SING hosted Africa Comms Week on Thursday 23 May. The theme of the event was innovation in communication in Africa. Africa Comms Week takes place all over the world and is a week dedicated to bringing together all those who want to make an impact on the continent's progress.

Innovation as a key factor to grow

In partnership with the communication and public relations consulting agency, Global Mind Consulting, SING organised a panel discussion to try to answer the question "Africa, an innovation field for communication? ». The main goal was to take stock of the innovations observed in the media and to see, together, to what extent African brands can continue to renew themselves.

Innovation has become essential because, as Laure Bigourd, Director of Gabon 24, points out, "the public is constantly evolving, it is necessary to innovate to adapt to it". She adds that the way information is consumed has changed dramatically with the advent of social networks. The audience is increasingly interested in decoding and in-depth analysis.

But as Harold Leckat, founder and director of Gabon Media Time, notes, the public also wants snapshots. In order to meet these two requests, which at first sight seem incompatible, the media must therefore use all the tools at their disposal. There are, for example, Facebook Lives or YouTube, as Anne-Marie Jobin, director of Gabon Économie Plus, points out. In addition, the media must also call for experts to deliver quality information in a timely manner.

Professionalization for media adaptation

Who says expert, says strong knowledge in a specialized field. And the speakers on the Africa Comms Week Libreville panel did not fail to highlight the lack of professionalism on the spot. There are still few suitable structures, although some are beginning to emerge in Gabon. For example, the SING offers digital training to help professionals master digital tools, which are essential for an effective innovation strategy.

Mactar Sylla, the man behind Label TV, has drawn the attention of content creators and experts to the importance of adapting to their audiences. "The challenge today," he says, "is to produce content that is adapted to local consumption habits. The media cannot simply copy what works elsewhere, they must take into account local tastes and customs so that the public can identify themselves."

Chrismain Babala, Head of Communications at Canal+ Gabon, also stressed the need for the media to revitalize themselves in order to continue to attract advertisers, and in addition to training, the key point raised during this panel also concerned strategy.

Many companies are wrongly price resistant because communications and innovation are not expensive. What costs companies in the long term is not adopting a real strategy. Our experts at SING help you identify the innovation opportunities within your reach and build effective innovation strategies for you. To start your innovation process, contact us.