to about a quarter ( 26 %) before .
I then explained that the Kiberiti trend started when a lady married to a school teacher was enticing her side kick that she will bear him a baby now that the husband was going to be away for two weeks in the Kenya secondary schools ’ national exams marking exercise . The thoughtful young man asked the lady what will happen if the husband observes that the child doesn ’ t resemble him , to which the lady responded that she will use kiberiti to alter the baby ’ s DNA and hoodwink the husband . The conversation leaked and it almost shut down the internet .
If history repeats itself as it is notoriously known to do , there will be recurring waves , collateral damages in losses from misconstrued pandemic consequences and outstanding creativity or innovations due to necessity of the times or intensive reflection .
transport cash from a man and failing to use it to meet his expected behavior . The song ’ s artist Freshley Mwamburi became the Boy Child ’ s poster in 2021 due to his transport cash that was “ squandered ” several decades ago . quarantines only for them to recur in another wave after a few years . Public performance theatres were closed but churches were never closed because of the believe that one couldn ’ t catch the plague in worship .
We shared some light moments on how such a quick fix would be magical in re-branding and altering a Brand ’ s DNA ( which includes the brand ’ s spirit - internal such as personality , look or feel and its social aspects in relating to consumers ).
We then talked about the concept of Tipping Point which is the point at which an idea , fashion or infectious disease reaches critical mass and spreads unstoppably like bushfire . This is well explained in the book Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell which has an image of two match sticks , it also features an airhostess termed as HIV / AIDS who had a boyfriend in every lay over destination of her allocated route . The authors categorize such people as connectors and salesmen due to their ability to spread the word or anything with little effort like one match stick can start a forest fire . The use of influencers or brand ambassadors is aimed at mainstreaming or popularizing a brand to keep spreading , reach the tipping point and leap beyond limits .
History of “ Eating Fare ”: Verdict - It ’ s Not Illegal but It Maybe Irregular
Another thing that would not have trended in the old normal is the issue of “ eating fare ”. This time the Netizens picked it during the date ( 15th May ) mentioned in a Kenyan Classic song , Stella Wangu about University of Nairobi graduate named Stella whose boyfriend sold all his belonging to raise funds for airlifting her to pursue further studies in Japan . On finishing her studies , she returned to Kenya together with a Japanese husband and a child . The trend was informed by the assumption that Stella pioneered the idea of squandering
In his “ Cowboy Never Dies ” kind of Spirit , Freshley normally mentions his grandfather who sang Taxi Driver twist song and insists that Rhumba never dies . Still , the verdict seems to be that , it is not illegal to ‘ eat fare ’ since it ’ s a lesser offence than theft by servant but it could be irregular as a case of misrepresentation than that of a breach of contract . Another trending song in the year is by Bensoul - Nairobi featuring Sauti Sol which leaves no doubt that in the Nairobi dating market , sharing is scary because , “ your girlfriend is also my girlfriend ” to make matters worse she also ‘ eats fare ’ in this era of community partners .
Kenya Airways rode on the trend to market their cargo services stating that this year they can ’ t fly Stella back to Kenya due to the pandemic but they can fly your cargo from anywhere . At SBO Research our retail census analytics helps organizations to optimize their sales territories coverage ensuring that salesmen are productively occupied and do not “ eat fare ”. Am told that M-Pesa money transfer service has some kind of an escroll feature where a payment is only unlocked after specific performance in this case uber fare being paid after arrival of a guest to the sponsors chosen destination complicating the now infamous propensity to “ eat fare ”.
Connecting the Dots from Shakespeare ’ s Life
History shows that Shakespeare lived his entire life during the bubonic plague with Holy Trinity church records showing that he was baptized on 26th April 1564 . A few months later , there was a record entry showing the death of a weaver with the marking “ here comes the plague ”.
There were numerous outbreaks each of which would disappear after strict
Those who studied Shakespeare ’ s “ Romeo and Juliet ” as their literature set book in high school may remember his plague references in the text with mentions of words such as ‘ Sick air ”. There was also a scene of a messenger explaining to Romeo that he couldn ’ t get his romantic message to his love Juliet because , “ so fearful were they of infection ” the miscommunication resulted into the couple taking their own lives .
It is also notable that during the years ( 1606-1610 ) when he wrote some of his best pieces such as , “ Antony and Cleopatra ”, “ Winter Tales ” and “ Macbeth ” playhouses in London were intermittently closed .
If history repeats itself as it is notoriously known to do , there will be recurring waves , collateral damages in losses from misconstrued pandemic consequences and outstanding creativity or innovations due to necessity of the times or intensive reflection .
Finally , we have to revisit the essentials as Ralph Waldo Emmerson said in his 19th Century wisdom inspired by the desperation of the people to get rid of the plagued fleas infested mice . “ Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door ”
Boniface Ngahu is a seasoned marketing research expert and runs the Talking Point column in Marketing Africa magazine . He is the Marketing Director of SBO Research . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : BNgahu @ sboresearch . co . ke , or follow him on Twitter @ bngahu