This year seems to have started on a low note for one of the country’s pioneer PR firms – Gina Din Corporate Communications – after losing one of its tech and IT accounts, Seacom, to Engage Burson-Masteller.
The departure of Seacom from Gina Din to Engage PR brings to an end a client – agency relationship which started in early 2015 and lasted for about two years.
The Seacom departure also means that Gina Din has effectively been left with no tech / IT account among its list of clients. Since 2013, the PR firm has seen most tech accounts move out of its doors to work with rival agencies – among these being Samsung (which it also lost to Engage), Ericsson (currently handled on a project by project basis by Tell-Em PR), Wananchi’s Zuku payTV brand (has since gone to Ogilvy PR), MTN Business Kenya (which also went to Engage after severing links with Gina Din) and Telkom Kenya (formerly Orange Kenya which is currently being handled by Red House Group’s subsidiary, MediaEdge).
Apart from the above clients, Engage also handles the Multichoice Kenya and Oracle accounts.
The reason(s) why Seacom – (part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development – AKFED) – are unclear though it maybe that it just needed to try out a new outfit and see how it can provide it with PR and Communications, while another reason maybe related to the monthly retainer charged by Gina Din compared to what Engage PR quoted during the pitching process.
Seacom has of late been very active and visible, always participating in local and regional industry forums as an exhibitor while the firm’s execs have shared their insights as speakers or panelists at various events.
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