Marketing & Media Africa

Businesses boosting the economy - 8 Feb 2016

[Leigh Andrews] With blogging proving hugely popular in the country at the moment, Nkem Ndem V offers five tips to write an SEO-friendly blog post for Nigerians. She touches on the importance of keywords, links for reference and a comment box, to make your content shareable. Expanding on the context of shareable content, Facebook is helping SMEs in West Africa to better connect with their customers through a roundtable discussion set to support entrepreneurship. read more

Get ready for #DesignMonth! - 1 Feb 2016

[Leigh Andrews] With Design Indaba just a few weeks away, February is Design Month on Bizcommunity. Look forward to exclusive design-centric interviews and thought leadership throughout the month, sure to expand your business-design thinking, and don't forget to join the conversation by using the hashtag #DesignMonth when you tweet us! Fittingly, Nkem Ndem V offers three reasons Nigerian fashion is taking over the world due to high exposure on social media thanks to stars like Rihanna and Beyonce wearing stunning examples that create global interest. Trending on the continent, Grey Africa has appointed Fran Luckin as its chief creative officer. read more

2016’s m-business forecast - 25 Jan 2016

[Leigh Andrews] Ngugi Mungai explains why Kenyan SMEs must tap the potential of mobile phones, especially with the mobile market in the country maintaining an upward trend year-on-year. Qwilt, offering an open cache solution, and three6five, the IP networking service integrator, have embraced the m-business trend by announcing technology partnership to improve over-the-top (OTT) streaming video strategies for service providers in Africa. This signals further room for mobile growth as the availability of new streaming services in Africa means that in order to remain competitive, network operators must redesign their network architecture to better support streaming video. Still on the topic of mobile in Africa, MTN denies any wrongdoing in Cameroon after being indexed in a recent report of the Cameroon National Anti-Corruption Commission. read more

Welcome to [BizTrends 2016!] - 18 Jan 2016

[Leigh Andrews] This week sees the launch of BizTrends 2016. Curated by our team, some of the continent's foremost thought leaders have submitted their top business trends to watch out for in the industry over the coming months. read more

The business of backlinks, hashtags and rehashing success - 11 Jan 2016

[Leigh Andrews] One way to get the business year off to a good start is by looking at last year's success. With their 'media agency of the year' win at the recent Annual AdFocus Awards, Vizeum is one such successful industry leader. read more

From freedom of information to mobile money - 4 Jan 2016

[Leigh Andrews] 2016 has begun, and with it comes the hope of freedom of information. Britain's The Telegraph, reports that "control of access to information is a powerful weapon", especially in the hands of politicians. read more

Focus on all things festive - 14 Dec 2015

[Leigh Andrews] The festive season is truly upon us! As a result, Nkem Nkem V shares three ways businesses can adapt the Christmas spirit on social media. With chatter and conversations constantly taking place there, it makes perfect sense to use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other similar platforms to spread the holiday cheer. Looking ahead to the year to come, Dee Stephens offers five tips in winning the 2016 content marketing challenge. read more

Voicing the true African vision - 7 Dec 2015

[Leigh Andrews] This week, Danette Breitenbach takes us on the journey of a reimagined Africa, with insight into how VIMN Africa has transformed the way the world sees Africa over the past decade from images of hunger, poverty and war to a continent of vibrant colours, music, culture and talent. Shifting our focus to the digital space, the Nigerian government has plans to allegedly muzzle the expression of opinion on social media for the country's approximately 15 million social media users through the bill to "Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith". read more

OOH, micro-moments and social media for business - 30 Nov 2015

[Leigh Andrews] Today sees the start of our Special Focus on OOH (Out of Home) advertising. It features exclusive interviews with the trendsetters in this field and pinpoints global out-of-home advertising trends. On the topic of trendsetters, Bryan Nelson, industry head at Google, writes about micro-moments as the new battleground for brands. read more

SME sustainability and simplified video-viewing - 23 Nov 2015

[Leigh Andrews] Last week's [AfricaCom] conference was abuzz with innovation and development on the continent. Key among these was the announcement that YouTube is taking Africa offline, in meeting the goal of making video more viewable on the continent. read more

Addressing digital illiteracy - 16 Nov 2015

[Leigh Andrews] A primary concern across the continent is that of digital illiteracy. We attended the opening day of MRMW Africa 2015 recently and learned all about the continent's truly mobile consumer and the need to create more mobile content and services that are relevant, accessible and available to users in their own language. We also look at the issue of social solidarity in times of tragedy, with Louise Marsland focusing her [TrendTalk] column on how the tragic events of the past few days in Paris and Beirut, have fuelled a debate about whose lives matter most on social media. read more

MTN's leadership shift and the importance of marginal gains in marketing - 9 Nov 2015

[Leigh Andrews] Current MTN CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, has resigned with immediate effect. This comes after last week's news that MTN's operating licence in Nigeria has been renewed for another five years. read more

Getting your African mobile, distribution and social models right - 2 Nov 2015

[Leigh Andrews] As we ease into November, Nkem Ndem V looks into the top four mobile app development companies in Nigeria based on quality and excellence, as decided by Jovago.com. She credits the persistent rise in smartphone and tablet use within the country as leading to a mobile 'revolution'. read more

Get to know the continent’s top brands - 26 Oct 2015

[Leigh Andrews] Africa's best brands were revealed at the 4th Annual Brand Africa 100 last week. MTN came out tops with a Grand Prix for Africa's Best Brand, as well as the Most Admired Brand in Africa award. Ngugi Mungai adds that consumers want enhanced digital branding. read more

Embracing emojis, enhancing creativity and embracing big data - 19 Oct 2015

[Leigh Andrews] In her latest [TrendTalk] column, Louise Marsland talks us through the emojis of language. This is becoming increasingly important to consider as we become a more visual society focused on expressing ourselves as easily - if not creatively - as possible. read more

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