Dance          PHOTO:COURTESY

By Julian Kamau

Speaking while launching the campaign today, Orange Kenya Chief Corporate communications Officer Maureen Sande said that OBYS will arguably be the biggest and most exciting dance competition both for the company and in Kenya.

“Through this competition, we want to give the youth a chance to showcase their talents. We are aware that Kenyan youth are endowed with talent but not all get the opportunity to demonstrate their prowess”, said Ms Sande, adding: “Other than nurturing young talent, as Orange Kenya, we are committed to developing an experiential property that brings to life the Orange Kenya brand to engage and recruit customers.” 

Orange Kenya is giving dance groups across the country a chance to enter in a region of their choice. Regional selections will be held in Nairobi on Wednesday July 17; Mombasa on Wednesday July 31; Kisumu on August 14, before ending in Thika on August 28.  The overall winner of the regional competitions will travel to Nairobi and compete in a grand finale during a live TV broadcast on Saturday September 28.

The top 8 crews per region will participate in a live event in that region, where they will dance off against each other, with the winning crew securing a place in the national final. Each of the regional events will be broadcast on the local media every Saturday night.

Apart from the prize money, the winning dance crew will travel to South Africa in 2014 to participate in a global dance competition drawing contestants from across the continent.

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Dance crews wishing to participate can enter by registering through www.obys.co.ke  and upload a video of the group doing a dance routine not lasting 60 seconds. Friends and families will use the portal to vote for the crews as many times as they wish.

“Fans of Orange Beat Ya Street can vote and engage with us on Facebook, Twitter or right here on www.obys.co.ke  .  By doing so, you stand a chance to win tickets to our regional events, as well as our national final. Orange products as well as other cool merchandise will be up for grabs,” said Ms Sande.

The competition will be supported by mass market activations and product offers that Orange Kenya has lined up, beginning July 1st 2013.

Global brand experience agency, VWV, the brains behind major events and brand campaigns, including the opening ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, will handle the creative management of the competition.

“Apart from developing an experiential property that brings to life the Orange brand to better engage with its youthful customers, this competition will also act as that opportune platform for home grown talent to make a mark on the local dance scene,” says Ms. Sande.

 Each regional leg of the competition will have a total of eight shortlisted teams participating in the knock out stage. The competition judges will then pick two teams composed of a winner and a Wild Card to represent that region at the grand finale in Nairobi in September.

“The elimination format will also take a much more interactive approach as the audience, via an online platform, will be able to save two teams that will proceed to the ultimate stage of the finale,” adds Ms. Sande.

The call for entries for dance crews, of between four and six members, that will be submitted online via www.obys.co.ke  will start off in Nairobi on June 28 through to July 11. The entry calls for the remaining three towns will be announced in the media and on the competition website.

Partnering with Orange for the dance competition is global web search engine giant Google and device manufacturer Alcatel Onetouch.

Google’s Office Lead for East Africa, Joseph Mucheru says that “Google values this collaboration with Orange as it is a significant contribution to the development of local content and Internet users in Kenya.”

Alcatel One touch Country Manager for Kenya, Meera Savani, says “Alcatel Onetouch has launched the strongest top of the range devices in 2013, offering something for all consumers. Our association with Orange Beat Ya Street is strategic for our brand as it gives us the opportunity to better engage with a growing and important group in the market; Kenya’s youth.” 

The street dance concept is not new to the Orange Group. The same campaign was successfully implemented in Mauritius in 2011; this Orange affiliate will be holding the second edition of its own competition this year.