The Nairobi Star Analysis From Email

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Today I had an email conversation with two friends concerning The Nairobi Star that I am sure will make interesting reading and that is why I have reproduced the private emails here. My comment is the last one.

Mr Fred Said;
Have you guys had a look at the inaugural edition of Nbi star? When Kiss /Classic fm started the promo for this paper,i was thought it was going to be a mainstream newspaper with important news.Shock on me! Its a mere tabloid that should cost 10sh.Look @ the headline! My word-sorry, Kiss,stick to radio.

Mr Richard replied;
50,000 print-run on a launch can be misleading for a publisher.
I expect the Catholic Church to sue and raise hell with the splash: “I helped nuns procure abortions”-Hon.Dr.Kibunguchy

Am of the same opinion-though they claim to have done some research beforehand. But hold on, who is their target market? Remember it is circulating in Nairobi city and outskirts! As Quarcoo puts it:”...this is a magazine in a newspaper form”. Then why daily yet you don’t have your own press? Quarcoo believes that all he ‘touches’ must turn into gold –let’s wait and see. Kiss was a hit within weeks but remember overheads for print are quite high and unpredictable.
This is a different ball game and only time will tell. Am told some South Africans have pumped in good money!

But what do Nairobians prefer reading? Internet pornography, politics, business – what do you read?

Don’t write them off yet, though they should have talked to Matiba & Co. before plunging into the murky waters of publishing.

Mr Fred Replied;
Ma broda this nairobi star thing is a tabloid not a newspaper,they have missed the point-forgetting that this is Africa.What these guys wanted to is to copy the SUN in UK,which am told is also the most selling newspaper.Tabloids which basically involve kiss n' tell scandals can't work here. They appeal to under 25's most of whom are broke anyway and would rather heng' than buy silly papers.And anyway,there are juicier stories on the internet and e-mail 4wds at no cost!!

Mark u the 2nd or 3rd page of the SUN newspaper is always featuring some nude celebrities, and this is why people buy (i happen to know that courtesy of the lib in the office-everyone here glances at the first few pages of the SUN and not to read as such).

Blunder no.1 is that they exploited young ladies to the max. All the way from Lang'ata Rd to City centre,I saw these young chicks waving placards advertising this tabloid. They wore skimpy thumb size minis,bimbo boots and tumbo cuts,K-street style..(imagine if you're with your parent!) They don't seem to know that Kenya is a conservative and deeply religious nation.

Mr Richard Replied;
Am mesmerized at your knowledge on media, marketing and related. I forget you are alumni of Daystar.

Nairobi Star is targeting a niche of the market that buys sex, lives sex and thrives on sex.

Do you watch Channel O? Do you read Pulse on Fridays? (Incidentally the first Pulse editor now works at Nairobi Star).

One thing for sure-I don’t expect our Dad to start reading it anytime soon.
Fred, sex sells-have you gone to any motor vehicle launch? In fact most products use the sex angle including mobile phone providers – chakaza, sambaza, bamba, etc.

Ask Kumekucha if he remembers a magazine called Men Only in the eighties. Circulation was crazy but advertisers pulled out-“...that magazine has too much pornography”.

Kumekucha says;
I think what these guys have done is pure marketing genius. The only big question is will it work?

I think too many Nairobians were expecting another Nation and that is the biggest marketing mistake The People Daily made. There can only be one Nation and the way to beat them is to position yourself differently in the minds of the people (which is what The Nairobi Star has done). I hope I am not getting too technical marketing-wise.

There are a few facts here. Firstly sex sells..a lot. Secondly people will always pretend to be disgusted but will buy the newspaper anyway and thirdly, I expect very high readership from women-a segment of the market that Nation have been unsuccessfully trying to get for years.

Something else you guys don't know. Rupert Murdoch (the most successful media mogul in the world) owns several prestigious dailies which lose money or just break even but he makes over 70% of his profits (I can get you the figures for the 90s) from his tabloids. I am sure the situation has not changed today except that he is also now making more and more of his revenue from the web (this guy always sees far). Murdoch's highest grossing newspapers have always been The Sun, News Of The World (Sunday version of the Sun) and a weekly tabloid he used to own in the US called The National Star (later renamed "The Star" All tabloids.

The last tabloid-style publication Nairobians saw was the 10 bob "Update" and the challenge for The guys at KissFM is to create a new image for tabloids in the minds of Kenyans.

My verdict?

I think this newspaper is going to be such a roaring success that the powers that be will feel threatened and try to ban it on the pretext of the sex thing. Business is very dirty sometimes. In one swoop Quarcoo and company have neutralized Nations' biggest strength--a countrywide newspaper distribution system built over many years that is unmatched.

If I was at The Nairobi Star I would watch my back and the guys at the dailies very carefully.

That my friends is my expert opinion.

warmly,
Kumekucha
P.S. Richard mentions a very important point about advertisers. It will be interesting to see what kind of advertisers this new newspaper targets. In other parts of the world mainstream advertisers usually shy away from tabloids because of image problems. But Rupert Murdoch has proved that there is much more money to be made from circulation if somebody can get it right.


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