Communication industry thought leaders tackle brand management at Brand Innovation Confab
A groundbreaking conference of prominent thought leaders, brand strategists, designers, researchers, enthusiasts, practitioners and policymakers from diverse sectors gathered in Lagos Oriental Hotel last week, energizing an industry movement working to the practice of branding and brand management. The inaugural Brand Innovation Conference with the theme “Branding in the New Normal” was flagged off as the first ever broadly inclusive branding conference.
“The conference exceeded expectations in terms of attendance, with a broad based participation from diverse background which included branding and marketing professionals, communications experts, entrepreneurs, small and medium enterprise owners, branding practitioners and media experts from across the country”, noted Bunmi Oke, Chief Operating Officer 141 Worldwide and Member Brand Innovation Conference Advisory Board,
“The Brand innovation Conference organizers did a phenomenal job of lining up such a thought-provoking and challenging agenda for the delegates drawn from industry thoughtleaders in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Manufacturing, telecommunications, Oil and Gas, Banking, NGO’s, Public relations and advertising making for very diverse and interesting engagement”.
In her welcome address, the Managing Partner, Brandzone Consulting LLC and the Convener Brand Innovation Conference, Chizor Malize, stated that the Conference was birthed out of a burning desire to provide a platform where industry experts, thought leaders and professional learn and share new knowledge and insights in the areas of branding and marketing communication. She noted that the conference the first of a series of annual conferences would be exploring new learning and insights that would aid the continuous development of knowledge in the industry. In her speech, she noted that technology has penetrated into virtually all areas of life thereby making consumers engage with brands differently owing to the growing power of connectivity through an explosion of new technology tools.
“It is significant that this conference is designed to stir and stimulate knowledge amongst practitioners and brand enthusiasts at a time when technology and digital innovation has changed the business landscape”, she said. “This inaugural Brand Innovation Conference provided a platform for industry experts, professionals and practitioners to share knowledge and insights on contemporary issues in the areas of branding and communication.
In his key note address, Biodun Shobanjo, Chairman, Troyka Holdings and the Brand Innovation Conference Chairperson, emphasized the need for practitioners to go back to the timeless principles on which the industry was built upon. “The crux of marketing is the ability to research the consumer, identify patterns and trends and produce relevant communication messages that speak to the consumer’s mind’’. According to him, “a robust consumer insight is still the soul of great marketing and a great media strategy is still the best way to reach the target audience. These principles have not changed, even if the consumer has. We only need to vigorously and professionally apply them to a changing new normal’’ he noted.
The Conference Special Guest Speaker, Tonye Cole, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Sahara Energy in his speech enjoined participants, brand managers and business visioners alike to research, discover and reflect the core essence of the brands they manage as they evolve any brand identity and brand expressions in order to ensure alignment to the business goals and aspiration. He emphasized the need for methodology and discipline in achieving brand excellence and quality. He stressed the need for individuals within organizations to be true ambassadors who consistently embody the brand values, reflecting the vision and core values of the brands they represent. In his closing he challenged the brand managers and practitioners to take a bold step towards evolving a “Brand Nigeria” that reflects the aspirations of Nigerians. “In this age of globalization, countries face a lot of competition from others for export, tourism, new business relations and investment opportunities. Like organizations, countries require a positive and strong brand image to achieve good economic growth we therefore need to improve the brand perception of our nation globally.Without a trusted and positive brand image, a nation cannot hope to establish its stronghold in the global marketplace”, he said.
The conference shared ground breaking and innovative strategies to fuel the management of brands in a digitally driven age including the insights presented by industry thought leaders. It featured speakers and facilitators with extensive branding, communications and digital marketing experience.
The facilitators were drawn from diverse sectors with broad level of branding and communications experience. The participants at the conference cut across different sectors, which include Banking, Oil & Gas, Real Estate, Technology, Manufacturing and media.
Speaking on the first Plenary Lampe Omoyele, Managing Director; The Neilson Company who delivered his paper on Keeping Global Brands Locally Relevant: Connecting Brands to Consumers emphasized the need for corporations to take cognisance of the new realities in managing their brands. In his paper he said that economic power is shifting from developed economy to emerging market. Omoyele highlighted the forces driving the new consumerism as a fast growing population of young consumers, poverty reduction and growth of the middle class, urbanisation and digital and information technology.
‘’For brands to be relevant, organizations must be driven by insights and data on the consumers. Customer and market insights aid the design of cutting edgeconsumer engagement programmes that keep brand relevant and endearing” he noted.
Moderating the plenary was Lanre Adisa, Managing Director of Noah’s Ark, with other panellists and discussants contributedto the plenary topic. They includeIquoUkoh, Marketing Director, Nestle Nigeria, Julia Oku Jacks, Head Corporate Communication, MoniPulo Limited, DiranOlojo, Head, Brand and Marketing, West Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and Kola Oyeyemi, General Manager MTN Nigeria. All shared more lights on the strategies for keeping global relevawhich corporations should imbibe in other to remain relevant in the market place.
The Second plenary titled Branding and Sustainable Development: The Role For Corporations, had thought leaders in sustainability and sustainable development who shared insights on how brands can be differentiated by consistently promoting the sustainable development goals with demonstrable commitment to the goals through product innovation and market place engagement. Oluwasoronmidayo George, Director Corporate Affairs at, Unilever Nigeria, in her paper reiterated that the sustainable development goals are at this time a global mandate that corporations must align to. Other speakerson the plenary included Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Falcon Corporation Limited, IniOnuk, Managing Director, Thixtle Praxis Consulting Limited, Henrietta Onwuegbuzia and BekemeMasade, Managing Partner, CSR-In-Action all contributed to the session.