We borrowed this word as our inspiration for our
magazine due to its dramatic effect. Once unleashed, sebene
transcends all bounderies
Description
Sebene is a niche magazine that strives to give people something
decent to read about Africa. Our overall emphasis is a more or
less conscious effort to find articles that promote a better Africa
with a fuller life for all.
Purpose
Our purpose is to provide new and fresh content covering Africa
with particular emphasis on the arts, the crafts, the ways of
the peoples of Africa, travel, business and communication. Sebene
intends to create a great product and build a solid business operation
around these issues.
Our aim is to offer new perspectives on the African
continent as we reach the world in a new renaissance, reaching
the African audience and international audiences. In addition,
we will provide coverage on diverse areas such as tourism, music,
film, and the art and craft business - expanding the scope and
uniqueness of the magazine. The magazine will be devoted to covering
development news and popular culture.
The magazine's main focus is to cover Africa today from the perspectives
of art and craft, popular and traditional music, history, travel,
business and development.
Editorial
Vision and Strengths
Our strength is we are a design house that has extensive experience
with publications. Currently we publish magazines for other organisations.
We know the business, we understand it. Actualy we came up with
Sebene because from our experiences, we saw a need for a publication
of this kind - there is none and the market needs one.Sebene will
provide diverse information about Africa needed and currently
lacked by lovers of African music, travelers to Africa, tourists,
musicians, importers, exporters of African handicraft, media practitioners,
investors and philanthropists.
Sebene is going to be different in many ways because
it is a niche magazine and a business operating in a fertile ground
with vast opportunities. Sebene will strive to be an authoritative
magazine in the niche, much like National Geographic, providing
reference material to readers, subscribers and advertisers. Each
issue will strive to carry a uniqueness and product development
will be an integral part of the production because we know its
importance.
The
Product
First, creating a quality publication that will help to establish
a bond with the readers and advertisers in our market is imperative.
This is the creative side of publishing, the art of it. As creative
publishers we will consistently deliver through Sebene a product
that meet the needs of our readers and advertisers, even as those
needs grow and change over time.
Creativity and product development will be at the heart of our
connection with our readers. We will only succeed with a product
that our readers really want. As a design house we know too well
the advantages and benefits of a well designed and well packaged
magazine. We have done this long enough.
Sebene will be printed full colour on premium paper with attention-grabbing
graphics, hard-hitting articles and excellent content. Each issue
will contain 80 pages saddle stitched and bound will 136gm cover
and 80gm inner pages all in fine artpaper. And once we start publishing,
we will establish a dialogue with our own readers to find out
what they need and want. Again, providing valuable editorial (and
in some cases advertising) content is the key to building and
keeping reader loyalty. And gathering a loyal readership is the
only way for us to succeed in creating a great product and building
a profitable business.
Sebene’s
Market Demographic, Circulation and Marketing Strategy
Sebene has targeted key market audiences. We anticipate that our
main audience will consist of adult males and females and will
mainly be players and consumers of African music, all stakeholders
in the music industry, lovers and dealers of African art,tourists
and travelers to Africa , musicians, importers, exporters of African
handicraft, business operators, all stakeholders in the fashion
design industry, investors, institutions dealing with study and
preservation of African art and craft, African history and philanthropists,
Institutions dealing with information on African art, design and
cultural issues. Yet we will not limit our market potential and
will actively court other target markets in order to gain a wide
readership that will ensure our viability as a magazine and marketing
partner.
Circulation
Sebene will be published bi-monthly with a circulation of 5,500
and will initially be distributed throughout East Africa. The
circulation will increase to over 10,000 to be distributed throughout
Africa. The magazine will later be exported to Europe and the
US.
Marketing
Plan Basics
Sebene has a multi-layered approach to marketing. We will be exploring
and focusing our marketing and sales efforts in the following
areas:
Press
Releases and an official launch
Local Marketing Focus - Advertisements, flyers, posters, at all
targeted locations - curio shops, music shops, institutions, universities,
Tourist outlets, hotels.
The magazine will later be exported to Europe and the US.
An online version will be developed with lean content especially
targeting online readers, buyers (importers and exporters) and
advertisers. Back issues will be sold through our Website.
Single copies will be sold through the newspaper
vendors and at various points of sale such as bookstores at a
cover prices of Kshs. 150. A distribution agency has already been
identifed. A direct mail campaign will be organised to sell initial
subscriptions to target organisations, firms, embassies, travel
and tourist outlets and individuals.
Sebene’s future marketing plans include radio, possible
TV ads, billboards and other non-conventional avenues such as
sponsoring music events and more. Sebene will be present at all
musical and cultural events, music concerts, will sponsor or co-sponsor
events such as music concerts, beauty pageants, fashion shows
and TV programmes.
Potential
Ancillary Products
Sebene has great potential for ancillary revenues. Our plan has
potential books on African cultural issues written by our contributors
and associates and published by us, linkages with travel agents
to develop package tours on innovative tourism such as tourism
for development, co-organise group tours to new sites. As part
of our plans to exploit ancillary opportunities, we will organise
trade shows, music concerts, produce spin-off publications and
export African wear and handicraft as part of Sebenes activities.
All opportunities arising for business as a result of Sebene’s
output will be fully exploited. Opportunities are seen in form
of research and book production contracts on subject matters arising
from our articles and consultancies on broad issues tied to African
history, art and cultural, development and business. Other opportunities
include developing documentaries, resale of our copyright materials
for publishing in other publications as Obakunta Octopus Features.
Advertising
Sales Strategies
Sebene will sell ads as a significant source of revenue. Figures
show that advertisement alone will generate upto one million shillings
per issue in sales. Added to this are special features, supplements
and paid advertisement.
Competitive rates for advertisement have been developed and will
be printed on single premium sheets. These will be given to all
potential advertisers. Potential advertisers have been identified
as the various operatives in our niche market. They are travel
and tour agencies both local and international), organisers of
tradefares dealing with African handicraft, local dealers of African
art and product design, hotels and hostels, music producers releasing
new compact discs, Promoters advertising music concerts, organisers
of events such as Kisima Awards, Kora Awards, URTNA, local film
makers, music promoters, advertising agencies, radio stations,
information and communication bureaus, fashion designers, manufacturers
of African garments, producers of African furniture. Currently
there exist no publication such as Sebene in East Africa, so these
advertisers will be excited about Sebene as a direct link between
them and their market!
These prospective advertisers will switch to Sebene because our
rates are competitive and as a magazine we intend to work to be
an authority in their market and have longer life. Moreover, one
copy of Sebene will be read by 10 people and kept longer. Which
means the life of the adverts will be longer and will be seen
by more people. Besides that, Sebene will be in all the major
towns and cities of East Africa.
Another strength lies in our strength as a design house with the
ability to create and design new adverts and profitable concepts.
Adverts will be in full colour with renewed quality and vitality.
Sebene will work closely with advertising agencies to seek advise
and to discus concepts.
Sebene will employ a full time marketing director who will identify
the markets, make calls and contacts, go for sales meetings, sell
adverts and subscriptions. Such a personality will set up selling
territories, turn readers into customers and prepare our budget
on sales support services. He/she will run a mobile and busy office,
and will head a team of aggressive sales and marketing executives
working on commission.
The
development stages of Sebene
It will take 4 issues and upto one year for Sebene to build a
foothold and achieve profitability and; therefore, sustainability.
Most new publications reach profitability only after they have
created trusting relationships with a healthy number of readers
and advertisers -- a process that can take several years. It will
take us shorter: predictably one year!. Our strength is we are
a design house that has extensive experience with publications.
We know the busines, we understand it. We are currently publishing
magazines for institutions such as St. Mary’s High School,
Yala and the Diabetic Association of Kenya. We also design, typeset
and print for institutions such as Institute for Development Studies
(IDS) of Nairobi University of Nairobi. We also design, illustrate
typset and publish magazines such as Blackbelt & Fitness Illustrated.
We have strengths and clear strategies for dealing with each development
stage of this publication.
Invest
in Sebene Now
Sebene Magazine is actively seeking to develop a funding partnership
with your company. Sebene suggests the following partner proposal
. Sebene provides this only as starting points, and is open to
discussing any otherl options.
Partner
Benefits : "Genuine Opportunity"
Sebene is an excellent investment when considering the short term
and long term future of African art and culture business and all
the related opportunities. The venture is capitalising on the
absence of a magazine of this kind and renewed worldwide interest
in Africa as continent rich in diverse natural resources, and
is slowly taking hold in a permanent fashion in the developed
countries.
As such, Sebene is moving quickly to gain a foothold
in a market that will soon begin to flex muscle in terms of buying
power and presence. Sebene will pursue partnerships with foreign
bodies in order to widen the range of the magazine. Your company
can benefit from Sebene partnership now and can gain greater exposure
as Sebene grows in traffic and popularity.
Obakunta Octopus is a growing company founded by two energetic
and talented professionals with years of experience working in
high-end print design business in Nairobi. Their vision has seen
Obakunta develop from an abstract concept into a full-functioning
design bureau and consultancy, and reliable design house. Their
unique vision of the future of the new African renaissance will
ensure that Sebene will succeed in the local and international
markets as a reference material for African entertainment, art
& culture, sports, development and business.
"Sebene
is a Niche Marketing to Growing & Spending Audience"
Obakunta is developing a niche market by covering
news in and around the world of modern African art, culture and
allied. Figures have shown that the African art & music market
is growing exponentially, in terms of sales, marketing, and live
music contract potential. Sebene will develop a strong market
share early in the game before the market consolidates. Knowing
when and how to get in is the key in any developing market and
Sebene is correctly positioned on both accounts. In terms of partnerships,
your company can gain wider exposure and make profit, which should
result in increased subscriptions sales and ROI.
Luckily, there are many people with sound publishing
expertise that we have on board as advisors and members of the
editorial board, consultants and part-time contributors without
having to hire them as full-time employees. Their experiences
range from long term service at the Kenya broadcasting Corporation,
film making, lecturing at Nairobi University and long term services
at the Daily Nation. We also have on board a Kiswahili expert
and a history professor. Added to this is our design expertise
and business reality. We have the right team for this project.
Join forces with us as we run up the musical scale of Sebene magazine
for Africa covering the beautiful continent. Remember Sebene is
all about creating a great product and building a solid business
operation. Contact us for more details.
e-mail: 
us for more information on Sebene.
