Value Of The Box | The Aereon Media Story

Merriam-Webster Inc defines Innovation as:

'the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices or methods'

 Entrepreneurship is getting more and more difficult with the advent of new technology and in more developed countries such as the United States, it is plausibly even more so in comparison to third world nations. It seems apparent that every possible need is being met by one entrepreneur or the other. As we slowly amble towards the succeeding century, i'm left wondering just how complex entrepreneurship will be. It is not downright gloomy for entrepreneurship however, especially if the masses embrace a key ingredient of this initiative, Innovation.

In an entrepreneurial way, i have been in the Media and Advertising business for a mere 4 years now and in this time, i have had to learn the customs, procedures and standards maintained in this industry. As it got fed to me, it got hard coded through my hippocampus  direct into my cerebral cortex as the affixed norm. During my second year in this industry, i encountered a fellow by the name of Talent Zukutu who had, through research, discovered Bicycle Billboard Advertising in America and Canada, and had gone on to engineer his own working prototype of this concept. This undertaking effectually made him the first person in Africa (as far as i know), and by extension to Zimbabwe, to launch this innovation. We met during a period in which the prototypes were idly stored in a trailer, struck up a friendship and decided to merge our talents (no pun intended) to culminate in a mutual realization of income and by so doing, in the following year, we landed our first client, Harare International Festival of the Arts, for a service test.

The test was a resounding success and we personally performed it, cycling more than 30km in a single day for 14 days. I lost 5kg in the first week off my already trim figure. On the last day, we were enamoured when a CCTVN reporter opted to do his sign off on one of the promo bikes for his coverage of the event on the news bulletin. This undertaking led us to 3 more jobs for 3 huge clients, and proudly, we personally cycled through all 3 jobs. The images are shown below:

Had it not been for the contextual thinking of a certain 21 year old in 2010, this journey would not have been possible. Innovation is about finding out improved methods of achieving things, improving the quality of life. The power of independent though is so prolific that it breathes life into the dying concept of owning and running a business. Free thinking bridges the gap between "what can be" and "what is". If we foster a generation of people who think outside the box rather than those who obey the norms, then just maybe, there could be employment enough to cater to the dynamically perpetual global population.

As Aereon media, will we go far and achieve William Gates status? Probably not from this particular endavour, but i'm really glad to be a part of reforming and reshaping the advertising industry in Zimbabwe.