January 16, 2017 By Victoria Naomi Saffa
Four contestants of the King Leone beer promotion- ‘Mi na King’, which started in November and ended in December, 2016, were on Friday crowned as kings at the Sierra Leone Brewery Limited, Wellington in the eastern part of Freetown.
The contestants also received a 10 million Leones cheque each as cash prizes for the promotion after the brand was advertised by the leading advertising company in Sierra Leone, Vicky Remoe and Company .
During the crowing ceremony of the contestants who represented the four regions of the country- North, South, East and West, the company’s Innovation Manager, Aminata Carew explained that the company was now 54 years old since it was established in the country.
She noted that two years ago they decided to come up with a product that would have the characteristics of the real Sierra Leone man- strong, resilient and powerful, adding it was against this backdrop that the King Leone beer was borne. .
Brand Manager for Brewery, Arthur Kallon, noted that the promotion was built on a platform of culture. ‘the lion shows strength.’
He said the need to cater for a particular set of people who prefer beverages with stronger alcoholic volume was imperative since a segment of their consumers were craving for such product.
He stressed that King Leone was not a cut out male brand and that the promotion was not limited to males, however, the catch was that females would not have the opportunity to qualify, nevertheless they had the opportunity to vote for a male contender they supported.
Kallon disclosed that there were other promotions on the pipeline for females as well as kids.
Public Relations Officer and marketing Manager of Vicky Remoe and Company, Larry Tucker, explained that submission for the Mi Na King Campaign came to a close on the 3rd of November, 2016, noting that the best two contenders from each region were selected based on the description they wrote about themselves.
He pointed out that for the Northern region they had only one qualified contestant.
He further explained that in December, the Facebook page for voting for contenders in the different regions was opened and that Precious Williams of Western Area won with 291 votes against his contender, while Eddie Wright won in the Eastern region with 91 vote,Daniel Koroma representing the Northern region went unopposed because there was no other contender and Joseph Kanu representing the South won with 93 votes.
Three of the winners were students from different universities while one of them was
a banker and the newly crown kings expressed their delight, noting that at first they thought it was a joke and that the promotion was untrue but now they believe it’s true and encouraged more people to patronizse with the King Leone beer.