Advertising Week Africa launching in Oct 2019

by Carey Finn (@carey_finn) Advertising Week is expanding to Africa in spring this year, adding a sixth installment to the significant annual global event series for marketing, advertising, brand and technology professionals. From Monday 28 October to Thursday 31 October, Johannesburg will welcome attendees from across the continent and beyond for four days of thought-leadership keynotes, seminars, workshops, networking and exchange.

The other editions of Advertising Week take place in New York City, London, Tokyo, Mexico City and Sydney across the year. The inaugural African version, which will be held at 1 Fox Johannesburg, has been approximately three years in the making, and is being coordinated by founding organiser and consultancy Stillwell Partners, in collaboration with African marketing network, Republicom Group.

“Originate from Africa”

Says Matt Scheckner, Advertising Week CEO, “Many of the positive cultural shifts that we have seen in arts, music, entertainment and film originate from Africa. It’s the perfect time to provide the international platform to share authentic African stories and showcase thought-provoking marketing and technological innovations sweeping the continent. It’s an exciting opportunity to bring internationally recognised professionals together with emerging talent to have engagements about how this vibrant continent is shaping global trends.”

According to Advertising Week Africa executive director, Tosin Lanipekun (@toscobot), who is a partner at design and creative agency Image & Time (part of Republicom), the maiden event in South Africa will be special. “We want to showcase the multiplicity and richness of the cultures of the different countries and regions of the continent,” he says. “We also plan to contribute to the growth of businesses and of the continent by providing opportunities for young people in the real economy.”

Lanipekun says that he and his partners were motivated to bring Advertising Week to Africa in part by a desire to address what he identifies as a key challenge: different parts of Africa not working optimally together when it comes to business. Another driving factor has been the need to better share Africa’s diverse creative work and disruptive potential with the rest of the world.

Joburg as launchpad

Joburg pipped other African cities as a launchpad for Advertising Week Africa because it offers a sense of balance between “the real African experience” and “the scale and scope to speak to businesses, industry and different stakeholders,” he says.

Advertising Week Africa is expected to welcome close to 4 000 attendees, of which an estimated 20% will be C-suite executives. Lanipekun adds that there will be a strong focus on supporting junior members of adland, who are often excluded from such events by prohibitive entry fees, in an effort to build talent pipelines into local economies. Ticket prices for October range from R550 for a student pass to R10 350 for a platinum pass.

While the speaker lineup has yet to be confirmed, he says that it will comprise a mix of over 200 African industry leaders and and other influential voices from other key markets across the world. Topics and considerations among the 100-plus events at Advertising Week Africa are expectedto range from timely topics on new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and internet of things (IoT), new agency models and voice technologies to subjects like the changing workplace and job roles, he says.

Dedicated to young people

The first day of the event will be dedicated to young people, with training opportunities provided in the form of masterclasses focused on technology, advertising and marketing, and entrepreneurship, says Lanipekun, adding that internships are also on the cards. With the assistance of governmental and other partners, youth from disadvantaged backgrounds will be offered a chance to participate with sponsorship.

Each day will feature a selection of thought leaders, who will share their perspectives ranging from brands to cultural icons, agencies and technology companies, as part of a series of keynote talks. The workshops are expected to offer intimate teaching and learning experiences, where delegates will be able to interact with presenters.

Further details about Advertising Week Africa 2019 will be released in the coming weeks. Registration and tickets are available on africa.advertisingweek.com.

 

Carey Finn (@carey_finn) is a writer and editor with a decade and a half of industry experience, having covered everything from ethical sushi in Japan to the technicalities of roofing, agriculture, medical stuff and more. She’s also taught English and journalism, and dabbled in various other communications ventures along the way, including risk reporting. She is a contributing writer to MarkLives.com.

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