Coca-Cola Releases “Happiness Truck”

Coca-Cola, whose Happiness Machine video became a feel-good hit for the brand last year with 3 million views, is back with a sequel that offers more of an international flavor.

“Happiness Truck” takes place in Rio de Janeiro and is a twist on the original idea, which showed a Coke machine that spit out free Cokes, flowers, balloon animals, pizza and submarine sandwich at a college cafeteria. This time around, a special truck dispenses free Cokes as well as a beach toy, a surfboard, sunglasses, beach chairs, t-shirts and soccer balls. Coke is launching the video on its Facebook Page today.

In between the two videos, though, there have been some 40 others that took inspiration from the original “Happiness Machine,” says Shane Grant, global brand director for Coca-Cola. Grant says the brand chose Rio for this major project because “we wanted to show how happiness translates in markets around the world, not just the U.S. or Western Europe.” Grant says there are no plans to cut this video into a 30-second version and show it on TV in the U.S., as the company had with the “Happiness Machine” video.

Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor Associates, says “Happiness Machine” was “brilliant” and fits in well with the brand’s image. “It was an unexpected moment of joy and surprise around one of the most mundane touch points there is — a vending machine.” Adamson favorably compared the viral videos with Coke’s Super Bowl spots, which he said were good, but didn’t get the water cooler buzz of, say, VW’s “The Force.”

How Are Cell Phones Affecting The Brain?

A study published in tomorrow’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms what researchers have long suspected: that long conversations on cell phones affect parts of your brain. Trouble is, not even the study’s authors, the National Institute of Health, know how the calls affect you — just that they light up a significant chunk of your gray matter near the phone.

“We don’t know whether this is detrimental or whether it could have some potential beneficial effects. We don’t know one way or the other,” lead author Dr. Nora Volkow told HealthDay.

Potential beneficial effects? Well, yes. All the study found when it tracked 47 mobile-toting participants for one year was this: brain metabolism in a small area nearest the antenna was 7% higher when they were on a 50-minute call. So cell phones boost brain activity. (Specifically, they raise glucose levels.) Doesn’t sound so bad when put like that, does it? For all we know, blasting your brain with focused radio waves could be the mental equivalent of going to the gym. Glucose levels rise with just about any complex brain activity. For comparison, that 7% metabolism boost is less than the amount of energy it takes to process images via your eyes.

Of course, for all we know, the long-term effects could be pretty scary. Tumor cells need a lot of glucose, too. But that may be no more than coincidence. Researchers were careful to tiptoe around the C-word. And with good reason: as Ars Technica points out, in biology, there is absolutely no known mechanism that could lead from low-energy, long-wavelength radiation to cancer. A giant, 13-nation study begun in 2000 still hasn’t found any proof linking the two. Cell phone users, science is on your side — for now.

Bottom line: we know relatively little about brain science and even less about cell phone use. Decades of further study is going to be needed for a definitive answer. We’ve all heard anecdotes from friends about how calls give them headaches, or a buzzing sensation. They could be right, or they could be hypochondriacs. Maybe cell phones affect each brain differently. At the moment, there’s just no way of telling.

If you’re concerned, be like Dr. Volkow — who told TIME that she’s started using a $5 headset so she doesn’t have to hold her phone to her ear any more. “Maybe at the end of the day cell phones aren’t damaging,” she said. “But it’s only $5.”

Motorola Xoom tablet

Motorola has revealed its new Android-based Xoom tablet, which the company hopes will dethrone Apple's iPad in this fast-growing market segment.
The Xoom betters the iPad in some ways--it comes standard with front- and rear-facing cameras, including one that can record in HD, compared with none in the current version of the iPad. It also boasts a larger screen with a higher resolution, supports Adobe Flash, and uses Verizon's network instead of AT&T's.

Motorola Xoom tablet
(Credit: Motorola.com)
It will become the first device to run the latest version of Google's Android operating system, known as Honeycomb. The operating system supports multitasking and has been designed explicitly for tablets.
Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this afternoon that the device will be available in stores in the first quarter of 2011 in 3G form. All of the 3G Xooms "are capable" of being upgraded to 4G later this year, he said.
Jha didn't announce how much the device will cost and Motorola ended the event without taking questions from reporters.
This will be "the most competitive product in the marketplace," Jha predicted. (Motorola recently split into two publicly traded companies, Motorola Mobility Holdings and Motorola Solutions.)

The Xoom (pronounced "zoom") will operate on Verizon Wireless' network and be upgradeable to 4G LTE in the second quarter of the year, with units sold thereafter including 4G by default. It was not immediately clear if a Wi-Fi-only version would be available, but the companies' statement appeared to indicate it would not be, and the photos of the tablet show a Verizon logo on the top right corner.
Motorola Xoom

Jha showed some videos of the tablet in action but told reporters it was still under development and would not be available for hands-on demonstrations today.
In terms of specifications, the Xoom has a dual-core processor with each core running at 1 GHz, a 1,280x800 resolution (compared with the iPad's 1,024x768), a 10.1-inch 16:10 display (larger than the iPad's 9.7 inches), and supports Google Maps 5.0 with 3D buildings. It can capture 720p video with the rear camera.
Motorola also announced three accessories: a leather case that doubles as a stand, a standard dock for charging and display, and a "speaker HD" dock. The latter includes three USB ports, HDMI output, and built-in speakers. There's also a Bluetooth keyboard, but any should work.

Meanwhile, expect to see other Android-based tablets very soon. Also this afternoon, T-Mobile and LG Mobile Phones announced their G-Slate tablet, which will also run Honeycomb on T-Mobile's HSPDA+ 4G network, and be available in the next few months.

Are you kidding yourself that Social Media is working in your business?

It’s fascinating to see how increasing numbers of Brands are now giving out their Facebook page on advertisements, posters, billboards and in other public places as their main online contact point. More often than not they no longer even include their main website address in their advertisements.

Even BBC Breakfast now gives out their Facebook page as the place to make contact and to ‘interact’ with the programme.

So what’s going on here?

Undoubtedly there are many brands who feel that their products will sit very comfortable amongst the Facebook demographic, or it could be that the functionality provided by the social networking site offers an exciting new way for customers to engage with them. Or perhaps it’s simply because it feels like the ‘trendy’ thing to do to be seen to giving out your Facebook page instead of your main website address. For sure, you don’t see too many Brands giving out any of their LinkedIn pages as their main contact point.

It could also be just plain laziness on behalf of some Brands, in that they can’t think of new ways to attract customers to and to retain them on their websites. And after all, Facebook seems to offer something different, so why not just give it a try.

This brings up challenging questions for organisations:

Do you have a clear and robust enough Internet strategy that stands up in its own right, or are you just going with the flow?
What does the future hold for how a Brand or company (large or small) represents itself online?
Either way, by the way many firms use Social Media, it’s pretty clear to see that there is very little strategy behind their online presence. The trouble with Social Media is that it’s just so incredibly attractive and fun – and with some new tool appearing seemingly every day, it’s just extremely tempting to give it a try. And before you know it, another tool has been retrofitted onto any strategy that you might have had and you have a mishmash of Social Media activities cluttering up your online presence.

There’s nothing wrong with a bit of trial and error to see if a particular tool might have some value, and very often unexpected benefits appear over time as if to justify its use in the first place. The fact is that Twitter might not have value for some Brands, and it might be that Facebook pages are not right for your business – particularly if you are just following the crowd.

Ultimately, Social Media can be used in a variety of different ways; it is not all about Marketing, and Brands should take the time to investigate in depth how each Social initiative fits within their overall business and communication strategy.

Yes, have fun with Social Media by all means – but don’t try to kid yourself that it’s the golden key to online riches. I know of many businesses who have been using Social Media for several years who now wouldn’t dream of stopping or changing what they’re doing – but who at the same time really struggle to justify exactly why they use it. What’s more, they’re also too scared to stop ‘just in case’ they miss out on that huge business opportunity that’s just around the corner.

Closely examine your business strategy, your online strategy and then be honest with yourself as to whether you’re getting real value from these tools or just following the crowd.


Philip Calvert
Founder of IFA Life and Social Media Conference Speaker

HOW TO: Deal With Negative Online Sentiment About Your Brand

Maria Ogneva is the Head of Community at Yammer, where she is in charge of social media and community programs, and internal education and engagement


Brands try to inspire excitement among their communities so that their fans and supporters will do the selling for them. That’s called advocacy, and it’s much more powerful than self-promotion. There are of course many ways to cultivate that fan base and get your advocates motivated

On the flip side, however, are “badvocates” –- the folks who spread negative comments about you with their networks. For example, Kevin Smith’s experience with Southwest Airlines.

It’s important for any business learn how to handle this badvocacy. To do so, you must first understand its causes.

Causes of Badvocacy

In most cases, badvocacy is a result of negative experiences with your brand. These can come from:

Inconsistency across channels and touchpoints. With social media, you can touch the customer at any point in the purchase cycle: Pre-purchase, during, and post-purchase. Each of those interactions has to add value and be consistent with the rest of the experience.

Let’s take support as an example. When you provide multi-channel support, you need to be careful about creating a consistent experience across all channels. Twitter support tends to lead other channels in its ability to provide individual solutions to customers. Other channels tend to lag behind. How many times have you called a support line only to have them route you to another 800 number because information you are looking for is in a different database? An inconsistent user experience can breed bad experiences.

Inconsistency with expectations. Several times, I’ve gotten excited about a product based on the advertised promise, only to discover that that expectation was wrong. This type of disconnect certainly breeds negative feelings because time, effort and possibly money were wasted.
A negative relationship with people who represent the company. Social media can humanize your brand, if used correctly. It’s important, however, that everyone adheres to the highest codes of conduct and is on the same page about company’s policies, news, product and feature releases, etc. A negative interaction with any person, whether in social or traditional channels, will mar the user’s view of the brand.
Chronic Complainers

In a few cases, though, badvocacy isn’t actually about the experience, but rather about the personality of the complainer. Most people are reasonable, online or offline, and will not trash your brand without just cause. However, there are a few people who just like to pick fights and complain. Some look for attention, some are just chronic complainers, and some enjoy trolling the web under the cloak of anonymity. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn make it harder to troll under a fake identity, but forums and blog comments can more easily bring out this type of behavior.

When dealing with these users, there isn’t a lot that you can do. You need to realize that some battles aren’t worth fighting, and just move on to someone with a legitimate problem. As they say, “Don’t feed the trolls.”

If someone has a legitimate issue, do everything you can to work through it, offer an individualized solution, apologize and give them space to like you again. A reasonable person will work with you, and although they may never be your advocate or use your product again, they will recognize that you tried to help.

Finding Badvocates

Now that you know the causes of badvocacy, it’s important to take action. First, however, you need to understand who your badvocates are, what they are saying and where they are saying it. The process is about listening, much like finding anything using social media.

Listen across relevant channels for the following words in conjunction with your brand name: “hate,” “sucks,” “bad,” “not working,” etc. You should also be tracking who is linking to your site and reading their blog posts and articles. When you find these distressed people, take the following steps:

Figure out the issue. Read the content carefully, whether it’s a tweet or a long blog post, and understand the motivation behind the post. Is it a cry for help? Is it a distressed customer? What did they have a problem with? Why was their user experience subpar? How can you help them?
Reach out. Reach out and acknowledge their pain. Most problems get resolved quickly because the person just wanted someone to talk to.
Respect privacy. Know when to take the conversation private. Upon initial contact, it’s appropriate to acknowledge the problem in a public channel. After the initial public tweet, you should reach out in a private channel to really dig in and see if you can make a difference. Under no circumstances should you ever exchange confidential account information in an unsecured or public channel.
Offer an individualized solution. In customer service, there’s no “one size fits all,” because each case is different. Offer an individualized solution, which may require you to work with the right people within your own company. Don’t tell this poor person to call the 800 number — go to bat for him.
Don’t let it stew. Address sources of conflict quickly. Because most people just want to be heard, cared for and helped, the faster you can reach out, the more likely you will prevent the situation from festering.
Never make it personal. If and when conflict escalates, never make it personal. Never attack the person, even if he or she attacks you personally. Keep the conversation focused on the issues.
Take action, close the loop. Even though it’s self-explanatory, after you take action, you need to close the loop. Communicate back to the customer what has been done, or how soon to expect something to be done.
Never lose your cool. Just like you shouldn’t make things personal, you should never lose your cool. Remember, even if you feel justified in “going berserk” in a certain situation, whatever you say in social media will stay part of your digital record forever. Choose your words wisely.
Watch advocates come to your rescue. If you have done your job cultivating advocacy, in an online conflict, your advocates will come to your rescue.
What’s influence got to do with it? Make sure you don’t just help badvocates with high influence scores. Every distressed customer is a potential badvocate, so make sure you help them before they become a “last resort” distressed customer.
How Do You Prevent Badvocacy?

You can prevent bad experiences by carefully cultivating advocacy among your audience through:

Excellent experience. Just as badvocacy is caused by bad user experience, advocacy is caused by excellent experience. Recall that an excellent experience has to be consistent across all channels, regardless of location in the purchase cycle. The experience also must also be consistent with the promise and solve a big enough pain point to inspire advocacy.
Create dialogue. Advocates are created when there is a two-way dialogue around their need, and users have a direct input into the future of the product. Just check out My Starbucks Idea for a great example.
Humanize the brand. Kira Wampler, who handled the Intuit Small Business community, told me that engaging and displaying human avatars changed sentiment from 65% negative towards QuickBooks to only 35% negative. “My avatar was always a picture of one of my children and me during that time. I regularly told folks that it was easy to say ‘f**k you’ to Intuit the brand, but really hard to swear at the mommy and the baby. Especially when the mommy was helping,” says Kira.
Conclusion

You can’t empower your advocates without an empowered internal culture. Since anyone in the organization is a potential touchpoint for a customer (online or offline), each employee must be properly trained and motivated to provide an individualized solution for the client. When hiring, you must look for service orientation and the ability to solve problems. When training your new hires, make sure they have the resources to do the right thing for each and every customer.

The 10 Best Social Media Campaigns

Since social media has become an integral part of our lives, marketers have used their creative talents to develop social media campaigns with various degrees of success which can be measured in a variety of ways.
One very successful social media marketing campaign that was run in 2009 was the competition for the “Best Job in the World” which was based on the simple concept of posting a one-minute video application on Tourism Queensland’s Web site explaining why you should be chosen as caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef and you might get to blog and cam your way through a six-month gig that paid about $100K U.S.

The results included 400,000 new visitors to the website in the first 30 hours and 1 million hits the second day the competition was launched.
Success for social media marketing campaigns can mean many things and can include
More brand awareness
Increased sales
The number of Youtube views
or whatever measurement that is deemed important for the brand in achieving its goals
Forbes recently engaged three experts to rank the world’s best-ever social media campaigns.

The judges were
David Berkowitz of the New York City agency 360i
Brandon Evans of the social marketing agency Mr Youth in New York City
Michael Lebowitz of Big Spaceship, a digital ad shop in Brooklyn
They were asked to take into account the success of the campaigns as well as the quality of the execution and creativity of each one.
Here are the top 10 social media campaigns

1. The Blair Witch Project
This was a low budget horror movie that used a viral social media campaign that used web sites and message boards to incite anticipation and interest months before the its release in 1999. The anticipation was created by spreading rumors about the fate of the movie’s main characters with fake newspaper clippings and police photos of their missing car being spread on what was then the 1999 version of what we now call social media.
The result for a movie that cost $22,000 to make, at last count it has grossed over $240 million, making it the worlds most profitable movie ever.

2. Blendtec: Will It Blend
This well known series of online videos first burst on the scene in 2006 (not long after YouTube was launched). It shows the Blendtec ‘Total Blender destroying anything from a baseball to an iPhone.
Result: Home sales of blenders has increased by more than 700%

3. Old Spice: “Smell Like a Man, Man”
Isaiah Mustafa was already popular in TV commercial but when a campaign was created that allowed him to respond to questions via online videos(180 in fact) and Twitter the buzz that it generated spread around the world. The results are still being counted.


4. Burger King: “Subservient Chicken”
This social media campaign centers around a person dressed in a chicken suit on a website that responds to commands like “make a sandwich” or “moonwalk”. It was created for Burger King by the advertising agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky for the chain’s TenderCrisp Sandwich.
Result: Website received 15 million hits in 5 days

5. Pepsi Refresh
This was aimed at people’s charitable gene which gave people the chance to get funding for their charity. Its goal was to create a new identity while maintaining its youthful image.

6. VW: Fun Theory
This was a social experiment using humor to drive engagement and influence customer behavior. It involved Volkswagen transforming a Swedish subway staircase into a giant functioning piano. The result, 66% more people choosing the steps rather than the escalator. This won t the 2010 Cyber Grand Prix Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

7. Office Max: “Elf Yourself”
The office supply retailer encouraged people during the 2006 holday campaign to upload pictures of themselves. Technology was then applied to the images which would transform them into dancing elves. The creative genius behind this campaign was the Francisco based agency Toy and San. The result 122 million elves, more brand awareness and increased sales.


8. Evian: “Roller Babies”
This YouTube blockbuster showing babies break dancing and busting moves ended up being (according to the Guinness Book of Records) the most watched online ad in viewing history with over 60 million views and 54,000 comments.

9. Ikea: “Facebook Showroom”
This Facebook marketing campaign involved the store manager of the Malmo Ikea store posting pictures of the new showrooms where people who tagged the items first, won that product. The result was a viral word of mouth campaign that quickly spread to people’s Facebook friends and created huge product awareness.

10. Hotmail
This was maybe the first integration of social media and email which involved Hotmail running ads in 1996 at the bottom of every email which said “get your free email at hotmail”. Apparently the judges were a bit divided on this with one rating it as the best and the other the worst and also whether it constituted a social media campaign.
What are some of the core elements that were in these campaigns that made them such a success? For me it includes these elements

Humor
Competition
Curiosity

What appeals to you in these top social media campaigns?

Mobile World Congress: Most Buzzed-About Phones, Tablets & Brands [INFOGRAPHIC]

Mobile World Congress: Most Buzzed-About Phones, Tablets & Brands [INFOGRAPHIC]

Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes

Internet Restored in Libya, Google Maps Shows Up-To-Date Info

The Internet has been restored to Libya after the country shut down its network links to the outside world for six hours last night. Now that the Internet is back, protesters are making the most of their connectivity by mapping tweets using Google Maps.

According to those trusty wire watchers at Renesys, “Two-thirds of Libyan routes came back to life at 6:01 UTC [1:01 a.m. Eastern], and the remainder were restored nine minutes later … and Libya is back on the Internet.”

Now that the net is back, we can see brave people tweeting away, letting each other know what’s going on inside the troubled country. Beyond that, those tweets are being mapped in ways that are spectacularly useful.

Take a look at this Google maps mashup, created by Twitter user @arasmus. It compiles Twitter messages and then places them on a map with an unmistakable legend attached each one.

On the map, you can see police locations, protesters on the move, power outages, and the number of deaths that have occurred. A click on each icon shows more data, such as warnings where police are using live ammunition. And, @arasmus is regularly updating this map, saying it’s current to within a few minutes.

This is just one of the powerful social networking tools the protesters can use to keep tabs on the situation. We’re wondering if Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi and his police force are also using this map for their own information.

Mobile opportunities in Africa

Africa is claiming its place at the forefront of telecommunications.


According to research the number of mobile money users in Africa will have risen to almost 360-million by 2014
According to new research by Informa Telecoms & Media, the continent has exceeded the 500-million mark for active mobile subscriptions. Every second person living on the African continent can now be contacted by phone.

A fast-growing mobile region
According to Informa analyst Thecla Mbongue, these figures mainly show growth in the use of mobile phones used for basic voice telephony. Data connections represented about 8% of total subscriptions in 2010. Mbongue says that the African continent represents 10% of global mobile subscriptions.

There are still many opportunities in the mobile market for investors in growth areas such as the voice segment in under-penetrated markets, and the non-voice segments with mobile broadband and mobile money services. Mbongue says that these services would apply to both business and private markets.

She says that, to some degree, high computer prices still restrict the use of mobile broadband services to the top end residential and business segment.

The mobile money service targets the mass market, as this is mainly unbanked. She says that the difference between mobile money and Internet banking is that customers do not need a bank account to access the former. Access is possible via the menu on a mobile phone.

"Mobile money services make it possible for customers to send and receive even very small amounts, and sometimes it also enables them to pay for basic services such as utility bills and school fees," says Mbongue. By 2014 the number of mobile money users in Africa will have risen to almost 360-million.

South Africa's MTN, France Telecom (Orange), India's Bharti Airtel, Vodafone/Vodacom and UAE based Etisalat have all expressed interest in gaining a bigger footing in the African mobile market.

Rapid growth
"The expansion of networks and the decreasing price of handsets are key drivers to more people using mobile phones," Mbongue says. The Informa report also says that the landing of new submarine cables on the east and west coasts of Africa over the past 18 months is boosting the continent's international connectivity. It has also created more possibilities for data services.

According to an Ernst & Young telecommunications study titled Africa Connected: A telecommunications growth story, many operators and governments have also embarked on projects to build national and metropolitan fibre networks to enable easy access to new services.

The findings of Ernst & Young's research, conducted in the third quarter of 2008, are based on interviews with 28 senior role-players in the African telecommunications industries. The telecommunications study shows that from 2002, the French telecommunications market grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.5% and the Brazilian market at 28%. In comparison, the African market experienced 49.3% growth.

Growth in the African economy, fuelled by a commodities boom and increased liberalisation, is believed to be the main reason for the increase. The Ernst & Young study foresees that the African telecommunications market will grow faster than any other region in the next three to five years.

Data market set to soar
Ernst & Young also expects data to become a revenue generator in Africa, even though voice services are likely to remain the largest contributor to operator revenues in the medium term.

The provision of internet access is a big market, but Mbongue says much work still needs to be done to expand it. She says that at the beginning of 2010, the rate of household broadband access in Africa was only 2.5%. The Informa report findings predict that by 2015, there will be 265-million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa - a significant increase from the current figure of about 12-million.

The Ernst & Young survey indicates that as competition in the mobile market escalates, innovation and operational efficiency will become more important. It also appears that even with the worldwide recession, new licenses were still being issued and mergers and acquisitions were still taking place in Africa in the past year.

Nomalanga Nkosi, GM for Business Marketing at MTN Business, says that mobile subscriptions are changing the way business works.

"Gone are the days when mobile subscriptions were only used to receive and make calls," she says.

Today, mobility is one of the fastest growing trends in business. Many companies have become more aware of the business value that mobile technology brings in terms of productivity, integration and return on investment.

"It is easy to see why investments in mobile applications and technologies will increase through 2011, as organisations begin to ramp up both business-to-employee and business-to-consumer mobile spending," Nkosi says.

In the next five years Informa expects the strongest growth rates in mobile subscriptions in East and Central Africa. Mobile subscription numbers in Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Madagascar are likely to more than double by 2015.

Africa still a challenging environment
Telephony services are now widely available in Africa, but Mbongue says that there are still many more markets to develop. For example, in rural areas the rate of mobile access is less than 10%.

Operators still face many challenges such as regulatory and political uncertainty. Ernst & Young's study says there is a big need for regulatory independence. Although political stability in Africa has largely improved, operators are cautious of government interference in the regulatory process.

The absence of reliable infrastructure such as power is another concern. Operators also find it difficult to draw the right candidates to fill important technical and management positions, and retain this talent. However, findings suggest that this challenge is not seen as unique to African operators.

Operators also have to keep in mind that African markets are at different stages of economic, social and telecommunications development. Only six countries - Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Gabon, Seychelles and South Africa - have penetration levels of more than 80%, while 24 countries fall below the 20% penetration mark and 17 have mobile penetration levels of less than 10%.

Demographics also play a role. Countries such as Seychelles and Gabon, with penetration rates of 108% and 91% respectively, have smaller populations and higher mobile uptake levels. Larger countries such as Nigeria, with a population of almost 150-million people, should take longer to reach high penetration levels.

The role of SMS
Short-format text messages have become part of our day-to-day lives, but the experts say that it is no longer only a means to keep in touch with friends and family. Dr Pieter Streicher, MD of BulkSMS.com, says short message services (SMS) are also taking on a new role and improving communication globally. These days, SMS is used in crime fighting, reporting on political unrest and weather reports.

Streicher says figures released earlier this year by former Nokia executive and mobile expert Tomi Ahonen show that 53% of the world's population and 78% of the world's mobile phone users send and receive SMSs.

"If you look at the overall number of users, SMS eclipses email by 2.6 times, despite email having been around for 39 years and SMS for only 17," says Clay Shirky, a respected digital media commentator.

Thanks to SMS, farmers in rural Kenya can obtain market prices for their goods using their mobiles. This allows them to decide beforehand which market will be paying more for their produce. Shirky says that this is a good example of how access to information via SMS is helping previously economically disadvantaged people.

Increased access to mobile phones in Africa has made it possible for more people to make use of SMS services. He says a lack of other communication channels such as fixed lines and email has led to the rapid adoption of SMS in Africa and other third world regions. The other advantage of SMS is that it is user friendly, readily available, and relatively inexpensive.

"It isn't surprising, then, that many grassroot innovations, and clever ideas that the phone manufacturers almost certainly never dreamt of, take place in Africa," he says in a report. These days, mobile phone users can even get SMS reminders to take anti-retrovirals and other important medication.

Africa is on its way to becoming a success story in all aspects of telecommunications. The Ernst & Young study reports that there are many expectations and the continent is set to become a central focus of global telecommunications operators and vendors in the next five years. The good news is that Africa is shaking off its reputation as a market only for brave investors, to being seen as a region open for business and investment.

Source: MediaClubSouthAfrica.com

New finance programme to benefit unemployed African youth

Some 200,000 low-income youth in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit from a United Nations-backed initiative announced this week to increase access for them to financial services in a region where youth unemployment rates are two to three times that of adults.

The programme will identify and support up to 12 financial institutions to pilot and roll out sustainable financial services tailored to African youth
YouthStart, co-sponsored by UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the MasterCard Foundation, which has made a four-year, $12 million contribution, is a competition-based programme that will identify and support up to 12 financial institutions to pilot and roll out sustainable financial services tailored to youth.

"We are excited about the potential for YouthStart to accelerate the establishment of youth financial services in sub-Saharan Africa," UNCDF Executive Secretary David Morrison said.

"Our strong expertise in ensuring that more households and small businesses gain access to credit, savings, insurance and other financial services that expand opportunities, combined with the Foundation's network and resources, presents another boost for reducing poverty and accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," he added, referring to UN targets to slash a host of social ills by 2015.

UNCDF will encourage collaboration among financial institutions and providers of non-financial services to spur innovation and influence policy decisions, enabling youth to participate in inclusive financial sectors.

Today, more than a quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are between the ages of 12 to 24, making this group of youngsters the largest ever to be entering adulthood. Half of them remain illiterate, and young women in particular face a more challenging transition to the workplace and independent adulthood since they are more likely to fail to complete primary education and face increasing insecurity and discrimination in the labour market.

Early findings suggest that financial services aimed at youth can best promote asset-building and sustainable livelihoods when complemented with entrepreneurship and financial literacy training. However, less than 5 per cent of youth in the region have access to financial services. Few financial institutions have experience serving youth or working with youth support organizations to design and deliver youth-centric programmes.

Through the provision of technical assistance, market research and advice on how to partner with youth support organizations, YouthStart will help microfinance providers develop effective channels to deliver demand-driven services to youth.

"The MasterCard Foundation is committed to helping youth start out right," said its President and CEO, Reeta Roy. "Through YouthStart, The MasterCard Foundation is opening up pathways for 200,000 sub-Saharan African youth, half of whom will be girls and young women, to gain access to financial services."

UNCDF, the UN capital investment agency for the world's 49 least developed countries, creates new opportunities for poor people and their communities by increasing access to microfinance and investment capital. It focuses on Africa and the poorest countries of Asia, with a special commitment to countries emerging from conflict or crisis.

It provides seed capital - grants and loans - and technical support to help microfinance institutions reach more poor households and small businesses, and local governments finance the capital investments - water systems, feeder roads, schools, irrigation schemes - that will improve poor peoples' lives.

UN News

Patrick Awuah -- Educating Africa's future entrepreneurs

Young entrepreneurs honoured at SAB awards (South Africa)

Visionary South African entrepreneurs were rewarded this week at the 14th SAB KickStart awards at the Sandton Sun hotel. Finalists included companies in hospitality, design, manufacturing and construction.


Business of the Year: Sooveir Rajkumar with his Meatalicious products
The KickStart program is an initiative developed and funded by SAB, the world’s second largest brewery, to give previously disadvantaged youths aged between 18 and 35 an opportunity to start or grow their own businesses.

Business of the Year
The award for Business of the Year went to Sooveir Rajkumar and his company Meatalicious (trading as the Boastful Butcher). Rajkumar received prize money of R200 000 for his success in developing a range of healthy, innovative and Halaal burger patties. He is also the creator of the first commercial prawn burger patties in South Africa, sold in Spar and Checkers outlets in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The brothers Lonwabo and Lubuyo Rani of Silulo Ulotho Technologies in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, won second prize of R150 000. Their company provides computer access, training, sales and repairs at seven centers and Internet cafes in Khayelitsha and Guguletho.

Third place went to Reggie Makheta, owner of the Roots Restaurant and Gallery in Soweto. His restaurant is the first in Soweto to combine traditional Sowetan meals with an art gallery, and is helping to change the culinary landscape of the township.

Development category
In the development category the winner of R150 000 was Tshepo Makhavu of Mabunga Toilets. The 33-year old won first prize for his initiative of installing cost effective and durable stand-alone concrete toilets of his own design in the rural community of Thohoyando.

Other awards in the development category went to Tebogo Mashego, a 27-year old woman who runs Diep K Steel & Aluminum, a manufacturing business in Booysens, Gauteng and Vusi Sibisi, owner of Vuma Tech Engineering in Soweto.

KickStart class of 2008
This year’s KickStart finalists were selected from a group of about 120 candidates chosen to attend business skills training courses, before preparing a business plan. The most successful business plans were rewarded with a seed capital grant of between R50 000 and R150 000.

After six months of mentoring, three businesses were selected from each region based on their use of the grant money, the performance and sustainability of their businesses and the impact KickStart had on their companies. Top performers won further mentoring and additional grant money.

Program success
South Africa has one of the lowest levels of entrepreneurship in the world with entrepreneurs contributing around 35% of GDP, compared to 60% in countries like Brazil and India. Fewer than 20% of those who start their own business survive past the first two years.

According to SAB, 81% of the companies that received KickStart grants since 2001 were still in business 3 years later. The combined turnover of grant winners was more than R95 million per year and the growth in full time jobs created was 100%.

“SAB has always been determined that KickStart be a sustainable program. I am delighted that this year’s finalists have taken as much from the mentoring program and training as they did from the monetary grants they received,” said Dr Vincent Maphai, SAB Executive Director of Corporate Affairs and Transformation.

SAB has invested more than R45 million in funding grants in the KickStart program since 1995.

Angela de Joseph Salutes African American Entrepreneurs

Financing Your New Business

Many people see funding as their biggest stumbling block on their journey of entrepreneurship. In this section, we’ll look at various options with regards to funding your business.

In this introduction, I would like to share the following tips with you.

Firstly, if you can possibly avoid it, don't borrow money. Obviously, many business paths require funding, such as buying a franchise or buying an existing business. These have a lower risk association because they are generally turnkey operations, meaning that you will start to earn money almost immediately. When you are starting a business from scratch however, making money is often much more difficult in practice than in theory. When you owe money to a lender it puts immense pressure on your business, and it is often the lender who forces you to shut down the business prematurely. If you can start your business without borrowed money it can help to prolong your opportunity to buy the time you require to succeed.

Please remember that personal overdrafts and credit cards are even more risky than borrowing start-up capital. Avoid them at all costs.

If you need small amounts of start-up capital to buy equipment or stock for instance, rather rely on personal savings or friends and family. I know this might sound strange, but 80 percent of businesses in the United States are funded by personal savings and friends and family, and it is very similar here in South Africa. The risk is lower this way, providing you keep the lender fully updated with the progress of your business.

If you do need to borrow larger sums of money, then consider your options carefully. Don't just go for the first institution that offers you funding. There is often more than one option, and you should look for the one with lower risk associated with it, as well as preferable payment terms and interest rates.

Lastly, most institutions frown on funding personal salaries and expenses. Try to cover these yourself as much as possible. Also, try and reduce your monthly costs in every way possible. Starting a business while you have personal overdrafts and credit card debts is unwise. Banks can become very sticky when it comes to personal finance facilities, especially when they don’t see regular income coming in. Don't make a mistake here, because cutting down in the short term is far less painful than losing it all

Brian Walsh

Internet Businesses and Traditional Businesses

In today's world of the Internet it is interesting to note the massive differences that have occurred even in the last decade.

At the ripe old age of 41 I am fortunate enough to have grown up, along with my business partners, having known the old business world and being able to embrace the new.

When we had our first major foray into the business world through our original company, Nexxus (UK) Limited In 1995, we tried to avoid all the "pitfalls" of traditional business and branch into distribution as opposed to manufacture, thereby avoiding warehousing, and excessive staffing, crippling rules about health and safety and the usual expenses such as lorries, forklifts etc.

What did we end up with? Warehousing, staffing, lorries forklifts, racking, 50 000 square feet of warehousing and a pile of overheads.

Thus, when I created the concept of our current business three years after selling Nexxus, I think that one of the primary directives was to avoid the aforementioned traditional costs.

Introduce internet business -- at Citylocal, we are able to conduct a successful, communications-based business encompassing several countries without entering into the traditional problem-infested areas of international transport, late goods, letters of credit & warehousing.

We are able to conduct business using technology rather than physical goods and even perform presentations using 21st century systems that 10 years ago would have seemed impossible.

In a sense we are able to conduct business in a manner that perhaps in the 1980's, for example, was only available to the money or stock trading markets.

As one is probably well aware, why trade the physical stock if it possible to trade the price of the commodity? Ultimately, of course, the physical stock or money will have to move but why dirty one's hands?

This is essentially what internet business can deliver for people that are able to free themselves from the mindset that they have to be involved in moving the physical goods or indeed the service necessary to satisfy the customer.

With an increasing amount of people using the net as a search facility or knowledge accessibility forum, the internet is gaining ground every week on traditional business.

What does this achieve for people apart from the obvious benefits of being able to work at home more effectively or gain instant access to vast amounts of information?

Put very simply it enables people to reach a previously untappable audience and, given the right work done with search engine optimisation experts, enables people to reach massive potential customers.

The whole approach to the internet is what is important and the realisation that one does not necessarily need to physically transport certain goods to be an effective market maker is essential.

This all being said, the age-old necessities of a business hold true- the service or product must be desired, good quality and the right price to make the potential transaction attractive.

Thankfully this is one area that I personally hope will never change and good old economics should see us through on this one - opportunity and choice.

All About the ‘Chocolate Lady’: A Young South African Entrepreneur

One of the main purposes of this blog is to introduce inspirational social entrepreneurs and innovative organizations to a wider audience outside of their home countries.

In Cape Town at the end of November last year, I met Nontwenhle Mchunu, a formidable, yet cautious young woman from a small town in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. She is on a mission to create Africa’s first prestigous, world-class chocolate brand, using only ingredients from African soil that have been sustainably produced.

She is well on her way already: in 2008 she won the South African Businesswomen’s Association Regional Business Achiever Awards in the social entrepreneur category for her newly established company, Ezulwini Chocolat; she has trained at one of Europe’s top culinary institutes, Leatherhead International, and in Switzerland where she learned from the world’s leading fine-chocolate makers.

Her ambition is to build a successful chocolate business in the townships of South Africa to create jobs (where unemployment runs as high as 40%), expand access to vocational education for many youth through her business, and use only cocoa and ingredients from sustainable African sources.

Mchunu, or “Chocolate Lady”, has a passion for both sustainable change and chocolate, and South African supermarket chains and hotels, like Pick-n-Pay and Protea Hotels, have already begun to retail her products. With her lofty expectations, entrepreneurial drive, and plans to become South Africa’s leading Chocolatier, I expect we will see her chocolate around the world in the not too distant future.

I met Mchunu at the Evian Group at IMD’s capacity building workshop in Cape Town that was focused on inclusive growth in Africa.