Reading the winds of change
The future of media, the metaverse, gaming, bridging the gap between brands and people, pop culture in Africa and connecting to the knowledge-based era are some of the key cultural and commercial themes at the upcoming BizTrends 02.02.2022.
Wondering what the future might hold for the workplace or business? How do markets, games, economics and finance create – or destroy – value? What will drive commerce or storytelling in the world to come? What is in the offing for brand collaboration with artists, fashion designers and influencers? How can brands cultivate cultural relevance? And what do Afri-pop, Afro-punk and Afro-house bring to the table?
These are just some of the questions that will be covered at the upcoming BizTrends 02.02.2022.
With seven influential local and international speakers lined up, the conference features Moky Makura, the founder of the narrative change organisation Africa No Filter and a former deputy communications director for Africa at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Dion Chang, founder of Flux Trends; Dali Tembo, cofounder of The Culture Foundry; trend researcher, analyst and cultural strategist Nicola Cooper; Franklin Ozekhome, African pop culture specialist, trend and consumer intelligence researcher and former group strategy director on a portfolio of global blue-chip brands; trend analyst and spotter Khumo Theko; and Flux Trends partner Bronwyn Williams.
Makura is focusing on the power of storytelling in Africa. Her session, titled “The Future of Media: Hard Data, Soft Stories”, will ask whether storytelling can create new opportunities for better engagement with audiences.
She asks, with data pointing to the decline of the traditional news mix of “politics, business and sport”, what content people are consuming, who is making it and what the opportunities are for brands to fill the content gap by incorporating true storytelling in their campaigns.
Cooper, whose session will focus on the ins, outs and legalities of brand collaborations, will be examining case studies from international brands such as H&M, Zara, Victoria Beckham and Coca-Cola, as well as local brand Carling Black Label.
Trends and innovation guru Ozekhome ponders “A Pop Culture Journey through Africa”. He will be delving into the influence of African music and culture through consumer case studies done in Rwanda, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and his home country, Nigeria.
Chang’s presentation, “The State We’re In”, will examine six key “trends” pillars – an acronym comprising tech, retail, economy, natural world, diplomacy and sociocultural – that will be shaping how we live, work and connect in the year ahead.
Tembo will be looking at trends as the bridge between brands and people by unpacking how the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred an evolution in trend gathering; case studies of changing consumer trends in financial services, fast-moving consumer goods, décor and high street; how forward-thinking organisations are using data to help to improve consumers’ lives; and the messages political unrest in South Africa sends brands.
Makura, whose Afro-optimism was inspired by the realisation that Africa was more than the problems presented by the 1985 Live Aid, says the narrative about the continent is focused on corruption, conflict, disease and poverty
Theko from I See Africa, who has a fashion background, is the current digital trends analyst for draftLine Digital Agency, the digital arm of AB InBev. She’ll be looking at trend-spotting, analysis, forecasting and social listening via data and insights and consumer-centric brand optimisation.
And futurist Williams, the headline speaker, will be using her expertise in economics, future finance, crypto and digital economic models to venture into the metaverse.
Williams says her discussion will look into the distinction between work and play in the future, looking at games such as Animal Crossing, which was launched – or upgraded and relaunched – just as the world went into lockdown. It blew up, as people realised they could earn from gaming. “People started real money trading on that game and it became a global phenomenon.”
Crypto games, non-fungible tokens, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, augmented reality, the metaverse, the user experience and finance will be getting a look-in.
Makura, whose Afro-optimism was inspired by the realisation that Africa was more than the problems presented by the 1985 Live Aid, says the narrative about the continent is focused on corruption, conflict, disease and poverty.
“Those are the images that I had in mind – even as an African teenager, in London. It took me a while to realise that these images are not the single story of Africa. What we are trying to do at Africa No Filter is … to show that.”
She will be focusing on the importance of storytelling. “We’re starting off with some research that was done in Kenya, looking at what people were engaging with on social media. So they looked at 16 topics, to be the media outlets in Kenya to see what they were putting out. They analysed hundreds and thousands of Facebook posts and found the stories that people engage with the most are not the sort of hard news investigative stories [and] politics and the stuff that fills our newspapers and our media; it was actually the human interest stories. You know, it was like simple stories; stories of people, not issues, that’s what people want.”
Audiences also want stories in video format: “I use a couple [of] examples of what’s already happening in the US, where brands are sponsoring film. And that’s the trend they’re talking about. It’s not films about themselves or their brands. It’s actually films that happen to embody their brand value.”
BizTrends 02.02.2022 will take place virtually on Wednesday, 2 February 2022, from 1pm to 5.30pm, with a tea break.
Price: R150 per head; 25% discount for bookings of five or more. No cost for students. Visit www.bizcommunity.com for details