:: Popote wireless showcases at Mtandariko
9 July, 2006

This past Thursday, the MSK did their usual Mtandariko at what seems to becoming the home of Mtandariko - the Panafric hotel on valley road. The Mtandariko for the uninitiated is a Swahili work for networking. The MSK created this event for its members in the marketing fraternity to network. This months event was sponsored by Popote Wireless a telecommunications firm. Popote have really hit the marketplace with some seriously great brand communications. Their TV advert is excellent with people singing about this great new service. The print ads also rule. With such a compelling marketing platform, I couldn't help but make a bee line for the Panafric to get the pitch from source.

Promises of communication popote!

With Kwani's June Wainaina as MC, the festivities begun with the usual thanks from the chairman ole narikae. He also made sure to remind us of some new courses to sign up for. With the formalities over Popote Wireless were asked to make their presentation.

The only problem for me at this Mtandariko was my seat. I was seating at the third row from the from the front. At the very opposite from me was this leg. The leg was just staring at me. It was long and shapely and really beautiful. Whenever I tried to concentrate on the presentation, I would look across from me that leg would simply make drive me to worry.

No less than Marketing Director Ian Kabiru (fresh from Uchumi) was making the presentation. The presentation was excellent. Reminded me very much of those presentations that used to be made at conferences with government officials extolling the need to liberalise the market place. These presentations used to have graphs aplenty and promises of greater teledensity for Kenya and its attendant benefits. The presentation also gave a bit about CDMA - the technology that Popote were employing.

The presentation could have been better tailored. The presentation was better suited to techies, government officials and technocrats and the like. While it was excellent for purposes of convincing the authorities to give the company its license, that was not a pitch to marketers. They gave all the benefits of the technology and the price advantages but these were lost in the sheer depth of the presentation. I know there is a lot to say about the technology. However Kenyans tend to prefer real life examples of how a product helped someone or other that they relate to.

After the presentation, we were asked to test the product at the Panafric balcony. The speeds were excellent. Now that was more like it. Maybe we need to look at this CDMA technology a bit more seriously.

>> Related Links
:: Popote Wireless – The wireless people
:: Flashcom – If Popote is the Man U of CDMA, then Flashcom is the Arsenal.
:: Networking at MSK's Mtandariko - last months mtandariko
:: The Sarova Panafric
:: The MSK

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