Official calls for branding of athletes

By Edwin Cheserek

Trans Nzoia County; Kenya: Counties in the North Rift have been advised to brand their athletes as a marketing strategy to earn them tourism returns.

This emerged after participants attending a workshop in Eldoret Wednesday expressed concern that athletes were branded by international companies keen to explore business opportunities.

Martin Keino of Keino Sports Marketing, while raising the issue, warned that allowing these companies to market the athletes would signal that Kenya is losing opportunities arising from this kind of branding. “We are losing a lot of revenue to these international companies that use our athletes to earn millions,’’ he said.

He said the proposed branding departments should have the capacity to carry out extensive research on consumer attitudes to know what kind of branding is attractive.

Keino however challenged the counties to team up with the business community and offer support to the sportsmen and women as a strategy of marketing the cities in the region.

Food policy

The forum, which was facilitated by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers  and presided over by Uasin Gishu Deputy Governor Daniel Kiprotich, seeks to create a conducive business environment within the county in addition to establishing economic links across the counties.

Kiprotich expressed the need for counties to leverage branding to depict the region as being cities of champions in order to realise maximum returns, especially from tourism in the peak seasons. “Our input should be shared to enrich the integrated development strategies by combining the positive elements,’’ he advised.

He pointed out that challenges facing agriculture have been the result of bureaucracies created by the national government.

He proposed that a body tasked with regulating the supply of maize and other cereals should be set up to maximise returns from the produce in addition to coming up with clear food policies.