Press Release

SEVEN IN VANITY FAIR

Vanity Fair’s November 2012 issue includes a supplement on art to coincide with London’s Frieze Art Fair. Cristina Ruiz’s “Frieze vs Basel” article looks at the increasing importance of branding for art fairs as they expand internationally. Jasmine Montgomery, CEO of Seven, is quoted talking about building equity across borders.

12th May 2012

SEVEN LAUNCHES TWO NEW RENAULT CARS IN NAIROBI, KENYA

Seven designed and organised the launch of two new Renault cars at the Intercontinental Hotel on the 12th of May at an event attended by the French Ambassador and leading lights from the commercial world as well as much of Nairobi’s press. The RENAULT KOLEOS, all about Redefining Style, and the RENAULT FLUENCE, Redefining Luxury, came down the catwalk following a fashion show designed to highlight the world of French fashion and style that these two cars bring to the market.

19th April 2012

ZAIN BAHRAIN FACEBOOK CAMPAIGN RESULTS

Results of the “Are You the One” campaign for Zain are beyond expectations. Zain has reached its target of 1000+ new “Likes, increasing Facebook fans from 23,000 to 24,084, and involving 500+ participants in the talent search within 19 days

April 16th 2012

Are You The One?

Seven is launching a new campaign in Bahrain for Zain featuring real people. The teaser campaign inviting Bahraini youth to audition has launched across social media. The winning contestants will be featured in Zain’s advertising on billboards, online, and on FaceBook. The campaign reflects Zain’s commitment to being the leading brand in Bahrain in terms of embracing social media.

April 10th 2012

SEVEN DESIGNS ZAIN STAND FOR ICT EXPO 2012 BAHRAIN

3rd April 2012

EASTER IN KIBERA

Our Nairobi team were in the Kibera slum visiting the Seven nursery school. For a description of the day by Alia Bellamy in our Nairobi office, click on the link below…

Easter in Kibera

March 27th 2012

SEVEN’S CEO ON THE BBC

Jasmine was recently a guest on The Bottom Line with Evan Davies, broadcast on the BBC World Service and Radio 4 and on BBC News 24 and BBC World internationally.

For an excerpt from the show, click on the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17553103

March 2012

JACANA APPOINTS SEVEN BRANDS

Jacana is a leading player in the African private equity industry. Seven has been appointed to advise Jacana on their brand positioning. Watch this space…

Feb 28th 2012

SEVEN & ZAIN LAUNCH CAMPAIGN FOR GROUND BREAKING NEW PRODUCT

Zain Bahrain have just launched their “PayPerCall” campaign, featuring a breakthrough new payment system that allows customers of their pre-paid Easy Talk package to pay per call, not per minute, at a fixed price of 35 fils however long they talk. The package also offers customers unlimited access to three of the most popular websites in Bahrain; Google, Facebook and the sports site Koora. Seven is Zain’s advertising agency in Bahrain and is responsible for their advertising campaigns.

January 20th 2012

SEVEN BRANDS LAUNCHES NAIROBI OFFICE

Seven has established their Nairobi office in order to provide African clients with a team on the ground, which is made up of both local and international talent. The office is led by Managing Director Tomas Omamo. Creative leadership is provided by Hannah Shore based in Nairobi and by our global creative director Tina Prior. Strategic leadership comes from Jasmine Montgomery, co-founder of Seven Brands. Client service leadership is provided by Alia Bellamy.

Seven is an international branding, marketing and advertising agency focused on high growth markets with offices in London, Bahrain, and Nairobi. Seven manages the Zain brand across Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and Sudan. In 2011 Seven took over from JWT as the advertising agency for Zain in Bahrain. We are currently working on the launch of a new bank in Kuwait, a new cinema brand in Angola, the international PR campaign for the launch of the Ferrari Opus mobile phone, and Youssou N’Dour’s charity New Africa.

Look at any list of the top 100 brands by value globally and there is no African brand on that list. Seven’s mission is to change that. We want to be part of putting an African brand on the list of the world’s most powerful brands.

Take a tour of the office

Jasmine was recently a guest on The Bottom Line with Evan Davies, broadcast on the BBC World Service and Radio 4 and on BBC News 24 and BBC World internationally.

For an excerpt from the show, click on the link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17553103

Surrounding the slums are deserted areas of landscape piled high with rubbish. Small children in their tatty school uniforms hold hands and sing as they dance on top of the fetid garbage.

As you cross the threshold from the rubbish tips into the streets of Kibera you step into another world. The unpaved, dirt  “streets” are only a few feet wide and down their middle run open sewers. Houses are made of mud with rough walls and tiny doors that open into unlit, dank and cramped rooms. People in Kibera often lack access to water, sanitation and electricity.  Many of its inhabitants live on less than a dollar a day.

THE SEVEN NURSERY SCHOOL IN KIBERA

In February 2010 Seven opened a nursery school in Kibera in the hopes of giving a few of its smallest inhabitants a good start in life.

On what began as a research trip for a book she was writing on branding, Jasmine Montgomery, CEO of Seven Brands, found herself in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi, where she met three young Kiberan community workers with a vision. Santos, John and Moses grew up on the streets of Kibera the biggest slum in Africa and one of the biggest slums in the world. They had a vision for a nursery that would offer families with small children and single parent families a safe place to leave their children while the parents went out to earn money.

Jasmine was deeply touched by Santos, Moses and John’s love for Kibera and their plans to create better lives for the children of Kibera, many of whom are from families living on less than a dollar a day. Seven Brands agreed to provide the funds for the building of the school whilst Santos and his colleagues oversaw the project using local labour and creating employment in Kibera. After 3 months of hard work, using builders who live in Kibera, the Seven Kibera Nursery opened its doors in February 2010. It now gives 50 children the chance of a better future and their mothers and fathers the opportunity to go to work knowing that their children are somewhere safe.

ST FRANCIS SCHOOL TOY DRIVE

There are few toys in Kibera. On her first trip into Kibera,  Jasmine saw a little girl clutching an empty Cadbury’s drinking chocolate pot. It was purple and slightly anthropomorphic in shape and the child was cuddling it and stroking it like a doll. This little girl was one of the reasons Seven decided to get involved. 

Back in the UK, the Seven team and a local school called St Francis have come together to collect toys for the children. St Francis School had a ‘Harvest of Toys’, asking each of their 350 pupils to donate a toy for the children of the Seven Nursery and to write a message to a Kiberan child to accompany their donation.

In addition to the toys we donated at the Seven Nursery, we also gave toys to a neighboring local school within Kibera. Bringing toys to the children of Kibera is a long term goal that we have only just begun to fulfill.

Some of the children had to be shown what to do with toys as they had never been given one before.

THE FUTURE

It is our ambition one day to see a graduate of our nursery school go to university and to see all our kids have an education that will lift them out of poverty. For now, we live by the motto of the school…

Hapa na hapa hujaza kibaba

Little by little the vessel is filled

Swahili proverb

If you would like to help us support the kids of Kibera please contact us:

Jasmine Montgomery

+44 7545905510

jasmine@sevenbrands.mobi