HiPipo Money

According to the Inmobi report for the quarter ending February 2012, Nokia still leads in the mobile ad impression across Africa though it is important to observe that  Nokia’s market share of the ad impression declined from what it was for the previous quarter that ended November 2011.

Inmobi reports that it received 35 billion mobile adverts impression across Africa during the quarter.  Growth in Smartphone impressions saw an increase of 66% whereas overall growth was an increase of 45%.

The RIM BlackBerry 8520 was the handset with the larger share of impression, 7.7%.  RIM Market share of impression increased during the quarter.

The Manufacturer’s share of impressions was

1.       Nokia – 58%

2.       Samsung – 17%

3.       RIM – 12%

4.       Sony Ericson – 5%

5.       LG – 3%

6.     Other – 4%

We think the inmobi figures(see image) that show a decline in impression on Nokia devices signals the bigger problem that Nokia is about to face in the market it has lead for over a decade. What do you think? 

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MasterCard Worldwide unveiled the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI), an analysis of 34 countries and their readiness to use three types of mobile payments: person to person (P2P), mobile web commerce (m-commerce) and mobile contactless payments at the point of sale (POS). The MPRI found that while no two nations are the same, consumer readiness is the critical success factor to drive mobile payments adoption. Kenya ranks among the top five countries globally in being ready to adopt mobile payments technology. Kenya comes after Singapore, Canada and United States.    89% of Kenyans were found to be familiar with mobile payments whereas 68% of the Kenyans were making P2P payments frequently.

The factors that were measured include

1.       Consumer Readiness; Measured how familiar with, how willing to use, and how frequently consumers are currently using all three types of mobile payments.

2.       Environment; Measured economic, technological, and demographic factors within a market.

3.       Financial Services; Measured the effectiveness and penetration of consumer financial products.

4.       Infrastructure; Measured the sophistication and penetration of the mobile phone industry and Near Field Communication (NFC) terminalization.

5.       Mobile Commerce Clusters; Measured partnerships among banks, mobile networks, and governments.

6.Regulation; Measured legal and regulatory structures and how they affect businesses.

SOUTH AFRICA

According to the report, South Africa received a score of 29.1 on the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index, a number mainly driven by lack of partnerships as well as lagging Infrastructure and overall Environment scores. It’s important to note that Consumer Readiness scores were higher than average primarily due to familiarity with and willingness to use P2P payments, though familiarity is relatively high among all payment types.

Key facts about South Africa were that

1.       There are no existing partnerships between banks and telecoms in South Africa

2.       Only 12% of South Africans have access to the Internet

3.       26% of South Africans are willing to use P2P payments

MasterCard reports that in South Africa, there are no existing partnerships among banks, telecoms, and payments companies other than small programs by South African telecoms that mainly focus on SMS transfers. The regulatory environment is burdensome in South Africa; however, other areas of the overall environment require attention before any party can seriously attempt to mount a move to mobile payments.

In its report MasterCard concludes that the market infrastructure in South Africa will require some work in order to adequately handle mobile payments. While consumers show willingness to use their mobile devices for all payment types, the biggest opportunity within South Africa is likely in improving the mobile experience for P2P payments, as it appears to hold the greatest interest among consumers.

KENYA

MasterCard states that It’s no secret why Kenya, ranking 83rd as an economy, right after Guatemala and before Puerto Rico, according to the CIA Factbook, should be in the company of big, developed, and integrated markets like the United States and Canada, and city-state powerhouses like Singapore. The success of M-Pesa has created an alternative payment network in Kenya, making it, in terms of sheer usage, one of the most advanced markets in the world. In Kenya, the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index story is less about payment protocol than it is about the levels of usage and awareness M-Pesa has fostered there. Key facts about Kenya include

1.       Low Environment, Infrastructure, and Financial Services scores are part of the reason for M-Pesa’s success

2.       M-Pesa is closed loop; users must be Safaricom customers

3.       Kenya has the world’s highest rate of P2P payments familiarity at 89% and a reported usage level of 70%

Environment and infrastructure are issues in Kenya, but they need to be parsed carefully. The success that mobile money has had in these early days is attributable, in part, to a lack of a traditional infrastructure and alternative conventional payment media. Mobile suggested itself as a solution to a population deeply in need of a fast and secure method of payment.

There’s another consideration. M-Pesa is closed loop; this means that only M-Pesa (Safaricom) customers, consumers and merchants can send or receive payments from each other. So it’s early days in Kenya in more than one respect.

MasterCard further states that it’s Kenyan consumers who have powered the East African nation to its position on the Index. Not only are Kenyan consumers leading the world in usage of P2P mobile payments, the success of M-Pesa has increased the awareness of all types of mobile payments.

It concludes about Kenya that the success of mobile payments in Kenya is remarkable and can serve as a blueprint for payments adoption in the rest of the emerging world, where safety and inclusion are key goals. Nevertheless, Kenya is not leveraging the full range of solutions available for mobile payments. A further developed infrastructure can build on the solid foundation already in place.

UGANDA

A comparison of Kenya and South Africa shows that South Africa readiness is way lower than Kenya readiness.  A question is then asked of how ready is Uganda? Uganda was not part of this study but with the current liberalized mobile money trends in Uganda, we would expect Uganda to perform better than South Africa in readiness though most likely lower than Kenya the pioneers of mobile money with M-Pesa.

This pearl of Africa is full of constructive brains, if they are well made use of, Uganda would be a much better place by now.

Recently, The Team, Cipher 256 of three students from Makerere University Kampala (MUK) invented a pregnancy scan machine that has already won an award, at the 2012 Microsoft East and Southern Africa Imagine Cup.

Aaron Tushabe, Joshua Okello and Josiah Kavuma, all members of the University’s College of Computing and Information Technology (CIT), invented WinSenga, a hand-held device that can scan a pregnant woman’s womb to monitor baby movements and detect ectopic pregnancy or abnormal heart beats.

This device will help ease testing task in private and public hospital that has been previously done manually. Now, a trained medical personnel in a school, hospital or clinic will make use of this device to diagnose for pregnancy , and keep records for future use, as the devices automatically records any entry.

WinSenga is made of a traditional funnel-like pinard horn which midwives and gynecologists typically use to listen to fetal sounds. The horn is connected to a smart phone by an external microphone which is strategically placed at the flat end of the horn. According to information available on Makerere University’s website, the phone contains an application that has a sound recording module and sound analysis module which will produce a report detailing the position of the baby during the different trimesters, the age of the baby and the fetal heart rate. When the horn is pressed on the abdomen, the phone screen displays data on the condition and location of the fetus.

Currently, midwives use the traditional pinard to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Though they might not always hear everything or get enough details about the baby. WinSenga will aid the doctors to get better results and thus provide appropriate health care.

The device can help you determine age of the fetus, weight, positioning and breathing pattern of the growing baby. This would help doctors have a better picture of what precautions they have to take for any case of pregnancy.

The three partners invented the WinSenga as an entry for the 2012 Microsoft East and Southern Africa Imagine Cup competition. It took the top position. WinSenga will go on to compete in the Imagine Cup Worldwide finals to be held in Sydney, Australia in July.

According to Tushabe one of the founders, they intend to put WinSenga device of market in July after the Imagine Cup Wordwide finals, it will be sold at retail price of $3,000 per piece.

Suddenly begging for Goldie‘s kisses! Didn’t Prezzo say he was married?

Prezzo and Goldie are getting too close for comfort despite the fact that Prezzo has been bragging about his wife.  Just before midnight on Monday, Prezzo and Goldie cozied in the patio, giggling and promising each other trust amongst other things.

Prezzo felt he deserved a kiss from Goldie and when she gave him a quick perk on the cheek, Prezzo cried for more.

Meanwhile, nominated for possible eviction Sierra Leone Housemates reflected on their feelings pending Sunday’s Eviction Show.  While the rest of the Housemates were having a music session, singing out of tune to the guitar, Zainab and Dalphin were hung on Nominations.

Dalphin felt that Downville was rather funny now that she was nominated but Zainab differed. “I don’t feel any different. I want to be here but I want to see my boyfriend too so, either way, I’m down with it,” Zainab said.
 

Traditional brand managers fall into the trap of thinking and believing that true branding can only be achieved offline. They fail to think about content holistically in ways that boost their brand outside their own online platform and some think that measuring ROI in tradition ways is a way to measure their success in social media. These are some of the mistakes common with brand managers and partly some of the reasons why more branding dollars have not yet come online and are still in traditional media (TV, radio, print publications) and offline content marketing (e.g., product placement in movies and sponsored soap operas). This is true regardless of the fact that in the current day and age many people and actually more people spend much more time consuming content online.  

Brand advertising is trying to entice awareness, consideration, affinity, and remembrance not necessarily an immediate purchase. True branding benefits the positive image or feeling we associate with a product’s name or logo. True branding can be achieved in the online space when you let your brand participate in or contribute to the consumer’s online experience. Tip to achieve this;

1.       Use smart online video ads, which do not simply take your TV ads and deliver then online, but rather considers the size of screen, interactivity, and social opportunities.

2.       Consider social media campaigns that interact directly with consumers and influencers to humanize your brand in ways that were never possible before(HiPipo Charts Festival with Pepsi)

3.       Develop content in several different formats to provide a true value-add for consumers of your category, services or products.

4.       Release content on a regular basis to develop a cohesive brand story.

Portraying a brand message that will resonate with an online audience and drive them to develop an affinity for the brand in a meaningful way must be fueled by content.

You may have developed some content specifically to exist on your website but think holistically about earned media amplification. Earned media includes all content assets that are not owned by you and can live outside your own online presence — on blogs, YouTube, or anywhere else. It doesn’t need to replace driving traffic to your owned content assets, but it can surely augment it and hence grow your brand.

Do you want your digital team to ONLY use direct response tactics that will drive sales on your eCommerce site, or do you also want to reach as many people as possible and influence the choice they’ll make next time they’re walking down the grocery aisle? Digital marketing teams with a results-only mindset will disregard the value of branding and will not consider other benefits of a content marketing strategy. To do branding online, it’s largely about content. Provide people with quality content, embrace recommendations and favorable content created by third parties, be patient and you shall win the marathon with long-term consumers. See whole article here