MTC’s inaugural Branding and Marketing Indaba kicked off yesterday in Windhoek, attracting more than 380 delegates and 34 exhibitors.
The event offers expert insights, impactful presentations and discussions on branding, marketing, public relations and advertising.
MTC’s spokesperson Tim Ekandjo said it is time that Namibia and Africa control the storytelling narrative.
He said this will ensure that stories are told from Africa’s perspective.
“While this event is happening in Namibia, we want to position this event as goal-driven on the continent when it comes to branding and marketing, an event that not only tells stories about Namibia but the African continent,” Ekandjo said.
He noted that for the duration of the indaba, the event will display the best brands and marketing, communications and advertising experts who have committed to sharing their wealth of experience.
“Arguably, branding is everything. As a country, corporates and individuals, positioning ourselves in terms of how we are perceived and building a good reputation is indispensable, especially in a world where branding is everything,” he highlighted.
Brand Africa founder Thebe Ikalafeng said marketing and branding are a crucial part of any institution and individual’s image.
“We are going to stop blaming, begging and borrowing. All these can be achieved through branding. We are now going to build great brands. that’s what we do as Africans,” said the brand expert.
Ikalafeng added that Africans need to do away with thinking global and acting local by adopting new habits of thinking local and acting global.
“For that to happen, we need and are going to reclaim our culture and identity, narrative and reclaim our economies as a continent. Ghana is the second-biggest producer of cocoa. Between Ghana and Ivory Coast, 80% of cocoa comes from there, but they only account for 1.5% of the chocolate market,” said the expert.
Today, the indaba is themed around dissecting relevant topics related to marketing, communications and public relations.
Tomorrow, delegates will investigate and discuss all things advertising, including the trends, and how to effectively leverage advertising.
The event is packaged to allow delegates to draw value from diverse and relevant industry topics from a lineup of 17 speakers during the three days.