets all over Kenya, what will be the future of DS? Its future will be content. Content will become the King of the DS world and will be required to become dynamic and artistic to have a long lifespan on the screen. With screens coming in with higher resolutions at cheaper prices, higher quality content will be needed and will be produced by production houses in the near future. From video, 2D and 3D animation, even actors will play a role despite the silent nature of DS.

Technology that supports multi-screen displays has become widely available in the public sector. The image on top is of the Powercolor Eyefinity 5970 graphics card with 12 mini-HDMI ports that can connect to 12 screens using a computer and HDMI cables as seen below 24 monitors using 2 cards.
With advances in technology that is becoming cheap and available to the general public, opportunities are opening up in the market today.

The Joke Lab 13

The Old Man

A public relations consultant died and arrived at the pearly gates. To his dismay, there were thousands of people ahead of him in a queue to see St Peter. 

But, to his surprise, St Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the consultant was standing.

St Peter greeted him warmly. Then St Peter and one of his assistants took the consultant by the hand and gingerly guided him up to the front of the queue into a comfortable chair by his desk.
The public relations consultant said, "I don't mind all this attention, but what makes me so special?"

St Peter replied, "Well, we have added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by our calculations you must be about 193 years old!"

The Joke Lab 11

The Marketer's Mercedes

 

The Marketing Manager had bought a new Mercedes and was out on the interstate for a nice evening drive. The top was down, the breeze was blowing through what was left of his hair and he decided to open her up. As the needle jumped up to 80 mph, he suddenly saw flashing red and blue lights behind him. 

 

"There's no way they can catch a Mercedes," he thought to himself and opened her up further. The needle hit 90, 100.... Then the reality of the situation hit him. 

 

"What am I doing?" he thought and pulled over. The cop came up to him, took his license without a word and examined it and the car. 

 

The officer spoke to the marketer and said "It's been a long day, this is the end of my shift and it's Friday the 13th. I don't feel like more paperwork, so if you can give me an excuse for your driving that I haven't heard before, you can go."

The Marketing Manager, used to finding the right words for any situation, thinks for a moment, then says, 

 

"Last week my wife ran off with a cop. I was afraid you were trying to give her back!"

"Have a nice weekend," said the officer.

The Joke Lab 10

True PR

A mathematician, an accountant and a public relations officer all applied for the same job with a large company.

The interviewer called in the mathematician first and asked, “What does two plus two equal?”

The mathematician replied, “Four.”

The interviewer asked, “Four, exactly?”

The mathematician looked at the interviewer incredulously and said, “Yes, of course: four, exactly.”

Then the interviewer called in the accountant and asked the same question, “What does two plus two equal?”

The accountant said, “On average, four — give or take 10 percent, but on average, four.”

Then the interviewer called in the public relations officer and again posed the same question, “What does two plus two equal?”

The public relations officer got up, locked the door, closed the shade, sat down next to the interviewer and whispered, “What do you want it to equal?

The Joke Lab 9

A Marketing Moral

An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. 

As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey. 

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned. 

The moral of the story? In Marketing, if you try to please everyone, you might as well... 

Kiss your ass good-bye.

Brought to you by the Makers for effective marketing. Corporate Talk.

The Joke Lab 8

Good PR!

Moses and his flock arrive at the sea, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit.

Not knowing how to proceed, Moses calls a staff meeting.

"Well, how are we going to get across the sea?" Moses asks. "We need a fast solution. The Egyptians are close behind us."

"Normally, I'd recommend that we build a pontoon bridge to carry us across," the General of the Armies says, "but there's not enough time - the Egyptians are too close."

"Normally, I'd recommend that we build barges to carry us across," the Admiral of the Navy says, "but time is too short."

"Does anyone have a solution?" Moses asks.

Just then, his Public Relations man raises his hand.

"You!" Moses says, "You have a solution?"

"No," the PR man says, "but I can promise you this: If you can find a way out of this one, I can get you two or three full pages in the Old Testament..."

Brought to you by Corporate Talk PR. 

The Joke Lab 7

The Top 10 Signs You Work In Marketing

10. You lecture the kids selling cashu nuts on ways to improve their point of sale ratio.

9. You get all excited when it's Saturday so you can wear casual clothes to work.

8. You refer to the tomatoes grown in your shamba as "deliverables."

7. You find you really need PowerPoint to explain what you do for a living.

6. You normally eat out of Kenchics and at the most expensive chinese restaurant in town within the same week.

5. You wear black to work instead of navy blue to make a bold fashion statement.

4. You know the people at the airport and hotel better than your next door neighbors.

3. You ask your friends to "think out of the box" when making Friday night plans.

2. You think Einstein would have been more effective had he put his ideas into a matrix.

1. You think a "half-day" means leaving work at 5 o'clock.

Brought to you by Corporate Talk.

The Joke Lab 6

Apple Marketing

A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money.

The old guy fingered his expensive wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel. Marketing was the key to my success."

"I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents."

"The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $9.80."

"Then my wife's father died and left us two million dollars."

HAPPY DAY!!!

 

For those of you that fell for it!

Regards the Team!

We invite you to Lunch.

 

Please give us a call. 

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

The Joke Lab 5

Marketing Explained

You go to a party and you see an attractive girl across the room. You go up to her and say, "Hi, I'm great in bed, how about it?"
That's Direct Marketing.

You go to a party and you see an attractive girl across the room. You give your friend a buck. She goes up and says "Hi, my friend over there is great in bed, how about it?"
That's Advertising.

You go to a party and see an attractive girl across the room. You somehow get her mobile number. You call and chat her up a while and then say "Hi, I am great in bed, how about it?"
That's Tele-Marketing.

You go to a party and see an attractive girl across the room. You recognize her. You walk up to her, refresh her memory and get her to laugh and giggle and then suggest, "Hi, I am great in bed, how about it?"
That's Customer Relationship Management.

You go to a party and you see an attractive girl across the room. You stand straight, you talk soft and smooth, you open the door for the ladies, you smile like a dream, you set an aura around you playing the Mr. Gentleman and then you move up to the girl and say, "Hi, I am great in bed, how about it?"
That's Hard Selling.
 

You go to a party, you see an attractive girl across the room. SHE COMES OVER and says, "Hi, I hear you're great in bed, how about it?"
Now THAT is the power of Branding.

The Joke Lab -=Extra=-

Third Way

The Optimist says, "The glass is half full."

The Pessimist says, "The glass is half empty."

The Marketing Consultant says, "Your glass needs re-sizing."

 Brought to you by Corporate Talk.

The Joke Lab 4

 

Dog-gone Amazing

 

A man was out driving, when he came across a flock of sheep. He got out of his car, and walked over to the shepherd tending the sheep. He asked,

 

"Are you a betting man?"

 

"Why do you ask?", said the shepherd.

 

"I'll bet you Kshs 2000, to one of your sheep, that I can guess the size of your flock.", he said.

 

"You're on", said the shepherd, "How many sheep have I got?"

 

"367", came the answer.

 

"That's amazing," exclaimed the shepherd, "You're absolutely right! go and pick yourself a sheep."

 

Having claimed his prize, the man was walking away, when the shepherd called out to him.

 

"How about another bet- double or nothing.", he challenged.

 

"What's the bet?", said the man.

 

"I'll bet you that I can tell your occupation, and who you work for."

 

"That's a bet." said the man. "What do I do?"

 

"You're a marketing consultant, and you work for the government.", said the shepherd.

 

"That's amazing," said the man. "How did you figure that out?"

 

The shepherd smiled. "Put down my dog, and I'll tell you."

The Joke Lab 3

The Marketer And The Programmer

 

The year is 2030. A Marketer and an Programmer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from Nairobi to London. 

The Programmer leans over to the Marketer and asks if he would like to play a fun game. 

The Marketer just wants to sleep, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The Programmer persists and explains that the game is really easy and a a whole fun. He explains "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me Kshs 500. Then you ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you Kshs 500." 

Again, the Marketer politely declines and tries to get to sleep. The Programmer, now somewhat agitated, and confident of his ability, says, "OK, if you don't know the answer you pay me Kshs 500, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you Kshs 5000!" 

 

This catches the Marketer's attention, and he sees no end to this torment unless he plays, so he agrees to the game. 

 

The Programmer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?" The Marketer doesn't say a word, but reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five hundred shilling bill and hands it to the Programmer.

 

Now, it's the Marketer's turn. He asks the Programmer "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The Programmer looks up at him with a puzzled look. He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his references. He logs onto the internet with his KDN Air Modem and searches the net. Frustrated, he sends e-mail to his co-workers -- all to no avail. 

 

After about an hour, he wakes the Marketer and hands him Kshs 5000. The Marketer politely takes the money and turns away to try to get back to sleep. The Programmer, more than a little miffed, shakes the Marketer and asks "Well, so what's the answer?" 

 

Without a word, the Marketer reaches into his wallet, hands the Programmer Kshs 500, then turns away to get back to sleep.

The Joke Lab 2

 

Ship It

 

A software manager, a hardware manager, and a marketing manager are driving to a meeting when a tire blows on the car. They get out of the car and look at the problem.

The software manager says, "I can't do anything about this - it's a hardware problem."

The hardware manager says, "Maybe if we turned the car off and on again, it would fix itself."

The marketing manager says, "Hey, 75% of it is working - let's ship it!

What ever happened to Swine Flu?

 

The trouble with predicting a pandemic is that when it doesn’t suddenly result in tens of thousands of cases almost immediately, people become disenchanted with the process and think that someone has cried wolf.

The truth is, the H1N1 (aka Swine) flu is a novel virus from which pandemics do rise. The fact that information flows rapidly in this global society helps tremendously to control an outbreak and prevent the disastrous results implied by the name pandemic, or so they say.

Information and Education are Key

Education about how to prevent the spread is essential and disseminating this information rapidly is key to preventing the serious situation that could possibly come to pass, an example are the two recorded outbreaks in Kenya which were controlled quite quickly by the government.

The fact is that simply following good hygiene practices can be so easily ignored and overlooked. Handwashing by itself can control the spread of germs in so many instances of illness. Greeting people in and out the office with the closed fist (aka Pound) can prevent cross contamination. Covering the mouth and nose during coughs and sneezes is not only polite, but also helps to contain the droplets that carry the germs from human to human, as long as you are fast enough for your own sneezes.

Disposing of tissues immediately and once again washing hands after contact is necessary and sometimes ignored especially by the person too ill to care to worry about housekeeping.

 

99 Days to the World Cup!

With 99 days to go to the World Cup, this is your last chance to book on DStv with Corporate Talk.

Contact us on +254 (20) 386 82 85 or email us on dstv@corporatetalk.co.ke

KDN and Mathare United Invite you!

KDN and Mathare United Football Club invite you to the first Kenya Premier League match to be played under floodlights, between Gor Mahia and Mathare United FC.

On Wednesday 3rd March 2010 at the Nyayo Stadium. To RSVP contact Simon Taveta on 020 5 000 000 or email simon.taveta@kdn.co.ke.

Bridge boycotts Terry's handshake

GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY FOR KENYA

Animation is an industry that has been dominated by the West. The concept is relatively new in Africa, but last year nine animation films from Kenya were screened at the prestigious Africa in Motion (AiM) festival held from 23 October - 2 November 2008 in Edinburgh, UK. However, the effect of this exposure  is yet to be felt back in Kenya.


Since the year 2000 to date, hundreds of professional animators in Kenya have been undergone extensive training but not much can been seen from them. Benjamin Waithaka, one of the most experienced professional 3D animators and a tutor at an animation College in Nairobi is careful to point out that the industry is not fully fledged.

At a recent launch of an animation awareness campaign dubbed Vibonzo Kochokocho, Benjamin was pleased with the progress so far and urged other animators to step up their efforts and make the industry a success story. “With the birth of Digital signage, animators will get a demanding market for their graphic services not to mention digital content for TV,” he said.

“Creativity, discipline and professionalism are the missing ingredients most animators need to combine their diverse talents. Many animators have the talent and knowledge but they do not know how to convert that into a means of earning a living,” says Benjamin.

Benjamin was also keen to point out that the recent move by Disney Walt to award an animating contract to Homeboyz Entertainment was an initiative to grow talent within the country. He urges the Kenyan animators to grasp this opportunity and use it as a stepping-stone to greater heights. “There is no proper system to nature and grow the industry, we should have an animation curriculum that will introduce the course at tertiary learning institutions,” added Benjamin. According to Benjamin, his love for creativity at an early age was nurtured through his effort to construct toy cars from locally available materials such as used oil cans. This helped him develop a sixth sense of visualisation.

The launch was concluded with a screening of the best portfolio the Kenyan animation industry has to offer. One is left to wonder whether the industry will hold together to reach full maturity. Perhaps this is based on how effective the Vibonzo Kochokocho campaign be.

Article by David Muthama

The Joke Lab

Marketing Training Trip

 

Three marketers and three accountants are travelling by train to a conference. At the station, the three accountants each buy tickets and watch as the three marketers buy only a single ticket. "How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks an accountant.

"Watch and you'll see," answers a marketer.

 

They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three marketers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them. Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

 

The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the marketers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that). When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the marketers don't buy a ticket at all.

 

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" says one perplexed accountant. "Watch and you'll see," answers a marketer.

 

When they board the train, the three accountants cram into a restroom and the three marketers cram into another one nearby. The train departs. Shortly afterward, one of the marketers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the accountants are hiding. 

 

He knocks on the door and says, "Ticket, please."

KDN Sponsors Kenyan Premier League

Sports Minister, Hellen Sambili (centre), KDN’s Vincent Wang’ombe (left) and Mathare United captain Anthony Kimani during the function where KDN announced a Sh20m sponsorship of the club, on Thursday.

Photo: Stafford Ondego/Standard

Watch it here! KDN Sponsors Kenyan Premier League

The Farmers Club!

Nairobi February 8^th 2009 – Farmers can now come together and enjoy the benefits of being members of a club that deals exclusively with their farming needs. Farmchem, a regional distributor of seed and crop protection products has introduced the Farmchem Mkulima club, the first of its kind to be started by a seed and crop protection products company.

In an initiative dubbed 'Angaza Mkulima' the club was started to strengthen the partnership between  Farmchem and its customers, and to increase the companies understanding of their customers business challenges and farming needs.

“Angaza Mkulima members have access to various benefits, that include obtaining access to crop production finance and arranging for crop insurance against natural perils,” says Farmchem MD Charles Mulinge. Some regions across the country continue to experience bumper harvest following the short rains while others have experienced loss of harvest due to the same rains. “With benefits such as crop insurance, farmers will no longer have to worry about debt payment incurred due to the loss of their harvest or crop destruction by natural perils,” says Mr Mulinge.

“Obtaining access to crop production finance will allow farmers the freedom to expand their crop investment and stand to gain increased harvests and profits,” adds Mr Mulinge. With no registration fee, enrolment to the club is via mobile phone and is open to all farmers and agro dealers in the countrywide distribution system. Club registration is carried out on an SMS platform, where the potential members creat a new message ENROLL*Firstname,Lastname,Divison and then send it to the number 6426. They then get a registration number and password. The registered members can  then log on to the 'Angaza Mkulima' site on angazamkulima.com using their registered phone numbers as user names.

KDN UNVEILS LOW COST BROADBAND SOLUTION

 Nairobi, 5th February 2010. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and businesses that operate in Small offices and Home offices (SoHos) will enjoy high capacity, affordable and reliable Internet service to promote their growth. This follows the launch of Butterfly Optic Xpress (BOX), by Kenya Data Networks (KDN).

BOX is set to provide high broadband capacity that will enable the transfer of large files, the use of Voice over Internet services and greater access to web based streaming and download of videos on demand, thus benefiting directly from the huge capacity made available locally through the KDN terrestrial fiber infrastructure.

Businesses seeking cheaper and reliable broadband solutions will enjoy guaranteed connectivity with refunds on downtime. According to Kai Wulff the KDN Chief Executive Officer, SME’s consider the cost and the quality of service as key when selecting a broadband solution. “BOX is a solution that will address both cost and quality by offering guarantees on the best broadband connectivity at the lowest market price,” says Kai.

KDN has already connected over 400 buildings in Nairobi and across the country with the terrestrial fiber. BOX targets SMEs and SoHos in all these fibre buildings. “The process has been simplified because SMEs will only have to confirm whether their building has a fiber connection from KDN and call KDN to be provided with BOX. Our resellers will visit the site immediately and carry out a survey after which BOX will be connected free of charge to their offices,” says Kai.

This puts KDN as the only provider who will be offering the cheapest bandwidth solution in the market. An SME that uses 1MB per month will now be able to theoretically download 324,000MBs in one month. This is equivalent to 324 Gigabytes of data in a month, for which SMEs will be paying only 1 cent per MB.

 

dstv@corporatetalk.co.ke

Book before the February 26 Deadline!

Be part of History Today!

Good Luck and a Good Game!

 

The KOIL Limuru open is today!

Corporate Talk wish all the players...

"Good luck and a good game!"

Kenya Orient Insurance Womens Open Golf Tournament.

The Limuru Ladies Open will start on the 20th of February 2010.

Proud to be sponsored by Kenya Orient, your ultimate saftey net.

MATHARE UNITED CLINCH RECORD SPONSORSHIP WITH KDN

Nairobi, January 14th 2010. Kenya Data Networks (KDN) has announced a record sponsorship deal for Mathare United football club. KDN and Mathare United unveiled the sponsorship at a reception and gala awards dinner for the Mathare United football club held at a Nairobi hotel. The event which was graced by the Minister for Youth and Sports Hon. Prof. Hellen Sambili celebrated the biggest ever corporate sponsorship of a football club in Kenya’s sports history.

KDN will sponsor Mathare united to the tune of 20 million shillings over a 3 year period with  15million shillings going to corporate sponsorship and an additional 5million in activation, merchandizing, special events and support services.


MATHARE UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB

"Haba na haba hujaza kibaba" -  Step by step we reach the goal “We will be undertaking a wide range of marketing activities to support this partnership and strengthen the value of both brands as well as drive product sales on a regional scale," added Mr. Wang’ombe.

The new KDN-MUFC sponsorship will also feature joint community service projects focused on environmental improvement and creating new KDN digital villages in poor urban and rural communities for ease of internet access to the locals.

“KDN is looking forward to sharing the drive and momentum to build on our success and boost  KDN brand awareness through sports,” says Mr Wang’ombe. Mathare United Chairman Bob Munro emphasized that KDN and Mathare United have complementary visions where KDN is committed to becoming the Pan-African ICT infrastructure of choice while Mathare United is determined to become the top club in Africa. Mathare United Captain Anthony Kimani thanked KDN for believing and investing in the team and players. “KDN has given us new hopes and new horizons to aim for. Last year we narrowly missed winning the Premier League title. With this new support from KDN, we intend to win it back this year," said the  captain.