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ISSUE: q406
01/11/2006
MTN marketer Freddie Mokoena talks to The Zambian Marketer
It’s usually only pop stars who wear sunglasses indoors, so it is a measure of how image-conscious Freddie Mokoena is that he sported shades for much of the evening at the institute’s annual awards dinner at the Intercontinental.
The MTN Zambia chief sales and marketing officer even sported a natty waistcoat in the company’s trademark bright yellow, making him well and truly stand out from the crowd.
“Freddie is a brand and that brand has to have equity and identity. It’s something I’m very serious about. Image is very important,” Mokoena told The Zambian Marketer.
Of course, marketing is all about standing out from the crowd, and it is clearly something Mokoena embraces with relish.
He was winner of the institute’s best salesperson of the year award, and first runner-up for the title of marketing personality of the year, while MTN was judged best customer service company, and first runner-up in the best corporate identity and best print advertisement categories.
Mokoena clearly has a passion for his business.
Type “Freddie Mokoena” into the internet and the first thing that comes up is a list of quotes from him such as: “In my view, in two years’ time we will be in a leadership position in Zambia.” It is this ambition and drive that lies behind the growth of MTN’s business in Zambia since it took over Telecel a year and a half ago. Subscribers have risen from 44,000 to 158,000 active users, and the company now covers 74 percent of the population. Its target for the year end is 75 percent, and that was expected to be achieved with the planned addition of a new mast in Western Province in mid-December.
Mokoena was born and grew up in South Africa and started his career path as a chemist. He then worked for Coca-Cola as a scientist before switching to marketing.
He did a master’s degree in business strategy and organisational behaviour at Thames Valley in the United Kingdom and is now finishing off a thesis for his doctorate in business administration with the University of Natal, looking at active ways to manage black economic empowerment.
His career path has followed blue-chip companies, all part of his carefully crafted strategy, which has seen him work for Tiger Brands, Standard Bank and then MTN, all in the marketing field. He has been with MTN for five years, working in South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda and Cameron before moving to Zambia 16 months ago.
His current job involves everything from touring the country on roadshows to helping to formulate business strategies. It’s a varied job which is loves.
“What I like about it is the sector one finds oneself if very dynamic. What I have done yesterday I can’t repeat today,” he explains.
“What keeps me wide awake is that every day I get requests, guidance and feedback across the country. I enjoy running round the country and getting to a position where we can control our destiny; I’m enjoying it and it gives me the opportunity to learn more about Zambia,” he said.
On the bad side, his devotion to his work leaves little time for his two children. “I still battle to balance time,” he said.
Mokoena is clearly driven by his work. When he finds some spare time he likes to play golf, although he concedes that that often enables him to do business deals on the golf course as well.
He has strong views on Zambia’s marketing profession.
“Zambia is not an island and we need to relate to other professional bodies out there and learn from their experience. Instead of building a class for the elite we need to relate to the community in which we find ourselves and it needs to be practical. “Everyone is talking about AIDS; equally malaria is one of the biggest killers in Zambia and I would like to see marketing professionals devising ways to help. At the end of the day if you don’t have a market you can’t sell,” he said.
“I still see a lot of individuals active and I see less of joint marketing activities. Members of the institution come from diverse businesses and if we can all collaborate and tackle issues of importance half our problems would be resolved. We still find we all belong to this marketing profession but at the end we are individuals. As a profession we have to relate to the community we are targeting; we have to be seen to be giving something back to what has made us succeed.” Where does Mokoena see the profession heading? “There’s no doubt in my mind you have credible and intelligent people within the institution itself and the fact that students are admitted as members and there is serious potential. I believe very strongly that if we can map our way to the ten years timeline so much could be done. I don’t believe Zambia should be one of the countries that never gets mentioned. We have got to get to the point where people come to Zambia to learn,” he said.
And his advice to aspiring marketers? “Know what you want and actually look for the gems. There are so many opportunities out there; just because no one has done them. Marketers are scared; we need to develop uncharted waters and try new things.” “As a marketing person what I find disheartening is that as marketers we dwell too much on the theory part rather than the operations of marketing,” he said, adding that his dream was for five or so big corporations to join forces and give marketing students a chance of a couple of months’ work experience in each organisation, learning the practical application of their studies.
Date: q406
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