Safaricom has today launched BLAZE a communication and empowerment platform designed for the Kenyan youth. If you are like me who has been wondering what the BLAZE videos were all about, finally you have the answer. The platform which took over a year to create, is a sub-brand of Safaricom and has been designed for youth aged 26 years and below. For the wazees like myself don’t even try to use the platform as courtesy of MPESA, Safaricom has all your details your age included.
[Also read: How BLAZE by Safaricom works]
Users of the platform will benefit from innovative communication products and services including Create Your Plan. This service will allow a user to control how much they spend on voice, data and SMS each time they purchase airtime. If you have for example bought airtime for Kshs.150, you can be able to choose how much will go to data, voice or SMS. A user can do this via the BLAZE website blaze.co.ke or use *555# and follow the prompts.
Subscribers to the platform will get access to mentorship opportunities with a lucky few getting the chance to win funding for their business through Be Your Own Boss (B.Y.O.B). B.Y.O.B will consist of a series of countrywide youth empowerment summits and boot camps. During which young people will have an opportunity to tell their stories, share their ambitions as well as interact with mentors who will inspire and guide them on their journeys towards chasing their passion. Mentors will be drawn from various fields such as arts, technology, entrepreneurship and agriculture.
The BYOB summits will also provide a chance for youth to audition for the Blaze Tv show. The show will offer a select few the chance to compete for funding that will enable them chase their dreams and build careers out of them. BLAZE subscribers will also have access to innovative new M-PESA- based services that will encourage the youth to take control of their finances, as well as BLAZE Bonga, which is a loyalty programme with rewards that appeal specifically to the youth.
For any company to be successful, it has to be able to tap into the youth market and with this product Safaricom aims to do just that. The company is banking on the youth to deliver 25 percent of its future growth in terms of customer numbers and revenue.
Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore while speaking at the launch had this to say, “BLAZE will not just change the future of communication in Kenya; it’ll change how we as a company relate with Kenyan youth. He continued to say, “BLAZE is a platform created to empower youth, enable and celebrate their unconventional journeys to success and give them the freedom to choose how they want to communicate. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever done before.”