Safaricom

The Nokia 1680 offer was published in a full page ads in the Media this past week and is bound to see a good number of purchases this month. The phone itself, as advertised, also has Nokia’s OVI Mail, a Full Color Screen, Camera, Ultra-long battery life and Multimedia Messaging (MMS).

Therefore, on this post, rather than make the same mistake, I would just like to point out some “new” information that has come to my attention this week. YU which is Kenya’s third mobile network in terms of total subscribers has launched a range of low cost prepaid limited and unlimited use data bundles.

The rates are even lower than Zain Kenya’s, although, once again, they are only available on 2.5G speeds. In addition, the YU data modem costs are also lower than the competition at Kes. 1,799.00. The details on the bundles are as follows:

• Unlimited Daily: Kes. 49.00
• Unlimited Monthly: Kes. 999.00
• 100 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 250.00
• 250 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 500.00
• 750 MB Data Bundle: Kes. 1,000.00
• 3 GB Data Bundle: Kes. 2,000.00

If this is a precursor to some of the changes we can expect when Bharti Airtel’s US$ 10.7 Billion acquisition of Zain Africa takes full effect then we are already seeing some creativity that could tip market share balances as they stand today. To note though is that Zain Kenya still does not have a 3G service in place and therefore they only offer speeds within GPRS and EDGE (collectively known as 2.5G).

The reason why Zain Kenya, Orange Kenya and YU mobile networks do NOT yet have 3G unlike Safaricom is that none of them are willing pay the exhorbitant US$ 25 Million that is required to secure a 3G license from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). This has become a major bone of contention in the rapid proliferation of broadband Internet connectivity throughout Kenya as CCK has so far refused to lower it since Safaricom made the payment a few year ago – only time will tell how this pans out.

Below are the new Zain Kenya internet bundle rates as published in Kenyan media:

Unlimited Prepaid Internet Bundles.

• Unlimited 1 day @ Kes. 250.00
• Unlimited 10 days @ Kes. 1,250.00
• Unlimited 20 days @ Kes. 2,250.00
• Unlimited 30 days @ 3,250.00

Prepaid Internet Bundles.

• 25 MB @ Kes. 100.00
• 70 MB @ Kes. 250.00
• 150 MB @ Kes. 500.00
• 500 MB @ Kes. 1,250.00
• 1 GB @ Kes. 1,750

In addition to the above bundle rates, the pay as you go Internet usage rate is Kes. 7.00 per megabyte. Finally, the modem cost is still Kes. 2,010.00 as announced late last year and comes with 150 MB of data free usage.

The first C for a successful web site is content. Content is the very thing that keeps people coming back to a web site, time and again. It is not just the amount of content that matters but also how frequently it is updated and whether its relevant to the targeted audiences. In addition, content is not just limited to text but rather also includes video, audio and other forms of content for download. The funny thing is that most businesses do have lots of content but they don’t put it on their web sites, or they don’t have it online in the right quantity, or quality.

The second C is for commerce. A business web site has to have a commercial focus if it is to be successful. This can be by driving direct sales online through e-commerce or could be lead generation that eventually leads to offline sales via a sales force or call center. This means that a web site has to be built with this focus in mind so that users are explicitly or implicitly channeled to a sales oriented action. One of the emerging ways of doing this is having real-time live chat on your web site to help customers and prospects make a buying decision. Its also about ensuring you invest in internet marketing to increase the visibility of your web site.

The third C is for community. Today, its almost a no-brainer that your web site needs to be about more than your corporate profile and offerings. Successful web sites have features or extensions that encourage a sense of community. These features can be a blog, discussions forums, opinion polls and online surveys. They can also be links to social media such as Facebook fan pages, Twitter profiles, YouTube channels and LinkedIn groups. Ultimately, its about engaging customers and prospects in an interactive manner where they “belong” to your web site.

The fourth C is for context. Context is basis upon which your web site  is relevant or not to your target audiences. If your web site is not contextually relevant whether its for product information or media downloads then it will not succeed. The easiest way to ensure that context is achieved on a web site is to ask the users what they would like to see on the web site. From this point of view, email feedback forms and even social media can provide low-cost and effective user feedback channels.

The fifth and final C is for continuity. More often than not, web sites go live but are not maintained or managed for continuity. What I mean in this respect, for instance, has the very real prospect of a web site being hacked at any given time been considered? The consequence of such an action could be loss of business and trust, especially where services such as e-commerce are concerned. Yes, continuity is exceptionally important for a successful web site which means regular backups, up-to-date back-end applications, secure hosting and proactive monitoring need to be the order of the day.

What I find even more interesting is that digital artists have gone to work and started making user generated images that depict Makmende in all sorts of funny and interesting “super hero” situations. Take for instance the one where he is re-worked as Leonidas leading his 300 Spartans from the movie of the same name or the iconic Obama “Hope” image re-worked with Makmende’s likeness and, not to mention, the GQ and Esquire Magazine front covers. It really is a huge and notable Makmende movement out there that Kenya and the world have taken to with so much gusto.

So, here is the next big question. Makmende has obviously become a fad and may even go so much further to become a venerable Kenyan entertainment brand. But, who exactly “owns” brand Makmende? I can already hear the printing machines going off this weekend and t-shirts as well as other Makmende merchandise hitting the streets of Nairobi by next week – this is going to happen for sure! (that’s if it hasn’t happened already). Meanwhile, Just A Band, who created brand Makmende may not see a cent from their creation if they do not secure copyrights right away (I certainly hope they have already started!). Most importantly, they should have at least signed some sort of agreement with the character who plays Makmende in their video to have exclusive rights.

Going forward, seeing that Makmende has pioneered the concept of internet viral marketing in Kenya on a global scale, the next thing I would like to see is how the brand is managed and how it can be monetized to the benefit of the brand creators – Just A Band. It may already be too late but time will tell.

I see huge prospects for Kenyan brands to partner with brand Makmende in commercials and other promotional initiatives. There certainly is potential and it will be exciting to see which brave Kenyan brands ride this wave for commercial gain. Personally, I have (already) made gains from Makmende through the post I made earlier this week that saw this blog featured on the Wall Street Journal and hit almost 20,000 visits (so far) this month. Makmende is definitely delivering super hero results to all who mention him! (But don’t tell him I said that!).

I have used Loopnet on one occasion on Mombasa road but in most other locations in Nairobi it does not seem to work (strange?). However, when it does, its actually free internet access with one caveat – you get ads displayed at the top of your web browser. I think Loopnet is an excellent idea and it represents some innovation in terms of the traditional Internet Service Provider (ISP) business models of billing for usage on either an unlimited monthly basis or on a data capped basis.

My impression is that Loopnet is just getting started and they need to extend their service to many of Nairobi’s suburbs where Internet usage is bound to be very high. I also expect the service will largely appeal to the home user and not necessarily the business user who would want a reliable and fast Internet service, all the time.

I’m keen to see how many users Loopnet will have on their service once its fully operational in most of Nairobi (and the rest of Kenya?) as this would be key to attracting advertisers to sustain their services. In addition, as it always seems to be the case, other ISPs’ in the marketplace are bound to experiment with the ad-driven model for free Internet as well – so only time will tell how it fairs. Meanwhile, enjoy free Internet on Loopnet!