NBC Otjiherero radio rebrands

THE Namibian Broadcasting Corporation’s Otjiherero radio service yesterday renamed and rebranded the station to Omurari FM at an event in Windhoek.

The manager of Omurari, Marina Matundu, said the first step in the rebranding was to get rid of the name which divided them into tribal groups.

“Today marks the transformation of the old Otjiherero service, which came into existence under the former SWABC, known as South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation, characterised by the division into tribes of the various ethnic groups, an effective tool for divide-and-rule”.

“In keeping with the spirit of unity of purpose of all Namibians instilled in us at independence, we have taken the bull by the horns so that our station can reflect this purpose,” Matundu said.

Omurari FM is not the first service to rebrand. The Afrikaans radio service already rebranded in November last year.

Branding specialist and consultant Cassius Moetie said for a complete roll-out, they are planning to rebrand all the remaining eight radio services from the 10 radio stations of the NBC.

“Next week, we will be at Oshakati for the rebranding of the Oshiwambo service. We inherited these names from the then SWABC, and now it is time to change,” he stated.

Moetie said NBC radio adopted a radio modernisation strategy predicated on three legs, being name change, rebranding and content correlation across NBC’s 10 radio stations to move with change.

Matundu added that the new name embodies their obligation to be the custodians of their cultures.

“This is the bringing together of our various cultures in order to understand and see the beauty in unity with cultural diversity. We hope to achieve this goal through our commitment and hard work, but we will not travel far without the support of our listeners. We are here because of you,” she noted.

Mushitu Mukwame, head of radio services said these services no longer conform to the traditional way of reaching listeners, but have incorporated social media and the Internet to include all listeners, especially the youth who are the most technologically savvy, and form the majority of the population.