BrandArena

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Arik Air spreads wings to Abidjan

From February 16, 2015 Arik Air will begin scheduled flight operations from Lagos, Nigeria to Abidjan via Cotonou, Benin Republic. The new service will operate four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

On Mondays, the outbound flight will depart the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 2:45 pm (local time) and arrive at Cotonou International Airport at 3:15 pm (local time). The flight then leaves Cotonou at 4:00 pm (local time) and arrives at Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport, Abidjan at 4:20 pm (local time).

The inbound flight departs Abidjan at 5:05 pm (local time) and arrives in Cotonou at 7:25 pm (local time). The fl ight thereafter leaves Cotonou at 8:10 pm (local time) and arrives in Lagos at 8:40 pm (local time). On other days (Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays), the outbound flight departs Lagos at 11:15 am (local time) and arrives in Cotonou at 11:45 am (local time). It will then leave Cotonou at 12:30 pm (local time) to arrive in Abidjan at 12:50 pm (local time).

Inbound flight departs Abidjan at 1:35 pm (local time) and arrives in Cotonou at 3:55 pm (local time). The fl ight departs Cotonou at 4:40 pm (local time) to arrive in Lagos at 5:10 pm (local time). The airline said the new Lagos-Abidjan service will be operated with Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft confi gured to carry 10 Business Class and 64 Economy class passengers.

Promasidor flags off 2015 Cowbell maths competition

Promasidor Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell Milk, has unveiled plans for the 2015 edition of the Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (NASSMAC).

Addressing journalists at a media briefing held at the company’s office in Lagos on Tuesday, Mr. Festus Tettey, Head of Marketing, Promasidor Nigeria said that the competition is open to all students between ages 10 and 18 in JSS3 and SS2 attending full time secondary education in government-approved schools in Nigeria. He stated that the best three students in junior and senior categories will represent each school.

Professor Adewale Solarin, Director General, National Mathematical Centre; Mr. Olivier Thiry, Managing Director, Promasidor Nigeria Limited; and Mr. Festus Tettey, Head of Marketing, Promasidor; at the media briefing held on 2015 Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition in Lagos on Tuesday

Tettey announced that the first stage examination will hold on Saturday, March 14, 2015 in 189 centres in 33 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory. He stated: “Officials of the States’ Ministries of Education and Promasidor staff will be present at each centre to supervise the conduct of the examinations”.

He assured that the result of the first stage examination will be available to the public on the company’s website: www.promasidor-ng.com as from Wednesday, May 20, 2015.

For the second stage, which has been modified, Tettey said there will be a quiz and that a total of 54 candidates from each category will qualify. To be among those 54 students, he said, the best 20 students in each category will be picked nationally irrespective of their states; while the remaining 34 students will be drawn from all 33 states and Abuja. His words: “This selection will ensure that at least one representative is picked from each state.”

Truck driver wins 2015 Range Rover in Airtel Red Hot Promo Season 2

A truck driver, Mr. Abiodun Adio on Friday emerged the lucky winner of 2015 Range Rover Vogue’s grand prize of the Red Hot Promo Season 2 of the leading telecommunication company, Airtel Nigeria.

The grand finale of the promo was held at Airtel Head Office, Banana Island, Lagos in the presence of TCQ&A, an independent auditor and journalists from different media organizations.

The winner of the Range Rover valued at N30 million who was contacted through the phone at the event confirmed that he is a commercial truck driver residing at Akute, Lagos.

The car will be officially presented to him on Wednesday next week according to Airtel officials.

Present at the Grand Raffle draw was the Managing Director TCQ &A Associates, Mr. Wale Akingbade, an independent auditor to ensure transparency during the draws of the promo.

According to Akingbade, "the draw is to put smiles into the life of hundreds of families. The draw is based on transparency and accuracy and no hard coded numbers is involved.

Having fulfilled all the requirements for the mark of quality, VDT Communications Limited, has been awarded the International Standard Organization (ISO) 20000-1:2011 Certification.

It is the first telecom company in West Africa to earn the certification.

The certification, which focuses primarily on fine-tuning the IT management capability of VDT aims at delivering key processes including service delivery, control, complaints resolution and relationship management. It also intended to provide top-notch service quality experience and satisfaction to VDT customers that can favorably compete globally.

ISO 20000 is the prime international standard for Information Technology Service Management and is fully compatible and supportive of the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) framework. It promotes full integration of IT services with business strategies while providing a formal framework for service management.

57th Grammy Awards: Rihanna, Kanye West, Others Set To Take Stage In A World Debut Performance

Seven-time GRAMMY winner and current nominee Rihanna will deliver a world debut performance of her newly released single, "FourFiveSeconds," with fellow GRAMMY-winning collaborators Kanye West and Paul McCartney on the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Making his return to the GRAMMY stage after six years, 21-time GRAMMY winner Kanye West holds two current nominations.

The legendary Paul McCartney is an 18-time GRAMMY winner and a two-time recipient of The Recording Academy®’s Lifetime Achievement Award, as a solo artist and as a member of the Beatles. Entertainment icon and two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J returns as host. Taking place at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Music's Biggest Night® will be broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Seven-time GRAMMY winner Rihanna is up for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "The Monster" with Eminem.

Twenty-one-time GRAMMY winner Kanye West is up for two awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (with Charlie Wilson) and Best Rap Song for "Bound 2."

Enterprise Bank Limited and MoneyGram International has launched Money- Gram “Naija Send,” an outbound money transfer services from Nigeria which enables walk-in and existing customers to enjoy the opportunity of sending money abroad on the MoneyGram International platform.

According to a statement released by the corporate communications department, this is one of the many ways Enterprise Bank, which is currently undergoing a business combination with Heritage Bank Limited, will positively impact the lives of its customers both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.

MoneyGram Naija Sends enables walk-in and existing customers enjoy the opportunity of sending money abroad on the MoneyGram International platform to over 200 countries. The product has proven to be a convenient means of meeting personal financial needs like payment of school fees, pocket money and other educational expenses for parents who have children schooling abroad.

Under this service, money is sent in naira but received in the currency of the receiving country. This eliminates the risk attached to carrying physical cash in transit while travelling abroad and for additional security, money sent from Nigeria cannot be received in Nigeria. This establishes Enterprise Bank firmly as a Send and Receive Agent of MoneyGram International.

Microsoft Releases Picturesque Lock Screen App For Android Devices

Microsoft today released yet another lock screen app called Picturesque in Google Play Store. It is also a part of Microsoft Garage project. This new app brings the beautiful Bing home page images to lock screen and allows users to change the image (from the past 6 days Bing homepages) with just a shake of the phone or by swiping to the right. Uers can also see their missed calls and text messages at a glance on the lock screen and also search directly from the lock screen without unlocking your phone. Find full list of features below.

Key Features:

• Beautiful Bing Homepage images: Your lock screen will be updated with the beautiful daily Bing image; you could swipe through the images from past 6 days or shake your phone to change the image on your lock screen.

JWT starts digital network in SA, US, France

In line with its strategy to continuously building on J. Walter Thompson Company’s many assets and capabilities in order to drive business transformation, the company has announced the launch of Mirum, a new global company uniting 11 digital agencies spanning 17 countries and 40 offices.

Mirum includes HeathWallace, Quirk and ActivearkJWT in the UK, Digitaria and Lunchbox in the US, XM in Asia Pacific, CASA and i-Cherry in Brazil, Quirk in South Africa and X-Prime in France. The chief honcho at the new network seems to be US boss Dan Khabie from Digitaria.

As such it adds to a baffling array of WPP or WPP-related networks. WPP already has Possible Worldwide, which is another collection of digital agencies WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell has picked up on his shopping expeditions.

There’s currently a big debate going on in adland – or marketing land – about all these specialist units and how they make a client’s job much more difficult. By the time he or she has liaised with a dozen or so agencies there isn’t much time to do anything else.

Have you seen Usain Bolt return in BBH Virgin Media ads?

Are you in the UK right now? Have you seen the new BBH Virgin Media ads featuring Jamaican Sprinter, Usain Bolt? If you haven't, then I guess you need to check out the ads on YouTube.

The six-time Olympic champion finds himself sharing his superfast broadband connection with some unlikely housemates and a trio of cute but cunning gadget rascals in Virgin Media's latest ad campaign. First airing on primetime ITV during Mr Selfridge on Sunday, 1st February, the ads celebrate the power of Virgin Media’s superior fibre optic network, which provides the UK’s best widely available broadband for streaming.

In the new ad, Usain is joined by various animal archetypes which exhibit the different ways people consume entertainment and stay connected using Virgin Media’s broadband services. The ad campaign sees the return of Ed the Sofa Bear and Ally the Night Owl and the introduction of new characters – Chloe the Chatterparrot and three cheeky racoons known as the Broadbandits. Each character makes the most of Virgin Media’s powerful network as they all go online at the same time to do the things they enjoy.

In the first ad, called ‘Broadbandits’, Usain is streaming the latest Netflix release on a tablet while surrounded by three young racoons. His screen is deftly swiped by a racoon who wants to watch Rio 2, then the other racoons pinch his phone and laptop. A voiceover explains broadband from Virgin Media stays superfast, even when everyone in the home is connected. Usain grabs the TiVo® remote to the dismay of the racoons who turn to look at him. He says “Don’t even think about it!” before sitting back to stream Netflix on TV.

In the second ad, called ‘Full House’, Usain heads to his living room to play a game online. He finds the sofa is already occupied by Ed the Sofa Bear, watching TV. Meanwhile Ally the Night Owl, who is streaming a box set on her tablet, and Chloe the Chatterparrot, busily Skyping a friend, are in the other rooms. When Usain finally finds a quiet spot in the loft he starts to play a game on his tablet, but is interrupted by a disapproving Ally, who makes him turn the volume down.

Fifa confirms four candidates for presidency

Prince Ali of Jordan, Luis Figo and Michael van Praag have been confirmed as runners in the race for the top job at football's governing body.

A potential fifth contender, Champagne failed to win enough support in his bid to unseat Sepp Blatter.

Blatter, who has worked for Fifa since 1975, is seeking a fifth term in office to extend his 17-year reign.

Sepp Blatter

Candidates had to secure the backing of five national football associations, with Champagne only receiving the support of three.

The election panel expects to 'formally admit and declare the candidates who are eligible for the office of Fifa President' in about two weeks.

The election will be held May 29 at Fifa's congress in Zurich.

Blatter remain favourite candidate to win.

PRISM Awards Introduces Two New African Categories

In line with its vision of becoming an African celebration of excellence in public relations and communication, the PRISM awards have introduced two new categories with an African focus: 'Best African Network' and the 'Pan African Campaign of the Year'. The deadline for submission of entries is 6 February 2015.

The Best African Network category is aimed at "consultancies working together on common clients showing a clear African vision and plan, stature and presence of each in market partner."

The Pan African Public Relations Campaign of the Year is for a campaign spanning five or more countries in Africa, in any industry.

"These new categories will enable consultancies across Africa to benchmark themselves against the best on the continent," says Bridget von Holdt, Convenor of the PRISM Awards. "Six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa, so it makes business sense for consultancies to work together in this dynamic and fast growing continent. Collaboration is a growing trend in our industry."

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone will include a much-improved fingerprint sensor which takes cues from Apple’s Touch ID in that it will recognize a fingerprint when a user places their fingertip on the Home button, according to an unverified report by SamMobile.com

This is similar to what Apple introduced with the iPhone 5 and again with iPhone 6. And it’s different from what Samsung first attempted when it began using fingerprint scanners, on the Galaxy S5.

The failed fingerprint ID system was not only implemented on the Galaxy S5, but also on the Galaxy S5 Mini, the Galaxy Alpha, the Galaxy Tab S, the Galaxy Note 4, and the new Galaxy Note Edge.
The oblong Home button that’s a hallmark on Samsung’s smart devices made it difficult to get an accurate reading.

SamMobile.com also notes that the major difference in the fingerprint systems comes down to how much of a fingerprint the device actually captures.

Valentine's Day: Close-up Launches Cupid Games Campaign

Ahead of the forthcoming Valentine’s Day (February 14), Unilever Nigeria, producers of Close-up toothpaste has launched the Close-up Cupid Games campaign in Lagos, as it prepares the minds of its customers towards the celebrations.

Through the launch of a digital social interaction tagged ‘Cupid Games’, Nigerian youths and the young at heart will be getting closer and expressing affection at a time when closeness is in the air.

“The Closeup Cupid Game”, according to the organisers, “is a platform, where young Nigerians can meet and form new friendships. It is a very interesting and exciting game that is available to play both online via www.cupid-games.com/ng or via sms by texting Username+ Gender+ Age+ State of Residence to 20050 and is open to all Nigerians who are at least 18years old.”

The management of the brand said, the Cupid Games for Valentine is a platform for young individuals to express their feelings for that special person. The evening was graced with fun and excitement as musicians, Yemi Alade and Davido entertained the crowd with music.

Speaking on the modalities involved to participate in the game, the owners of the brand, in a statement, noted that, “During the course of the game, participants will demonstrate how far they can go for love by taking the challenge, which is in a form of a dare.