SOMA AWARDS-AWARDING SOCIAL MEDIA EXCELLENCE IN KENYA

Social networking has become integral to the lives of many and to brands social media is just another way to talk to, and engage with their customers. To zoom in on Kenya, users of social media represent the most influential and economically able section of the population. This number continues to grow in Kenya especially as access to the internet’s tool of choice, the mobile phone, makes astronomical inroads even in areas considered remote.

Social media is transforming the way the world does business, the platforms provide a great way to connect online, build relationships and close deals. To put it bluntly social media is customer service, sales, HR, legal, R&D, PR & communications and marketing all combined into one.

Today the implications are huge and the prizes are enormous for those businesses & individuals who handle it right. Let’s face it; social media is here to stay, it’s not a fad neither a ‘thing’ for teenagers anymore! In Kenya we are currently No.2 top tweeters in Africa behind South Africa and 4^th in terms of internet access in Africa representing a 25.9 % population with Internet access. This is massive! When CNN misreported the blasts in Nairobi #KOT responded with #SomeoneTellCNN, when Kenyans wanted to feed guys in Turkana we had #Kenyans4Kenya, Sunny Bindra’s #TwitterBigStick & #TwitterThumbsUp have revolutionalised customer care and given Kenyans a channel to discuss their good or bad experiences with brands locally Redcross too do have #iVolunteer among other popular hashtags in Kenya today.

This tremendous growth of social media in business and communication has necessitated the formation of SOMA Kenya. The SOMA – K event will bring together different social media enthusiasts and organizations to celebrate the tremendous contributions brought about by social media and at the same time appreciate and acknowledge those who have immensely contributed to the growth of social Media in Kenya.

SOMA 2012 will focus on 3 social media channels that include facebook, twitter and blogs.  The public will be invited to nominate their favourite social media properties as per the outlined categories.

SOMA Awards Category

1. Social Media News channel of the year

• Television Channel
• Radio Channel
• News paper Channel

1. 2.      Social Media Personality of the year

Facebook

• Journalist of the year
• Politician of the year
• Artist of the year
• 2012 facebook president

Twitter

• Journalist of the year
• CEO of the year
• Politician of the year
• Artist of the year
• Tweep of the year

4. Social Media Campaign of the Year

• Facebook Campaign of the Year
• Twitter Campaign of Year
• Customer Service
• Viral Campaign of the Year

5. Social media blogger of the year

6. National Integration Social Media award

• Facebook page
• Twitter account
• Blog

Judges will then shortlist nominated properties and the top five properties per category will be presented to the public for voting through www.soma.or.ke

The judges’ panel is made up of;

James Murua the editor of The Star newspaper running the social pages of the fast growing publication. He runs a highly rated weekly humour column in the same newspaper called “Nairobi living” and nairobiliving.com a popular blog currently in its sixth year.                               

Stephen Musyoka, popularly known as  Syoks was the “King of Facebook” in 2010 at a contest organized by Safaricom. He is currently a social media executive at a leading chain of Hotel in Africa and Asia.

Marvin Tumbo is the C.E.O of Socialight Media Ltd. that helps businesses and organizations leverage on Social Media to meet their objectives.

Harriet Ocharo has a passion for social media and this is well documented on her blog: www.savvykenya.com

The awards are being organized by Eyeballs Marketing; a marketing and event organizing firm which through it’s managing director Martin Muli was also the company behind the Grand Wedding Anniversary   Kenya’s largest wedding anniversary ceremony that came to being through social media.

Other members of the SOMA awards organizing team are Kenny Kaburu; an illustrator and concept creative at Standard Group, Philip Ogola who is the Social Media strategist at Kenya Red Cross and a  director at TimeOut Media Ltd and Muthuri Kinyamu a blogger  & the business director at Social Edge Africa, a social media agency based in Nairobi.

To connect with us do LIKE our facebook page at  SOMA Awards and follow us on Twitter for the latest developments on SOMA.