AK’s lack of media savvy letting Kenya down big time

IN LONDON

The athletics federation of France has scheduled 17 press conferences for their athletes here, while Norway Athletics has pencilled eight.

Many other federations have also alerted journalists of media sessions with their world championship athletes in the course of the 10-day track and field extravaganza.

The press conferences and media meet-and-greet sessions are strewn all over London, with some at the stadium’s main press conference room, and others at team hotels at Tower Bridge, West India Quay and various addresses across the English capital.

These media sessions offer fantastic opportunities for journalists to appraise themselves on the athletes’ form and preparations, while also offering the national athletics federations a platform to update the world on their track and field programmes.

They also offer invaluable platforms for kit sponsors, shoe companies and other brands endorsed by the athletes to market their products and services and gain enviable global television exposure.

When sprints legend Usain Bolt fielded media questions at The Brewery on Chiswell Street two days ago, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist’s shoe sponsors Puma seized the moment to promote their products that will grab global headlines today when Bolt gets his 100m campaign underway.

The 30-year-old Jamaican legend will wear purple and gold Puma spikes presented to him by his parents, Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt.

Purple being his school colours and gold to celebrate the golden moments of the former fast bowler who will be calling time on his illustrious career at these championships.

Sadly, world champions Kenya don’t have any media engagements here despite the overwhelming interest in our star athletes by global media and fans alike.

I consider this an opportunity lost because through global media interaction, ‘Brand Kenya’ would gain more visibility and the athletes would also enhance their personal images while earning their kit sponsors mileage that would ultimately improve the athletes’ bank balances.

It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that despite the fact that Kenya is the world’s best athletics nation, having topped the medals table at the last championships in Beijing two years ago, sponsorship deals between Athletics Kenya and kit sponsors Nike dwarf contracts between the US manufacturer and other less achieving, less deserving athletics nations.

For instance, UK Athletics are expected to this weekend announce a new, 10-year contract with Nike that will run until 2030, and which will be an improvement on the current 15-million-pound (Sh1.95 billion) deal which ends in 2020.

Yet Kenyan athletes continue to serially outperform the Brits.

On the athlete level, Great Britain’s Mo Farah will continue demanding more revenue from endorsements than his Kenyan rivals, with the Somali-born multiple world and Olympic champion expected to strike a six-figure (in pounds) deal with the London Marathon after these championships which are his last on the track.

The signs were already up in 2013 when Farah was reportedly given 450,000 pounds (Sh58.5 million) to run half the distance at the London Marathon, an obscene amount that almost doubled the combined earnings of 2013 race winners, Ethiopia’s Tsegay Kebede and Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo.

We are selling ourselves short by failing to keep up with the joneses with regard to marketing our country, federation and athletes.

More engagement between Athletics Kenya, Team Kenya and the media at these championships would have kept us firmly on the sports business rails.

But what do you expect if AK doesn’t even have a media officer at these championships?