MTN Côte d’Ivoire announced the launch of its celebrity social media service, MTN STAR ACTU, for its subscribers, in partnership with Kirusa. This service enables fans to follow their favorite stars and is powered by Kirusa’s robust InstaVoice platform. It is available to all MTN subscribers across Côte d’Ivoire on both smartphones and feature phones. Kirusa is the leader in voice messaging and social media mobile apps in emerging markets.
From Celeb-to-fans and fans-to-Celeb, the MTN STAR ACTU service provides a seamless flow of voice messages. Celebrities, using the unique voice microblogging feature of the service, express their emotions and share their joyous and challenging moments. Their fans can hear them, a better option than just reading their text on a blog or media outlet. These voice messages are delivered instantly to fans, creating a ‘Voice Twitter’ like experience. The service goes over and above the regular social networking platforms by creating a unique ‘connect’ using multiple channels of interactions, including one-on-one calls, meetings, merchandising, and events.
The MTN STAR ACTU service has attracted many movie stars and musicians from Côte d’Ivoire like Nash, Betika, Kedjevara, Papa Ministre, DJ Mix, Joel Jo’art, Chuken Pat, David Tayorault, Marabout D’Afrik, Kajeem and John Jay. Many more are expected to join shortly.
Speaking at the launch, Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO of MTN Côte d’Ivoire said, “The MTN STAR ACTU service, powered by Kirusa, has created a great excitement in fans to connect and interact with their favorite stars. We are very excited to partner with Kirusa and bring forth these engaging services to our customers in Côte d’Ivoire.”
Delighted with the service, Nash, a well-known Nouchi ambassador and rap artist, added, “There’s no better way to connect with our fans than through MTN STAR ACTU. It is an excellent platform to share our thoughts and stay in touch with our fans. It has helped me to connect more extensively with my fans. I love to use this service.”
Kirusa’s InstaVoice platform powers popular social media services like InstaVoice Celeb and InstaVoice Sports, which are growing very rapidly in Africa and Latin America. InstaVoice Celeb has over 4.5 million fans, and InstaVoice Sports has over 3 million fans across seven countries.
Sharing his views on the launch, Barinderpal Mumick, Vice President, Operations, Kirusa, added, “Kirusa is at the forefront of facilitating a unique connect between fans and their cherished celebrities in Africa. We are confident MTN Côte d’Ivoire subscribers will be thrilled using the MTN STAR ACTU service, on Kirusa’s InstaVoice platform.”
