A rose by any other name...Dear SKerians,
A man without heritage is like a child. Let me assure you, in changing to Wazua, we all feel what a woman feels when she has to take up her husband's name.
Why rebrand:
1. stockskenya name has become limiting
2. we're no longer only about stocks
3. we need to grow
The answer:
To name the forum SK was our first preference. Reason heritage, loyalty, affection
At any rate, anything else needed to be African, short and catchy, easy to remember, professional. Identity also needed to embody meaning of forum: sharing, connection, discovery, learning
Issues:
-sk.com site was required for proper branding and growth outside Kenya
-stockskenya.com did not have very positive image in professional market; often accused of being pedestrian
-so many appropriate names taken in the international domain space
Conclusion:
Wazua:- 'Serious talk about wealth'
-name pronounced the same in both English and Swahili
-deeper meaning in Swahili
-professional, memorable, wise
Motif:- a circle of Africans sitting around the fireplace, searching for knowledge in the sunset, to exchange ideas about wisdom and wealth. Traditional green of SK was incorporated into the identity.
Portal:- Availed on wazua.com and wazua.co.ke
Distinct sections created to allow unadulterated conversation about investments, groups, sme, market etc. which had turned off many of our earlier users. Club SK defined to allow us all to 'let our hair down' and express ourselves freely
Soft launch:
Early Christmas present for former SK users from Nov 30. Collect all input, incorporate and introduce second release before marketing launch to wider public.
Things you may not know about SK:
1. Position as at last week was 355 in Kenya from a high of 25 [high of 3rd local site in Kenya]
2. Other Discussions were contributing 65% of posts
3. Investments posts were read most frequently compared to average readership of Other Discussions
4. Average number of new topics weekly down from 148(2008) to 134(2009) and average number of users contribution weekly down from 1,487(2008 ytd) to 1,300(2009 ytd)
4. Corporates reluctant to advertise for larger part of the year due to outdated look and restrictive name
stockskenya attached the following image(s):
jrose.jpg
(6kb) downloaded 1 time(s).