Experts at the just concluded MarkHack 4.0 have advocated the need for innovative use of technology to amplify consumer connections by brands and marketers. They spoke at the 2025 MarkHack conference that took place at the prestigious Landmark Event Center in Lagos.
This year’s conference assembled storytellers, brand builders, and innovators to further explore how consumer experiences and experiential marketing can integrate with technology to create more meaningful interactions.
Themed ‘Experience Ignited—Fueling The Consumer Journey’, this year’s MarkHack, just like all previous ones, was proudly organised by GDM Group, Eko Innovative Centre, and massively supported by Brand Communicator.
In his thought-provoking keynote presentation, Kayode Oladapo, CEO, West Africa at Godrej Consumer Products Limited, spoke on Experience-Led Growth: Building Consumer Connections that Scale.
He outlined the various stages of technology advancements ‘fueling’ consumer engagement and shared valuable insights on driving innovations and evolving brands in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.
Driving the conversation further, Jide Sipe, Group Head, Brand Transformation & Digital Marketing, Bank of Industry Limited, while speaking on the topic: ‘Brand Storytelling as a Critical Driver of Customer Engagement…From Campaigns to Conversations’, emphasized the strategic importance of storytelling, noting that stories scale trust, shift culture, and spark advocacy, with the right narrative capable of moving entire nations and markets.
His words, “Storytelling isn’t soft, it’s strategic. Stories have the ability to scale trust, shift culture, and spark advocacy, with the right narrative, storytelling can move both a nation and a market.”
Speaking earlier in his opening speech at the conference, Victor Afolabi, Founder, Eko Innovation Centre and the convener of MarkHack said, “In the past three years, according to our statistics, we had 6, 275 participants, 15.8 million reach, 405 teams have come to pitch. We have 62 partners and sponsors, 86 jurors from different industries and partners who are also MarkHack leaders and mentors. We have had 67 mentors and of course 45 speakers.
” For this year, we have 16 mentors who worked with our cohort, 38 speakers, and five final jurors. “
The conference also featured two-panel sessions.The first plenary session moderated by Tolulope Medebem, President of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) focused on: Bridging the Gap: Strategies for Seamless Phygital Retail Experiences.
The panel included Oge Maduagwu, Head of Marketing and Communications, Samsung Electronic – West Africa; Ayodeji Razaq, Group CEO, Red Media Africa; Sam Okolie, Senior Brand Manager (Marketing), Seven-Up Bottling Company; Samuel Ukah, Regional Head of Performance Marketing and Growth, Jumia Nigeria and Ghana, and Ife Esther Obafemi Sub-Saharan Africa Head- Digital Media.
The second panel took attendees from storyboards to screens, showing how digital storytelling is changing the ecosystem.
Moderated by Tosin Adefeko, Chief Executive Officer, AT3 Resources. The panel included Jide Sipe {Lead Discussant}, Group Head, Brand Transformation & Digital Marketing, Bank of Industry Limited; Motayo Latunji, Country Manager/MD – Nigeria, Hayat; Cassandra Uzo-Ogbugh, Head, External Communications, Media & Partnerships for Sub; Saharan Africa, Reckitt; Tayo Olatunji; Country Business Manager, Nestlé Waters Nigeria and Temi Afolabi; Xbox Global Expansion Lead, Africa & Middle East, Microsoft.
The event had several breakout sessions which navigated immersive technology, gamification, and the local realities of MarTech on our continent. The passion, knowledge, and insights shared by the speakers and panellists were powerful and purpose-driven.
The first breakout session speakers included Sulaiman Shaibu; Chief Executive Officer, BFT Consulting Services; Eneyi Obi, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Rise; Tobi Olanisimi, Marketing Manager, Ab InBev, Martha Kayode, Marketing Head, PZ Cussons and Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor, Condia Business.
The second breakout session had the following speakers: Oscar Esio, Founder, Africacomicade; Lanre Basamta, Co-founder/CEO, Optimus AI; Zion Thompson, Co-founder, Startup Launchcode; Sayo Owolabi, Secretary General, Africa Esports Development Federation (AEDF) and Anderson Ozakpo {Moderator}, Chief Business Officer, Technext.
The third breakout session had speakers such as Ifedolapo Abijo-Peters, Brand Manager, Godrej; Kemi Longe, Portfolio Director, Southern, Central and West Africa, Diageo; Omotayo Inobeme, Chief Operating Officer, GDM Group; Majolie Obaje, Regional Head of PR and Marketing, Jiji Africa; Kelechi Chiboka, Head of Marketing (Power Division), Mikano International and Osose Abraham, Head of Strategy, Pulse.
MarkHack 4.0 was a full-day event, which started with a conference in the morning and ended with the newly introduced glamorous MarTech Awards and the final round of the hackathon that had seven outstanding teams—Storipod, Nextvibe, Jarvis, Allies, Blue Sands STEM Labs, 360Kart, FirstResponse AI, and JumpQ.
Brands like Indomie, Friesland Campina, MTN, and Indrive were also honoured for their exceptional achievements across various categories of the MarkHack Awards. The categories included best use of data and AI in campaigns, to the most innovative virtual event, and marketing influencer of the year.