Amidst the bustling noise of busy streets, markets, or towns, a distinct voice rises above the clamour; the voice of an advert by SIM card vendors trying to entice potential clients into registering new phone lines.
This is often the case with Airtel sim card vendors. They frequently use voice recordings of a man prompting customers to buy sim cards, promising them free bundles upon registration.
The voice on the speaker goes, “Karibia Karibia customer upate line ya Airtel 4G free of charge. Kisha tunakuzawadi 100MBs of data. Vilevile tunafanya sim replacement na tunafananisha number. Karibu customer.”
This specific ad plays persistently for long periods and has evolved into an iconic and easily recognizable voice in many parts of the country
Owner of voice
Simon Richoh is the man behind the voice that has been sponsoring Airtel’s products and SIM cards. The little-known MC completed his high school studies in 2017 and travelled to Nairobi in search of greener pastures.
Upon arrival, Richoh’s fate guided him into landing a sales job, where he excelled in interacting with people.
‘I just love speaking. Even in class, I was a noisemaker,” he said in a past interview.
Richoh and two of his friends were issued with Airtel lines to sell, whereby they’d be earning commissions. However, instead of walking around and hawking lines, he creatively thought of putting his voice to good use.
The MC decided to record his voice and use it as a promotional tool to boost his sales. He always knew he had an innate voice-over talent. This was how Simon Richoh ended up in a studio, recording his voice that has been used all across Kenya.
“I saw that instead of selling the sim cards that we were being given for free, let’s also give them out for free,” he said.
“That was how I came up with the statement ‘Free of Charge’. As an incentive, we would award the customer 50MBs of data.”
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He bought speakers and would walk around with his ‘Karibia Karibia customer’ recording, which worked like magic. Throngs of customers were attracted by his unique advertisement method, effectively increasing sales.
His friends shared the recording with other sales agents and that was how Richoh’s voice went viral on Kenyan airwaves. Airtel acknowledged his voice as their official promotional voice for SIM cards.
However, he revealed that they have never offered him compensation for his contributions despite severally and fruitlessly reaching out to the telco. He now runs a photography and events company.