• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Marketers challenged to seek technological innovation to disrupt industry

Marketers challenged to seek technological innovation to disrupt industry

Speakers at the finale of Nigeria’s first marketing and media Hackathon tagged ‘MarkHack 1.0’ have taken a cue of how technology is disrupting other sectors to call on marketers to seek technological innovation to also disrupt marketing landscape in Nigeria.
Seeing how technology has disrupted other global industries, Victor Afolabi, Founder, of Eko Innovation Centre, and Curator MarkHack 1.0 believed that the marketing and media industry in Nigeria was ripe for disruption.

“It is either we collaborate with stakeholders in the industry to create the disruption we anticipate or we allow disruption to happen to us”, he said at the event where LiveBIc, which comprised Shadrach Akao and Ernest Ogbanefe emerged the overall winners from a list of 10 finalists involved in the pitch at the finals of the hackathon.LiveBIc got $10,000 prize for developing a new platform for content creators to market and deliver their content.

Similarly, in a chat, Franklin Ozekhome, CEO & Head of Growth, Identiture Africa; Seyi Tinubu, CEO/Chairman, Loatsad Promo media; and MuyiwaAleshinloye, Head of Marketing, Wakanow called on marketers to take advantage of technology to grow their brands as Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, and others are being deployed to ease business operations.

Read also: APCON moves against unethical online advertising

Also speaking, the President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), IdorenyenEnang while delivering his keynote address at the event urged marketers to continue to innovate, and know how to use their channels effectively.
Other winners include, Sprayme that clinched the second position and $4,000 prize money for innovating a new way for social gifting and content monetization; Reelbuzz emerged the third winner with $3,000 for creating an intuitive platform that helps brands connect and command higher brand loyalty; Innovatoras took the fourth position as well as $2,000 prize money for directing the leads for businesses and turning them to paying customers and Monify Cookies, fifth position with $1,000 for developing a browser tool that provides its users the ability to block all unsolicited ads and earn money from allowed ads.

The winners and runners-up will also get working space at Eko Innovation Centre, while all ten finalists will have access to join the EIC accelerator program and GITEX Global pitch event in Dubai.
Victor Afolabi, explained that MarkHack 1.0 is a gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, Policymakers, and Marketing Professionals, to create solutions to real-life Marketing challenges.

The organizers of the event, Eko Innovation Centre and GDM Group revealed that over 500 individuals registered to participate in the hackathon from 72 locations, 5 countries (which includes Nigeria, California- USA, Kenya, Pakistan, and London), and 3 continents (Africa, Europe, and North America).
On his part, Hakeem PopoolaFahm, Commissioner of Science and Technology, Lagos State applauded the organizers for the laudable initiative.