1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]
2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]
3. Describe the real world challenge that you are trying to solve for African media [50 words]
4. How and why will your solution work? [100 words]
5. Who is working on it? [100 words]
6. What part of the project have you already built? [100 words]
7. How would you sustain the project after the funding expires? [50 words]
Requested amount from ANIC:
Expected amount of time required to complete project:
Total Project Cost:
Name:Albert Leny Otieno
Twitter:@Alberto Leny
Organization:CMedia
Country:Kenya
To the African News Innovation Challenge
Submitted by Albert Leny Otieno
1. What do you propose to do? [20 words]
Apply multi-media applications, principles of journalism to champion justice, human rights, integrity, dignity and socio-economic growth in Kenya and Africa
2. Is anyone doing something like this now and how is your project different? [30 words]
Some media houses are already doing this kind of activity. CMedia will differently respond to cater for wide, specific interests of a market, target audiences inadequately served by existing organizations.
3. Describe the real world challenge that you are trying to solve for African media [50 words]
To position CMedia as a leading independent forum and point of reference for political news and analysis with emphasis on governance, the reform agenda, constitutional affairs, agriculture, business, finance, the law, society and the rights of citizens under democratic institutions, areas not adequately covered by the existing media houses.
4. How and why will your solution work? [100 words]
CMEDIA seeks to explore the platforms, standards and practices replacing legacy public media, applying the traditional code of ethics with an expanded vision and engaged publics at its core. We are propagating a paradigm shift in coverage of news affecting the under-priviliged and the marginalized in Africa through a fresh and pro-active application of modern multi-media tools that directly engages with the key audiences at the grassroots level. We intend to build new models on the cutting edge of new technologies and innovative business processes offering superior solutions to customer needs with well-differentiated products/services as a newcomer with a well-researched out programme.
5. Who is working on it? [100 words]
A formidable team of experienced professionals with impressive track records in the Kenyan print and broadcast media (see attached bios) has been assembled to spearhead the initiation and growth of the proposed The Kenya Connector weekly newspaper, an online edition, social media and mobile phone communications to key audiences, notably the youth, women and the marginalized in society.
6. What part of the project have you already built? [100 words]
CMedia is in the process of registration to fulfil all the legal requirements and has set up the basic media house structures. We have formed a team of professional journalists and networks with collective vast knowledge of the Kenyan media scene and hands-on experience with established media houses. This core group of professional journalists are ready to immediately embark on the mission of providing the most vibrant and independent application of their latent abilities skills and talents to fill a glaring gap in the market. We have also linked up in partnerships with various organizations, government and civil society.
7. How would you sustain the project after the funding expires? [50 words]
CMedia seeks financial capital in the form of a grant from African News Innovation Challenge to boost the input from the initiators of this proposal, who are determined to ensure that it effectively enters the market and sustain itself as a quality product and a notable feature in the Kenyan and African media scene.
Requested amount from ANIC:$100,000
Expected amount of time required to complete project: 12 months
Total Project Cost: $350,000
[email protected]
Organization: Proposed Centre for Media and Democracy in Africa (CMedia)
Country: Kenya
The proposed Centre for Media and Democracy in Africa (CMedia) is an independent organization established to apply communication and information in promoting the growth of democracy, good governance, justice, human rights and socio-economic development in Kenya and Africa. The media landscape is one of the most important growth sectors, informing, educating and providing informed opinion on issues that affect the public, leadership and national priorities in the social, economic and political segments.
CMedia seeks to explore the platforms, standards and practices replacing legacy public media, while applying the traditional code of ethics and modus operandi that places an expanded vision and an engaged publics at its core.
The management team has multi-faceted skills and experience in producing informative current affairs and issue-centred content through comprehensive services and communications materials for the print and broadcast media - newspaper, magazine and online publishing, film, television, radio productions, social media, general and outdoor advertising. The impending launch of CMEDIA is intended to boost the development of journalism and the growth of democracy in Kenya and the region with a clear, concise voice highlighting issues of concern to humanity.
CMedia will uphold, adopt and apply professional communication tools and media principles to champion the tenets of the Constitution to help Kenyans attain integrity, dignity and prosperity, enhance respect for the environment, while meeting public and private sector expectations. A key component of CMedia’s communication strategy is devoted to providing civic education on the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, in partnership with all the key stakeholders, especially in the representation of the people in the prelude to the next General Election. It will elaborate and simplifying key aspects of the devolved system of government - Counties - and how they will relate with the Senate, Parliament, the National Assembly, the Cabinet and the Executive at this crucial moment in Kenya’s history
Systematic dissemination of information and civic education to the public through various multi-media channels will be implemented to champion the rights of the minorities and the marginalized through undivided attention to the needs, rights and fundamental freedoms of women and children, the youth and persons with disabilities.
Strategic and tactical media and public relations campaigns will generate the expected results by promoting products and services to resonate with key target audiences, the public in general and all stakeholders.
The strategy, programmes and action plans will be carried out in pre-determined phases, constantly reviewing and assessing their effectiveness during the implementation period and enable the incorporation of lessons learned into the decision making process.
This proposal has been designed as a user-friendly roadmap to assist in the commissioning process, outcome evaluations and the development of effective and efficient programme management guidelines.
PARTNERSHIP FOR AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
CMedia will firmly engage with partners and stakeholders in a transparent and accountable relationship, where the results chain, resources (inputs) will be jointly processed into deliverable services (outputs) for knowledge dissemination in integrated, multi-faceted media channels.
They are expected to result in target audience perception levels change, improvements in access to and utilisation of services (outcomes), which, in turn, should eventually produce changes in the socio-demographic and entrepreneurship profile (impact) for the following categories of expected deliverables:
-Coordination and sustainable placement of media placements (print, electronic, social), survey response and publication distribution on the national and global stage.
-Enhancing communications with current and potential audiences via multi-channel publicity through the provision of timely, sustained and comprehensive information to all stakeholders and constituencies.
-Spearhead community service to demonstrate value of CMedia policies and programmes to local, regional and global audiences.
CHAMPIONING PRINT, BROADCAST ONLINE MEDIA SYNERGY
As a core function, CMedia will apply multi-channel media capacities and capabilities to create, generate, harmonize, produce, optimize and deliver communications through print, broadcast, digital, paper and interpersonal channels. The 48-page Kenya Connector will be the flagship product of CMedia, published on quality newsprint under modern graphics reproduction processes with high standards of editorial content and presentation, designed as a premier publication for the East and Central African market.
The prime section will cover general news, features, politics, economics, culture and environment. Each of these topics will include special well-researched, in-depth articles on specific subjects or issues featuring business, finance, environment, agriculture, technology, consumer news, crime, justice, security, human rights, social services, gender, health and medicine.
Together with these special reports, the weekly newspaper will also extensively cover County news, international and regional issues from a critical perspective. There will also be news briefs, commentaries and a readers' forum for inter-active exchange and communicative bonds.
A pullout/magazine section will dedicated to Sports and Entertainment with regular updates on international, regional and local activities. The Kenya Connector will have a website and an active online edition will be maintained for readers who wish to follow the publication digitally and in the Diaspora and to also encourage blogs.
CMedia will play a role in film production, help local television curb foreign content by promoting local content development for all channels, based on clients’ needs, working closely with script writers and other creative personnel.
The estimated cost for the overall Print, Online, and Broadcast Communications Strategy implementation is broken down into annual three-year projection periods to reflect all activities and their costs as specified in the Strategic and Business Plan, which is available on request.
CMedia fully appreciates that the digital revolution has given birth to new target audiences that are always connected and better informed. They have higher expectations with a world of choice to fulfill them and are therefore hard to retain and even more difficult to acquire.
With an explosion of social media sites, blogs, wikis and video sharing, they can easily create and share information all over the world. They are more demanding. In the digital age, they have a world of choice and can be extremely selective as to whom they engage with, making their business hard to get and their loyalty easy to distract.
Engaging this new profile audience is the biggest opportunity for CMEDIA to become attractive, relevant and remain successful. We seek to jointly develop a solution to engage this audience with relevant communications, delivered at the right time, through their preferred channel - with the most effective way to build cost-effective, mutually beneficial, impactful relationships.
CMEDIA intends to deliver an integrated communications strategy across multiple channels toincrease engagement at every touch point. Success of every communication starts with true target audience insight -unlocking the true value of available data to enable the understanding of their motivators.
This is the approach CMEDIA will adopt with engaged partners through consistent messages, accurate data and brand management - a platform where communications are designed and efficiently managed in diverse environments in a structured, interactive and on-demand system.
THE VISION AND THE PEOPLE
Business Rationale and Justification
The Centre for Media and Democracy in Africa (CMEDIA) is being established out of a need to cater for the wide and specific interests of a market and target audience inadequately and ineffectively served by existing organizations.
Prospects for the viability of the project has been ascertained and the relevant human resource capital mobilized in a strategic plan that targets the increasing opportunities for print and broadcast media circulation/viewership/online audiences and advertising revenues within Kenya, the East and Central Africa region and globally that can sustain growth after the initial capitalization of the startup project.
It is a people-oriented media house whose calling has been spurred by public appeal and acceptance to create a strong brand image/corporate identity and a loyal base of receptive consumers. The impetus will pursue a strategic plan that entails maximum utilization of human capital, professional attributes and technical proficiency to generate quality products and services in the fast growing national and regional media industry.
The management is firmly dedicated and committed to nurturing the project under the highest standards of quality and efficiency possible to satisfy market and consumer demands according to best practices, professional ethics and a competitive spirit as envisioned by the African News Innovation Challenge.
CMediahas embraced and intends to steadfastly apply the ethics of journalism to generate public appeal. The newspaper will be independent, critical, diverse and reader-friendly
Editorial Management Biographies
A formidable team of experienced professionals with impressive track records in the Kenyan print and broadcast media (see attached bios) has been assembled to spearhead the initiation and growth of the proposed The Kenya Connector weekly newspaper, an online edition, social media and mobile phone communications to key audiences, notably the youth, women and the marginalized in society.
With their collective vast knowledge of the Kenyan media scene and hands-on experience with established media houses, this core group of professional journalists have pledged to provide the most vibrant and independent application of their latent abilities skills and talents to fill a glaring gap in the market.
They intend to position The Kenya Connector as the region’s leading independent forum and point of reference for political news and analysis with particular emphasis on governance, the national reform agenda, constitutional affairs, business and finance, the law, society and the rights of the citizenry under democratic institutions, areas not adequately covered by the existing media houses.
The Kenya Connector will delve deeply into and highlight the issues pertaining to the environment, especially conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, poverty reduction, food security, gender and youth issues, technology, particularly Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which continue to prominently occupy the politico-economic-social landscape.
It will also be championing sports and entertainment coverage to tap into an increasingly expanding and robust industry. The editorial team will be backed in efforts to attain these goals by experts, consultants and professionals in various fields to give the publication the authoritative edge required to meet editorial, circulation and advertising demands to ensure its success in the mass market
A notable Kenyan journalist with 25 years experience in the profession, Albert Leny Otieno graduated from the University of Nairobi in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Political Science, Public Administration and History and attained a post-graduate Diploma in Mass Communications from the School of Journalism, University of Nairobi in 1984.
He is currently Consulting Editor with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Dr Kofi Annan. He is the Editor-designate of The Kenya Connector weekly newspaper. Leny has extensive media experience and a reputable track record in news management, editing and application of multi-media communication tools in quality control.
He was between 1995 and 2005 involved in direct daily coordination of editorial production processes to pre-press levels, liaising with advertising, circulation and broadcasting divisions for the Standard Media Group. As part of senior management, he was involved in formulating and executing organization policy.
Leny has been exposed to the grassroots, professionals, corporates and experts in various fields, gaining valuable insights on dissemination of information on development issues, politics, society, the environment, health, education, human rights, justice and poverty eradication. He maintains vital contacts in Africa, the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
He has professional links with various public and private organizations, the business sector, social movements, governments and policy makers in national, regional and international organizations. He has been a regional communications consultant with global charity organization, ActionAid International, in the advocacy of effective communication strategies.
He was the founding managing editor of the weekly newspaper, The Sunday Express, and edited the special issues of The Sudan Mirror on the Referendum and Independence of the world’s youngest republic, South Sudan. Leny has been engaged in a campaign to highlight the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for socio-economic development as a consultant editor for telecoms magazine, a leading journal for the communications industry in East and Central Africa. He is also a writer on the environment.
Joel Musundi is a seasoned media content producer with more than 15 years of major market experience in Television as producer, writer, director and manager of broadcast network operations. He is competent at coordinating all elements of production in the face of deadline pressure and budgetary constraints. He has spent most of his time in public and commercial broadcasting.
Over the years, he has created and produced some landmark television series such as The Summit, Business Minds and the first Presidential Debate in Kenya, televised just before the 1997 General Election.
Joel is a Fellow of the One World Television Trust, London, a programme sponsored by the ‘Elizabeth R’ Foundation. He also has valuable contacts with several UK broadcasters.
BIO/Douglas Agumbi Okwatch
A Master of Arts (MA) degree holder in International Relations from the University of Nairobi, Douglas Okwatch is a BA degree in Psychology graduate from the University of Nairobi and a Fellowship in Journalism from Oxford University, UK. He has an Editorial Leadership certificate in HIV/Aids Reporting from the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication and a certificate from the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU).
He is currently host of the Africa Talk show on the newly launched CCTV after a stint as Special Project Editor with the People Newspaper. Until July 31, 2008 Okwatch was Associate Editor, News, at the Standard Media Group, coordinating all news gathering processes, chairing daily editorial conferences and leading discussions on newspaper reviews. He performed administrative and editorial supervisory duties including deployment of reporters and performance management.
From 2005 to 2006 Okwatch was the news editor with the Standard Media Group Between 1999 to 2006 he was investigative editor (The Big Issue) and news editor of The Standard. He is also involved in media development, is a trustee of the Kenya Editors’ Guild.
A seasoned journalist with a distinguished career that spans over 20 years, Onyango Omolo has won various professional awards and attended professional training locally and abroad.
In 1985 he won the Kenya Journalist of The Year Award (Sports). A long-time editor and writer with the Kenya Times, he was awarded the 1991 British Metropolitan Police (New Scotland Yard) Merit Award – Outstanding Reporter – Investigations into the murder of Kenya’s former Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Robert Ouko.
He attended the 1990 Diploma in Journalism (Development Course) co-organized by School of Journalism (University of Nairobi) and Graduate School of Journalism – University of Western Ontario.
In 2003 he was named among top editors from across the world for the International Journalism Exchange (IJE) in USA where he was awarded the Advanced International Journalism (Editor’s) Certificate by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in Washington DC, USA.
Onyango Omolo has also attended various professional courses including the Sports Journalism Certificate Course organized by Reuters Foundation in Cairo, Egypt in 2009.
His professional exposure included a three-month internship at South Bend Tribune, Indiana, USA and training stints at the New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune in the USA.
He is an accomplished all-round sports writer who has specialized in golf, where he enjoys a very close relationship with the players, clubs and the corporate fraternity who patronize the game on the Kenyan scene.
He was among a select group of top African journalists who were invited to attend and provide coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
An environment and science journalist of repute writing for local and international media, Ochieng' Ogodo's articles have been published in Africa, the UK and the US.
An accomplished feature writer with The Standard, he has also been a staff writer for Biosafety News, a Nairobi-based science, biotechnology, health, environment and agriculture magazine and The Sunday Express weekly newspaper.
He writes for Science and Development Network (SCIDEV) of UK, Islamonline, Egypt, and is a senior staff writer, Doctor News, East Africa and has made contributions to The Guardian (UK)], New Agriculturalist (UK), Transport International (UK) and WeNews (US).
He has attended various international meetings, including the recent UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark, the World Conference of Science Journalists in Melbourne, Australia where he presented a paper on Climate Change Reporting: The Developing World Perspective.
Ogodo also attended the US Grains Council for the Tenth Biotech Harvest Media Tour and the Land Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) Open Science Congress in Egmond aan Nzee, Netherlands and presented a paper on the media and environmental protection.
He won the Panos London Fellowship to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba, Brazil, 2006, and another Panos London Fellowship to the United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi, 2006.
He is the winner of the coveted English-speaking Africa and Middle East region IUCN/Reuters 2008 Excellence Environmental Reporting Award presented to him in Spain on October 7, 2008. He has attended the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) environmental reporting training course and the Reuters Foundation course on environmental news writing.
Samuel Rambaya is an award-winning Kenyan journalist, author and media consultant with working experience in Africa, Europe, Asia and America. He established his professional foundation as a feature writer with The Standard, specializing in various subjects and has accumulated a working experience of more than 10 years.
Samuel Rambaya has attended advanced training courses in communication in Kenya, the United Kingdom, Sudan, South Africa, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Somalia.
His special interests include media publicity management, speech writing, preparing press statements and press releases and media damage control.
His published works have been syndicated in the worldwide web and cited in authoritative online and print media and academic publications, including the US Poynter Institute’s Poynter Online, The World Press Review and Christianity Today, IPP Media of Tanzania, The Standard, Expression Today and Media Review of Kenya.
He holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in International Journalism from Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom and has conducted research and published articles on religion, politics, the American media and Kenya’s contemporary history.
A skilled graphic artist with an experience spanning over 15 years, Eric Nyachon is a creative designer who has been engaged in the production of many newspapers, magazines, special reports, promotional items and various publications.
He was a key member of The Standard pre-press department as a graphic designer for the newspapers news, features, sports, business and magazines sections, establishing himself as conscientious worker who proved his unique skills and abilities in constantly meeting strict production deadlines.
He has been the sole graphic designer for the pilot issues of The Kenya Connector and his contribution to the successful take-off of the publication is crucial. Nyachon is expected to play a key role in the development of the creative arm of Connection Media and his experience will prove invaluable in this regard.
A distinguished reporter and investigative journalist, Deo Omondi has written some notable news reports and articles during his more than 15 years of experience in the profession in Kenya. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Nyegezi College of Mass Communications in Mwanza, Tanzania.
Omondi has worked as an investigative reporter for The Standard where he established himself as a consistent, all-round journalist capable of producing well-researched articles touching on various aspects of politics, society and economics.
He is well-conversant with agricultural issues and is regarded as a seasoned analyst of Kenya’s coffee sector, having worked for one of the leading institutions involved in the production and marketing of the key cash crop.
Deo is a notable figure among the local media fraternity, acclaimed for the only in-depth column covering the industry in the region, Media Scan. He is the founding news editor of The Sunday Express, from where he has continued to pen some exclusive stories and religiously maintained the noted Media Scan column.
A thespian during his spare time, Omondi is well acquainted with the local theatre, film and entertainment scene where he has a wealth of valuable contacts.
A Kenya-born and Canada-educated literary lyricist, Onyango Oloo is one of the most incisive and outspoken social and political commentators in Kenya today. A social and human rights activist, Oloo is well-connected with local and international activists and lobby groups championing democracy, justice and human rights. He is the coordinator for the Sankara Movement for Social Justice.
As the National Coordinator for the Local organizing Committee, Oloo was instrumental in the successful hosting of the World Social Congress in Nairobi, Kenya in July 2006.
Apart from being a social justice activist; Onyango Oloo is also a consultant on capacity building, community development, democracy and socio-economic issues. He is also a poet, a blogger and political commentator.
He has been the political editor for The Sunday Express where he established himself as a sharp, incisive and witty writer whose articles drew great interest from readers upon who his bold and articulate column has created a major impact and generated tremendous appeal and exciting responses.
Editorial Advisory Consultants
Referred to as the “guru” of Kenyan journalism, Ochieng is undoubtedly one of the finest editors the country has ever produced and needs no introduction to those who have followed his career from the time he left Kenya during the Tom Mboya/JFK Kennedy “Airlifts' to the US, where he studied and briefly worked in San Francisco before joining retired Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa at the Daily News in Tanzania. Ochieng has been Chief Editor of the Daily Nation and Kenya Times. Among those who have gone through his rigorous tutelage and training regimen are Nation Media Group Editorial Director Joe Odindo, Wangethi Mwangi (former Nation Media Group Editorial Director), Bernard Nderitu, Tom Mshindi, Alberto Leny', Mutuma Mathiu, Kwendo Opanga, Chris Odwesso, Pamela Sittoni, Catherine Gicheru and Kwamchetsi Makokha. Ochieng is an acclaimed columnist for the Nation and The East African of long-standing reputation and his writing and editorial production skills continue to inspire his professional offspring and readers.
A fellow of the prestigious John Knight Fellowship at the Stanford University in California, USA, Mitch Odero is one of the most respected journalists in the Kenyan media industry. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of The Standard newspaper and has been a key figure in the local and continental media and communications sector. During his tenure at the newspaper, he established a reputation for his resoluteness in covering many sensitive stories and for the highly professional manner in which he run the editorial department. Mitch has also served as the chairman of the Media Council of Kenya and is currently one of Africa’s most sought after consultants on communications and media affairs.
This is by no means the final line-up for the proposed multi-media component of the Centre for Media and Democracy in Africa but the core team in its formative stages. A discerning and elaborative recruitment exercise of renowned journalists and media practitioners will be undertaken to provide a wider national, regional and international professional and demographic profile of the establishment and to sustain the generated momentum.
The Digital World: E-Commerce:
The Internet is an integral part of CMedia’s principle of operations and business rationale, owing to the growing significance of Information Technologies in the world of media and communications, helping them more effectively manage risk and improve their operational performance.
In a connected world where both consumers and business expect content anywhere and in any format, Connection Media management will adapt to the challenge of adopting an and managing new business while also maintaining existing revenue streams.
As we learn to adapt to the new converging realm of content, communications and technology, improving revenue and managing risk are key issues facing executives, who have to develop new partnerships to provide seamless digital solutions to their customers.
CMedia is committed to being a valued partner to clients and consumers in order to meet the demands of the connected world by finding innovative ways to optimize margin and increase profits on digital media.
The management will pay keen attention to content management, content/IP protection and revenue assurance as it creates, operates and maintains its e-commerce activities.
We shall also actively support the development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Africa and the global community by seeking to create and enhance partnerships and collaborations with governments, companies and communities to realize positive change in the ICT sector.
CMedia will fully support initiatives to help build an Information Society and cooperate with other stakeholders in engagements that promote the use of ICTs in education, media and development as well as the reduction of poverty through programmes like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
We will also seek close partnerships with institutions and organizations to develop frameworks and tools to promote and facilitate the development and dissemination of digital content through our print, broadcast and online editions.
Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy
Being a mass circulating publication, The Kenya Connector is targeting a cross-section of an educated adult and young readership population. The local and regional market is wide and diverse, hence the management’s deliberate decision to champion a robust and aggressive policy to attract a holistic circulation and readership base combined with a constant drive for targeted advertising revenues from the corporate world and other salient institutions in this extensive market.
To cater for a growing an increasingly important younger segment of readers, a special section in The Kenya Connector will aim at reaching out to children and the youth below that age group and other special interest groups, minorities and the marginalized, who may not have been adequately catered for by the existing media houses.
The main avenue for reaching out to this target audience will be a magazine pullout that will focus on educational matters, entertainment and the multi-media industry which has continued to attract this youthful segment of the readership population.
Women and gender issues will occupy a prominent place and amount of space in the pages of The Kenya Connector owing to the ever-increasing recognition of the role of women and girls in society, business, governance and poverty reduction.
In arriving at the decision to focus on this wide, mass circulation audience, CMedia management have conducted feasibility studies, market tests and surveys, customer research to develop a healthy, growing and stable industry in order to develop and grow its business within an enabling environment.
These studies have been aimed at ensuring a sustained and capable level of the management of the company’s activities and business development programme by attaining a clear understanding of the market, its opportunities, challenges and intricacies.
The rationale of this constant market analysis is designed specifically to maintain a consistent business focus while developing strategies on handling adversities, executing able financial control while taking advantage of modern business standards and techniques, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as well as enhancing the organization’s capacity to conduct business Online.
As part of the overall marketing strategy, this business model will be periodically tested and refined within the SWOT principle to refine management operations and the company’s commercial and financial activities while maintaining its corporate social responsibilities.
Useful insight has been obtained from the research studies, market surveys and the direct feedback and responses to the proposed project. The information derived from these avenues form part of the key business ideals regarding readership, circulation, advertising and other market factors that the board of directors and management is aspiring to achieve.
From these salient demands which are a central part of its overall marketing, distribution and sales strategy to satisfy clients and retain customers, CMedia is espousing the ABC model that espouses the business principle customers based on economic incomes in the market – up market, upper middle and upper lower segments.
Under this scenario The Kenya Connector will in addition to the large corporates and organizations, manufacturers and other commercial enterprises and institutions target the vital marketing areas in Leisure reading targeting entertainment, housewives, shoppers, healthy living, young families, the money markets, properties and real estate, auctioneers, small shops and the informal sector to secure normal advertising and classified ads. In pursuing this approach, the overall aim of this marketing strategy in the Business Plan is to strive to attain profitable satisfaction of customer needs in a high-growth, moderately competitive market. Our marketing strategy considers our portfolio of products and takes into account the anticipated moves of the competitors in the market.
The key element of our business strategy is the surprise introduction of a quality product targeting a niche market based on the prevailing goodwill, consumer reception as well as the high morale of management and products team. We consider The Kenya Connector and its affiliates a product with a good performance which seeks to gain market share by sacrificing short-term profits by leveraging our unique abilities.
The have also prepared defensive strategies to counter potential threats before they arrive, since we are aware of the competitors’ strengths and abilities. We have attained these vital business inputs through diagnostic/opportunity analysis, consumer/distribution studies, semantic/dimensional scaling, intelligence studies, projections and conjoint analysis.
Ultimately we have also taken into account the new product diffusion curve that addresses factors that influence then rate of adoption by the different types of consumers. Notable features and key lessons derived from these studies and analysis have provided critical strategic business information on supply focusing on raw material advantages, better experience to provide a cost advantage and channel pre-emption. They have also provided useful insight into the factors of demand, especially the advantage of familiarity and loyalty, the chance to set a standard and then choice of perpetual position.
Advertising and Promotion
The CMedia Limited management team have initiated and continue to carry out a pre-launch exercise including editorial planning and the execution of relevant marketing strategies and procedures. Advertising will be solicited from agencies and through the normal channels by the company’s marketing wing. Before the formal launch, a publicly blitz will be carried out by way of billboards, posters, fliers, advertising in the print and electronic media, and through other mediums.
Once launched, the newspaper is expected to generate its own funds through circulation and advertising. Professional quality in news gathering, content development, dissemination and packaging shall be strictly adhered to at all times.
The Kenya Connector intends to rapidly endear itself to a loyal consumer market and readership while establishing close and cordial relations with media buyers, advertising agencies, government, international agencies, NGOs and the corporate world to guarantee its market and financial sustainability. We shall also strive to understand how best to leverage online tools to build a community within our products by recognizing that engagement and interaction as the foundations of social marketing. This will help break down the faceless business-to-consumer sales flow and make our company and its products/services appear friendlier.
In that respect we intend to integrate offline and online advertising to act as a social proof, inviting customers to see our products/services and increase trust in our business. The board and management are optimistic that together with the conventional approach already adopted, these additional tools will drive sales, propagate marketing and enhance our brand and corporate image.
We intend to build new business models; we want to be on the cutting edge of new technologies and innovative business processes. We seek to offer superior solutions to customer needs with well-differentiated products/services. Through creative imitation we as a newcomer with a well-researched out programme, intend to perform an “entrepreneurial judo’ to catapult ourselves into a position of leadership against established, entrenched companies and media houses.
In conclusion, CMedia wants to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage through Competencies and Capabilities, Customer Focus, Dynamic Strategy, Innovation and Effective Organization and Processes to achieve the ultimate goal of being a market leader in the media industry and communications sector.
Growth Programme and Financing Strategy
Being a startup business, CMedia faces financial capital limitations despite the initial input and financing sources to ensure that it effectively enters the market as a quality product that quickly becomes a notable feature in the Kenyan media scene.
From the pilot operations conducted so far in editorial production, the available human resource capacity, vigorous, though low-key marketing strategies, the prospects for growth are quite encouraging and the potential for commercial success remains extremely positive.
With a robust infrastructure put in place and a fresh capital infusion, CMedia is poised to break even and become a profitable venture within the first year of its operations. That is why there is an urgent need for investment into the business, especially in its technical and content capacity, HR, marketing and distribution to catapult it into the next stage of development and growth.
New investment, will spur the growth of the business during these promising times of social and economic optimism for Kenya and the East and Central African region.
A fresh capital infusion will also allow the board of directors and management of CMedia to ensure the sustained profitability of the business by initiating an incentive compensation plan for staff and managers, benefits package and policies, while also addressing the attendant economics of scale.
Capital infusion will allow the management to ensure the sustained profitability of the business by initiating an incentive compensation plan for staff and managers, benefits package and policies, while also addressing the attendant economics of scale.
