BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO KENYA CERTIFIED TOP EMPLOYER AFRICA 2018

Mrs. Beverley Spencer, BAT Kenya Managing Director receives the trophy for the Top Employer Africa 2018 award.

British American Tobacco Kenya (BAT Kenya) has been awarded the exclusive Top Employers Africa and Kenya 2018 certification in recognition of its dedication to the development of its people.

The dual certification was presented to BAT Kenya by the Top Employers Institute at an award ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Top Employers Institute globally certifies excellence in the conditions that employers create for their people. Their annual international research recognises leading employers around the world, those that provide excellent employee conditions, nurture and develop talent throughout all levels of the organisation, and which strive to continuously optimise employment practices.

This certification is a significant achievement for BAT Kenya and follows the Company being named Kenya’s Overall Employer of the Year for 2017 by the Federation of Kenya Employers earlier this year.

The research undertaken by the Top Employers Institute assessed BAT Kenya’s employee offering on the following criteria: Talent Strategy, Workforce Planning, On-boarding, Learning & Development, Performance Management, Leadership Development, Career & Succession Management, Compensation & Benefits and overall Organisation Culture.

David Plink, CEO at Top Employers Institute: “Our extensive research concluded that British American Tobacco Kenya plc. forms part of a select group of employers that advance employee conditions worldwide. Their people are well taken care of. Now that they have received the Top Employers Africa 2018 certification, they can truly consider themselves at the top of an exclusive group of the world’s best employers.”

Mrs. Beverley Spencer – Obatoyinbo, BAT Kenya’s Managing Director said, “This is a very proud moment for BAT Kenya and the East and Central Africa HR team who work tirelessly to facilitate talent development, building a great cultural environment and therefore leaving a legacy of leaders for our business; a key pillar of BAT’s success. We are delighted to be part of the exclusive and internationally renowned community of Top Employers in Africa.”

International Trademark Association releases Global Report, focuses on Africa

The International Trademark Association (INTA) has launched its Global Report, an annual report that provides updates and resources on trademark law and policy in Africa, Asia-Pacific, China, Europe, India, Latin America, the Middle East and North America.

This year, the Global Report has given special attention to Africa, where heightened innovation, industrialisation and a fast-growing creative industry have sparked interest in intellectual property rights.

“A growing number of trademark owners and professionals in Africa have raised concerns about intellectual property rights. As INTA, we are committed to boosting advocacy in the continent in order to strengthen intellectual property policy,” said Tat-Tienne Louembe, INTA Africa and Middle East Representative.

The association has made notable forays into Africa in the recent past. In June this year, INTA CEO, Etienne Sanz de Acedo, and INTA Africa and Middle East Representative, Tat-Tienne Louembe engaged with partner associations, private sector entities and government officials in Zimbabwe and South Africa. 

INTA also interacted with stakeholders in Cameroon and Nigeria in July. It plans to expand its advocacy activities to other parts of the continent, in line with its commitment to bolster IP protection in Africa.

“With this new report we hope to not only affirm our commitment to Africa, but also provide relevant insights to policymakers, help brand owners in the continent to protect their work and contribute significantly to economic growth.” said Tat-Tienne Louembe, INTA Africa and Middle East Representative.

INTA has 7000+ member organisations that represents some 31,000 trademark professionals, including brand owners from major corporations as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, law firms and nonprofits. There are also government agency members as well as individual professor and student members.

The Global Report, which is available for download on the INTA website, is part of INTA’s effort to encourage economic diversification, innovation and consumer protection through global advocacy. The not-for-profit advocacy association, which has offices in Brussels, Santiago, Shanghai, Singapore and Washington D.C. and representative offices in Geneva and New Delhi, also organizes Annual Meetings to advance IP protection through networking and educational programs. The 140^th Annual meeting will take place in 19-23 May 2018, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington.

KWESÉ TV UNVEILS THE FIRST ‘PAY-AS-YOU-WATCH’ TV BOUQUET IN KENYA

Econet Media has unveiled its satellite bouquet Kwesé TV in Kenya. Arguably amongst the best entertainment and sports bouquets currently in the market, Kwesé TV will be banking on its premium programming and innovative flexible payment model to penetrate the competitive Kenyan market. Kwesé TV is currently available both in urban centres and rural areas throughout the country and includes a free 30 day subscription for new subscribers.

Kenyans will be familiar with Kwesé’s free-to-air sports channel, Kwesé Free Sports which launched here last year. The launch of Kwese TV introduces the full offering to the market, bringing its fantastic entertainment programming to the Kenyan market. Kenyan viewers want a fresh alternative, and can now look forward to exclusive internationally acclaimed and popular channels such as DreamWorks, CNN, DTX, VICELAND and Diddy’s REVOLT as well as first-to-market content and popular televisions shows to cater to every viewing appetite. Kwesé TV’s programming line-up also includes local free-to-air channels such as KTN KBC and NTV, with additional channels to be made available in due course.

Kwesé is truly multi-platform and multi-screen broadcaster which gives subscribers access to the full spectrum of programming on Kwesé TV across multiple platforms including TV and mobile. Its 60+ channels of premium entertainment and sports programming can be accessed on the Kwesé’s satellite set-top-box (decoder) available at all Kwesé branded stores (throughout the county) and online via the Kwesé eStore and Jumia. Customers can find their nearest store by simply sending the word ‘Kwese’ to 40150.

Kwesé’s appeal is not only its world-class content. It has innovated to bring to market Kenya’s first ever “pay as you watch” payment model. This flexible payment option gives subscribers the choice between purchasing 3, 7 and 30 day passes to its full channel bouquet. Never before has such premium content been available for as little as 475 KES*.

“Kenya is an important market for us and we are excited to bring our full offering here. Our multi-platform model ensures that we provide entertainment and sports content anytime and anywhere at no extra cost,” said Kennedy Ojung’a, General Manager for Kwesé TV Kenya.

“As a business premised on making premium content accessible and convenient, we are introducing innovations which we believe are game changers. Our flexible payment option gives viewers a way to structure their TV viewing to suit their lifestyle. In addition to this our ‘always-on’ Kwese Free bouquet means 24/7 access our free-to-air channels whether you have paid your subscription or not. No other service gives viewers this kind of value for money for world class content.” Ojung’a added.

There is programming for the whole family on Kwesé TV, be it drama, reality TV, current affairs, sports and kiddies programming amongst others, Kwesé has it all. It is also home to the continent’s most esteemed sporting codes, such as the NBA, ESPN (both exclusive), Premier League (EPL), Copa Del Rey, Netball Africa and the National Football League. Kwesé also holds rights to some of the world’s largest tournaments including the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    

Kwesé decoders can be purchased at branded shops across the whole country. Our dedicated and skilled installers are on hand to set you up to  experience TV like you’ve never had it before.

To find out how and where you can subscribe to Kwesé TV visit www.kwese.com for more information.

Jambojet and Safaricom partner to promote Lipa na M-PESA service.

Low cost airline Jambojet has announced a joint campaign with Safaricom that will see customers of the budget airline who pay their airfare using the Lipa Na M-PESA service rewarded with discount vouchers and redeemable points.
Dubbed Buy and Fly with Lipa Na M-PESA and Jambojet, the three weeks campaign is aimed at increasing the bookings of the local airline by encouraging customers to book their tickets ahead of the upcoming holiday season. More than 2,000 customers will be rewarded with KSh. 500 air ticket vouchers or 10 minutes of talk time in this promotion.
The airline, which recently clocked over 2,000,000 passengers since inception, will be relying on the popular M-PESA service to drive business, especially to the holiday’s destinations of Mombasa, Diani and Malindi.
Commenting on the partnership, Jambojet CEO Willem Hondius said, “This is part of our strategy to promote air travel in the country. Without a doubt, technology remains key in our service delivery and thus working with an innovative partner like Safaricom opens up more opportunities for the business.
“This partnership provides a platform that will allow us to enhance the world class service delivery to our customer. We are proud to have the support of Safaricom. By working together, we can provide end to end solutions to our customers,” he added.
“The speed and simplicity of Jambojet’s product offering perfectly matches that of Lipa Na M-PESA, which is transforming the way payments are made across a number of industries. We are glad to partner with Jambojet to recognize and reward our customers through this promotion,” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.
Currently, Jambojet operates 73 flights per week to on its domestic routes from Nairobi to Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Malindi and Ukunda (Diani).   It set a regional record earlier on this year by handling over two million customers in less than three years of operation. This number has continued to grow as more Kenyans and foreigners appreciate the benefits of low cost flying.
Last year Jambojet signed a codeshare agreement with Kenya Airways for its flights to Malindi, Ukunda (Diani) and Eldoret. Under the agreement, Kenya Airways is able to sell the Jambojet network to passengers coming from all their destinations across the world. The zero frills airline, which recently acquired a brand new Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 next generation aircraft to complement its existing fleet, has also indicated that they will soon be launching the regional routes.

LGs deep learning technology to tailor the future of smart home

A couple of years back, has seen tech companies battling it out to control mobile phone technology advancement.  Today, the ground has shifted and is all about the battle of smart ecosystems to win control of our homes. That’s because the mythical “smart home” of the future is actually close to being a reality now thanks to major advances in what’s known as Internet of Things technology.

Today consumers expect artificial intelligence capabilities for their appliances, embracing technology that allows them to access status, trouble shooting, and maintenance data. The increasing availability of deep learning allows smart home to be user centric, increasing the appeal of full Internet of things integration.

With the projection of approximately 30 million households expected to adopt smart home technology in the next year, with connected cameras, video door bells, connected light bulbs, and smart locks acting as promising avenues for expansion, what the future holds is very exciting; IOT has the potential to change everything in a rather meaningful and convenient way that we can all benefit from.

Already, companies are aligning their businesses in preparation for this exciting future of smart Ecosystems.  LG Electronics made a foray into IOT with the roll-out of home appliances that embrace deep learning, one of the technologies shaping the future of IOT.  LG Deep Learning allows home appliances to better understand its users using smart features such as real-time sensors and Wi-Fi connectivity. Deep Learning picks up on the user’s lifestyle patterns and stores them in the cloud. After analyzing this data, it self-evolves to provide consumers with solutions that continuously improve their daily lives.

“Our focus for Smart home technology is to offer future platform that provide complex decision making solutions while increasing device capabilities that take on responsibilities and important tasks that comprise our daily lives.” Said LG East Africa Marketing Manager, Moses Marji.

In setting the stage, LG has demonstrated their capabilities through select devices including a robot cleaner, an intuitive which recognizes objects around the room and reacts differently depending on what they are. By capturing surface images of the room, the intelligent cleaner remembers obstacles and later learns to avoid them. In addition, The Home- Bot vacuum cleaner features home view for real-time monitoring and home guard which automatically sends photos whenever movement is detected as a home security measure.

Also, the Smart air conditioner by LG analyse the daily behavior patterns of its users including which area of the house they are most likely to relax in and the area where users doesn’t go often. With this information, the air conditioner is intuitively able to make these important areas around the home cool and comfortable by providing fast cooling to specific areas.

LGs Smart refrigerator further performs a variety of convenience-enhancing actions by recognizing the ins and outs of its user’s day-to-day routines. Among other technological advancement, LG has already demonstrated future proof to offer home owners smart solutions tailor-made for the demands of modern smart ecosystems.

LG puts the focus on phone screen to bezel ratio with its latest flagship phones

The latest generation of smartphones are increasingly viewed as handheld computers rather than as phones, due to their powerful on-board computing capability, capacious memories, large screens, open operating systems and enhanced connectivity that encourage application development.

The rise in smartphone adoption has led to increased content consumption; which has further led to the increase in business usage of phones and content creation for business purposes.

Business users are relying on their mobile handsets to not only provide them with all the latest information while on the move, but also use them as platforms to develop content without having to use laptops or tablets.

The past few years have seen a shift take place from having content sent to a business user through a computer (market reports, emails, news, and meeting requests) to being able to use mobile productivity applications to create presentations, spreadsheets, or other business content while travelling.

For this to be really effective and usable, one cannot expect a business user to work on a four-inch screen and still be able to function at full capacity. Ideally, these users need a device with a larger screen that gives them enough viewing room and display real estate to be precise in their interactions.

Phone manufacturers have long been shaving down these edges to offer frame-less designs. In the quest to give users bigger and better screens without creating huge phones, manufacturers have the bezel firmly in their sights. 

Talk of a bezel-less phone has been swirling in recent months and the screen-to-body ratio has been steadily climbing in many of the top new releases. The bezel-less look is distinctly futuristic and despite some compromises, we are slowly moving towards it.

LG kicked off the widescreen trend, creating a 5.7-inch screen with an unusual 18:9 aspect ratio. Alongside the shrinking bezels, LG flagship phones have packed in more screen space without making phones too big to comfortably handle.

“The smartphone is no longer just for making calls and sending text messages. It has evolved into a life companion capable of making just about every aspect of our lives more convenient, and screen size plays a big part in this. It also allows us to share every moment of life in a more creative way,” said LG East Africa Marketing Manager, Moses Marji.

In a few years, mobile technology will become more capable with an array of features; thanks to computing advancements, cloud computing and network infrastructure. Futuristic features like virtual reality will no longer be for video games and comics, but for the mass market.    

A BETTER TOMORROW MADE POSSIBLE WITH LG

With the emergence of new and better companies as compared to the ones yesterday, it has become a constant battlefield of who can come up with either innovative, remarkable technology or eco-friendly products which has led to an improvement of our daily lives.

Other than improving the quality of products or services companies provide to consumers, companies have taken into consideration the environmental reputations they have to uphold in determining consumer appeal.  Green competition is changing the way companies approach corporate sustainability and environmentalism.

Corporates have discovered that each step they take to reduce energy consumption also strengthen their environmental credentials which lead to burnishing their image while decreasing costs. Renewables were considered prohibitively expensive, more and more corporates are making 
t

hese alternative energy sources more accessible than ever.

Such eco-friendly motives also trickle down to how brand awareness is reflected to consumers as corporates nowadays tend to create adverts that appeal to the consumer and promote a worthy cause(environmental related) instead of its own products. Such motives not only improve brand awareness but also penetrate at a deeper level to employees, families and beyond.  

As business step up their eco-friendly businesses, one key pillar to support this is CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) which is a  business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders. Such efforts aim to improve the society in some way. These efforts can range from donating money to nonprofits to implementing environmentally-friendly policies in the workplace.

At LG Electronics, they are not only committed to offering the most user-efficient products but also improve the wellbeing of its consumers and the shared environment. Its CSR framework system is tailor-made to accommodate shifting consumer needs. Each market has its own unique niche, so catering to specific demands proves beneficial to all parties as tailored approaches are proven to result in increased user satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Here in Kenya, LG has taken an initiative to support local hospitals that cater pediatric needs to those who have lost replaceable parts of the body with prosthetics. This CSR initiative with Kikuyu Hospital has been running for over 10 years and has helped many Kenyans have a ‘second – chance’ at life.

Speaking during the official handover for this year’s partnership, General Marketing Manager, LG Electronics East Africa. Moses Marji said, “We at LG are dedicated to supporting orthopedic patients who require funds that will be used to equip the unit with prosthetics, pay bills for needy patients as well as create awareness on the plight of persons with physical impairments”