Highlights from Mobile Web in Africa and E-Tas 2014

Mobile Web in Africa 2014

Mobile Web in Africa held an interesting conference at the South Point Towers, Randlords in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. “Mobile Web in Africa” an interesting topic indeed. I’m sure a lot of folks have heard of the word mobile many times in their lives but they really don’t know what it is or what it really does, besides the fact that obviously we have mobile phones in our bags, rather hands and everywhere we go. 

Mobile refers to being able to move, not just move but move freely and easily of course and yes relating to mobile phones, handheld computers, handheld wireless device that allows users  to make calls and send texts and so forth. So at the conference it was more of mobile money, solution idea based and latest technologies.

At the conference there were great speakers lined up like the likes of Mike Sharman; founder of Retroviral, Sarag Arora; Principle consultant at KPMG South Africa, Walter Pike; founder at Pike and other great speakers. They emphasized on the importance of mobile money in Africa (Mobile money refers to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via mobile phones or the internet) and how it has transformed Africa and the world as a whole and how the future looks like for mobile money.

It turned out that mobile money will become part of core economic infrastructure and money mobile operators and it will add features like ATM access mainstreams. That’s why mobile apps are the perfect platform to make payments and banking on your smart phones and tablets is the right way to go because it is convenient, safe and simple.

Standard Bank, Intel, Terragon group and JunkMail and other supporting organizations were part of the Mobile Web in Africa, in which they promoted creating an ecosystem, building new engagement platforms, new solutions across the customer’s life cycle, putting customers first and introducing the latest technologies like the AR. The conference was educating and innovating with the accurate and credible information that was shared by great speakers.   

Article by +Molly Dimpho 

TRAVEL & SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE E-TAS 2014

Damian Cook; CEO of E-Tourism Frontiers

The first E-Tourism Africa Summit at the great Turbine Hall venue in Newtown, Johannesburg.  Damian Cook; CEO of E-Tourism Frontiers, the company which organized the summit. E-Tourism Frontiers really knew what they were doing when they held their summit at Turbine Halls, with South African industrial architecture and breathtaking décor.

This summit focused on how online travel is changing and adapting and how personal touch is becoming a key focus. This included the importance of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google, on how they play major roles to travelers and the audience in general. Not only that but ensuring that the audience is receiving the most authentic and correct information online since proliferation of information has taken the internet by storm. Most importantly it was about travel, technology and how travel trade can benefit from it.

Speakers like Chad Shiver, Mike Sharman, Sonal Patel, Spencer Spellman and Vusi Thembekwayo shared their experiences and great ideas to the delegates at the summit. Damian Cook emphasized on how important it is to take your brand and customers into consideration because at the end of the day it’s about helping your brand connect through conversation that inspire travel and tourism.

It was a tremendous event where delegates were stimulating business growth and sharing their experiences about travel, social networks and latest technologies. 

Article by +Molly Dimpho 

Frontier Advisory talks Social Media in Africa

Frontier Advisory talks Building Companies and Brands through the Rise of Social Media in Africa

The concept of Social Media is top of the agenda for many brands and companies in Africa. Social media provides a unique opportunity for brands to foster long lasting relationships with their customers and it can be a very powerful weapon in the corporate realm.

A research, strategy, and advisory firm; Frontier Advisory held an interesting event on the 22^nd of July 2014 at Sandton, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Building Companies and Brands through the Rise of Social Media in Africa was the topic of the day. 

The panel of speakers included:

Dr Martyn Davies, Chief Executive Officer, frontier Advisory

Justin Spratt; Managing Director, Quirk Digital Agency

Addiel Dzinoreva; Executive Director, Social Media Week Johannesburg

Nicholas Kuhne; Managing Director, Wunderbrand

Walter Pike; Founder, Pike New Marketing

Mike Sharman; Owner, Retroviral Digital Communications

Loyiso Twala; Creative Director, FCB Social marketing

Dion Chang; Corporate Trend Analyst and Design Consultant, Flux Trends

Frank Rizzo; Technology Sector leader, KPMG Africa

Jonathan Ainscough; Social media manager, Wits Business School & Search Online casting

They got together and conversed about the significance of social media and how brands and companies can capitalise and grow through social media platforms. The most important factor that was conferred about is ‘Authenticity’.

Brands need to be genuine and transparent on the digital landscape because it means a great deal to audiences. At the at end of the day social media is not about the number of followers you have but is all about managing the customers journey from its initial awareness to total engagement, building relationships and maintaining them.

In this case when it comes to your social media presence, quality should always trump quantity. Frontier Advisory really informed a lot of delegates and great event it was. 

Article by +Molly Dimpho