Why Safaricom Junior account is a game changer
For companies to sustain their future growth, they need to recruit the young into their products as the next set of consumers.
Traditionally brands have relied on inherited customers with children taking up the brands their parents used.
It is no wonder that brands would target mothers who made household choices and influenced the children’s purchases as they entered adult life as consumers.
This is, however, changing in the digital era where young children are getting exposed to brands and do not have to copy what their parents consume but develop their own tastes.
As soon as kids learn how to walk, they are now interacting with laptops, ipads and mobile phones that offer games, learning and entertainment content while exposing the young minds to new commodities as they grow.
Safaricom’s junior account goes for the future consumer, giving young Kenyans between the age of 10 and 18 a mobile account that they will transition with to adulthood while gaining brand loyalty to the leading telco and ensuring a pipeline of customers well into the foreseeable future.
“In the coming weeks and months, we will announce more propositions and initiatives in line with our Tuinuane spirit. This includes the M-PESA Junior Account for young Kenyans between the age of 10 to 18 years as well as our mobile-based investment solution that will allow M-PESA users to invest and earn interest,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom PLC when unveiling ‘Tuinuane’ Brand Campaign.
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Kenya has a huge youth demographic dividend with the proportion of the youth below 15 years making up 43 percent of the total population.
These young ones are the prize, they will be the next consumers in the market over the next few years as they finish school and enter the job market.
Safaricom’s junior account will allow these sections of the community own gadgets under their names, tracking their use as they transition into adulthood.
It will also have an opportunity to curate content for these segments with targeted education and entertainment options that are beneficial and safe for the children.
Having such a phone will also be easy for parents to track what their children consume and the telcos will definitely provide censures against harmful content.
As they grow into young adults, the junior account holders will easily transition into their adult accounts assuring Safaricom of an endless pool of new consumers.
Safaricom has been in business for over two decades, and to keep winning in the decades ahead, the company has to look into the future and transform.
Mr Ndegwa’s push to diversify income streams to supplement voice and data that have plateaued will fix Safaricom in the short run but his vision of an army of young Safaricom kids will secure the long-term future of the company.
