BEX 2025: EXMAN President Tolulope Medebem Urges Marketers To Embrace Data-Driven Personalization At Scale

President of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), Mrs. Tolulope Apinke Medebem, has reaffirmed the association’s commitment to leading the future of immersive, data-driven marketing in Nigeria, urging stakeholders to embrace personalization at scale and purposeful engagement with audiences.

She made this declaration in her welcome address at the opening of the 2025 edition of the Brand Experience (BEX) Summit, held AT THE Balmoral Hall in Ikeja,Lagos, yesterday .

Describing the summit as more than just an industry event, Medebem called it a movement that “interrogates the now, anticipates the next, and empowers us to lead through change.” Themed “Personalization at Scale: From Insights to Impact in a Data-Driven, Immersive World,” the summit is EXMAN’s flagship biennial knowledge-sharing platform, and has become a major convergence point for professionals in marketing communications, technology, media, and brand management.

This year’s edition continued that tradition, drawing an influential mix of agency leaders, corporate executives, thought leaders, students, and creative innovators.

Reflecting on the origins of the summit, Medebem credited former EXMAN president, Mr. Tade Adekunle, with launching the first edition of BEX in 2021 in response to a post-COVID world “recalibrated by crisis, driven by technology, and shaped by new consumer demands.” According to her, BEX was EXMAN’s bold answer to a changed reality, one that demanded a rethinking of how experiences are created and delivered in a digitally accelerated world.

Now in its second edition, the Brand Experience Summit has evolved into what Medebem described as “Nigeria’s most important stage for experiential thought leadership.” She stated that the summit now convenes not just marketers, but “the minds who imagine, the agencies who build, the brands who dare, and the youth who will inherit the work we do.”

Medebem emphasized the delicate balance marketers must strike in today’s environment, delivering intimacy and emotional connection to consumers while doing so at scale, powered by insights and data. “As marketers, we must deliver intimacy at mass scale, powered by data, yet rooted in human emotion. The work is complex, but the goal is clear: not just to reach audiences, but to resonate with them,” she said.

She encouraged attendees to treat the summit not as a passive event, but as a participatory platform where innovation, critical thinking, and collaboration should flourish. “This moment belongs to all of us to explore, to question, to co-create. Let us not merely attend BEX 2025. Let us experience it with boldness, curiosity, and collective purpose,” she charged.

The 2025 edition features keynote conversations, expert panels, breakout sessions, and immersive showcases designed to interrogate the evolving intersection of marketing, technology, consumer behavior, and creativity.

In her remarks, Medebem extended special appreciation to the Director General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, for his continued support of EXMAN and sectoral bodies under ARCON’s oversight. She also acknowledged the role of sponsors, member agencies, moderators, student delegates, and the Summit Planning Committee for their commitment to bringing the vision of the event to life.

“Our relevance as an industry lies in how we evolve, how we collaborate, and how we lead the conversation,” she noted, underscoring the urgency of future-proofing Nigeria’s marketing ecosystem.