By Adam Wakefield

According to the World Bank’s overview of Kenya, the East African juggernaut has the “potential to be one of Africa’s great success stories from its growing and youthful population, a dynamic private sector, a new constitution and its pivotal role in East Africa”.

That dynamism within the private sector is reflected within the Kenyan PR space, with Mary Njoki, founder and managing director of Nairobi-based Glasshouse PR, noting how the local PR sector is experiencing the fastest growth in the region.

“We have over 40 PR companies providing different PR solutions. Companies in Kenya are understanding the need for PR,” Njoki says.

This perspective is echoed by Catherine Karanja, managing partner at Ogilvy Public Relations in Nairobi, who says the local industry’s vibrancy is accompanied by an increasingly cynical press and growing social media base.

“In fact, many firms with operations across the region prefer operating their PR functions out of Nairobi. The presence of multinationals in Kenya also means that PR firms have to add a B2B offering to their menu,” Karanja says.

Mobile, mobile, mobile 

Kenya, like the rest of the continent, has leap frogged traditional, terrestrial-based forms of communication straight into mobile, with its accessibility and affordability proving popular in developing markets. 

Karanja notes that mobile is a key platform for engaging with the Kenyan public, with the Communication Authority of Kenya placing mobile penetration at an estimated 89.2%, with 99.4% of data and Internet subscriptions coming through mobile.

“This means that mobile cannot be ignored as a channel for engaging different stakeholders. This goes beyond the traditional bulk SMS. Increasingly, we are seeing the use of shareable media to drive messages – from photos and videos to infographics and factsheets,” Karanja says.

For Njoki’s Glasshouse PR, mobile is always a part of the strategies they prepare for their clients, working from a base figure of 20%. With 38 million out of 43.3 million Kenyans being in possession of a mobile phone, according to Njoki, the local PR industry has embraced the medium to its fullest extent when targeting audiences. 

Connected to mobile’s power is the importance of social media in the Kenyan market, with Njoki and Karanja in agreement that social is a critical platform to engaging with the Kenyan market on, taking into account its disproportionally large young population who themselves have known digital since a young age. 

The keys to a Kenyan PR campaign
 When it comes to the fundamentals of running a PR campaign, Njoki stresses that brands need to look at the long term and be consistent when targeting an audience. 

“We encourage authenticity and strategic solutions to position the brand and give brands more visibility,” Njoki says. Glasshouse PR has noticed brands that come into the Kenyan market and they use influencers to endorse their brands just because the influencer rates are high at that particular time; an approach that does not reap the rewards brands need.

“Most brands go wrong in PR when they are caught up in such situations, because they are not committed to strategic PR solutions,” Njoki says.

For Karanja and Ogilvy, it is about engaging stakeholders, with the fundamentals being those that can be found in other markets: consistently engage stakeholders through relevant messaging delivered on effective platforms. 

“The platforms are fast changing, which goes with the manner of presentation of messages. This means the present-day PR practitioner has to stay on top of their game,” Karanja says.

“Before, traditional media was king, but digital media is changing the game plan. Before, it was about speaking to our stakeholders, today it is more about engagement. An absolute no is brands attempting to use old tricks to communicate old messages through old ways to reach a modern day stakeholder. We have to stay with the times.” 

Has your PR firm interacted with the Kenyan market? Let us know in the comments below.