THE NATION FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2011
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Brandnews
Timex to host summit
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IMEX School of Communi cation, Kaduna has scheduled its first training programme for July 11 – 13. Subsequent training programmes will be held at the school in September and November this year. Tagged: National Communication Summit, the project was initiated in Abuja few years ago as Timex Communications Ltd contribution to the growth and development of best practice PR and communications in the country. Timex CEO, who doubles as the executive director and founder of the school, Malam Kabir Dangogo’s contribution in the last three decades, has seen to the uplift of PR profession at corporate, national, continental and international levels. At the summit, the inauguration of the Governing Council of the school is one of the highlights of the opening ceremony on July 11. Communication scholar, Prof. Lai Oso of Caleb University, Lagos is the chairman of the governing council. He leads six other distinguished academics and practitioners on the council. Distinguished personalities expected at the summit include Prof. Jerry Gana, former Minister of Information and Culture as the Special Guest who is expected to deliver the keynote address; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Mr Bayo Atoyebi as the chairman; President, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations
(NIPR), Alh. Mohammed Abdullahi; President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Gbenga Adefaye; Chairman, Advertising Practitioners Council Of Nigeria (APCON), Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi among others. Some of the issues to be examined during the three-day outing are Building and Managing a Successful Brand; Crisis Communication & Reputation Management; Public Speaking & Development of Presentation Skills; Social Media and online Communication; Advertising & Marketing Communications; Business/Financial Communication Strategies; Managing Internal Communications; Public Information Management; and Strategic Media Relations Management. Resource persons include Abdulhamid Babatunde, CEO & Principal Consultant, Slim Jenkins Media Services Ltd; Henry Angulu, former Director, Public Communication, Federal Ministry of Information & Communications and CEO, Tunga Media Ltd; Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, former Permanent Secretary (Media & Publicity) to Governor Mohammed Makarfi of Kaduna State; Mr. Emeka Maduegbuna, CEO, Corporate and Financial Communications; Mr. Taiwo Ola Jnr, CEO of TimexIntermedia Ltd; Muktar Adamu, CEO, Kuppy Consult; and Dr. Danjuma Gambo, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Mass Communications, University of Maiduguri among others.
•President Obama and his wife, Michelle, at the bar.
Obama endorses Guinness Stout in Ireland A S part of his much awaited visit to Ireland, US President Barack Obama stepped into his one of his ancestor’s local pub, Ollie Hayes’ bar in Moneygall Co. Offaly, where he was welcomed with a perfectly served Guinness.
Obama visited the town, as part of his visit to Ireland, to meet his distant relatives and see the house that they grew up in. A special delivery of a keg of Guinness was made earlier this week by Guinness Master Brewer, Fergal Murray in anticipation of the President’s visit and much to the delight of bar owner Ollie Hayes and all the locals who joined him at this momentous occasion, President Obama accepted the warm welcome by sampling the Guinness. Speaking, John Kennedy, Managing Director of Diageo Ireland said: “Today marks a fantastic day for
Ireland when we welcome US President Barack Obama into Ireland for the first time. What a great occasion also for the President who has had the opportunity to meet his ancestor’s. It is a real honour that he chose to savour a Guinness as part of his journey back to his Irish roots, which truly marks an occasion that will be remembered by people all over the world for generations to come.” Also speaking, bar owner Ollie Hayes, said: “We have been waiting in hope for this very day and I can say that it is without doubt one of the proudest days of my life. It’s not every day that the US President drops by our bar for a Guinness! We are going to talk about this day for ever more.”
AIRTEL unveils 2SIM offer
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•L - R: Mr. Femi Mokikan, Executive Director, Human Resources, Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) Plc, presenting the new Pepsi Can to Mr. Said Ajami, Key Accounts Manager, SBC and Mr. Sanjay Naidu, General Manager, SBC Apapa Plant.
Pepsi, 7Up Can drinks hit market
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ONSUMERS of various brands from the stable of Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc are in for refreshing moments as the soft drink giant has introduced 33cl Can of its various brands into the market. Before now, its brands, which have continued to enjoy high level patronage from its teeming consumers across the country, were only packaged and sold in glass and pet bottles. These brands include:
Pepsi, 7Up, Mountain Dew, Mirinda and Teem. Mr Sunil Sawhney, Managing Director, Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc, said the introduction of the brands in Cans is in response to the desire of consumers to have their refreshing Pepsi, 7Up, Mountain Dew, Mirinda Orange and Teem in elegant, portable cans. This is in tandem with the youthful lifestyle of the consumers which is gregarious.
“What this means is that itinerant consumers including picnickers, travellers, and fun-lovers across the country would now enjoy the pleasure and comfort of going around with their favourite drinks in cans”. Recently, PepsiCo International at the New York Fall 2011 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, officially launched its Skinny Pepsi can into the US market. The introduction of the Pepsi can into the US market has generated much excitement among its consumers.
EADING telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, unveiled an innovative and value based 2SIM offer, first in Africa. The 2SIM offer comes with two matching numbers in one single starter pack and gives Airtel customers on the package access to a world of benefits including 1 Kobo per second midnight call rate to SIM partner, 10 Kobo per second call rate to SIM partner and 120 free monthly SMS. The new offering is available to pre-paid customers. Other benefits of the offer to customers include: one month subscription-free caller ring back tone (CRBT) and free delivery of breaking news and ringtone from Airtel live to owners’ phone. Furthermore the customers will have free access to Facebook and push email (gmail, hotmail, Yahoo, etc). These offers are available on a 30-day promotional basis. Existing Airtel customers on Airtel 2Good Xtra and Airtel Big Family packages can also enjoy the benefits of 2SIM offerings by registering their Airtel SIM partner numbers. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Airtel Nigeria, Rajan Swaroop said: “We are very pleased to announce that this new offer is available for our prepaid customers. At Airtel Nigeria,
we always strive for leadership in everything we do, delivering worldclass and innovative services.” “The double-SIM pack is a truly innovative and very relevant offer that is ideal for family, friends and associates as well as give our customers access to a number of additional services,” he added. In line with the terms of the 2SIM card offering, Airtel customers who subscribe to the package will get free SMS and discounted call rates between the two numbers for life as long as the customer uses his line. Additionally, each SIM card holder will benefit from free breaking news and free ringtones from Airtel Live portal for one month. The appeal of this product is that these services will be available even to non-data enabled devices, ensuring that Airtel remains true to its promise of giving affordable communication access to all. ”This shows once again that we’re driven by the vision of providing affordable mobile services for all,” Rajan Swaroop concluded. To enjoy the Airtel 2SIM benefits, new customers are expected to buy the Airtel 2SIM pack. New customer may also buy a standard Airtel SIM pack and Dial *448*1*Airtel number# to register his SIM partner. Existing customers can equally dial *448*1*Airtel number# to register partners.