 So much for staying with us. This is OI 254, and one in the morning is to show you watching many news Dereva Hilewi. We move to another segment or another discussion rather. Now this is about creating you as a brand. What do you need? What do you require? How can you become the best you? I'm speaking to Moses Minor. He's the Executive Director Corporate Affairs. Good morning sir. I'm fine. Thank you. I must say it's an honor to have you here. It's a pleasure. And just like I mentioned I see you have quite a profile and I maybe maybe to break it down you could tell us who you are. Thank you. So as you mentioned my name is Moses Minor. I head Corporate Affairs at ZTEC University which is a private university here in the country and my responsibility largely entails creating awareness about the university to all the stakeholders out there and also positioning our brand as the best option for students seeking education post-secondary. Yes. All right. So in other words you're humbly saying you're a marketer? Yes. I look for all the soft words to bring that out. I hear marketers can sell anything including the person next to them. Yes. So by the time we leave this studio loves me to someone. So speaking of branding. Yes. There's a way I will brand myself. There's a way I will brand my business and at times I hear it's not about the product it's about the branding. So if I'm selling machungwa it's about how Sijia will package the machungwa that people will see. So what does it take to be smart in branding? Whatever kind whether in person or in products? I think branding is a component of many issues. Number one it is very important it starts with a self identification because even if it's a product you will say you need to understand what is the product and who is it meant to reach. So the same case when it comes to an individual now before you engage in individual branding you must understand who you are what are your strong points and who do you want to appeal to. We do see instances of very young people who dress very in a very corporate manner because they want an older generation to take them seriously. We do see very old people especially when it comes to the political season that's when they start using all the shame because they want to be viewed as friendly to the young people. So it is always a relationship between who you are what you want to achieve and the audience that you want to speak to. Exactly and I have seen a good number of people trying to struggle of who they are or what they want to be and in terms of like you have mentioned addressing. Yes you will see like I have been invited to speak to young people let's say high schoolers. Yes right now I'm in suit. Yes my career calls for this but when I'm going to speak to those young people they might dismiss me from the ward go or they might receive me going to speak to particular persons how do you define the persons you're going to send or to take the message to. I think we must appreciate that that there are cultural contexts or situational contexts to whatever is happening there is what the Kenyan or not just the Kenyan but maybe the African society will perceive as decent what the Kenyan society will perceive as right or the majority of the people that you're interacting with. So you find in most instances it has still been a preconceived mentality that the suit is a standard of decency in certain areas and again as I say the context within which you're operating in will define the expectations but having said that ultimately a large part of ultimately what consumers will gain from the information that you give ultimately will be determined by what you will actually say. So sometimes it that is why we currently we are seeing a change in perception where whereas previously might have been expected to go in for that interview or that presentation in a suit progressively the employer will be more keen with what you're delivering to them as employer and you can only be able to prove those issues by how you communicate and how you're able to prove what you actually say. For example if I take my own case I'm a marketer I'll have all the all the nice suits will not bring in clients by my ability to convince someone to take up a product or a service is what we'll determine but the issue here is that sometimes that decent dressing gets you through the door because sometimes you will say you need to get through the door you cannot convince anyone if you're still you know on the outside so sometimes you you realize that those whereas they might not have the actual impact on the ultimate decision it is what that gets you through through the door and at least gets you to be heard yes right speaking of marketing we are living in Taiman age where we have moved from one-on-one conversation digitally I have a small business I go online so I'm either texting or I'm being creative with what I have maybe I can do a selfie video or I can have just a small thing I have seen different advertisements on mainstream and even social media do you think the digital era has bring a significant change in how people used to communicate like marketing itself is there a variance in the analog marketing and the current one yeah definitely there is a huge shift because what changes is the and sometimes it's not just an issue of the content all the platform by the whole nature of communicating we all say that the main reason why someone will switch on why 254 is to consume content no one will switch on why 254 to watch adverts so adverts were intrusive to their consumption of media so the same thing no one goes to facebook to watch adverts but in some cases because this the digital platforms have been structured as solution providers so someone will go on to that platform seeking a product they are not seeking but they are seeking a solution to a challenge that they may have so your ability to be positioned as a solution provider is is one of the most important aspects when one who seeks to go into the into the digital marketing space because that is all ultimately creates believability because of course the biggest challenge digital marketing you don't know who you're dealing with so for you for me to believe that the person I'm speaking to is able to deliver the service that I need they have the task upon them to create believability to create the confidence in me that they able to meet the service that I offer so one of the key challenges and it's both a challenge and opportunity largely also for the young people is to us themselves how do they develop themselves into believable authorities in a certain area of whichever nature sometimes it's it's purely even from an entertainment perspective that you are consistently able to provide fresh content that is you know that that is authentic you're not just copying something that everyone sees on a daily basis in that way I'll be keen to see oh by the way has exposted a new video today and in that in that respect you build a profile that you can later be able to monetize but if you repeat what everyone else is is doing you create a very low likelihood of people wanting or looking forward to consuming new content from you so the same thing you know if someone is selling shoes when they are viewed as a provider of information of what are the new shoe trends you're more like a style advisor as opposed to a shoe seller I'm more likely to believe in you because we most likely have an idea about what world fashion is so when you tell me buy this shoe you most likely know what you're talking about so creating that believability I think is always the biggest challenge in the digital space and exactly speaking of which do you think we as a people we have lost maybe say the elementary fact of having a conversation with someone are we becoming redundant in a way that because you see I hear they are extroverts and introverts I mean to business I don't speak much so the only thing I can do is I have this kind of shoes please buy but I can't convince one person I'm selling this kind of shoes I can't speak orally about this product are we losing that value so much I tend to think of it as a dub wedged sword because what the digital space has done is create opportunity for if you are to use the term the introvert to also you know be engaging but the reality of the marketing space is that one to one communication still will always have a place because even in most cases if you look at when we made a transition from working from home and we had to do our zoom and all those online meetings you still needed to communicate and I think that's one of the things that as you saying maybe the challenge might lie largely with the young people who are losing the need to develop strong communication skills that I cannot concisely express myself in a text message I feel they need to use short form and all that I'm not able to concisely express myself in a good grammar whether Swahili English or Gekoyo as Gogi Watiyongo did that you can concisely express yourself I think that remains the biggest challenge so you find a group of people that are not able to express themselves in any specific set of language if you get to speak you will have to do maybe a mix of languages so ability to express yourself because that is what people get to understand I will only get to understand what I can do for you if able to effectively communicate to me so when that young person is not able to tell the a potential funder if they have an idea potential employer if they have if they are looking for a job or any other kind of relationship that they need because currently the the world today is largely driven by networks the kind of networks that you build determine the kind of opportunities that you unlock for yourself so how do you get into a group and able to convince other people to work with you so I think as you're saying it is very very important that the young people still remember that communication is key communication is very very key in terms of how people will also be able to relate with you in terms of exploiting opportunities all right now before I task you with your profile yes how how do I now maintain my brand I have created this brand how do I sustain myself throughout whether storms or not like the it happened during the COVID-19 I think one of the most important things is and you see this is a this is a trajectory that you build that you build of a type and and I think one of the one of the most important things that I think not just myself but a lot of people have learned is in this duration is that you always have to expect the unexpected it comes with a I think for a long time people there there is a segment of people who lived the assumption that they are imaginable will never happen and someone someone described it to me as falling in love with your employer where you assume you are in a relationship that will never end always remember that you are an employee and you are there based on the premise that you offer a service for which the employer needs and is able to pay for so at any point if the employer is not able to pay or does not need the service you are dispensable and I think that that basic premise is very very important for anyone to be able to navigate the unfortunate situations that might come about because for a lot of people when when these situations came about there largely were two groups of people there are those who would stay in denial for a very long period they would mourn I've lost my job I've lost my livelihood my life has turned upside down and there are those who immediately moved to another alternative it's not easy but it's you know it's it's it's there it's a nature of life that life changes so being able to ask yourself number one what transferable skills do I have are my skills custom made only for my current employer or are they usable in another situation and number two are these skills optimized for self employment because there is always the starting point if I was if I if I am the marketer at a certain institution how am I able to also start my if can I start my own business and market my products can I offer that skill to someone who is struggling and number three of course is the ability to have an an open eye for opportunities uh you know being able to keep in touch with uh with the with different people sometimes it relates to speaking to friends uh having an open mind because that is what gets you through uh points of uncertainty because uh in other situations if you if you are laid off in no more circumstances uh you will say that there are still opportunities that exist in the employment market but during the covid period that is a time when uh you call your friends and they tell you atakwa to badu watu and of course on yubani so you know the the opportunities are much more limited so it it is it is also an issue of building uh emotional fortitude that helps you overcome those situations all right we have about five minutes how did you choose this kariopa that you have today how how did you realize yourself this is what I want to be and um now finding the job market it's very interesting I never trained to be what I do today I actually trained to be an accountant and an economist or an economist at the same time I should have been in the area panel where they were discussing the the economics issues uh but I think uh getting into Zetek University I found an institution that is welcoming to uh the the promise of a young person uh someone who is young and is a desirous of achieving certain goals in life and within that platform I was given an opportunity to express myself in terms of uh my career aspirations uh and and within that space I was able to identify something that I love doing within which I have built a career uh uh 14 years plus uh doing this and and I think that is also an opportunity that we like to extend to both the staff and uh the students that we have at the university the ability for you to realize that a university education is supposed to open perspectives for you not essentially a university education any post secondary education is supposed to open up your perspectives to make you see uh greater opportunities develop in you not just the knowledge but the skills and attitude that make you ideal to work you know in any in any situation and based on that you are able to uh to carry transferable skills of course there are those basic skills that uh will always be applied you cannot you will not say that now teachers go and become engineers and doctors go and become lawyers but uh when it comes to uh delivery of uh solutions to an organization because at the end of the day every organization is facing challenges and they're looking for people to provide solutions to what they do so it it it's an issue of uh of a mentality it's an issue of mentality that uh whereas I'm trained to do this much I can go beyond uh what I'm able to do so a lot of uh job shadowing is very very important uh mentorship is very very critical ability to participate in co-curricular activities is very very important ability to take up internal challenges within the universities you'll find universities offering you know innovation competitions and all that those are a lot of things that we try to do at Zitec University so that any student going through whichever program they do uh they come out to the perspective that whereas I came into study for bachelor of economic statistics or I came to uh study a bachelor of IT I am optimized to be more than just what my career calls me to do mhm yes I given a chance to every man he's ambitious yes given a chance would you change your path today and maybe go to accounting or do something different um I think currently I really love what I do and the the career change options that would be in my interest would be football and music and my talent that is not allowing me to do that so I think for now I'm stuck in uh in business development and corporate affairs what takes to be a good communicator and a marketer for that case uh I think command of your content is very very important ability to communicate effectively uh confidence um lastly seeing a far much less as that's something I'm still working on uh I usually aspire to be a toast master and during the toast uh that the those sessions there's something they call an R counter someone who counts the number of times you say uh so that is something I'm still uh I'm still working on but I think the ability for you to to know what it is that uh you want to say uh understanding your your audience because sometimes you know you have the a very great uh content but uh your audience is not interested how do you adjust to the audience that is uh that is listening to you those are very very critical aspects all right thank you so much my moses for coming um I'm trying to put that thing in perspective and of course I'm sure someone back home has learned something especially when you are in marketing or whatever feel that you are in commanding your space it's very much important and thank you back home for keeping us company has been my guest moses my name real executive director corporate affairs and my name is Dereva hila we thank you so much for staying with us do all that morning session I'll be seeing you again in the evening enjoy the rest of our programings good morning