Interesting economic messages in miniskirt, NYS ad

This column occasionally highlights unconventional economic indicators. This is because official economic data takes time to release.

Official data is also based on traditional factors since new data take time to include. That’s why when the Kenyan economy was rebased to include new modern industries, the GDP was found to be 25 per cent larger than it had been considered earlier.

Among the unconventional indicators of a booming economy highlighted earlier include increasing divorce rates and short skirt lengths in the streets. Increase in sale of men underwear implies that a bad economy is improving.

Many hot waitresses mean that good-looking people cannot find decent jobs, indicating that the economy is getting worse. Similarly, increase in sale of red ties and lipstick means that people are going to great lengths to look the best in a struggling economy.

When long skirts are in fashion, it is interpreted to mean that people have a strong scarcity mentality in a struggling economy, creating a need to hold on to as much material as possible.

Another example is the aggressiveness of the marketing message. In a struggling economy, the marketing messages in advertising tend to be very punchy. There is a saying in marketing that in good times you advertise, in bad times you must advertise.

However, intensity in advertising in one industry may mean increasing competition and not necessarily a bad economy.

In the US, one of the indicators of a thriving economy is the toughness of the military recruitment advertisements.

In a thriving economy, the military normally has to develop creative campaigns to attract recruits since people have many job opportunities.

The fighting forces in Kenya normally advertise for recruits using simple announcements. I have always taken that to mean that probably they have a very easy time recruiting and more interesting announcements would only make the exercise more cumbersome.

This also means that the exercise does not attract the best talent.

The National Youth Service (NYS) re-branding campaign is refreshing and a new direction in attracting recruits to national service.

When NYS won the Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK) annual re-branding campaign award the nearly 1,000 marketers in attendance cheered as if they were the ones who had won.

Apart from taking it personally, this also meant that the award was deserved. The campaign has been so inspiring that many Kenyans have been expressing their wish to turn back the hand of time to qualify for NYS training.

Such a campaign indicates that the economy will thrive, so Kenya may be headed to a boom given that this campaign also falls under devolution and planning.
When the Cabinet secretary in charge Anne Waiguru received the award, she may have known about some economic numbers that are not yet public.

Even if that may not be the case the award is a testament that she is doing her job well, this also means that the economy will improve as a result.

Scarce commodity

The campaign developed by Transcend Media also awarded for their creativity, teaches us a thing or two about marketing for the youth.

Market Talk has several times indicated that the youth want to be entertained by brands. Nowadays attention is a scarce commodity and to get it you need to go the extra mile by being punchy, interesting and engaging.

The NYS campaign award is a win for Kenyans and for the economy, prepare for better times.

The writer is the marketing director of SBO Research. E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter @bngahu.