The Sumerians who lived during what we call the Bronze Age were the first to use a calendar in 3100 BC. The calendar, a tool for noting patterns of time and seasons, had an immense effect on man’s survival. It affected when they planted, harvested, hunted, and performed many tasks necessary to live.
There was a cultural shift in the use of the calendar when the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1582. The difference in use is not that large, but calendars are now more notably used to mark down social events, public and national holidays, and appointments and have a more personal touch.
The calendar is also a great organizing work tool and has a variety of roles in boosting effectiveness in accomplishing tasks. That’s why it became a popular culture for corporates and businesses to launch and distribute a new year calendar to their key stakeholders. In addition, it became a way of advertising a company and showcasing its accomplishments to garner or maintain business.
So, when companies in Kenya started producing their own calendars, Safaricom was surely not to be left behind and sought to push the envelope and create an asset that would be useful and appealing to feature on your walls, desks, or notebooks.
Zaheeda Suleman, Brand Consultant at Safaricom, says: “If you think about the large calendar Safaricom produces every year, that’s something that customers, staff, and our partners asked for, and they want to put this in their homes in their offices.”
By choosing to theme their calendars, Safaricom uses them as a tool to bring attention to pertinent issues facing the nation, such as the resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic, showcase Kenya’s beauty from its landscapes to people, to the breadth of our network, to Kenya’s endangered species, and Kenya’s art.
As a result, the Safaricom Calendar became something people looked forward to because of the themes and the beauty it brings to the homes and offices of the people who receive it.
The Safaricom calendar has also been transformative in supporting Kenyan photographers. In 2019 the theme was ‘Kenya on Canvas’. The calendar was dedicated to celebrating our country’s beauty and our people’s talents. It championed art as a cause to democratise Kenyan art to be appreciated by everyday Kenyans and promote local Kenyan artists.
The theme is’ Places of Hope’ for the upcoming 2023 Safaricom calendar photographed by Allan Gichigi. Stemming from the ‘Tuinuane’ Thematic campaign Safaricom launched in August of this year. The campaign is centred around brotherhood, being an uplifting force in the lives of others as the current world mood has been of distress with the Covid-19 pandemic, and rise in the cost of living, and current drought crises, among other things.
The theme ‘Places of Hope’ celebrates the Kenyan people’s spirit of hope and resilience by showing monuments and heritage sites where Kenyans from different walks of life seek their sense of power and responsibility. The connections with different places result from the associations placed on these places.
Watch the video below to learn more:
