The Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) has hosted special evening with Mr. Bright Ladzekpo, CEO of PHD Ghana, which is the local office of PHD Worldwide. The event was dubbed “The Man and Machine Dialogue” and held under the theme, “The closing gap between Technology and Humanity: Impact on the role of the marketer and the marketing consultancy”.

In his keynote statement to set the tone for the evening, Mr. Ladzekpo observed that information and communication technology trends going back to the 1950s had set the stage for devices to collect massive amounts of data which is now fueling the technology driven disruption of whole industry sectors such as hospitality and transportation, globally. “Data is the new oil and Google is the new ExxonMobil”, said Mr. Ladzekpo.

“Billions of consumers around the world, including those in Ghana, keep their smartphones glued to their sides, 24 hours a day. But, as both hardware and software become smarter, we will start to move beyond screens and devices will fade away. Virtual assistants will autonomously organize our lives, bots will run businesses”, he said.

Ghanaian social entrepreneur, software developer and founder of Soronko Solutions, Regina Honu, was guest panelist for the panel discussion segment with Nhyira Addo, head of thought-leadership at Multimedia Group’s, Joy FM as moderator for the evening.

CIMG members, executives and Board members and other guests present joined in the discussion with questions and contributions after which PHD's latest thought-leadership publication, "Merge – the closing gap between technology and us", was formally launched in Ghana. The book which explores a future in which humanity and technology become inextricably linked and addresses the urgent implications for marketing and reveals exciting opportunities for brands.

In his closing remarks, the vice-president of the CIMG, Mr. Daniel Kasser Tee, commended PHD for their consistent thought-leadership through the many books they have published over the years. “We chose to partner with PHD Media because we have found out that this group is interested in discussing topics and subjects that contributes to business development and also contribute to nation building”

He also alluded to disruptive changes in the way consumer research data collection and analyses will be done in the near future as a result of the application of Artificial Intelligence based tools and systems. “Now issues of customer services, satisfaction, retention and loyalty can all be analysed at a point without touching paper. Nobody is going to be asking you if you are satisfied with a product or not. The machine is going to be capturing your mood as you do the [your] shopping.”

The event was held at the rooftop of PHD Ghana’s new offices at Ridge in Accra was attended by CEOs, CIOs, Academics, Directors, Managers and Team leaders from local and international Banks, technology firms, transport companies, universities, advertising agencies, Radio and TV stations, among others.