Start-up woos agencies to ‘permanent’ ad board

Media houses sell content to readership and viewers and end up winning advertisers. Companies also carefully choose advertising agencies — for impact.

These have worked well but a start-up is saying the review of advertisements has been wanting partly because of limited interaction between the ad developers and the public.

Virtualtech Solutions has a created a web platform— ADict.me — that it says carries the notices for longer, allowing users to comment on, share, and rate the artwork.

ADict.me is seeking to replicate the success of the social media that manufacturers and service providers are hooked to for immediate responses on quality and suggestions on changes.

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have grown when users interact and share views on topics of interest.

However, ADict is already feeling the heat of going to the market without a product to draw the attention of the masses and also the advertisers.

“Getting advertisers and agencies to partner with us has been an uphill task”, says Ken Macharia, the creative director at Virtualtech Solutions, who is also the developer of ADict.me.

While a few have seen the value-add, most have not committed to a partnership. For ADict.me to work, we have to get a steady supply of TV, print and radio ads,” Mr Macharia told the Business Daily.

He added they were starting on a clean slate, a situation that is another source of headache when marketing the product.

“We have launched a novel service with no examples to follow.

So we have been making adjustments as we refine the idea.” ADict.me targets agencies and their clients to use their platform positioned as the ultimate feedback site, where the two groups can get what the market says and what experts see as strengths and weaknesses.

Mr Macharia says the concept is based on the rich opinions from the market that the agencies and their clients can use for reviews. As opposed to traditional tools like letters, phone calls, and suggestion boxes, ADict says the platform offers instant responses.

“Consumers comment on commercials, at home, on social media and in other social circles”, he says. “What ADict.me does is providing a platform where these comments can be gathered in a central place.”

The growth in the use of Internet in the country over the years has created a bubbly online community that offers opportunities for businesses.

The popularity of social networking sites and the rapid growth of blogging have given Kenyans a space to discuss everything under the sun.