78% of Kenyans Post to Social Media Platforms While Drinking [SURVEY]

Yesterday was Friday and you must have spotted many “stray” tweets, those we easily call “drunk tweets”. If you didn’t see them then I am not sure who you follow over there in the expansive Twitterverse but you need to follow the right people. I did not know to what extent this drinking and texting spree went but it looks like InMobi has the answers.

In a study commissioned by InMobi, the mobile advertising powerhouse, 78% of the 750 respondents (all aged 18 and above) confessed to increasing their social media activity when drinking. Another 79% chat, text and send mails while drinking. On that of mail, I am not so sure of what nature those mails are but if they are related to work issues then you don’t need to worry what the cause of firing at the workplace is. Mailing the boss about the work you were assigned while hanging out with friends over several Black Ices? Fired.

51% of those who participated in the survey admitted to drinking weekly while the DDOs (Daily Drinking Officers) stand at 7%. The reasons for drinking, the survey determined, are celebrating occasions, relaxation and bonding with friends and family. These stood at 55%, 38% and 37% respectively.

Of all the lovers of the brown bottle out there, 74% (or 3 in every 4) are loyal to their favourite drink (beer, wine, whisky…) and 52% are loyal to their favourite brand (#teamHeineken, the keg people, Tusker…). Only 10% try out new beverages on a regular basis.

You may be wondering why InMobi, a company that is big on mobile advertising is interested in such trends, well here’s why: according to InMobi’s managing director for Africa, Isis Nyong’o the trends captured in the study help to better understand the drinker’s preferences and mobile engagement levels to assist brands in developing mobile marketing campaigns.

It is interesting to note that the MD observes that Kenyan love giveaways, funny content, giveaways, discounts and invites to VIP events. I am sure most of us can relate to this. We’ve seen the rise in promotions where there are lots of freebies up for grabs and Kenyans stretch to the limit to win this. Remember the #KingOfBold campaign a few weeks ago? This observation is backed up by data from the survey. Also of note is that most Kenyans prefer mobile as a better medium for alcohol ads than TV. Mobile coupons have the possibility of influencing 40% of the drinkers surveyed on which store to buy their drinks. A large 53% would even be influenced by mobile coupons on the choice of the brand of the drink they are buying or the brand of the same drink. You see where mobile advertising is headed? Still things aren’t looking up for the bigger web platform since only 10% of those surveyed would want to interact with their brand’s loyalty programme through a website compared to the 45% that would gladly do so via a mobile device. 22% would prefer loyalty cards to mobile phone loyalty programmes and a standard website.

Such a survey is an eye opener to many brands since they can use it to target ads to their consumers. Many people are ready to participate in customer loyalty schemes from their phones and also will use their phones to post their Friday night escapes on their social media profiles while still texting their significant others.

Image: MemeGenerator

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