Nokia announces availability of Asha 210 in East Africa

A fast and responsive QWERTY phone - the most social Asha yet

Nokia today announced local availability of the Nokia Asha 210 across East Africa, bringing consumers more social experiences at an affordable price. The Nokia Asha 210, available in both single and easy swap dual-SIM variants, features a distinctly Nokia design, smart imaging and Wi-Fi to help people enjoy more of the Internet for less.

Available in yellow, cyan and black at a recommended retail price of:

Kenya:          KES 6,499

Uganda:       UGX 225,000

Tanzania:     TZs 140,000

Your social life at your fingertips

The Nokia Asha 210 has a QWERTY keyboard and a dedicated Facebook button for fast access to social networking. It also supports WhatsApp, Twitter and popular email accounts such as Gmail, to ensure that people are never more than a few clicks away from their friends and family.

Capture and share great images every time

The Nokia Asha 210 comes with a 2MP camera that can be accessed through a dedicated hardkey even when the keypad is locked. The smart camera also offers a choice of image capture, editing and sharing options, including: 

·         Self-portrait – for perfectly centred “selfies”, even without a front-facing camera. The built-in voice guides the user to ensure they are in the frame, before taking the shot.

• Fast editing of images directly from the camera app and easy sharing of images to social networks

People can also share photos and other content quickly by using Nokia’s innovative Slam feature, which comes built-into the Nokia Asha 210. It works by enabling the transfer of content such as images or videos to another Bluetooth-enabled phone without the need to pair devices.

The new device also takes full advantage of the Nokia Xpress Browser which uses Nokia's cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90 percent, helping people enjoy more affordable Internet access. The Nokia Asha 210 also features Nokia Nearby, a web app that lets people discover points of interest such as restaurants, shopping and ATM machines close to their location.

“The Nokia Asha range has already gained popularity in East Africa, especially amongst the youth,” says Bruce Howe, general manager Nokia East Africa. “Consumers love the freedom of choice that Asha offers. The new Asha 210 expands the family and brings a fresh design and great features for those that value being socially connected.”

Other key features for Nokia Asha 210 include:

·         Social phonebook integration

·         Preloaded YouTube launcher for direct video streaming

·         Chat screen notifications that keep users up-to-date on new conversations

·         WiFi On/Off control button

·         Long battery life: up to 46 days with Single-SIM and up to 24 days with Dual-SIM

Fundraising Software For Non-Profits

Non profit Organizations are a unique breed among other types of organizations.A priorri ,they are set up to fulfill a certain mandate with no intent of benefiting themselves financially by way of profits.Hence finding cost effective solutions at affordable prices especially with regards to finding a suitable fundraising software is key to financial discipline and success.I have a lot of friends in the non profits and hence would like to share this information on a recent find.

Blackbaud Europe a Division of Blackbaud Inc have no need for introduction as a leading provider for software and other related services especially tailor made for Non profit organizations .As a testimonial in 2008 Blackbaud Europe partnered with the University of Oxford (UK)by offering the Blackbaud Enterprise Enterprise CRM database management software in order to manage its global fund raising campaign seamlessly across the university's different campuses .This was their opinion after a rigorous tendering process:

“We are proud to partner with The University of Oxford,” said Martin Jervis, Blackbaud Europe’s managing director. “A fundraising operation that serves one of the world’s most prestigious institutions and incorporates a collegiate structure results in a highly challenging set of needs. Using Blackbaud Enterprise CRM, the University of Oxford staff members will have a scalable, sophisticated solution that provides them with all the tools needed to successfully manage the complexities of global fundraising.”

“We selected Blackbaud as our partner and Enterprise CRM as the database system, after a thorough international tendering process,because it provides us with a robust and functionally-rich solution for users across the Collegiate University,” said Sue Cunningham, University of Oxford’s Director of Development. “We were in particular need of a
database that could deal with the key requirements of securing and coordinating data, a system large enough to facilitate the needs of our collegiate structure and a strong web presence for alumni and friends.”

For a detailed list of the products and services that Blackbaud does offer as a technology partner please visit their website as provided up above !

Fire Fighting Tips-Essential Things You Need To Know !

A few months back i woke up just to find out that storm water had entered into my apartment on the ground floor through the backdoor.Interestingly, its by lifting my mosquito net prior to stepping down that alerted me to the ominous danger that was before me.With storms around and the likelihood of electric faults and fires ,i am inspired to write this post on some basic firefighting tips and electricity.

A discussion on firefighting by necessity cannot begin without a discussion on the different types of fire extinguishers and the different classes of fires appropriate to each extinguisher(the website link provided has more information both visual and written on each...so for purposes of brevity i will not regurgitate the same!)

FIRE TYPES:
On a universal level fires are commonly classified into four types:

1. Class A Fires: This type of fires involve ordinary solid materials of organic materials such as  wood,paper,rubber,plastics,cardboards ...etc
2. Class B Fires:This type involves combustible liquids such as oil,kerosene,gasoline,organic solvents,paints,cooking fat...etc
3. Class C Fires: This type of fires are caused by Electricity
4. Class D Fires:This type involves combustible metals such as Aluminum,Magnesium,Potassium and other highly volatile metals that burn at high temperatures.

SAFETY TIPS CLASS C FIRES:

Generally the rule of thumbs for responding to any type of fire or electrical fault is call the emergency services first...if you are not an expert in the field do not attempt to deal with such faults without first consulting qualified emergency services.However due to the accidental nature of fires its important to keep in mind the following:

1. Try to contact the emergency services such as the police,fire department ,electrical services..first
2.  Evacuate the building as soon as possible
3. Switch off the electrical mains if you have access to the same without necessarily putting yourself at harms risk.
4. Stay low and avoid smoke, if on fire roll on the ground or use a wet blanket to cut off oxgen supply to the fire.
5. Wear shoes preferably rubber soled or gum boots if water is all around you and there is threat of electrical shock.
6. Do not handle metallic items with your bare hands.
7. Do not just use any extinguisher...especially wet extinguishers used for Class A Type fires.Read instructions on the extinguisher to see if it is compatible to the fire type.This type of fires are best extinguished by fire extinguishers containing Carbon Dioxide(CO2) 

The above tips are just a tip of the iceberg scrapped from various authoritative websites.Being prepared mentally for an emergency situation is a course of wisdom hence do your research in advance.Shop for appropriate fire extinguishers,keep them serviced with a reputable firm at least twice a year and keep safe it may just mean your life and that of many others.

Why I Love German Cars !!!!

Audi R8 Spyder

Hi, readers its a new Year 2012 and this is my first post ,hoping all you are well and wishing you the best in this year 2012.Somehow, having driven down from Mombasa couldn't help but let my first post be about something that i found impressive: German Cars! Yes the likes of Mercedes Benz, Audi, Volkswagen and BMW.Interestingly almost all this cars are available at German car hire companies (if you are at holiday in Germany you might find that link to be pretty useful).

Truly beautiful cars with sterling performance,agility and stability.I clearly have a myriad of reasons to love German cars and its my hope to ride one pretty soon! This cars can clearly outrun other European or Japanese models on the market especially on the rough and rugged roads here !

According to the website IseeCars.com the following cars hit the best10 German cars in the year 2011:

• Audi A5
• BMW X5
• BMW 3 series convertible
• Mercedes Benz E Series( E350) Luxury Sedan 
• 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
• Porsche Boxster 2dr Roadster
• Porsche Cayenne AWD 4dr Man
• Volkswagen Golf 2dr HB Auto
• Volkswagen Gti  2dr HB DSG
• Volkswagen Jetta 4dr Auto Sedan

 Again most of these vehicles have received a 5 star rating  for safety  from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the U.S. government that monitors data and usage of vehicle and their performances.

As you zoom in this year 2012 and see things speed up...please ensure that you keep it safe and enjoy your ride in life !

Nokia C2-03 Fashionable Dual Sim Phone

For a fashionable,trendy and affordable Dual Sim mobile phone -The Nokia C2-03  does it! I had the opportunity to recently review the phone and liked its visual appeal most but my wife beat me to it.It suited her best and its definitely a ladies appeal phone!

The Nokia C2-03  is a Dual Sim Touch and Type phone that has all the basic facilities for a functionalities including a: 2.6 inch QVGA resistive touchscreen display, GSM / GPRS / EDGE connectivity, Nokia Maps , Nokia Browser, 3.5mm headset jack, stereo FM radio, 2MP camera, and MicroSD card support up to a whooping 32 GB , yet phone remains irresistibly affordable.

The phone will retail locally at between Kshs 8,000-10,000/=

Being a heavy user , i pretty much liked its visual appeal and the fact that you can tuch and type as you go, but i cannot comment much on its browsing experience as  i personally require much computing power and fast response when it comes to any phone, however if you are looking for a phone that is basic and trendy, the C2-03 may just be it at the moment.

For a detailed overview of the phone, its features and specifications, please visit: NOKIA

Meet the Nokia X1 -01(Dabo Dabo) !

Nokia(MEA) is on a roll with phones targeted at the wider masses as evidenced in its recent array of dual Sim affordable phones such as the Nokia C2-00,C1-00, Nokia 100 & Nokia 101(see  below YouTube Video on the Kenya Launch .It is Nokia aim to connect the next billion and apparently a huge percentage of these subscribers will be from Africa ,Asia and the Middle East.To that extent Nokia has introduced into the market the Nokia X1-01 dual sim phone which undoubtedly will be a favourite for the average person who needs a basic phone, easy to operate with lots of memory space,battery usage longevity and good multimedia (read to mean music and Fm Radio capabilities).The X1 is such a phone.



Its basic key features include:

• Dual Sim Dual standby allowing one to set a default SIM card for calling or sending messages very easily(great for managing cost control)
• MP3 Music Player(with up to 36 hours music playback capability)
• FM radio,Built in Loud Speaker (up to 106 phon)
• Built in Flash lights(Mulika Mwizi)
• Pre loaded games( sorry just have to add this quite basic and boring).

For more specifications please visit the Nokia Website

For its cost and ease of use this is basically a good phone that will have a wide appeal.Seems the imitation Chinese Dual SIM phones woke up the giant phone maker companies to customize their phones to meet the market demand.

The sale point for this new phones is that the quality in both the make and software is guaranteed.

Therefore rather than buy a cheap counterfeit Chinese imitation Dual SIM phone in the market one should buy an authentic Nokia phone and experience the benefits of user support and superior technology.

Nokia C7 Review -Sleek ,Slim and Smart !

http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-c7-00

The above Heading just captures my sincere thoughts about the Nokia C7-00 phone.I honestly loved the phone!It was easy to use and good to look at.

Well i was recently allowed by Nokia to have a look at the C7-00 and review it and my experience was that more than anything i loved it for its sleek, slim and smart interface.I preferred it to the N8 when it comes to size and look.






What  are the key features which a normal common everyday user would look at? Let me summarize just a few of its appealing features:

Operating System: Symbian^3 OS
Network : Covers the following GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Keypad/Input: Onscreen Touch
Display:AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors,Scratch Resistant Gorilla Glass Display
Memory: Internal 8GB,256Mb RAM,1 GB ROM, External Micro SD upto 32GB
Camera: 8 Mega Pixel, 3264 x 2448 fixed focus, dual LED Flash, GeoTagging/Face Detection capacity
Video Camera: Shoots 116:9 HD video in 720p
Colours: Frosty Metal,Charcoal Black,Mahogany Brown
Radio: Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter
Internet/Social Media: Fully Optimized with customizable/integrated onscreen Social Network widgets that feature live updates
Price Range: 35,000 to 38,000 Kenya Shillings(as at my last inquiry which is over two months)
Battery Conservation: Quite good ,however dependent on usage.

I was able to navigate easily to Mombasa with Ovi Maps on this phone.Loved its photo quality and video images .Iwas not really hustled when it came to battery conservation and being on holiday ....mind you i was taking lots of photos, video and navigating using GPRS but was not disappointed at all !

For its size, efficiency and design i would give it a 9 out of 10.Of the recent Nokia phones i wouldn't mind a C7-00 or C7-01 anytime !

Nestea: Nestle's New Flagship to the Beverage Market

(Pierre Trouilhat, Head of Nestlé Equatorial African Region, Natasha Metto, Reigning Miss World Kenya, Guenter Spiess, Business Executive Manager-Coffee and Beverages and Terry Mungai, Ashleys Hair and Beauty Salon,  hold cups of Nestea)

I am just from a Launch of Nestle new product "Nestea®" at the Norfolk Hotel Nairobi : a beverage sold in powder form in sachets that will retail at Kenya Shillings Five per sachet .The Nestea brand which is making its debut in Kenya has a market presence in over 60 Countries . It is popular in countries such as United States, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and China. The flavored drink made from Tea and other fruit flavors is easy to prepare and requires to be only mixed with hot or cold water and is ready for the taking. 

(Natasha Metto and Pierre Trouilhat share a light moment)

Considering the price and the size of the sachets i had an interesting conversation with Nestle Equatorial African region business executive manager Guenter Spiess about environmental concerns on the packaging and he clarified:

• Since the sachets are small and affordable to aid in collection and recycling Nestle will be launching competitions whereby users will be encouraged to retain the used sachets for redemption of a Nestea Pitcher Mug or entry into a raffle. I find that pretty cool.
• The materials used are biodegradable hence there will be the least damage to the environment in instances where disposal is not effected in a proper manner.

Nestle's new product is set to rival the beverage market as the product is quality and can be taken as a soft drink. I am certain the biggest market share holder Coca Cola will not take this foray into its territory lying down. 

I am also certain Coca Cola could hardly come up with a product of this caliber at that price for the mass market but i stand to be corrected. Kudos to Nestle for the quick thinking after all we all love Tea and it is one of our main cash crops and export product. Nestea is made from 100% Kenyan Tea which is a plus for the local Tea producers and farmers.Should the product grow to be popular Kenya will be the main beneficiary.

Here is excerpts from the Official Press Release:

NESTEA® enters Kenya with a bang!

NESTEA® announces sponsorship of NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011

Nairobi, February 25, 2011: NESTEA®, a ready-mix iced tea brand, has partnered with Miss World Kenya 2011 beauty pageant to promote consumption of tea in Kenya. Elaborating on the tie up Guenter Spiess, Business Executive Manager - Coffee & Beverages for Nestlé Equatorial African Region said, “Through NESTEA® we are promoting a beautiful and healthy lifestyle, NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011 is an opportunity for us to realize dreams of a lucky few young girls.”

In addition to the NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011 sponsorship, Mr Spiess also announced, “Once in a life time opportunity for a girl from less privileged background, who meets the criterion, to change her destiny by participating in Miss NESTEA® Kenya 2011, a contest which will be held during the ongoing NESTEA® Roadshow’s and the winner of which will get direct entry into the NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011. All they need to qualify for participation is five sachets of NESTEA® to enter this competition  and NESTEA® will take care of the rest. At Nestlé we are always looking to connect with our consumers and for NESTEA® we know this will be a great opportunity to connect at the grassroots level.” 

Apart from the lemon and tropical flavors, NESTEA® has also added the apple variant to its range. The brand has introduced smaller single serve packs, now retailing at Ksh 5 which are readily available at all dukas and shopping malls. Speaking after the launch of NESTEA® Miss World Kenya 2011, Regional Head of Nestlé Equatorial Africa Region Pierre Trouilhat said, “This introduction of single serve packs are part of our overall strategy to reinforce Nestlé’s presence in emerging markets, with particular focus on the lower income consumer segments while always taking care of the nutrition element. NESTEA® is a family drink, where 2 glasses deliver an adults daily Vitamin C requirement for just Ksh 10 and I know it will appeal to all age groups.”

The trend currently in the most markets is that people tend to consume tea in the morning. NESTEA® aims to make consumption of tea ‘fashionable’ at any time of the day. NESTEA® ready-mix provides consumers with different flavours that can be enjoyed across the day as a refreshing and nutritious drink. Mr. Spiess elaborated and said even though tea consumption still tops the beverage markets there was need to diversify the product and make it an all-time drink.

The organiser of Miss World Kenya 2011 Mrs. Terry Mungai said the competition presented an equal opportunity for Kenyan girls from all backgrounds to make a difference and urged them to participate.

She said: “I would like to urge all Kenyan girls between the age group of 17-24 years and fulfilling the other criteria to come forward and participate in the NESTEA Miss World Kenya 2011.”

The Miss NESTEA® search will run between March and May 2011 and will be followed by the crowning of Miss NESTEA® Kenya.  The lucky winner will have a chance to enter into the NESTEA® Miss World Kenya semi finals with the full sponsorship of NESTEA® in terms of her attire and grooming. 

Nestlé launches a new affordable Nescafé ready mix

Press Release: Nairobi - 08 December 2010: Nestlé, the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company, has launched its new affordable ready mix coffee into the Kenyan market. The introduction of Nescafé 3in1 coffee makes it the first affordable ready coffee mix solution in Equatorial Africa. 

 The new Nescafé is a fresh, ready mix of coffee, sugar and creamer, packed in sachets and retailing at an affordable price of Ksh10. 

 Speaking at the launch of the new product in Nairobi, Head of Nestlé Equatorial African Region Pierre Trouilhat said the introduction of Nescafé 3in1 is a direct result of the series of capital investments announced by the company early July following the visit to the region by Nestlé Chief Executive Officer Paul Bulcke.

 Mr Trouilhat further elaborated, “Our CHF 30 million (Ksh2.37 billion) investment in the Nairobi factory has allowed us to introduce new production lines and strengthen our production capacity thus enabling us to increase our affordable product range and thereby giving more options to the consumers. We are introducing Nescafé 3in1 first into the Kenyan market. Many countries in the Nestlé Equatorial African Region will be supplied from our Nairobi plant,” Mr. Trouilhat said. 

 A firm leader with the region’s instant coffee drinkers, Nescafé has continuously performed well since its introduction in Kenya over 40 years ago. 

Head of Nestlé Equatorial African Region Pierre Trouilhat (centre) flanked by Nestlé Kenya Managing Director Cihat Kurt (right) and Business Executive Manager for Coffee and Beverages for Nestlé Equatorial African Region Guenter Spiess at the launch of the new Nescafé 3- in -1. The new Nescafé is a fresh, ready mix of coffee, sugar and creamer, packed in sachets and retailing at an affordable price of Ksh10.Add caption

Cihat Kurt, Nestlé Kenya Managing Director, commented: “As the leading instant coffee brand, we are proud to launch our ready mix variant of Nescafé and we hope our consumers across the region will enjoy the smooth taste of our new product. We have put emphasis on taste, convenience and affordability to ensure that we bring a new coffee drinking culture in the region. Nescafé 3in1 is a drink for anyone and at this attractive pricing we hope that every Kenyan is able to enjoy it.” 

 Nestlé has been promoting the consumption of coffee in the region since the 1950s. Today, Nescafé soluble coffee is indeed becoming a hot beverage of choice for many people. With the new product Nestlé has set up product sampling points at various supermarkets and high population areas across the country.

“Coffee drinking as a culture is getting established in Kenya and in the region. With Nescafé, every cup is the result of the understanding of consumer beverage habits and trends. Our global network of R&D specialists constantly improves taste and aroma delivery and creates new ways to enjoy coffee,” he concluded.

About Nescafé

Nestlé introduced Nescafé, which is 100 per cent pure coffee, in Switzerland, in 1938 for the first time; after almost 7 years of research. Since then innovative, state of the art technologies used in its production have helped to introduce new varieties of the drink. The Nescafé 3-in-1 is a ready mix variant of Nescafé which has been launched in Kenya.

About Nestlé EAR

Nestlé EAR is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nestlé S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland — the world’s largest nutrition, health and Wellness Company— with sales of more than US$100 billion. Nestlé EAR was set up in April 2008 and oversees the Nestlé operations in 20 countries: Kenya, Angola, Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Malawi, RC, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Nokia E72- A User's Experience !

This is not just 'another review', there are quite some outstanding reviews out there on CNET, Techradar ; the manufacturers themselves Nokia and i cant quite match up to that kind of ' techie' details out there.But if you are a normal user just looking for a good phone that can serve some of your everyday business and personal needs then i hope you find my review or rather my personal log/journal of user experience of the Nokia E-72 smart phone useful.Much thanks to the guys at Nokia Kenya and its local PR firm for allowing me to experience this.

Day 1.

 Typically the excitement stage.I get my feel of the features i find impressive and a sale point for the Kenyan market is ;

• a full Qwerty Keyboard and QVGA(320 x480) is a plus for this phone making it great for messaging and internet use.
• the not so usual call and receive button symbol,seems the designers at Nokia wanted to be a cut above the rest from the usual Red/Green call button.
• the scrolling touch pad makes it easier to navigate and zoom in and out on web pages.
• An FM radio with a customized automatic internet FM station search Directory.I know this is a favourite feature mostly for the lady users.
• the Directory button , makes it easy to personalize your diary with a one button access,this is a plus for the Business user.
• For those Kenyans who love phones with torches, the flashlight doubles up for a torch with a dedicated key button
• The Five Megapixel auto focus Camera with flashlight, proves impressive i can take quite some amazing photos indoor,outdoors and in low light situations.For illustrative purposes you can see my son's photos below.

DAY 2.

I test drive its Wi-Fi capabilities and internet access features which are fairly easy to use.The phone boasts of a new 3.5G HSDPA modem that can push up to 10.2Mbps that can prove quite useful if you are heavy on online activities..Although the E-72 is based on the new Nokia Symbian OS 9.3 platform , i found it slightly disappointing that the phone crushed twice while downloading some of my favourites apps(my favourite being Foursquare)  on OVI store.But i bet that was just a hiccup as thereafter i have  not experienced the problem again.

A plus sign for the Wi-Fi is its automatic search facility accessible on the main screen, Once it notifies you of available WLAN's you can use the Connection Manager or the WLAN wizard to access the available connections.

To optimize use of the internet i downloaded the Opera Mini 10, but somehow my Nokia 6300 does access the internet faster.I tried to mobile blog within the Opera Mini browser but the posts were coming out blank without the body an indication of a fault with the App as apparently suing the inbuilt browser i was able to blog successfully.In my opinion , if you buy the phone ( which retails locally at a cost of around Kshs 28,000 at PhoneExpress) with intent to live blog, use the inbuilt browser.

DAY 3

By day 3 i was quite adept with the phone, at least at this point i could customize the mobile webmail application. I synchronized it with my gmail and yahoo account.Had a problem synchronizing it with office Email account but perhaps it due to my lack of sufficient knowledge on the Outlook 2010.If you ahve a Nokia /Ovi account you have the additional option of synchronizing you contacts, notes,calendar ,messages ..etc online. 

At this point and Jucture using the Nokia OVI suite i backed up the phone and contacts.Was also pleasantly surprised at the 16 GB maximum Memory Card capacity of the phone(It comes with a 4GB micro SD card) than can prove quite useful for storing data such as music, photos, videos .It actually comes

DAY 4

 Played around with its entertainment suite. The inbuilt speakers performed well but the manufactures can improve on the headset especially its stereo quality .The phone does not come cluttered with Games but one has the option of downloading the games they prefer online especially from the OVI stores.Unlike the Nokia 6300 media player i was unable to play songs via bluetooth to my Samsung Home theatre. Its funny sometimes how Nokia improve on a product yet leave out some functions in later models that one found useful.I could live with that .The Entertainment suite features a Realplayer , Ovi Music, a Voice Recorder and other interesting items.

Day 5

At this stage , i could no longer consider myself as a novice, the phone felt light on my hands and i could easily access most of the basic functions.The Office feature includes a Calculator, an Intranet, an inbuilt Dictionary, a Compressed files ZIP manager,a Converter and a host of other features that prove useful for a business phone.

VERDICT:

From the usage of the phone i highly recommend it for the smart business professional who knows what he wants in a phone.Having mastered the basics within a week , the phone remains still stylish enough(by the way i prefer the golden look case) and user friendly for the normal everyday user but at the price tag that accompanies it-its more recommendable that if you buy the phone then you should make most use of its capabilities and functions.

Now cant wait to experience the Nokia N8 expected to hit the local market soon!

Mazda USA Giving a 15 Thousand Dollar Car on Foursquare

Social media never ceases to amaze me.It takes a good investor and a keen eye to fully appreciate the immense opportunities that social media has created for businesses. It is true that social media marketing is hardly anything in Kenya at the moment but things are bound to change, atleast the corporate scene has began to morph in the rescent past but i am more immpressed by how foreign Companies such as Mazda are ingeniously utilizing the online socialsphere to pitch their sales and create brand loaylty.

I was particularly more than amazed when i came across this Foursquare (Twitter on geo-location perspective)campaign by Mazda .I am yet to see a Kenyan Blue Chip Company sales manager make good use of the social media scene to effectively brand and sell their products but the rest of the World is not sleeping!The win a Mazda competition has employed the following rules;

The apricipants/prospective winners have to :

1. Follow Mazda on foursquare

2. Check-in at specific locations to unlock any 2 of the following 3 badges: MAZDA2 Beat Junkie (concerts and music spots), MAZDA2 Style Guru (nightlife haunts, boutiques and fashion events) and MAZDA2 Button Masher (gaming competitions and retailers)

3. Once step 2 is complete you will automatically unlock the special MAZDA2 Inner Driver badge and learn the next, important step to easily qualify to win a brand new MAZDA2 So just follow Mazda, check-in at relevant locations to unlock 2 of the 3 badges (MAZDA2 Button Masher, MAZDA2 Beat Junkie, MAZDA2 Style Guru), earn the Inner Driver badge and follow the next step!'











One noticeable point about the campaign is that it will not only recruit fans but keep the fans engaged as they eagerly watch out for periodical tips that may come via Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook. Mazda's give away illustrates what a successful social media marketing plan should entail ...not just informing the masses or getting the most number of fans on Twitter or facebook but actually continuously engaging the fans.(For more effective tips and techniques/consultations you can email the author at the link provided on the blog)