BizTrends Live 2020 Event: Africa Alive with Possibility

BizTrends Live 2020 Event: Africa Alive with Possibility

Forming part of a team representing ByDesign Communications, last week I attended BizCommunity.com’s annual event called #BizTrendsLive2020. Hosted at Ster Kinekor, Mall of Africa, the event included a total of 8 speakers who all presented their 360 perspectives on ‘trends shaping the African continent and the world’ to a room full of leading creatives, agencies and consultants.

It was clear – despite the challenges Africa is facing, brands need to embrace technology and social media, and more importantly, use them as tools to achieve their broader business objectives. To be successful, brands must know their desired audience well, and create tailored messages that speak not only to their current customer, but also the new and emerging generation.

Brands that are currently succeeding are the ones that are using storytelling to capture their customer’s imagination and consequently, their attention. These brands are making sure to take their potential customers on a journey and converting them into long term leads brand advocates.

Below are some of the key insights highlighted by the speakers:

• “Most things are changing thanks to technology & social media. Pop star Billie Eilish is a perfect example, she has reinvented the idea behind music & has achieved success by simply recording with her brother at their house without a recording deal.”

• ”Imagine the impossible and more importantly, plan for it because anything is possible… even the supposedly impossible.”

• ”One of the key things in business today is understanding the next generation. After all they are going to be pivotal not only to the workforce but also your business holistically.”

• ”Always understand the context first in everything you do, especially in business.”

• ”Always understand your WHY”

• “Being a good leader is all about planning, preparation and being adaptable/agile in light of the various changes in the world.”

• ”One of the biggest things we suffer from in SA is mediocrity especially in the service industry.”

• ”We need to re-look how we broadcast our brand messages especially since things are done on a public forum nowadays which then opens you up to public scrutiny very quickly.”

• ”Creating change from a brand point of view starts from the inside.” 

• “In Senegal the internet has increased from 0.5% to 60% over the past 10 years. There are tons of changes & progress happening on the African continent with a large part of that being driven by technology.”

• “The African culture is starting to show up in spaces we never expected it to.”

• ”Diversity in marketing teams is key to achieving the best results for brands.”

• “Brands need to move to a place where they don’t just talk about the salient features of a product and what it offers. Instead more of a story needs to be told.” 

A great and worthwhile exercise this was but none of it will mean anything if all (if not some) of the above, isn’t put into practice.

Thabiso Moloi, Social Media Lead at ByDesign Communications