Bharti Airtel appoints Dr. Titus Naikuni as Chairman, Airtel Kenya

Bharti Airtel today announced the appointment of Dr. Titus Naikuni as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Airtel Kenya.

Dr. Naikuni, holds a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nairobi. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Management Development Programme and was awarded a Doctor of Science Engineering by the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, an honorary award in recognition of his contribution to development.

He joined the Magadi Soda Company (now Tata Chemicals Magadi Limited) in 1979 and rose to the position of Managing Director of the company in 1995. Between August 1999 and March 2001 Dr. Naikuni was a member of a team of World Bank sponsored Kenyan technocrats, known as the “Dream Team” who were engaged to turn around the Kenyan economy. In this capacity Dr. Naikuni served as permanent secretary to the Ministry of Information, Transport and Communications and was a member of the Board of Kenya Airways during that period. He returned to Magadi Soda Company in April 2001 where he continued to serve as Managing Director, a position he held up to his appointment with Kenya Airways in February 2003.

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Christian de Faria, CEO - Airtel Africa, said: “We are pleased to have Dr. Naikuni on the Board. His wealth of experience will add immense value to the Board and provide strategic guidance to our operations in Kenya, to enable Airtel gain an important place in the Telecom sector in the country.”

Dr. Naikuni, has had extensive boardroom experience having previously served on various company boards, including as a member of the board of Brunner Mond (South Africa), as Chairman of the Kenya Power & Lighting Company, Chairman of Housing Finance Company Limited, Board member of CFC Bank, Board member of Heritage Insurance, Board member of the Kenya Airways Group of Companies and on the IATA Board of Governors, amongst others. He is currently a board member of Maersk Kenya Ltd, Access Kenya Ltd, East Africa Portland Cement Company, Precision Air Tanzania, deputy Chairman of Magadi Soda Company Ltd, a member of Lafarge International Advisory Board and Chancellor South Eastern Kenya University. He received the Manager of the Year Award for Kenya in 2002.

P&G gears up to grow oral care market share with Oral B toothbrush launch

Procter & Gamble (P&G) plans to substantially increase its oral care market share following the introduction of its Oral-B Complete 7 toothbrushes into the Kenyan and East African regional market.

 

The toothbrushes, which are part of the company’s oral care range that comprises of toothpastes,  mouth wash and dental flosses, is part of P&G’s onslaught for a bigger stake in the fast growing  oral care market coming against the backdrop of a highly health conscience consumer.

Communications Manager Irene Mwathi-Miheso said that P&G is optimistic that with the growing middle class as well as general increase in dental education that they will see consumers change their toothbrushes more often.  Today a vast majority of Kenyans still use the same toothbrush for more than a year whereas they should change it after 3 months as it loses its effectiveness after that.

“We currently control 16% of the Kenyan oral care market but with the launch we hope to increase consumer oral care awareness and hopefully see some growth in the market share,” said Ms. Miheso.

The  Oral- B brand which is the global oral care leader has been part of the P&G stable  since 2005 and has a product portfolio that includes manual and power toothbrushes for children and adults, dental flosses, oral irrigators, oral care centers and interdental products. Oral-B toothbrushes are used by more dentists than any other brand worldwide.

P&G's Health Care segment where Oral-B falls under contributed to 10% of the 2015 first-quarter sales. This segment saw net sales jump by 6% for the quarter, on the back of a 4% increase in volume and positive one-point contributions from pricing and product mix.

Ms. Miheso added that the volume share increase was due to product innovation in oral care and personal health care. Last year, the brand launched the Oral-B brushing timer for its electrical toothbrushes.

However with only 30% of Kenyans using toothbrushes and dental flosses, Oral B plans to invest  resources in consistently increasing its brand equity among consumers and oral health care professionals such as dentists. It also intends to utilize its wide distribution presence in Africa to make huge promotional investments to attract customers.

On an average, the price of a toothbrush for an adult costs anywhere between KES 50 – KES 350 depending on the quality. The convenience of use of the toothbrush, ability to reach difficult areas of the mouth, design and aesthetics are some of the factors that consumer consider when selecting a toothbrush.

“It is our hope that this the dental flosses and toothbrushes combined with subsequent oral care campaigns together with partners such as the Kenya Dental Association will promote public awareness of oral health in particular preventive oral health measures such as simple brushing,” added Ms. Miheso.

It is estimated that only five per cent of Kenyans have access to quality dental health care because of lack of a proper health financing system which prevents most low income earners from accessing dentists.
According to a study title ‘Oral health status and oral healthcare seeking behavior of a rural community in Kenya’,   there is widespread poor oral health and poor oral hygiene practices among rural communities which imply there was a high demand for oral health care. The study recommended public awareness of oral health, in particularly preventive oral health measures with the aim of reducing the high levels of poor oral health status.

SCANAD scoops top MSK Awards

SCANAD, an integrated marketing and communications agency in sub-Saharan Africa, has for the third year running, scooped the Overall Campaign of the Year at this year’s Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK) 2014 Gala Awards.

SCANAD won for the conception and implementation of the Capture Kenya campaign Kenya’s leading integrated telecommunications services provider, Safaricom. The agency, which is wholly owned by listed marketing services giant, Scangroup, also emerged as overall winner in 4 other categories. The MSK awards were picked by an independent panel of judges drawn from the industry.

SCANAD won the Best Sports Marketing Campaign for implementing Imperial Bank’s Loyalty Campaign in partnership with English Premier League Club, Arsenal. Scanad also bagged the Best Innovative Campaign - Capture Kenya (for which it also won the overall award) and Best Integrated Campaign named, Move to Now on behalf of NIC Bank.

Speaking after the awards ceremony, SCANAD Africa’s Managing Director Sandeep Madan said that the awards were an indication of the company’s increasing focus on integrated marketing especially incorporating digital communications to reach online audiences.

“As a leading communications agency, I believe it is upon us to keep pushing the industry benchmark higher taking advantage of research and best practice. It is in the interest of our clients, our people and our industry to keep pushing the levels of communication for the industry’s overall development. As SCANAD, we have focused sharply not only on delivering insightful campaigns but also in executing smartly. This discipline has been the key to our growth and success,” said Mr. Madan.

He said the Safaricom Capture Kenya campaign was executed well, motivating Kenyans to capture the best moments of their everyday life.

“The way this campaign was thought through and rolled out - including the involvement of Kenya photographers and ensuring a flawless selection of pictures of our beautiful country- reinforced its resounding success. The final outcome was a beautiful calendar in multiple formats, many different scenarios unearthed about everyday Kenya and most importantly several lives positively changed due to this campaign,” he added.

MSK is the national umbrella body for all marketers in Kenya whose key mandate is to empower and regulate the marketing industry by creating policies that govern the industry, education and training of professionals, corporate organizations and entrepreneurs. MSK also drives, marketing, business mentorship and arbitration through the Advertising Standards Board.