During the last quarter of 2019, 2SCALE launched an innovation pilot with Mhogo Foods aiming to test new digital marketing strategies in Nairobi. The pilot tested new digital strategies for marketing, such as a free Wi-Fi services on local buses, as well as digital loyalty programmes set up through Whatsapp and Facebook.
Mhogo Foods is a local company in Nairobi that adds value to cassava tubers by processing them into nutritious flour. In a previous campaign targeted at the BoP that ran in 2018, a first attempt was made to expand the reach of Mhogo Foods’ products. This new innovation pilot aims to test new cost-effective ways of establishing long-term customer engagement with the brand in Kawangware and Kibra.
Emerging digital channels at the BoP provide new opportunities for engaging customers with a brand in a cost-effective way. For example, BRCK’s Moja platform allows people to earn points that they can use to access the Wi-Fi on local buses. In order to earn points, the user has to watch a full video that is posted on the landing page of the platform. In our case: A recipe for preparing traditional dishes with Mhogo Foods’ cassava flour. This strategy ensures that people are engaged with the brand for a longer period of time, giving not only exposure to the brand, but also the opportunity to educate the user on a new product or marketing initiative.
Secondly, digital channels can be used to test effectiveness in several ways. By setting up a small loyalty programme, customers received digital coupons through Facebook and Whatsapp that could be redeemed at their local shops. This way, the redemption rates of coupons can be used to compare the effectiveness of different channels based on actual conversion into sales.
By rewarding users to watch the whole video, we go further than creating brand exposure and actually teach the user something new
Over 19,000 people were engaged through the Moja platform and more than 30,000 engaged through Facebook and Whatsapp. However, due to the limited size and timespan of the campaign, redemption rates of coupons remained limited. Nevertheless, the tests ran and systems put into place for this pilot provide a first step in leveraging digital strategies in marketing for the BoP and provide a promising course of action for future marketing campaigns.