Scangroup appoints a new CEO for Scanad Africa



Sandeep Madan, who had been leading the Scanad Kenya & Ghana operations, has been promoted to be the CEO of Scanad Africa which has 5 fully owned operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scangroup, a WPP company, listed on Nairobi Stock Exchange, announced the leadership changes at one of its subsidiaries, Scanad Africa. Sandeep Madan, who had been leading the Scanad Kenya & Ghana operations, has been promoted to be the CEO of Scanad Africa which has 5 fully owned operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Operating in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ghana, Scanad is a leading marketing services partner to its bouquet of clients in Telecom, Financial services, FMCG, Social and digital industries. Scanad Africa has over 250 employees and has been at the forefront of winning accolades across the industry award functions.

With Scanad being part of the global J. Walter Thompson company network, this will also see Sandeep responsible to drive the growth of the JWT brand in SS Africa. JWT now operates 3 fully fledged offices in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with a talent base of over 60 people across the three markets.

“I am very pleased to take up this new role at Scanad Africa, one of the leading communications agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. At JWT SSA & Scanad Africa, we will always endeavor to deliver insightful and incisive campaigns that will keep pushing the industry’s benchmark. As an organization we have embraced digital across levels which enhances our ability to provide technology enabled solutions and consumer engagements in today’s dynamic & cluttered media environments,” said Sandeep Madan.

In the recently concluded Marketing Society of Kenya awards, Scanad Kenya was awarded 5 metals out of the 15 categories awarded, in Ghana's advertising awards Scanad Ghana won 33 metals that included 3 platinum, 19 Gold and 11 silver metals and at Loeries, Scanad Uganda was the 2nd runners up in the Africa & Middle East Category with 1 Silver, 2 Bronze and a certificate in craft.

Speaking of his appointment, Scangroup CEO, Bharat Thakrar said: “As a company, we are delighted to have Sandeep lead Scanad Africa & JWT in his new role in which he brings a wealth of experience and strategic counsel which will be critical to the growth of the company going forward.”

Under Sandeep, the leadership of the agency will be realigned to build appropriate capacity while providing world class consultancy services.

Scanad Kenya has been divided under the leadership of 3 Managing Directors, Ms. Cathy Gathu, Ms. Betty Racier and Mr. Karambir Rai. Scanad Uganda is led by Mr. Nachiket Sant, while Ghana is led by Ms. Jebet Amdany.

Ms. Sally Sawe will continue to lead JWT Kenya as Managing Director; Mr. Suvikrant Maira has been appointed to lead JWT Uganda. In Tanzania, both Scanad and JWT are under the leadership of Ms. Serah Katusia.

Why you need to get active on Twitter

Twitter is the real-time soundtrack to the biggest moments and events across the globe and Kenya is no exception. Think of it as a global marketplace- where people gather to get the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people in real time. 

This is where you come to reach out to the world, or your friends and family- wherever they are. Get on your soapbox and share your thoughts with elected officials or go sotto voce to the neighbor next to you. Discover, debate and joke- it’s all up to you.

Here are some reasons to activate that Twitter account.

Discover the latest news: Social media has really changed how we consume news and information. Many people, constantly connected to the Internet, get to first hear about an incident or event on Twitter before they get the in-depth analysis on the same through other channels. #KOTNewsAt9 is testament to this fact. As NTV, KTN and Citizen TV remain off air in the current #DigitalMigration standoff, Kenyans are staying up-to-date and discussing the latest news that has captured the country’s attention. Many journalists are on Twitter and keep their followers up to date with regular alerts.

Connect with public personalities: Not only does Twitter connect you with topics that are of interest to you, it also brings you close to public personalities. From @UKenyatta to @BarackObama, and from @KimKardashian to @JustaBand, Twitter is the platform where you can communicate and engage with your leaders and celebrities you admire.

Your TV and Live Event Companion: Twitter is a powerful companion to live events, including live TV broadcasts and popular programmes. Twitter was born on mobile and since the vast majority of Tweets shared are in real time, information freely flows in real time. So if you happen to miss an edition of Blankets and Wine where your favourite artist was performing, Twitter is the place for the updates you need.

Grow an audience for your brand: People use Twitter to discover new information about topics that matter to them, including brands that they interact with daily. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of this and generate conversations to grow their following. Consumers can also easily access brands and put questions out to them in real time. Want to find out how @uber_kenya works? Why not ask @nakumatt what offers they have at an outlet near you?

Twitter has recently launched some cool features this year to help get that much closer to what matters to you.

While you were away: With this feature, Twitter users are able to see a recap of some the top Tweets they may have missed from the key accounts they follow while they were on the go. To fill in some of those gaps, Twitter retrieves a few of the best Tweets users probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise, determined by engagement and other factors.

Group Direct Messages and Videos: The group DM function lets you start conversations with any of your followers and they don’t all need to follow one another in order to chat. You can create a group in just a few taps. When you’re added to a group, you’ll get a notification. Twitter also upgraded the video sharing experience: you can now seamlessly capture, edit and share videos right from the Twitter app.

GroupM launches MEC,Medicom & Mindshare agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa

GroupM has today announced the launch of its MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare media agencies in sub-Saharan Africa, supplementing GroupM’s existing offering in South Africa and Northern Africa and strengthening its position as the global leader in media investment management. 

This development follows the lead of GroupM parent company WPP, which last year increased its stake to a controlling interest in Scangroup, the leading advertising and communication services group in East Africa.

Clients who work with MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare, will benefit from the consolidated media management of GroupM, while receiving best-in-class client leadership, communication strategy and executional delivery deeply connected to the agencies’ respective global networks. This will provide clients in sub-Saharan Africa with the market’s most advanced media capabilities and give access to training and development on the latest strategic planning, media tools and technology.

“Sub-Saharan Africa is a key growth priority for many of our clients and we are increasing our presence and capabilities across the region,” said Dominic Grainger, GroupM CEO EMEA.

These operations will have a market leading position and the overall network, along with its affiliates, shall comprise a team of more than 150 people across sub Saharan Africa. The evolution of the company’s media offering supports its growth strategy, client growth, and fast-changing opportunities for brands.

Nandu Buty will assume day-to-day leadership of GroupM in sub-Saharan Africa, in addition to his responsibilities as COO of Scangroup, with the management team of each of the operating agencies.

“This is an important development for us as it means we can advance our media agencies aligned to their respective global networks,” said Nandu Buty, GroupM sub-Saharan Africa.

Based out of Nairobi, GroupM and the three media agencies will manage all sub-Saharan entities and client relations managed out of Nairobi. Monica Kambo, Rajiv Gopinath and Mac Machaiah, will serve respectively as the agency leads for MEC, MediaCom and Mindshare. Kambo comes over from Ogilvy & Mather Africa where she was the general manager of media services, Gopinth joins from MediaCom Singapore where he was responsible for running the P&G account in China and Machaiah previously led Mindshare in Southern India.

Airtel launches new #UnlimiNET bundles for unlimited connections

Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi takes Viola Kipchumba (center) through the process of subscribing to Airtel UnlimiNET. Looking on is radio personality Amina Abdi.

Airtel has today announced the introduction of another new unique product that offers customers the peace of mind and freedom to talk and remain connected to their world through the internet.

The new flexible and affordable bundled tariff dubbed “UnlimiNET” is destined to offer Airtel customers the convenience and freedom to make #UnlimitedConnections to their  professional, family and social networks wherever they are. It is an offer for voice, SMS and data bundles available in the country.

The UnlimiNET bundle offers talktime and SMS to any network in Kenya for as low as Ksh 50. It will enable Airtel pre-paid customers enjoy 24 hours, 20 free minutes voice calls to any  network, 100 free SMSs to any network and 100MB data daily.

Customers taking up the will continue get full speed to access to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and Gmail within the day of subscription even after exhausting their 100MBs of data.  

This innovative product gives Airtel and its prepaid customers the edge over its competitors  due to its flexibility and affordability that offers the freedom to make a suitable personal choice from a range of daily, weekly and monthly bundles. It is also the most affordable cross-network voice call offer in Kenya with blended rates as low as Ksh 1.70 per minute.

      

Speaking at a media briefing this morning, Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi said, “The internet is an essential part of our everyday life. As a user, one wants constant and affordable supply of internet so as to remain connected to loved ones, study and work efficiently and get updated with local and international news and events. Airtel UnlimiNET is designed to enable Airtel customers remain connected to their social and professional networks all day without worrying about MBs running out.

Customers can subscribe to the UnlimiNET bundles by simply dialing *544# from their Airtel phones and choosing their preferred bundle.