‘ How ’ and ‘ What ’ each does to accomplish their purpose . To the best of my memory , the first wave of Safaricom ’ s presence was felt through Simu ya Jamii ; a product that can be attributed as one of the first viable solutions that enabled simpler person to person communications . Also , do you guys remember how the entire country was caught up in the rush of owning a Simu ya Jamii ? It did give and transform economic lives of the innovators and early adopters for sure , until the majority spoilt the party .
On and On , Safaricom gave us Paybill , shone light with M-Kopa , paired and gave us M-Shwari , have recently Fulizad us , spread their wings and gave us Little Cabs and most notably birthed the mother of all innovations - MPesa . MPesa not only transformed lives , but transformed the economy , the financial sector and created a path for the world to follow .
And you ’ d think that they ’ ve done just about so much already to transforming lives . Think again , sometime last year , these guys invested in a whole Innovation Hub dubbed Safaricom Alpha to incubate and keep transforming our lives . See the sustained aTnd repeated pattern of everything fitting into their purpose ? No dilemma of the egg or the chicken here , purpose always comes first !
Over to Airtel ; how and what do they do to achieve their brand purpose of “ connecting communities across Kenya ?” First and foremost , if you click on their link , after laying down their brand purpose , Airtel goes at length to elaborate on among other things : driving the turnaround , their data and ecommerce solutions , Airtel Money , Airtel Express shops , Airtel mobile units , Airtel Rising with the star units etc etc .
All great stuff no doubt , but none of that supports their “ connecting communities ” purpose . Network is where they should have started from and just at Network , this is where majority of the consumers have a problem with Airtel . Not to take my word for it , but just do a quick scheme through of the comments sections of # telcotalk and catch the vibe . That ’ s not me saying , that ’ s consumer feedback .
Evidently , one has a clear purpose and progressively feeds into that , while the other , seems to be experiencing some serious challenge . But here ’ s the problem of either having a fuzzy purpose , a brand not believing in its purpose or a brand just not knowing how to go about breathing life into its purpose . You get caught up in an endless rat race . You take any path and more often than not , that path leads to confrontation , collision and constant competition .
Whereas competition in itself is not a bad thing , yours mutates into a permanent circus competing with others rather than with your own goals . You burn out trying to malign and mudsling as others are setting the pace . Yours turns out to be a constant life of battle , while your neighbor savors all the good tidings that come with Purpose .
Across borders , lies another shining light of brand purpose . According to Fortune ; an American business magazine which is published and owned by Time , Apple was the world ’ s most profitable company in the United States as at 2018 . Apple ’ s revolutionary business moment was and still remains in their brand purpose of “ think different .”
Basically , Apple came to show the world that we do not have to be slaves of the ordinary . They “ think different ” and
shake up status quo . That is their anchor philosophy and purpose and that ’ s why it remains a colossus of a corporate body recording insane revenues and profits . All their products and services feed into their Purpose and they remain unshaken . They are built on Purpose and from Purpose they record consistent and sustainable positive results .
Give and take , here ’ s my point . Building a brand can be hard business that calls for human , capital , and even technological resources but here ’ s the good news ; with a clearly understood purpose , all those hard beginnings can always have a happy ending .
Chabala H . Walter is a perceptive , amiable , and conscious Sales , Marketing and Communications Professional . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Chabalawalter @ gmail . com .