Post-Event Report
SPONSORED BY:
About The Cake Festival
The Cake Festival is the first event of its kind in Kenya that aims to display all the Cakes and desserts that are available in the market. It is a convergence of bakers, exhibitors and sponsors who are passionate about all things baking! Guests of diverse groups are brought together by their love for cake and are able to contribute to a charitable cause while at it.
The main objective of the Cake Festival is to raise awareness and funds in support of the Edumed Trust. In addition to this, it aims to showcase the talent of amateur and professional bakers as well as to educate the public on different kinds of cakes and desserts that are available in the market.
The inaugural Cake Festival 2009 attracted 20 bakers, 5 sponsors and 637 guests. The festival that was held at the Nairobi Safari Walk had a fine blend with nature that appealed to the guests and raised much needed awareness and funds for Edumed.
This year’s event, The Cake Festival 2010, saw 35 professional and amateur bakers bringing over 1700 kilos of cake that was enjoyed by over 3,000 guests. This was made possible by over fifteen sponsors who contributed greatly to baker’s ingredients and media amongst other efforts.
We really appreciate your work and the entire team that worked on the cake festival. Many thanks for the hard work‌ you exceeded our expectations! Dr Solomon Mwangi, Co-founder, Edumed Trust
The Event Program in Summary The day’s program involved arrival of guests who would straight away head onto sampling of cakes and accompaniments such as tea, coffee, chocolate and nuts as well as visiting the sponsor’s stands. The children were treated to a number of fun activities including swimming, waterslides, face painting, bouncing castles and playstation amongst others. The adults had the opportunity to enjoy the Dj music and live band performances or simply relax while reading Tupike or Sokoni magazines.
The guests also got a chance to learn more about Edumed Trust in addition to viewing the signature cakes and theme cakes. The Baking Banda got many people fascinated at the skill of the young chefs (petit chefs aged between 6 and 12 years) who conducted “live demos” after every two hours. Later on, we got to witness the construction of the “Trophy Cake”, a gigantic football field with a huge ball in the center. The voting for the competition was done and the winners received exciting prizes from Uchumi, Sony Sugar, Premier flourmills, Kenyanut, Tupike and Cadbury.
This culminated into an exciting raffle where the guests won over 50 cakes. There were cakes for those who knew facts about Edumed Trust in the ‘Quickfire’ challenge. Then came the most exciting part of all… cutting of the Trophy Cake and everyone got to take a piece home! Besides cake, there was a lot to eat from the grill bar including kuku choma, burgers, hot dogs, chicken tikka and much more!
Sponsorship
We partnered with fifteen sponsors who contributed to the event in different ways. The sponsorship was categorized as Media, Baker’s Ingredients, Exhibitors and Ticket selling venues. Sponsorship was made in cash and in kind. The sponsors are as follows: 1. Media • Royal Media Services • Hope FM • Homeboyz radio • Radio Africa • Magnate Ventures • Span Image
Feedback from Sponsors
The event was very good… this event has provided great mileage for us in terms of sales and brand visibility. We are also glad to partner with Edumed Trust through the cake festival for the second year! Asif, Premier Flourmills
• The Insyder
The event has more than fulfilled our expectations… the turnout has been very good. Seeing the cakes that were produced, we feel glad to have contributed the sugar to the bakers... we will definitely be back next year!
• Marketing Society of Africa
Jane Pamela Odhiambo, South Nyanza Sugar Company (SONY Sugar)
• Tupike
1. Baker’s Ingredients • Premier flourmills • Cadbury • Sony Sugar • Kenyanut 2. Exhibitors • Nairobi Javahouse • h2O 3. Ticket selling venues • Uchumi supermarkets
My honest opinion about the festival is that it was great and a success besides the hiccups experienced from our brand. Choice of venue was great too… Splash has always been the best strategically located social premise for such events. What you people are doing is great! Alfred Mwai, Nairobi Javahouse Very well organized, well advertised so high level of public awareness and the reason behind the festival is commendable. The venue was well thought out, accessible by public and by private means, ample parking space, and good entertainment for the children… many people came to our stand… Endeleeni hivyo hivyo! Millycent Oluoko, Hope FM
The event was well planned the layout easy to follow and the attendance was impressive. The product displays were good. The venue was accessible and ample for the size of the event. The objectives for us were visibility and ability to drive crowds to the venue which I believe we got right. We also got a chance to be a part of an event that meets the objectives of our target groups within their interests and aspirations. Raphael Wagema, Royal Media Services
The Bakers We had 35 participating bakers of whom 12 were professionals with the remaining 23 being amateurs. This number was very encouraging, up from the 20 bakers that we had last year. Most bakers managed not to run out of cake and supplied a good variety of cakes and gave the guest judges a hard time in picking the winners for the signature cake categories. The world cup theme also brought out a lot of creativity in the bakers where we saw soccer balls, stadiums, the famous vuvuzela and fans watching the world cup amongst others, all in the form of cakes! The participating bakers were:
Amateur Bakers Ω Ω
A Cake Affaire
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Cake Lady
Cakes by Design
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Cupid’s Nest
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Cake Walk
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Baker’s Bounty
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Slice of Heaven
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Sweet Mama Bakery
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Pinkribbon Cakes
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Kikiz Cakes
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Tasteful Treasures
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Sophie’s Kitchen
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Wanja’s Woojoos
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Edible Art
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Small Heaven
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Doanis Cravings
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Cherish That!
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Susan Cakes
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Delicia Bakery
Professional Bakers Ω Ω
Karafuu Foods & Services
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Unity College of Professional Studies
Caben Cake Designers
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Valentine Cakehouse
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Kibondeni College
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Nairobi Aviation College (sch of hospitality)
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Kenya Utalii College
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Kenya Utalii Hotel
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Kasarani Catering College
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Five Star Caterers
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Gal Bridal Center
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Jubilee (JCC) Caterers
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Petit Chefs (Baking Banda)
Event Publicity
Publicity was achieved through media, schools, supermarkets and churches mainly. Through media we had Television – prime time adverts on Citizen TV and Vibe City that was airing live at the event; Radio – Promotions and classified adverts on Inooro FM, Ramogi FM, Hot 96, Hope FM, Homeboyz radio, Kiss 100 and Classic 105; Digital marketing through Span Image screens (located in all Nakumatt supermarkets major malls, airports etc) and Magnate Venture’s e-billboard along Uhuru Highway; Print through flyers, posters(distributed in all major notice boards in malls, bakeries, schools and churches), roadside banners (On Ngong road and Waiyaki way),
a full
page advert in Tupike magazine, a full color advert in the Saturday Nation magazine and the Expatlink newsletter; E-marketing and a “Hot Event of the Week” advert in the popular Kenya buzz weekly e-newsletter. In addition, there were several radio interviews that were conducted on Hope FM and Kiss 100 as well as a feature article in the Saturday Standard. We had a schools campaign that encouraged ‘peer to peer’ support through buying tickets to the festival. We also marketed heavily in Nairobi Pentecostal Churches (Karen, Woodley, Valley road, Thika Road, Buruburu), JCC church and All Saints Cathedral. Another avenue for marketing was through Uchumi supermarkets where ticket marketers handed out flyers took advantage of personal selling. We also partnered with Samantha’s Bridal Expo where we marketed our event.
Post-event publicity We managed to get a number of media interested in giving us post-event coverage. They include Tupike magazine, the most popular Kenyan culinary magazine that wrote an article to be featured in their August-September issue; Kenya buzz magazine who run a print and e-newsletter will give us a pictorial in their print newsletter; Marketing Society of Kenya’s “Sokoni” magazine who will run a feature article on the event; Hope FM gave us post-event mentions; The handing-over ceremony of the cheque to Edumed Trust also got featured in the Daily Nation’s Business Pictorial.
Event Summary
We feel that we met all of our objectives satisfactorily. The Cake Festival 2010 raised Kshs 519,000 for Edumed Trust. In addition, we were able to attract around 3000 guests which exceeded our target of 2,500 persons. We got over 30 new partners and several people visiting the website to learn about
Edumed. This has increased contributions currently and in the long run.
The concept design worked for the event and succeeded in giving the event that “festival feel� that was not present in the former year. The venue also worked well with the event and kept both the children and adults entertained.
Most stakeholders felt that the event was well executed and felt an absolute value for their money and indicated an interest in partnering with the event again.
Otherwise, The Cake Festival 2010 was successful and is indicative of a promising future for The Cake Festival!
We wish to thank all the stakeholders to this event without whom it would not be a success.
EVENT ORGANIZERS
Symbolic Communications Ltd. P .O. Box 1063 - 00618, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: +254 20 3521314 Cell: +254 733 330056 Email: info@symbolicconcepts.com URL: www.symbolicconcepts.com
Event Beneficiaries: Edumed Trust P .O. Box 1025 - 00502, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel: +254 20 3001201 / 0710 551119 Email: info@edumedtrustkenya.org URL: www.edumedtrustkenya.org
Feedback from Guests I loved the event…. It’s very different. Will definitely come next year! Susan Tirop Great event… Nice cakes and my kids had fun too. Hope this is an annual event. Natasha Wambui I had fun and I’m happy that I’ve met many bakers with quality cakes. Wairimu Mwangi Loved the event… delicious cakes. Do it again!!! Penny M. A Fantastic and unique event with something for everyone!! I love cakes! When’s the next one? Bilquees Odewale I enjoyed the cakes and had an extremely good time. What’s more, I am planning my wedding and had the perfect opportunity to identify a supplier for my cake!! Sylvia Kuria A perfect way to spend the weekend with the family. My son has never been happier. The theme cakes absolutely blew me away! Truly seeing is believing! John Kamau A lovely event. I especially loved the baby chefs! I feel challenged! S. Mwende Great event, even greater timing! I left having secured my wedding cake supplier! Marion Gitonga Great fun! My kids are thrilled. I enjoyed the event. Susan Ngamau The cakes were delicious and most bakers were very creative. Kuddos! Patsy Wanjiru