‘Bring your children to me’

Multinationals are just discovering the power of youth in marketing their brands. One woman learnt that a decade ago, and the benefits are as many as her works of charity, writes MARTIN MWANGI

Thirty minutes with her is like reading a best selling motivational book. She possesses the wisdom of the sages and could easily find a place among the thinkers of yore. But hers is wisdom for the little children. To paraphrase Kierkegaard, the German philosopher, she speaks to the young because they have hope for tomorrow. And were I to borrow from the Holy Book too, I would urge parents to "let the children come" to her.

Jane Muthoni Gatonye is her name. School children call her Jane Maneno. Not because she is talkative as ‘maneno’ (Kiswahili for words) would connote, but in recognition of how she has touched their life for the better. She is the Regional Managing Director of ManenoWorld Limited. And yes you are right! Jane is the woman behind a children’s favourite magazine, Maneno World, previously Maneno Magazine, and also the Maneno School Diary — and more. Hers is a success story that began 10 years ago.

The Genesis

"In 1998, while working as the Chief Accountant at Bata Shoe Company, I saw an advert in one of the dailies, which caught my attention. It was about a group of people that were looking for a partner to do business with. At the time, I had been thinking about leaving employment and so I immediately made plans to meet the guys. They needed someone with a background in finance and so they took me in immediately. We fit in very well.

At the time, we had regional offices in Nairobi, Kisumu, Kisii and Mombasa, as well as in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and Kampala, Uganda. This was a big firm with a lot of resources and demands. But as it turned out, the leading partner decided to sell her assets as she was relocating. Even before we could learn to live with the blow, the one in charge of Radio also sold and with that the radio closed since it is technical and none of the two who remained had knowledge of radio operations.

As partners, we had the first priority to buy their shares and so we acquired them all. One year later, however, the third partner left and this left me with the company.

These were very trying moments. There were tough decisions to be made, huge financial engagements, many employees, and here I was, all alone. But I decided to stay on. The first challenge was to determine what works and what did not. I felt that we needed to centralise our operations and so we closed all regional offices and brought everything to Nairobi. Dar-es-Salaam and Kampala remained. That was a good decision.

The next step was to find managers to take over the other arms among our staff. We hired the overall manager from outside. This happened between 2002 and 2003.

After the hiccup, the company started doing well, partly because without many partners, decision was quick and implementation immediate. The team was also energised and focused.

We were determined to see the publication grow and so we concentrated a lot of our efforts in it. Those days it was called Maneno Magazine, which we later renamed Maneno World, owing to the dreams we have for it. For us, the magazine is more than the reading. It is an experience. Sixty per cent of our content is from our readers and so we let everyone share their experience with others and also to share in others’ experiences," she says.

ManenoWorld Limited is a company that targets the youth. Besides the magazine and school diary, Maneno World has a marketing arm, which partners with potential advertisers with the aim of promoting brands.

Jane explains: "The marketing arm has been doing well right from the start mostly due to its uniqueness. We do not compete for space with other advertisers in broadcast and print media. We realised long ago that children are great influencers of what parents purchase for the family. It is a fact that a parent will not buy certain cereals if the children dislike them. They influence even where you buy a home, the car you buy… everything. This became our strong point. If the youth love your brand, they will remain with you no matter what. The youth are loyal.

How We Do It

So we approach a company offering to market their product, let’s say chocolate. We then develop a simple story around the brand, which we narrate to children, mentioning the brand subtly, but making sure in the end there is a happy association with it.

We are, however, very strict with the kind of brands we promote. Ours is a company grounded on strong morals and so we do not promote cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and condoms. Parents trust us for this and the ministry of education too. This trust and the friendliness of students towards us have set us apart from everyone else.

We derive our success also from the fact that we are not all about making business. We give back to the schools we visit and to society in a big way. We realise that every school has its unique needs, and so when we decide to donate things to school, we ask them indirectly what they need. Some schools need desks, some computers, some solar panels, some textbooks and so on. We contribute from our own savings and also invite well-wishers to contribute. One thing I noted about Kenyans is that they are very generous people. The problem with many of them is that they do not know how and where to take their donations.

Since I am a qualified counselling psychologist, I also visit schools to give talks to pupils for purposes of motivation. I also counsel individual pupils over personal problems and they are very open with me since they see me as a friend, and not as a teacher or parent. This I do out of the love I have for children and I never accept payment even when school heads offer to fuel my car. If they insist, I encourage them to give the money to a children’s home."

Jane might have unknowingly learnt to love children from the village where she was born. She says: "I was born in Othaya in Nyeri as the fourth born among nine children. Those days, children were treasured and a family of nine was not a big family. In the village, everyone was everybody’s keeper. There was communal responsibility for children."

The Roots

Jane attended Gatuyaini Primary School before transferring to St Michael’s Primary School in Kirinyaga District in the 1970s. But schooling for her made sense only in secondary school. "I remember making a conscious decision to better my grades. I was an average student and my marks improved tremendously thereafter. I was soon at the top of the class," she reminisces.

After her O-levels at Githunguri Girls Secondary School, she was admitted at Mukumu Girls for her A-levels where she worked hard to merit a place at the University of Nairobi for a Bachelor’s degree in commerce. Her determination not to remain "an average student" paid in a big way when she was awarded a scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in finance and accounting by the universtiy.

Growing up, Jane did not imagine she would end up dealing with children. "I come from a business family, which for reasons unknown to me is also considered reserved by outsiders. So being in an interactive environment never crossed my mind," she says.

But the author of destiny did not let her swim unaided. "I got tremendous support from family, especially after the other partners left. My husband, Paul, is my biggest support and I am forever grateful to him. He deliberately keeps off from the day-to-day running of the business so as to offer a different perspective, and it has always paid off. We also involve our children, Moses and Joy, in the planning and operations of the business. They attend board meetings and their input is highly regarded since they are in the age group we target. They are, therefore, key in determining what goes and what doesn’t," she says.

Moses, a Form Six student at Rusinga School, is the Associate Editor of Manenoworld magazine, while Joy, in form two, writes for the publication.

Success

Jane is excited about the magazine that is celebrating a decade in the market. "When we were starting, detractors gave us three years; after that they gave us five years. But after five years, they knew we were here to stay and they left us alone. As the second oldest magazine in Kenya, we have gone through the challenges of growing a magazine and sailed through. I am especially grateful to PDS (the magazine distribution arm of The Standard Group) who have distributed our magazine for the last eight years with dedication.

Our next plan is to grow other media including Television and Radio. We hope to reach out to more schools too. Individually, I have a lot I am grateful for and I am thinking of ways I can contribute to society especially among the women."

On her secret to success with children, Jane cites honesty. She says the youth appreciate when you tell them the truth, especially about your failures at their age. Jane says there is no shortcut to success in anything. It is pure hard work, discipline and putting God first. These will open doors for you. Money, she says is not the main issue when starting a business. "If you have a brilliant idea, you can start small or find someone who will buy your idea. People are willing to help once you convince them you know where you are going.

Concerning the school programme, Jane bemourns the fact that public schools are slow in responding to their offer to assist. "This is sad because public schools need help most. A computer, given to a public school means much more than the same given to private school. I wait for the day when public school heads will appreciate this fact," she says.

So far, 10 years in business and service to society have been nothing short of miraculous, and Jane does not hide her gratitude.

On one of the walls in her house is an inscription, which reads: "God put it all together". What other words could we possibly use to conclude this success story?