By Johnson Adebowale
In a thrilling finale to several months of intense pitch sessions, workshops, masterclasses and mentorship aimed at equipping participants with the skills and resources necessary to bring their innovative ideas to market, Team Chao emerged victorious in the MarkHack 3.0 contest recently.
MarkHack 3.0, the third edition of Nigeria’s premier marketing and media hackathon, was curated by GDM Group and Eko Innovation Center to deepen industry knowledge while fostering solutions to marketing challenges. This year’s event, themed, “Beyond Limits: Unleashing creativity with emerging tech,” showcased groundbreaking ideas from startups before a panel of industry experts.
Organized in collaboration with Brand Communicator, MarkHack 3.0 provided a platform for discussing the future of marketing in a tech-driven world. The event featured a conference with keynote addresses, panel discussions and a startup pitch competition, drawing experts from the martech, marketing communications and technology sectors.
Olugbolahan Olusanya, country director, Nigeria, for Teknowledge, set the tone with his keynote address, emphasizing the fusion of marketing and technology. He urged marketers to understand customer needs before adopting new technologies, highlighting key emerging trends such as AI, automation, augmented reality, big data, machine learning and 5G/IoT.
The conference featured several insightful panel sessions. The first, moderated by Tobi “Miss Techy” Ayeni, focused on “The future of marketing and media in a tech-driven world.” Panelists included Jimi Taiwo, gmanager of PepsiCo Nigeria; Stanislaus Martins, managing director, West Africa, for the Aleph Group; Oluwadamilola Adams, founder of Social ARAAfrica, and Oyebowale Akideinde, head of digital products and iInnovation at Airtel Nigeria. They discussed the evolution of traditional marketing and the critical role of data analytics in shaping business strategies.
Another panel, led by Kemi Alonge, head of marketing for PZ Cussons, explored “Digital transformation in industry: Marketing, media, and technology.” Alongside Alonge, the panel featured Sam Immanuel, founder/CEO of Semicolon, and Itohan Izugbokwe, country manager of Futuretech Media. Moderated by Yinka Obebe, CEO of Pop Central, the session delved into how companies were adapting to the digital age and leveraging technology to enhance their marketing strategies
A breakout session on “Emerging technologies shaping the future of media and marketing” offered deeper insights into specific technological trends. Segun Ogunleye, general manager of marketing, SBC, highlighted the rapid shift to digital platforms and Pepsi’s integration of digital elements like QR codes to enhance customer interaction. Other panelists, including Ibirogba Lara, marketing manager at Stanbic Bank, and Dr. Ifeoluwapo Odedere, senior brand manager at Guinness Nigeria, focused on the importance of personalization and the generative aspects of AI.
Victor Gbenga Afolabi, the convener and visionary behind MarkHack, explained the rationale behind the event. He said: “In a rapidly evolving marketing and media landscape, staying ahead of the curve is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered marketing, pushing businesses to adapt rapidly to new realities and accelerating the adoption of technology in unprecedented ways.”
A key component of MarkHack 3.0 was its startup pitch competition, which received 2,733 registrations and 75 startup submissions from four countries. The competition focused on four primary areas shaping the future of marketing: E-commerce evolution, AI-driven personalization, blockchain for business and localizing XR. A rigorous selection process involving 19 jurors and mentorship from 15 industry experts led to 10 finalists presenting their solutions to a panel of seven distinguished jurors.
Joshua Ajayi, Publisher of Brand Communicator and organizing partner of MarkHack 3.0, emphasized the event’s significance in his welcome address. He noted the rapid evolution of marketing and media, with technologies like AI, big data and immersive tech reshaping the industry landscape.
The grand finale saw 10 teams competing for a share of the USD 20,000 prize pool. Team Converse AI secured the second runner-up position, followed by Team Market AI as the first runner-up. Team Chao emerged as the overall winner. In addition to the cash prizes, all teams benefited from $10,000 in AWS credits, laptops for the winning teams, access to the EIC accelerator programme valued at $10,000, and potential seed investment from partnering investors.
The MarkHack 3.0 event was a resounding success, providing a glimpse into the future of marketing and the innovative solutions that will drive the industry forward.