Happy landings

Garden City will be East Africa’s biggest mixed use property development to date: the Actis backed project, is located on a 33-acre site off Nairobi’s Thika Highway, and on completion will include homes, offices, a hotel and the biggest shopping mall in the region. Gong has been appointed as lead agency working across PR, design and marketing to ensure that this exciting development resonates with the right audiences.

Meanwhile in South Africa an innovative new company is set to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. African Land Investments will be the first Real Estate Investment Trust dedicated to acquiring assets in sub-Saharan Africa. We are proud to be their agency of record. And super-boutique law firm MJ Hudson recently selected Gong on the strength of our alternative investment work which complements their sector focus working with private equity and hedge funds. MJ Hudson’s innovative and client-centric business structure makes it exactly the game-changing kind of client we thrive on here.

Moving and shaking

October is conference central. We’ll be at The Economist Ghana Summit at the Mövenpick in Accra on 29 & 30 October and also running media for Capacity Asia 2013 in Bangkok as it convenes the cream of Asia’s wholesale carrier industry, also from 29-31 October.  

This week’s it’s been the annual set of EMPEA/FT This is Africa events in London and it’s great timing, last week the World Bank/IMF Africa Pulse report upgraded the outlook for sub-Saharan Africa, commenting that, “Almost a third of countries in the region are growing at 6% and more.” 

Seeking alpha

We were preeningly proud of True Office’s appearance on the FT Alphaville blog when we clocked that the editorial team characterised their efforts to secure their own mini bespoke version of the insider trading compliance game as ‘six months of stalking’. And when we saw the sign-off was an adoring ‘puppy dog eyes go here’, we couldn’t help but feel the love.

Even more impressive were the stats. Thousands of people played the game for the week it was up on the site and it has spawned many follow-up opportunities both from other media and for business development. We’re just wondering how to follow that?

Announcing Adwoa

Our Ghana presence has been boosted with the addition to the team of Accra-based Adwoa Agyemang. Adwoa is working with Invest in Africa and the Economist Ghana Summit as well as helping direct our new business activity. She’ll be hooking up with the GUBA team in Accra for their glitzy press launch on 24 October, helping to ensure the event goes smoothly for sponsors Invest in Africa, and putting her best alumnus foot forward as a former finalist in the 2012 Community Champion Category.

 

Eye spy

Our new property clients are keeping Gong Creative on their toes with Garden City asking us to sharpen up their brand and work on a set of new websites. Meanwhile Jason Kelly, a former MI6 agent turned artist has commissioned a new website as he prepares to unveil his creative collaboration with Aston Martin. The team have also been supporting Continental Reinsurance as it implements a social media strategy for its clients and contacts. 

Egg sized diamonds

Muse MD Freya Simms is just back from Hong Kong where she was supporting Masterpiece London’s European Treasures Pavilion at Fine Art Asia 2013; staffing press meetings between the CEO of Masterpiece London and IHT Asia/New York Times (see article here); Oriental Daily News; The Art Newspaper; and WSJ Asia. And it was a timely trip as Sotheby’s was celebrating its 40^th anniversary in Hong Kong with a flurry of auctions, including the Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction where a 118 carat diamond was snapped up. With stars still in their eyes, Muse shared their upcoming client show highlights:
 

Gongs

Congratulations to True Office who made the top 3 as finalists in The Great Tech Awards - a programme run by the British Consulate in New York and UK Trade and Investment in recognition of exciting tech developments on both sides of the Atlantic.