BEX 2025: Data Hoarding Hurts Nigeria’s Marketing Growth While Industry-Wide Collaboration Is Sacrosanct, Prof. Uzo Says
Professor Uchenna Uzo of Lagos Business School has issued a clarion call for data transparency, urging marketing stakeholders across Nigeria to abandon the culture of hoarding information and embrace a more collaborative, data-driven ecosystem. Speaking in an exclusive interview at the ongoing Brand Experience (BEX) Summit in Lagos, the marketing expert emphasized that Nigeria is not lacking in data, but suffers from the reluctance of its practitioners including clients, agencies, and even academics, to openly share information for the collective advancement of the industry.
According to him, “Those of us in academia breathe, eat, and sleep on data, but the problem is that we are afraid to share. People hide information because they’re thinking of their short-term benefits.” He argued that breaking this cycle will enable better decision-making and promote a more accountable and innovative marketing practice, particularly as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve.
Prof. Uzo spoke shortly after participating in a panel session themed “Data-Driven Creativity: The Intersection of AI, Analytics & The Consumer,” held at the Balmoral Hall, Ikeja, Lagos, as part of the 2025 BEX Summit organised by the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN). The session was moderated by Mr. Tunji Adeyinka, Group Managing Director of the Republicom Group, and featured such panelists including Roseline Abaraonye (Marketing Director, Imperio Nigeria), Kemi Longe (Profile Director, Diageo, Southern West & Central Africa), Oscar Onyinsan (MD/CEO, Rapid Broadcasting Network), Feyi Olubodun (Founder, Open Squares Africa), and Damilola Dania (Marketing Manager, Unilever Nigeria).
Referencing the landmark study he co-led alongside Ephraim Nwokporo and released in partnership with EXMAN, Prof. Uzo highlighted the power of data-backed insights in experiential marketing. The study, titled “The Pulse of Experiential Marketing in Nigeria: Insights & Strategies,” employed a multi-layered methodology, combining interviews with agency leaders, focus group discussions with brand managers, in-depth interviews with consumers, and a survey of 308 Nigerian consumers. One of the headline findings from the research was that increasing exposure to experiential activations significantly boosts brand loyalty.
The study also revealed that customers were more likely to make a purchase after brand activations, and the longer they spent at such activations, the more they were inclined to spend. Despite this, it also highlighted a paradox: a notable portion of customers did not remain loyal to the brand post-purchase, primarily due to poor route-to-market strategies, availability issues, pricing disparities, and short-term campaign strategies. Prof. Uzo advised that brands looking to sustain loyalty must address operational bottlenecks and commit to long-term activation strategies, which includes putting agencies on retainers.
In his interview, he explained that the practical impact of the research has been tangible. “The report helped clients and more so, agencies, become confident about entering boardrooms, presenting to prospective clients, and defending ROI. It has shown that experiential marketing contributes to brand loyalty, and that’s something agencies struggled to prove before now,” he said. For clients, he added, the study has improved their ability to ask the right questions and hold agencies accountable.
However, Prof. Uzo noted that unless there is shared ownership of data and a collective commitment to gathering and interpreting it, the industry risks stagnation. “You can’t use or run AI without data,” he said. “If we can move from hoarding to sharing and combine that with AI, we’ll be in a better place.”
Addressing the cost barrier often associated with data gathering, Uzo acknowledged that “data is expensive and putting it together requires resources.” Still, he called on agencies and clients alike to independently invest in research rather than rely solely on client-commissioned data. He suggested that as more players invest, cost-sharing would eventually reduce the individual financial burden, while improving the overall quality and accessibility of data.
On how to democratize access to existing research and insights, Uzo advocated for industry platforms to begin showcasing data summaries and creating storytelling layers around data to spark curiosity. “We need digital platforms to talk all about data, tell a story about it. If we’re able to tell the right story, people would want to know where that data is and how to gain access to it,” he emphasized.
Commenting on industry-wide collaboration, Prof. Uzo endorsed the idea of resource pooling across clients and agencies, arguing that collective growth would only come from collective action. “The time for that is now,” he said. “If you go alone you won’t go far enough, but if you go together, you will go further.” He called for humility and openness within the industry, adding that the most meaningful innovation would come from partnerships that value shared knowledge over individual glory.