Cash App, the digital wallet owned by financial services technology provider Square, utilizes a viral marketing approach such as Twitter, podcasts and e-Sport teams to acquire users at a very low cost. Its recent partnership with Burger King on Twitter saw the fast food giant pay for a random user’s student debt through its platform. The Burger King tweet went viral and attracted nearly 100,000 responses from users.

Square’s (NYSE:SQ) Cash App has grown to become a meaningful contributor to the company’s top-line growth. The peer-to-peer payments app turned financial multitool is the No. 1 driver of its subscription and services segment, management said at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference.

During that conference, CFO Amrita Ahuja noted the company’s per-customer acquisition cost for Cash App is about $20. That’s actually quite low relative to other financial services, and even compared to other apps. Banks give out bonuses worth hundreds of dollars for customers willing to open a new checking account or credit card. Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) spent $3.2 billion on sales and marketing last year to grow active consumers by 23 million — $137 each — although some of that marketing spend goes toward attracting drivers, too.

Not only is Square attracting consumers at a relatively low price, but Cash is also growing quickly. The number of monthly active users doubled in 2018, reaching 15 million by December. If Square can continue attracting users at this rate — in terms of both growth and acquisition cost — it should be able to make a strong profit off the app’s users in the long run.

Cash App also sponsors series of podcasts. A strategic partnership it irked with 100 Thieves, the E-Sport Team, saw its founder distribute money on Twitter through Cash App. Hip-Hop artistes Lil B and Travis Scott also followed suit in 2017, and 2018, as over 120,000 followers commented on a tweet by Travis Scott.

Cash App’s Twitter marketing Cash Fridays is another successful strategy by the brand. It’s official handle sends out a tweet for followers to comment on with their tag and allows them win money through Cash App. On May 24, over 80,000 people commented when $10,000 was distributed.

Its recent engagement on Twitter indicates that it should be able to retain its 2018 115% year on year Monthly Active User growth.

Cash App’s marketing strategy makes the cost of acquisition of new users to be about $20 against the $350-$1500 conventional banks spend per new retail checking account.

Nigerian brands can learn from this unique marketing approach in acquiring customers for cheap.

By Nnamdi Odumody

Tachyus creates smart technology to optimize energy production for the oil and gas industry across the most challenging production environment, including secondary and tertiary oil recovery in complex reservoirs. Its platform utilizes analytics and sensors that measure real time data to increase production, decrease lease operating expenditure and maximize profits.

Industry operators of various sizes across have leveraged Tachyus solutions across 25,000 wells to achieve up to 20 percent increase in production and up to 40 percent decrease in injection costs. Petroleum engineers across the globe use the platform to integrate all relevant data sources in real time, explore millions of scenarios and identify optimal operational and development plans resulting in 10 percent + increase in net present value of assets.

Solution Portfolios

Thermion: empowers operators to prioritize the best cyclic steam candidates by ranking all opportunities in the field and solving for the optimal stimulation volume on a per job basis. It helps to cut OPEX by focusing only on the best cyclic opportunities, predict production response and prioritize accordingly, identifying the optimal injection volume well by well, empowering engineers to do more in less time, visualize job by job and field wide financial performance. Also, its smart algorithms drives candidate selection and decision making.

Atmion: producers to cut costs and increase production in steam flood operations. It cuts OPEX by reducing injection while maintaining production. It predicts production response and redistributes steam accordingly.

Aqueon: helps to maximize production by discovering the optimal configuration of producers and injectors. It reduces costs by reducing water injection while maintaining production.

Baryon: helps to identify optimal injection rates throughout the lifecycle of a SAGD project to minimize steam oil ratios and reduce costs by reducing steam injection while maintaining production.

Dioxeon: predicts production response and redistributes CO2 accordingly, reducing costs by reducing CO2 injection while maintaining production.

Fraceon: optimizes completion design to minimize fracking costs and maximize initial production rates in shale production.

By Nnamdi Odumody

Broadband infrastructure and services are essential for the GDP of Lagos, as Africa’s fifth largest economy. With an estimated population of 25 million people, a rising middle and upper class, high concentration of educational institutions, a growing young population and an estimated $2billion startup ecosystem, poor broadband infrastructure as a result of inadequate fiber networks has hindered its potential.

MainOne Communications will invest $70million (25 billion naira) over the next three years in its Digital Lagos Initiative to solve this paralysis by deploying critical broadband infrastructure across Lagos State. This will impact all sectors of the economy, create innovation, and attract foreign investment in its financial and economic hubs across the state, generating high skilled jobs.

Its Digital Lagos plan will deploy world-class, open access, fiber-optic networks through all LGAs and business districts in the state including zones such as Alimosho, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Kosofe and Ikorodu. MainOne’s existing 700km network covers 2.2 million people within a kilometer of its existing fiber footprint, major population centers, and Yaba, where it provides connectivity for the technology corridor based there.

The resulting network from Digital Lagos will provide connectivity to critical Lagos State infrastructure and can easily be extended to other locations such as:

• . 94 percent of 1,259 known healthcare centers
• . 97 percent of 3,046 public educational institutions
• . Over 300 Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies
• . 10,000 state CCTV location
• . Unlimited public Wi-fi hotspots and components

With its  Infraco license to deploy broadband and shared infrastructure, MainOne will drive network expansion, connect mobile network operators assets to fiber, improve the quality of service, lower costs, facilitate additional 4G and later 5G coverage, allowing Lagos citizens to enjoy smart services.

Broadband is a critical enabler if Lagos State must transition to an Intelligent Economy for the future, and MainOne wants to make this a reality.

By Nnamdi Odumody

Aifi is a technology company which creates the world’s most advanced store automation systems. Utilizing artificial intelligence, edge computing and scalable sensor fusion technology, AIfi delivers autosize checkout operations for retailers of any size.

Its breakthrough innovation, Nanostore, provides a tiny footprint, plug and play retail store of the future which can operate unmanned 24 hours. Nanostore leverages Aifi powered AI, cameras and sensors to provide retailers with the world’s first plug and play solution to automatic checkout. It runs day to day operations of a small convenience type store which notifies you only when its inventory needs restocking, and runs 24-hour operations allowing customers to shop at any time.

Aifi’s proprietary sensor fusion technology combines deep learning, computer vision and various shelf sensors to precisely track each customer’s journey and behavior in the store, recognize the products they pick up, and automatically generates a receipt as they checkout.

As a result of rising overhead costs in retail store operations which has led to the major ones downsizing globally due to automation, and some moving their staff to areas where they will be able to perform efficiently, the disruption of the traditional retail store is here. It is expected that more retailers will shift to retail store technologies like Nanostore thereby reducing the need for more human-driven operations.

I am very happy that National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Daar Communications have resolved their differences. And for that, I commend the President of the nation – President Buhari. No leader should allow regulators to be shutting down media houses in his/her administration – that was for the old dark ages.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Daar Communications have resolved their weeks-long confrontation, days after Daar’s broadcast stations were shut down by the regulator.

A statement by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) said the truce was secured on Sunday night by a committee that was set up to look into the face-off between NBC and Daar Communications’ AIT and Ray Power FM.

The NBC will lift its ban on the stations, while Daar will withdraw its lawsuit, both sides agreed

Following the dialogue dialogue, all parties resolved as follows:

1. DAAR Communications Plc. will work out a new realistic payment plan with the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and ensure prompt payments in accordance with the new plan;

2. DAAR Communications Plc. will appoint an Ombudsman to ensure balance in its news coverage especially political commentary; it will also take full editorial responsibility for the use of content sourced from social media outlets;

3. Following this NPO statement, The NBC will immediately lift the suspension of the broadcast license of DAAR Communications Plc;

4. DAAR Communications Plc. will withdraw its case in court, against the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and;

5. All parties will take necessary steps to work together to build confidence in the public interest