The corporate world who-is-who were all represented at the recently concluded Tanzania Marketing Communications Conference. There was a lot of excitement as it was the first of it's kind here in Tanzania.
In attendance were participants from all the economic sectors- telecoms, banking, multinationals, health, entrepreneurs, government agencies to mention a few.
The two gentlemen, Rogers Mbaga, a PR Consultant and CEO of East Africa Unique Company and Ikechukwu Kalu Marketing Guru and CEO of Customer Passion Point Limited decided to join forces to make TMCC happen.
What was the motivation for coming up with such an idea? Mr Ikechukwu Kalu, who also happens to be the immediate past Marketing Director of Zantel, had this to say "In my almost 2yrs in Tanzania, I saw that there was confusion about what marketing is about.
Also the difference between Marketing and Marketing Communication and the roles they both play in building strong and viable brands needed to be discussed on a professional platform. Also, we saw a huge gap in the knowledge and application of marketing principles to grow brands.
Hence, we thought it would be appropriate to create a forum to stimulate knowledge and discussions on Marketing and Marketing Communication".
In Rogers Mbaga's words, "We, as experts in the filed of marketing and marketing communication saw a vacuum; that professionals in Marketing Communication don't have a platform to rub minds and share ideas and experiences on how they can make Tanzania a better place socially and economically".
Obviously able to ventilate the TMCC mission and vision, they were able to get the corporate world to support the project. The first to come on board is Tanzania Breweries Limited with Ndovu Special Malt. Then UTT, Aggrey Clifford, Vodacom, Mwananchi Communications and Clouds Entertainment all came together to support this noble project.
TMCC also got other professional bodies to believe in the project and collaborate to make it a successful event. Marketing Society of Tanzania (MST), Public Relations Association of Tanzania (PRAT) and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) put their full weight behind TMCC to support this first outing.
TMCC also got other professional bodies to believe in the project and collaborate to make it a successful event. Marketing Society of Tanzania (MST), Public Relations Association of Tanzania (PRAT) and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) put their full weight behind TMCC to support this first outing.
The conference kicked off with a presentation by Ikechukwu Kalu on The Role of Marketing and Marketing Communications in the Socioeconomic Development in Tanzania. He passionately delivered his thoughts to lay the foundation on which the discussions for the conference would be built.
Ike wanted to drive a point into the minds of all participants.
He emphasized, 'One of the strongest take out of the conference is the understanding of Marketing as the engine of any enterprise. It starts and ends with Marketing. Marketing helps to find out the gap in the rhythm of life of a consumer, develops a solution to bridge the gap and ensures that the consumer gets access to the solution on a consistent basis.
When this has been done, then Marketing Communication comes in. First to create a message to succinctly capture the value of the solution, then leverage different and appropriate platforms to convey the message to the consumer. ‘’Marketing Communication gives expression to Marketing and together they deliver value to the consumer". His passion was contagious as he made his presentation.
Another highlight of the Conference was the presentation by Mr Innocent Mungy, a Public Relations guru and the Head of PR in Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA). The passionate speaker, Mr Mungy, emphasized the need to avoid the constant tussle and debate of which role takes pre eminence-marketing or PR.
He wanted PR practitioners to concentrate on their role of building relationships that further endear brands to the consumers. He felt that the notion that PR was about fixing negative impressions or the fire brigade approach was very limiting. He felt that organizations should use PR to build relationships with the consumers that would ensure that the business image is positive with them.
The Minister for Information and Sports was represented by his Director of Sports Development, Mr Leonard Thadeo. In his speech, which was delivered in Swahili, his ministry was glad to be a part of the conference and challenged participants to take their rightful position in the socioeconomic growth of Tanzania, sighting the demise of Air Tanzania as a direct consequence of lack of good marketing and the effective and efficient use of marketing communication.
In discussing Marketing Communication, in addition to the other topics, Social Marketing is very crucial in present day business world. Mr Beda Biswalo, the Marketing and Online Business Manager of Mwananchi Communications, did a good job of presenting facts that make it imperative for Marketing teams to embrace Social Marketing in it's entirety.
It has become a platform that cannot be ignored. His presentation was also complimentated by a fantastic 5 minutes video produced by a 13 year old son of Mr. Innocent Mungy. It’s a master piece that every entrepreneur and professional in the commercial field must watch.
The conference participants were also informed on the activities of the
Tanzania Tourism Authority which was represented by Godfrey Meena on behalf of Ms. Devotha Mdachi, Marketing Director of TTB. He took the audience through the marketing efforts made so far as well as marketing communication plan to position Tanzania as a Destination Brand.
The participants were concerned about the fact that there seemed to be no effort as regards local tourism being made by the Board. He promised that the next phase of the project would involve Tanzanians at large I making further choices and decisions as concerning branding Tanzania as a Tourism brand.
The participants were concerned about the fact that there seemed to be no effort as regards local tourism being made by the Board. He promised that the next phase of the project would involve Tanzanians at large in making further choices and decisions as concerning branding Tanzania as a Tourism brand.
Besides the speakers, The collaborators represented by their chairpersons Rosemary Mwakitwange (MSC), Franklin Mziray (PRAT) and Mrs Saada Mafuruiki (IABC) took the TMCC Seminar as an opportunity to inform participants about their organizations.
TMCC provided a platform for professionals in Marketing and Marketing Communication to know about the different associations and bodies they can associate with to learn and become more productive in their fields. They called for registration / membership.
Comments and recommendations have continued to pour in since the conference ended. From Boniface Jacob of the University of Dar es Salaam reads ‘’On behalf of University of Dar es Salaam Public Relations Students Association (UDPRSA), I would like to appreciate you for opening the way to our professionals to seat together and discussion matters concern marketing communication industry in Tanzania.
Moreover I would recommend next time to bring that discussion to us students so as you could expose us in the real world of what we are studying in classrooms. That will enlighten our minds and make us the better upcoming professionals’’.
TMCC has come to stay. It was perceived as filling information, capacity building gap that could empower individuals, their organizations, Tanzania and even the East African region at large. Ikechukwu Kalu could not have said it better, " We hope that TMCC will become an interactive platform to develop capacity that is necessary to build great brands (individuals), great enterprises and a great nation - Tanzania'.
We have set up a facebook page and a Group on Linkedin to facilitate the interaction. The organizers of the conference therefore urge all marketing and marketing communication professionals to signup and avail themselves of the huge opportunity these presents. Below are the links
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