Eko Innovation Centre Announces Nigeria’s First Marketing and Media Hackathon With $20,000 Star Prize
Nigeria’s first marketing and media hackathon, dubbed MarkHack 1.0, has been established by Eko Innovation Centre, a growth and development hub for startups and entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
The luncheon, which took place at D’Podium Event Centre in Lagos, was attended by innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, marketers, and media professionals, as well as many more from across the world who took part virtually.
In partnership with the GDM Group, the goal is to transform the marketing and media landscape using software solutions that disrupt and address some of the industry’s difficulties.
Over 500 people registered for the hackathon from 72 different places, five nations (Nigeria, California, Kenya, Pakistan, and London), and three continents, according to the luncheon’s organizers (Africa, Europe, and North America).
It also revealed that the top ten teams with the most viable concepts would compete in the finale on May 18 for a chance to win a $20,000 prize pool and an acceleration program with up to $50,000 in equity investment to help them get their goods ready for market, among other things.
Victor Afolabi, Founder, Eko Innovation Centre & Curator, Art of Technology Lagos, said that marketing is the most effective engine of economic development because it can rapidly develop entrepreneurs and managers, but the industry has yet to see a technological breakthrough within the country, despite Martech’s global growth, which is expected to reach $344.8 billion in 2021, according to the Martech Alliance (2021).
“Preliminary innovation has begun in the Nigerian marketing business, but acceleration is slow enough to disrupt the future in line with shifting customer behavior.”
“In the Marketing Industry, we have yet to achieve renown for a homegrown technology achievement on a significant scale,” Afolabi added.
A gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and marketing professionals, to create solutions to real-life marketing challenges in an intense period of time. Using creativity, technology, and mentoring, resulting in prototypes, fresh new concepts, and innovative usages of tech for marketing and media.
Victor Afolabi – Founder, Eko Innovation Centre & Curator, Art of Technology
The participants would be divided into five-person teams and given three weeks to brainstorm and come up with fresh concepts based on their focus areas.
Consumer experience, media consumption, consumer recruitment and contact, trade and retail engagement, analytics and metrics, events marketing, media monetisation, and content production are among the eight key areas.
Each team would propose their ideas to a Jury of subject area experts, with the Jurors selecting the top 10 teams.
The event will feature 21 Mentors, 30 Selection Jurors, 8 Speakers, and six Final Jurors, all of whom have decades of expertise in marketing, media, technology, company management, and other fields.
David M. Raab, Founder/CEO, Customer Data Platform Institute, delivered the keynote address on the topic “Tech Disruption in Marketing: The Key to Redefining Consumer Recruitment and Interaction” urging marketers to be innovative, understand the concept of disruption, and be deliberate about it, stating that change is everywhere. Valuable disruption is scarce. Look for benefits and defense that are both robust. For company success, support disruption with new solutions.”
Kayode Oladapo, Zone AOA Asst. Regional Manager (Sub Saharan Africa), Nestlé, and Dr. Rotimi Olaniyan, Principal Partner, Apex Marketing UK, respectively, lectured on “Experiences in the Marketing Ecosystem, Responding to Modern Consumer and Retail Audiences” and “Rapid Brand Innovation Playbooks” respectively. Data-driven insights, marketing innovation, disruptive marketing strategies, and technology-driven efforts were all addressed.
Segun Fafore, the Lagos Governor’s Executive Assistant on New Media, and Olatubosun Alake, the Lagos State Governor’s Special Adviser on Innovation and Technology are among the government officials in attendance. They praised the effort and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to a technology-driven economy, which aligns with the Lagos State government’s smart city plan.
