Tout Media

By Kiwewa Faisal The year 2015 has been characterized by several economic factors, but it has been majorly the low global commodity prices and high interest rates from commercial banks. When the economies in Europe are not doing well, they reduce on spending when the demand for some commodities goes down, the prices fall. Some of these commodities include exports like coffee, cotton, tea and cocoa. And other hard commodities like Petroleum, metals, etc. 2015 was thus characterized by low commodity prices. The speculators had started putting up ware houses, amenities, and businesses in the Albertine region but when the oil prices went down the activity slowed down, government has however done some licensing so some investors are likely to come in next year, and some oil has also been discovered in Kanungu.   The low oil prices would be advantageous to low developed economies    that use oil machinery by reducing the cost of production, for example if one ha...

By Mwebya Fred While attending the recently concluded Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo 2015, I clearly discovered we are not telling enough stories of the amazing potential sources of foreign exchange in our country. The event was centered more on Family and Travel which means accommodation service providers, car hire and different air carriers were all present at the expo. Despite the fact that the Tourism Expo was free of charge, the attendance was good but not as much as one would have expected. Being a Social Media enthusiast; I took out to twitter and other social media platforms to find out the Social stories that were being shared with the Event’s official hash tag #POATE2015. Twitter dominated with the highest number of the posts followed by Facebook. Before we go deeper into how the Ugandan Tourism industry can leverage on the Social web tools, I decided to reach out to the team that was behind the Pearl of Africa Expo 2015 to hear their views on how main stream and S...

By Mwebya Fred It is very imperative that organizations comprehend the importance of Social Media as a business tool and never a threat but opportunities to enhance their marketing and brand building. If you have recently launched a new product, the comments on Social Media can help you to locate what you should do, your mistakes and how you can rectify them. Every brand has its own characteristics. Your brand should communicate to consumers like a human being, just the way you talk to people. Keep in mind, may be your conversation turn your irate consumer into your loyal one. Social media is a very significant tool for brands that need to build strong relationship with customers. It can be helpful to understand their needs, demands and habits.   Consumers are no longer interested in brands that are only focused on selling and not minding about what the consumer feels and think.   On the other hand there are still brands who feel threatened to be online on...

By Fred Mwebya Depending on how you define the term strategy, the fact is that there must be key pillars that make it successful. I always love to take the simplest meaning of every word. As a social media and blogging expert, I will define strategy as an approach to a system, mechanism and selected methods. The phenomenon of Social Media remains mysterious to many individuals and business entities as a result they all find it difficult to set up successful strategies. Thank God you are reading this post and this is going to be part of that info that will turn your Social Media strategy from a C-class strategy to an A-class strategy. There is no rocket science involved here because your Success is going to depend on how you place and prioritize the Place, People and Purpose. If you want to build a house that will last from one generation to another, then you have to intentionally set up a hard, smart and solid foundation. Similarly, businesses that are looking in the direction o...

  By Mwebya Fred In social media, conventional wisdom dictates that campaigns should be reactive, impulsive and fun. However, for financial institutions and insurance companies, this type of approach can seem perforated with risk and the antithesis of normal business practice. Then how should financial institutions and insurers ‘do’ social media? About three weeks ago I received a phone call from one of the prominent insurance companies in Uganda asking whether I have bought an insurance policy before.    Surprisingly it’s hardly a week ago when my Bank called me asking if I would be interested in some of their loan products.   In both scenarios I was tied up with some chores but I requested them to send me their website links so that I could be able to read and acquaint myself with the products. To my astonishment, the insurance agent had earlier on confessed that the information on their website was insufficient and therefore not convincing whereas the ...

 Image Credit: 123rf By Mwebya Fred When one talks about Uganda, many different ideas and perceptions show up in our minds. These perceptions entirely depend on how much you have heard or related with Uganda either through individuals or the government. Whichever side of the coin you are, one thing for sure is that Uganda never runs out stories. Right from the time of independence to Amin’s regime, then to the Successful National Resistance Army (NRA) later turned a political movement under the umbrella of National Resistance Movement (NRM). Of course not forgetting the Notorious Lord’s Resistance Army group (LRA) whose atrocities caused a lot of pain and misery to many Ugandans and other Africans in the region. These and many other stories have seen this wonderful “Pearl of Africa” make headlines in many global newspapers. I just cannot stop imagining, what would have happened if many of the above occurrences had happened in the current Social Media age? Would the late Dr....

Image Adopted from Mashable   By Mind Leaders Uganda: The social network is beginning to expand live streaming to more people, the company announced Thursday. Facebook previously added live streaming to its Mentions app, which is limited to people with verified accounts.   The feature, called "Live," will begin to roll out to a "small percentage of people in the U.S." who have iPhones. It's not clear if, or when, Facebook plans to make it available more broadly, though the company often tests new features among small groups of users before releasing them to its entire user base. Image Adopted from Mashable For those who have the live-streaming feature available, it will appear as a "Live Video" option in their status update. As with Periscope and Meerkat, you can preface each video with a description of what you will be streaming. Once live, broadcasters will be able to see who is watching and viewers are able to comment on stre...

  By Rebecca. K. Kamugungunu The event was attended by real estate agents, brokers, developers,stakeholders James Saaka Executive Director National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) as the guest speaker and representatives from various organisations such as DFCU and many more . Lamudi Country Manager Shakib Nsubuga shared some of the achievements of 2015, as well as the future plans for the company in the coming year. Lamudi Uganda once again awarded individuals and agencies who have played an important role in the real estate industry through their online platform. The award criteria was based on factors including - good customer service, vast number of property listings, quality images and payment consistency,  among other considerations.   The agencies that walked away with the awards on that evening include: Synergy Champion - Park Hospitality, Best Customer Service - Summit Properties, Outstanding Contribution - Rent Wide, Best Residenti...

  By Mwebya Fred   Time check, 1645 Hrs.' East African Time on Fri 27th November 2015 , His Holiness Pope Francis landed at Entebbe Airport. Being a Social Media enthusiast by nature , I immediately got onto Twitter to look up the trending topics in my area code, and guess what, #PopeInUganda was enormously and deeply making rounds on the platform. For those who may be reading this article but do not much about Pope Francis, you are in the right space because before continuing this article I want to briefly give some details of who Pope Francis is and what's unique about him. Brief Fact File: Name:   Pope Francis Calling: Pope Date of Birth: December 17, 1936 (age 78) Education: Colegio Of San José, Diocesan Seminary Of Villa Devoto Place of Birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina Full Name: Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, when he was named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Bergoglio, the first pope from t...