When MOBO Awards hosts Maya Jama and Chunkz were beamed into the nation’s living rooms in December 2020, riding scooters down a virtual Oxford Street, and introduced artists performing in front of a state-of-the-art LED screen, it was clear this wasn’t going to be your average virtual lockdown event.
“In 2020 our vision was curtailed by Covid restrictions so we had to get creative,” explains MOBO founder Kanya King CBE. “And we learnt we can push the awards show format, we can try new things, and we can push the boundaries of what technology can achieve.”
The entrepreneur stresses that while there are fewer limitations in 2021, the need for innovation remains – and tech is key. “If lockdown has shown us anything, it’s that tech allows us to interact with each other in ways that we wouldn’t have thought possible before, and we need to keep building on that.”
King founded MOBO in 1996 in response to the lack of representation of black performers in popular music – she wanted to empower talented artists who too often went unrecognised.
Kanya King talks to Gabriella Griffith about the importance of digital innovation, learning new skills and building the right connections
PROMOTED CONTENT
How the MOBO Awards founder is building a platform
for black talent
Go to lockdownlearnings.co.uk/times/competition for a chance
to win a business mentoring session with Kanya King CBE or
Mr & Mrs Smith founder Tamara Lohan MBE. Closes July 18, 2021
SHARE
Now she’s broadening her reach and creating a digital platform for black talent to access networks and career opportunities in the creative and tech industries. “These are the sectors changing the world, and they’re driven by innovation – innovation itself is driven
by ideas and diversity of thought so we need to address underrepresentation.”
This digital platform, MOBOLISE, has been created through a partnership with global technology and management consulting firm Accenture. “We approached them with the idea and they were so excited to work with MOBO, they seconded a digital strategy manager into our group to help us make our ideas real. This has since grown into a real partnership, each of us bringing our best to the table,” King says. “We’re fortunate to be working with such an incredible tech company. They are leaders in their field, with so much experience in the tech world to match our experience in the creative world.”
MOBOLISE is currently in beta testing and King hopes that once it’s live, the platform will reach a wide and diverse audience. “Creating MOBOLISE as an app will make it very accessible, especially to our target audience, which is very comfortable online. We’ve already got incredible people lined up to offer their top tips and mentorship – we want to help create a digital environment for talent to thrive and build their confidence.”
She may now be a technology entrepreneur, but King insists that being digitally savvy isn’t a prerequisite for creating innovative digital products. “I’m very curious,” she says. “Plenty of entrepreneurs in tech have risen from non-tech backgrounds – not because of their knowledge but because they made the choice. If you’re open to self-development, learning new skills and building the right connections, you’re already on your way.”
The disproportionate impact of lockdown on black, Asian and minority backgrounds was worrying – whether we’re talking job losses, illness, or struggles with home schooling due to lack of access to technology. This has made me more determined to see initiatives like MOBOLISE work, where technology allows us to reach out to people in ways we simply never could before.
We’re fortunate to be working with a company
with experience in the tech world to match
our experience in the creative world
When a disaster strikes, you go through a kind of grief.
We went into ‘war room mode’… it was empowering
Enter here
Kanya King’s five
lockdown learnings
You’ve got to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Challenges help to build resilience and having this has allowed me to be flexible and to change the framework of how I see things. Resilience has enabled me to be innovative, to bounce back and find new ways of moving forwards.
I’ve learnt about the importance of flexibility. Gone are the days of filling my diary to the max with meetings and long commutes. Being able to work at different hours and fit work around other commitments – these benefits of technology are here to stay.
Despite the challenges, I’ve seen huge generosity during lockdown. People have delivered amazing performances and thrown themselves into raising money for good causes. People want to go out and give back and that has been society at its best.
think about how tech can help
you reach your audience
take risks – we learn
from failure
1
2
3
It’s time to embrace
flexible working
4
5
It’s always good to
give back
Technology allows you to be more closely connected with communities across the world – and there’s power in that. In 2020, the MOBO Awards were virtual and we were able to welcome artists from every continent, which was incredible. It was challenging, but we were able to be more innovative and creative – and do things differently.
A fresh
start
Online lessons for a 120-year-old business
Established in 1903, family-run butcher’s Eric Lyons has been serving its West Midlands community for almost 120 years. When the first lockdown struck in March 2020, managing director Nick Lyons had two choices. “No one could come into the shop. We thought we can either shut or I can spend the evening trying to set up a website to sell online,” he explains. “We managed to pull a site together and it went mad – the next day we did 200 deliveries and we had never done one before in our lives.”
Eric Lyons might be operating in one of the world’s oldest industries, but since taking those first steps into digital, the business hasn’t looked back. “I want to create the best butcher’s website in England,” says Lyons. “We’re designing a third version now.”
There certainly aren’t many local butchers in Britain that let you take a virtual 3D tour of the shop or subscribe to their YouTube channel, but that’s what he has achieved.
“I’d never spoken into a camera before,” says Lyons, “but my friend who was on furlough helped to put together some YouTube videos of me talking about recipes with links through to our products.”
Social media helped to bring Eric Lyons from the high street into people’s homes during a crisis, but there’s even more to it than that for the butcher. “A lot of our clientele are 40-plus but I want to reach 25-year-olds and help them to feel confident walking into a butcher’s,” he explains.
This turn to digital has also boosted the bottom line, helping to raise turnover from around £1.1 million three years ago to £1.8 million now, with most of that growth coming in the past 15 months. The company has had to hire an extra five members of staff to cope with the increased demand. But Lyons isn’t stopping there. “We’ve saturated the local market and we’re planning to start national delivery from January 31, 2022,” he says.
Helped by a loan from Lloyds Bank, Lyons had invested £350,000 in refurbishing the shop and giving the brand a refresh before the pandemic, reintroducing the green and pink colours his great-grandfather used. This attention to detail has also given Eric Lyons the edge online. “It gives the products, store and now the website a real premium finish which we’ve found is important at the moment. People have been ordering a lot of things online and have been disappointed. When our package is delivered, it looks incredible.”
Next on the list for Lyons is improving his SEO skills and creating more videos. “I want to end up with a YouTube video for every product,” he says. “Butchery is a very old trade and hasn’t moved with the times, but digital technology has given me a platform to showcase my skills and reach new audiences. These fun videos are hugely valuable if we use SEO to make them easy to find with links back to our business.
“Whatever industry you're in, don't be afraid to explore more digital ways of doing business. Technology can give you a real edge over your competitors – you just need to find out what will work for you and try things out.”
make virtual events
into a positive
Lending is subject to status. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority under Registration Number 119278. Lloyds Bank adheres to The Standards of Lending Practice which are monitored and enforced by the LSB: lendingstandardsboard.org.uk