The 14^th Annual Marketers Convention which ended at the weekend, was a huge success that demonstrated Marketers Association of Zimbabwe’s continued ability to hold meetings of such magnitude.

This year’s Annual Marketers Convention was held at Elephant Hills Resort in Victoria Falls from October 25 to 28under the theme: The future is Now-Marketing, PR, Communications Winning through Sustainability and Innovation.

The first speaker at the Convention was Pilate Machadu, Chief Executive Officer of Jester Media Services Group. Pilate Machadu presented an Overview of the Media & Advertising Landscape in Zimbabwe.

He delivered an insightful presentation that unpacked the media industry value chain and emphasized key roles being played by Advertising Media Association (ADMA), Zimbabwe Association of Accredited Advertising Practitioners (ZAAPA), Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ), Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).

Professor Obert Sifile from Chinhoyi University of Technology presented Critical Financial Intelligence for Marketing and PR Success. He highlighted the importance of Sustainability Development and Financial Intelligence.

The first night excursion was the Opening Night Dinner at Simunye Theater where delegates embarked on journey with SIMUNYE We Are One. The story of Simunye is simple yet powerful. Bomani, the son of a chief, is banished from his tribe for failing to perform a traditional rite of passage. He sets out into the African wilderness, accompanied by his only friend, Ndlovu, an orphaned elephant. As the “tribe of two” travel together, they learn valuable lessons about compassion, acceptance, and the strength that lies in unity. They find solace in each other’s company and, through their shared experiences, forge a bond that transcends their differences.

President of the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa, Tsitsi Mutendi spoke on Leveraging AI & MarTech for Effective Marketing & PR Campaigns. Her presentation provided extensive information on Martech tools and role of AI in Marketing and PR. Tsitsi Mutendi also gave practical case studies from Netflix, IBM, Shopify, Hubspot and Coca-Cola.

Kiaran Knight, Head of Business Development for ABC Auctions presented on Successful Integration of E-Commerce into Day to Day Business Operations.

While officially opening the conference, Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Honorable Monica Mutsvangwa challenged marketers to grasp the import of the new economy being spawned by His Excellency, President Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa, which bears all the hallmarks of versatility, sustainability and innovation.

‘‘President Mnangagwa is attracting global class investments from top notch billionaires and high net worth players into our lucrative and world class lithium, platinum and iron and steel resource sectors. All of these investors are also pouring funds into beneficiation. Indeed, President Mnangagwa is the marketer par excellence and in order to augment his efforts, we need to advertise the profiles of global class companies like Tsingshan Holdings Group, Huayou Cobalt, Xengchin Sabi Lithium, Varun Beverages and their sizable turnover and market reach in world commerce,” said Honorable Mutsvangwa.

Winnie Muchanyuka, Chief Executive Officer for Zimbabwe Tourism Authority spoke on CEM: The game changer in improving the bottom line. She took delegates on customer experience journey and recommended tips to enhance customer experience.

“Achieving customer centric organizations is not a walk in the park. Customer Experience leaders must articulate their end game and set actionable initiatives and targets, identify stakeholders and operating model CX strategy,’’ said Winnie Muchanyuka.

Tinashe Nyaruwanga, Team Lead for SocialMe Advertising Agency, David Duri, Digital Marketing Marketer for Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Arthur Suwali, Digital Marketing Manager for Liquid Intelligent Technologies, jointly presented in a panelist session on Digital Marketing Trends and its relevance in Brand Building.

The other panel session focused on the Sustainability Question – Marketing and PR’s Role in ESG was jointly presented by Lillian Mbayiwa, Head of Group Marketing and Innovation for Old Mutual, Rumbidzai Moyo, Strategic Partnerships and Private Sector Engagement Manager, CARE International in Zimbabwe and Irimayi Muzorewa, Marketing Director for Delta Corporations.

Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank Group gave the key note address on The Future Fit Marketer.

“In this environment, we have to work hard to prove that the products we market demonstrably add value to a household with a stretched purse. And we also need to earn our place at the board table, when convincing our finance executives to support the strategies and plans we are presenting, such that our colleagues see the value we can add to bottom line – i.e., providing proof points to demonstrate the returns our executive colleagues can expect on the investments we need for our marketing initiatives,’’ said Khensani Nobanda.

“Technological innovations and digital disruption are opportunities which we need to harness to our own benefit. We should not allow ourselves to be left behind by fearing innovations that feel like the great unknown – AI is a good example of this. Tech innovation also means that marketing executives have more proof points to demonstrate return on marketing spend than ever before. We have access to complex data that ought to inform the decisions and strategies we develop and employ, and that make sense to finance executives,’’ she said.

The President’s Dinner hosted by National Foods rounded off the day with MAZ President, Lillian Mbayiwa sharing on the Association’s activities and achievements for the year.

To cap the three-day Marketers Convention on Friday were presentations by Pheodor Mundia from Kenya, Gavin Llewellyn- CIM Facilitator, UK, Professor Zororo Maranda, CEO for Consumer Protection Commission, and Precious Murena Nyika, Founder and CEO for Winfield Strategy. In her presentation on Interpersonal Skills for Managing Functional Relations, Precious spoke about emotional intelligence and provided tools for building self-awareness such as 360Degree Assessment, Personality Tests, Performance Review 180d and Emotional Intelligence Tests.

Delegates enjoyed dinner at Chipala cultural experience, an African boma themed eating house with African select dishes. Dinner was served at the open style buffet in the traditional way.

This year’s convention was well supported by corporate sponsors including, National Foods, Delta Corporation Limited, Pacific Cigarette Company, Zimpapers, National Social Security Authority (NSSA), Potraz, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Passion Events, Marketev, Daily News, Financial Gazette, Telone Zimbabwe, Old Mutual, Image Magic Corporate (IMC), Hyundai-Automotive Distributor Incorporated Pvt Ltd, Nissan Clover Leaf Motors among others.