There is a new major “historic” day in New York City for many kids. It was the day light went off for five hours. Yes, on Saturday, some American kids experienced the true nature they have been taught in primary and secondary schools: light went off and they saw the wonders of stars. Think about it: “Ken, were you old enough on the day light was off for five hours? I knew where I was with mom and dad. That was surreal”.

Power was restored to the heart of New York City after a major outage Saturday impacted an estimated 72,000 customers, mostly in Manhattan’s midtown and Upper West Side.

Con Edison said it completed power restoration to all customers on the West Side of Manhattan shortly before midnight and the last of six electrical networks was back in service.

A preliminary investigation from Con Edison found that a relay system substation designed to detect electrical faults failed to isolate a faulted 13,000-volt distribution cable at West 64th Street and West End Avenue.

In Nigeria, some were born before Independence Day. Now, New York City kids have a special day to categorize their lives. You only do those things when the events are evidently rare to have meanings. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Democratic presidential candidate Mayor Bill de Blasio would be expected to make sure that blackout will not repeat in their generation. Yes, someone’s political career is dimmed because the blackout crossed his name in the minds of New Yorkers!

People, watch the Jimmy Fallon’s monologue and the reaction when light returned: up NEPA in New York! But hold, it was just five hours. Now, go and put your fuel as the generator fuel is running low in Nigeria. See the contrast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_jOwdOLOQI

There was this conversation on my LinkedIn update on Tecno winning a 2019 phone of the year award.

Comment: Tecno took down Samsung according Prof. But Tecno remains China fake phone. You buy Tecno of 40k compare to Samsung of 70k but Samsung will like for 10 years while Tecno just 2 years. There is no way Samsung is being compared to Tecno in terms of quality. Tecno is a business strategy of China, forget the standard, push it in African market, where standard organisation doesn’t exit. There is secret behind Chinese fake phones that people don’t know. If standard organisation is working in Nigeria for instance Tecno will not enter Nigerian market.

My Response: Ben – you need to read this piece; Minimum Viable Quality (MVQ). https://www.tekedia.com/mastering-chinas-minimum-viable-quality-mvq-strategy/ . You are totally off in your imagination that because Tecno is affordable that it is “fake”. In Walmart, you can get a toy car for $10. If you walk further, there are places they sell toy cars for $2,000. That a working mom decides to give her child $10 toy while Prince Harry buys the $2,000 toy does not diminish the makers of $10. That $10 car can last for 24 hours while the $2k can go on for 5 years. But moms are smart to make the call.

You have agreed that Samsung is more expensive because maybe it offers higher quality. But some people just need phones. In your home, I know you will prefer an electric bulb that costs say N350 ($1) but can last for 3 months than the ones used in airport towers that can go for $4,000 but can last for 15 years.

This is strategy – give Tecno respect

Minimum Viable Quality (MVQ)

I wrote a piece on MVQ to help on understanding quality and pricing.

The deal is this: the construct of quality has no meaning until the price of the product is put into considerations. I always ask entrepreneurs to build for the Minimum Viable Quality (MVQ) bounded by the product target price which market will respond. You can build rockets to fly around the world: that is an engineering possibility. But does that make a business sense if no one can afford it? Ask the makers of Concorde for answers.

You can make an electric bulb like the ones used in airport towers that can go for 15 years costing $4,000 each. But people still will want the $1 that can last for 6 months.

A mom buys a $10 toy car even though Prince Harry goes for $2,000 toy car. It  is an illusion to compare the quality of that $10 car and the $2,000 one. Yet in markets, the $10 will win.

Minimum Viable Quality (MVQ) is important. Do not think Toyota cannot make cars as rugged as Mercedes Benz. Comparing quality without the constraints and bounds of price is an illusion.

This is my response to the debate on smartphone quality to help deeper insights..

Mastering China’s Minimum Viable Quality (MVQ) Strategy

This is a good one – there are many shades of exit now. The music streaming business did not work out well. But the empire of Jason Njoku and his wife will have a really good Christmas party. Yes, France’s CANAL+ Group has bought ROK, the film studio and international TV network in that digital conglomerate. We will hope the French company will bring more money so that they will continue to expand in their movie making business. This is a win Nollywood as I expect them to have more resources to upscale the movies. Yet, I wish it was not outright purchase. Yes, investment would have been better so that Nigeria can keep part of that future growth gain! Of course, not for me to say!

Press statement below

ROK, the leading African film studio and international TV network, has been acquired by CANAL+ Group, comprising production, content distribution and publishing channels. As part of the transaction, IROKO Ltd will also take full control of the JV IROKO+, the #1 SVOD platform in French-speaking Africa. The move comes as CANAL+ Group looks to strengthen its content production reach in Nigeria and across Africa.

As part of the acquisition, ROK founder, Mary Njoku, will continue in a leadership role as Directeur General of ROK Productions SAS, and maintains a material shareholding in the company.

ROK will produce thousands more hours of Nollywood content to deliver movies and original TV series for CANAL+ Group’s audiences in FSA. As part of the acquisition, CANAL+ Group will continue to collaborate with IROKO Ltd, with non-exclusive content distribution of ROK content via the IROKOtv SVOD app.

ROK was incubated from 2013 onwards, by IROKO Ltd, the leading African digital content distributor for Nollywood content, whose flagship platform IROKOtv has transformed how Nollywood content is accessed and consumed around the world.

Speaking on the acquisition, Mary Njoku says, “ROK has captured the imagination of millions of movie fans, and they have truly supported us as we’ve grown the company to celebrate and enjoy our African culture. I’m excited to be taking our platform on the next stage of its journey with CANAL+ Group, who share our passion for creating original content, supporting new talent and together, we have ambitious plans for the future.”

Jacques du PUY, CEO of CANAL+ International says, “Through this acquisition CANAL+ Group is very happy to develop and enhance the catalogue of Nollywood contents and expand the ROK brand inside and outside the African continent.”

In Africa alone, ROK has produced over 540 movies and 25 original TV series, making ROK one of the most prolific production houses in Nollywood.