NO doubt, technology has continued to dictate the pace into today’s world.
Not a few therefore believe that for individuals or corporate organisations, desirous of ensuring their survival in this highly-digitalised age, being tech-savvy marks the beginning of wisdom. This much was echoed by over 40 seasoned experts and professionals from the nation’s brands and marketing communications space, at the just-concluded marketing communications summit, held in Lagos.
Tagged Brandcomfest, the intellectually-stimulating marketing communications summit, according to the convener, Mr. Joshua Ajayi, is positioned to be the largest gathering of stakeholders and foremost thought-leadership platform, within the brands and marketing communications value chain.
Interestingly, the two-day event never failed to live up to the expectations of the organisers and stakeholders, as the venue of the event quite served as a convergence point for the industry’s town and gown, as evidenced in the presence of students of marketing and communications from various higher institutions of learning and other marketing communications heavyweights.
Divided into eight sessions, the two-day event, besides serving as a platform for brainstorming, was also another opportunity to recognise and reward brands, agencies and individuals, that had contributed to the growth of the industry, in the last one year.
Ajayi, who is also the publisher of Brand Communicator Magazine, noted that the summit had become imperative since digital disruption has continued to change the face of brand and marketing communications across the world.
“The brands and marketing communications industry in Nigeria is not left out as it is also witnessing fast-paced evolution stimulated by digital disruption-one of the major factors that led to the emergence of more areas of specialisation within its value chains and offerings,” he stated.
He expressed regrets that some of the nation’s agencies are yet to fully digitalise their processes, despite the prevalence of new technology trends and concepts, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning and others.
In his key note address at the event, Managing Director, Nitro 121, Lampe Omoyele identified technology and content as a major challenge for marketers.
He therefore urged marketers to understand what customers want, adding that customers no longer buy goods, but experience.
He counseled brands on the need to build community within the digital space, while understanding the fact that it is not just about having a platform, but providing contents that resonate on the platform.
Similarly, Iquo Ukoh, Managing Director, ENTOD Marketing, Jahswill Osondu, Executive Director, RocketShop and Bukola Akingbade, Managing Director, Neukleos in the panel discussion urged brands to look for ways to engage consumers and provide better contents online.
They also stressed the need for brand custodians to structure their business model in such a way that it is in line with current market realities, while also advising brands to deploy technologies such as AI, Machine Learning and others to enhance their business operation.
Speaking on the topic, “The future of Experiential Marketing in a Technologically-Driven World,” Gbenga Afolabi, Group Managing Director, GDM Group and the keynote speaker of the session, attributed the evolution of experiential marketing, globally, to the advent of technology.
He noted that technology has continued to play important role in ensuring that consumers are adequately engaged and have a worthwhile experience, as different from the popular roadshows that most Nigerian agencies still practise.
While calling for a rethink, Afolabi pointed out that though the conventional experiential marketing style should not be discarded, he however recommended that such style must be tech-driven.
In his remarks, the Group Managing Director, Oracle Experience, Dr. Felix king advised that campaigns should begin and end with digital.
He also insisted that such should be deliberately done to build a community for the brand, online, while fully engaging consumers at the same time.
In the same vein, Kehinde Salami, Managing Director, Ideas House and President, Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) and Tunji Adeyinka, Group Managing Director, Rupublicom, counseled brands, looking for solutions to explore the digital space; since it is the quickest way to engage consumers.
Delivering a keynote address during the out –of- home advertising session, Chike Oputa, General Manager, Rapid Xtra, acknowledged the fact that the outdoor advertising practice in Nigeria has evolved.
Oputa, in his paper titled, ‘The Future of Out of Home Advertising in the face of Digital Disruption,’ submitted that since clients in the sub-sector were becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding, practitioners in the industry, had no option than to make the sector technology-driven to be able to meet the ever-increasing demands of such clients.
In his presentation at the event, a Public Relations expert and Chairman, TPT International, Mr. Adetokunbo Modupe argued that disruptive innovation remains the critical life support that will define the future of Public Relations (PR) practice in Nigeria.
Modupe, who spoke on ‘Digital Disruption and the Future of Public Relations Practice,’ noted that material possession is less relevant in today’s global market, as real-time lending will equip practitioners with the many benefits of ownership.
In his paper titled ‘Agency Business: Sustainable Agency Models in the Face of Disruption,” the Chief Executive Officer of Noah’s Ark Communications, Mr. Lanre Adisa called for a unified inter-sectoral body for the integrated marketing communication industry in Nigeria.
This, he argued, would help the industry checkmate some of the challenges, such as stifling government policies, quackery and obnoxiously-long invoice payment cycle, being faced by practitioners, in the industry.
Comparing the Nigerian market with the South African market, Adisa attributed the fewer challenges of the South African Market to the unified front presented by the IMC industry in that market and the huge influence practitioners in the industry, in that clime wield.
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