Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) took advantage of the recently completed 94th Oscars awards in America to vigorously market Kenyan destination. This was done in a Pre-Oscars Marketing event called the Gifting Suites on March 25 and 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California USA.
The convention Centre opened participation on day one and two of Pre-Oscars Awards Gifting Suite Event with a host of engagements with various personalities in the entertainment space.
The Gifting Suite Concept is an opportunity to innovatively market the country, destination and venue by telling our story of the delegate experience to prospective clients mainly in the entertainment space.
KICC was able to partner with both public and private sectors to support this initiative. This was occasioned by the partners realisation and recognition of potential and value of this new venture; a platform providing innovative ways for Kenyan brands and organisations to be showcased.
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The KICC had a well laid out suite with different Kenya products tastefully laid out for guests to see and for those who were gifted.
KICC was able to engage various actors, actresses, producers, directors, media professionals and influencers.
Most of the celebrities were up for nomination at the Oscars awards that were to take place on Sunday 27th at the Dolby Theatre.
KICC had the opportunity to engage and gift Joni and Kirk Bovill. Joni is an actress in the Amazon hit show Bosch. Other film and T.V credits include; Greys Anatomy and NCIS LA, The Shrink Next Door etc.
Also, KICC engaged and gifted Daniele Lawson, who acted in the highly acclaimed King Richard movie.
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It also had the opportunity to also engage with various influencers. Laura Goodwin who is a TikTok Influencer. Emily Uribe was gifted at the KICC gift suite.
Emily is a huge TikTok celebrity and influencer. Juju Green, another huge TikTok celebrity and influencer was also at the KICC gift suite, where he was gifted. Juju and Emily were scheduled to walk the red carpet and interview various celebrities as a partnership between the social platform (TikTok) and the Academy.
KICC was able to also go live on NBC Live in the early morning of Friday. This was an interview between the KICC CEO Nana Gecaga and NBC Live.
The CEO was able to take the NBC crew through the Gifting Suite, showcase the products and also share the KICC Delegate Experience pitch. This was aired during the early morning NBC news show.
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On the second day, KICC had the opportunity to engage Viola Davis and Julius Davis. Viola is a very big name in the entertainment space.
Viola Davis is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. She is the first African-American to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting.
Her major Oscar wins are The Help – Best Actress – 2011 and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Best Actress – 2020.
“It was an honour for KICC to have engaged and gifted Viola. The benefits to the country are immense in terms of brand awareness and recognition as a destination for various tourism products,” said Gecaga, who was part of the team to the awards.
Also, she said KICC had an engagement and gifted Danny Glover, another huge name in the American and global entertainment space.
Glover is the recipient of the honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, given for his decades of activism and service, which includes stints as a Goodwill Ambassador both for UNICEF and the United Nations Development Program, is best known for movies he has acted like: The Color Purple, Mandela (HBO Movie), Lethal Weapon series etc.
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He has also produced critically acclaimed movies – Bamako, Hale County This Morning and To Sleep With Anger.
Ms Gecaga said it was another honor for KICC to engage with Danny and his endorsement of Kenya as a tourism destination during the engagement at the KICC suite will go a long way in creating awareness about destination Kenya.
There were other key engagements at the suite on this day. Natasha Henthridge – an acclaimed actress, Porscha Coleman- an actress, Amber Friendly – The Morning Show, Chloe Coleman – actress, Izaac Wang – actor and influencer – Celeste Thorson, Gilles Marino – from the Brothers and Sisters, Jenise Spiteri – Olympic snowboarder at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Robyn Lively, Saniya Sidney, Jude Hill – Belfast and Isabella Ward – Nominee West Side Story.
The second day ended on a high note and it was a huge success as K.I.C.C and partners were able to have very good engagements that put Kenya on the map, especially at a time when the world is trying to resume after two years of being restricted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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According to Gecaga, KICC strongly believes with this innovative way of marketing, the benefits will be immense and will ripple through the Kenyan economy positively.
“These engagements are strategic in the new innovative marketing campaign that K.I.C.C is venturing into. With the various products gifted to the various guests, the media interviews and one on one engagements K.I.C.C then leads an aggressive push on the various social media platforms to start telling the story about Kenya as a destination for business tourism, film tourism, leisure tourism and KICC Delegate Experience Campaign,” said Gecaga.
She added: “This push on the various platforms leads to creating awareness which then leads to tourism business flowing into the country.
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