Speakers at the fourth edition of the MediaConsortium Conference and Awards, MediaConsortium 4.0, held recently in Lagos, said the traditional relationship between brands and consumers had undergone a fundamental transformation, with buyers now exercising greater influence over purchasing decisions, brand perception and market outcomes.
The conference, themed “The Value Shift: Strategies for the New Market Reality in the Age of the Empowered Consumer,” brought together marketing executives, media practitioners, corporate leaders and brand custodians to examine the changing dynamics of the African marketplace.
The discussions focused on how businesses could respond to consumers who have unprecedented access to information, multiple purchasing options and platforms for publicly sharing their experiences with brands.
Opening the conference, Godwin Anyebe, Co-Publisher of MediaConsortium Magazine, said the shift represented a historic change in the relationship between businesses and their customers.
“For decades, market power resided predominantly on the side of supply. Brands dictated narratives, set engagement terms, and controlled distribution channels,” he stated.
According to Anyebe, technological advancement and greater consumer awareness have fundamentally altered that arrangement.
“today information accessibility, digital connectivity, and heightened economic consciousness have flipped that historic model. Today’s consumer is informed, discerning, connected, and uncompromising. Navigating this new reality requires more than incremental adjustments—it demands bold, forward-looking strategies, deep cross-sector collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to customer-centric innovation.”
He said the changing balance of power required companies to move beyond conventional marketing approaches and develop strategies capable of responding to consumers' increasingly sophisticated expectations.
Consumer no longer dependent on marketers
The keynote session further examined the implications of the shift, with Dr. Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi, President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), represented by Oluwafemi Adeniba, delivering an address titled “The Day the Customer Took the Wheel: The Value Shift: What Happens When the Consumer No Longer Needs the Marketer to Make the Choice?”
Adeniba argued that the traditional control marketers once exercised over information and consumer decision-making had been substantially weakened by digital technologies.
He described the modern consumer as “the most dangerous customer”, explaining that the description was not based on hostility but on the consumer's growing access to information and ability to make purchasing decisions independently.
He stressed that digital connectivity and emerging technologies had significantly reduced the information gap between brands and their customers.
“the rise of digital connectivity, fintech, e-commerce, the creator economy, and artificial intelligence has effectively dismantled traditional information asymmetry, transferring market power directly from brands to buyers. While companies retain control over their paid advertising, they no longer dictate the surrounding narrative or customer dialogue.”
Adeniba also cautioned businesses against viewing consumers simply through the lens of price.
“In this transformed landscape, treating consumers as merely "price-sensitive" is a critical miscalculation; particularly in high-aspiration markets like Nigeria, buyers are inherently value-sensitive, constantly weighing the overall return against what they must give up under economic pressure.”
His remarks highlighted a distinction between consumers seeking the cheapest products and those assessing whether a product or service provides sufficient value relative to its cost, particularly in an environment of economic pressure.
From selling products to solving problems
The changing consumer landscape was also examined from a digital marketing perspective by Yinka Femi Opadere, Head of Digital at Glo.
Opadere challenged businesses to abandon one-directional communication models and rethink how they interact with consumers in increasingly fragmented digital environments.
He argued that consumers now expect brands to demonstrate relevance, transparency and tangible value rather than simply make promotional claims.
“To survive this shift, marketers must fundamentally alter their core orientation, pivoting from asking "What are we selling?" to addressing "What problem are you solving for me?" True commercial success now relies on delivering real, verifiable outcomes across every customer touchpoint rather than relying on clever promises. Modern market value is built at the intersection of relevance, trust, seamless experience, and tangible results, the foundational elements required to win over today's empowered consumer.”
The presentation underscored the growing importance of customer experience as part of a brand's overall proposition, particularly as consumers can compare products, access reviews, engage directly with companies and share their experiences across digital platforms.
Industry leaders examine changing consumer behaviour
The issues raised at the conference were further explored during an interactive panel moderated by Akonte Ekine, Chief Executive of BrandXchange and Convener of the Consumers Value Awards.
The panel brought together practitioners from different sectors to examine how the consumer shift was affecting marketing, media, financial services, public-sector engagement and customer experience.
Olusesan Ogunyooye, Head of Marketing at AXA Mansard, shared perspectives on maintaining consumer trust and strengthening organisational resilience within the financial services industry.
Oke Umurhowho, Director of Marketing at StarTimes, examined changing patterns of media consumption and the implications of digital content engagement for brands competing for consumers' attention.
Olabisi Shonibare, Director of Partnership, Grants Management and Innovations at the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, discussed efforts by the Lagos State Government to make the state more habitable for consumers and residents.
Victor Okafor, National Marketing Coordinator, Oriflame Cosmetics Limited, spoke on changing consumer experiences and the implications for contemporary marketing strategies.
Richard Salvador-Adebayo, Managing Director of Digisplash Ltd, focused on what he described as the growing attention economy, arguing that brands now compete for consumer attention beyond traditional media and advertising channels.
According to Salvador-Adebayo, the challenge for brands is no longer limited to generating impressions but extends to capturing and sustaining attention in an environment where consumers have numerous competing sources of content.
“We are now in an attention economy and brands must do everything to get the attention of the consumers and keep it,” he said, adding that the contest for attention was no longer determined solely by advertising budgets or the size of media platforms.
“All it takes is for one video to go viral, and it gets all the attention,” he noted.
His observation reflects the increasingly unpredictable nature of digital attention, where individuals, creators, communities and brands can compete within the same content environment.
A new test for brands
The conference ended with a call for the marketing industry to respond more rapidly to changes in consumer behaviour and market conditions.
The discussions at MediaConsortium 4.0 pointed to a market in which consumers have greater access to information, wider choices and stronger platforms for influencing conversations around brands.
For businesses, speakers said, the implication is that traditional advertising and promotional messaging can no longer operate in isolation from product quality, customer experience, transparency and measurable value.
The emerging market reality therefore places greater emphasis on understanding consumer needs, delivering on brand promises and building trust across every stage of the customer journey.
As consumers increasingly determine what earns their attention, loyalty and spending, the central challenge for brands is shifting from simply persuading people to buy to demonstrating why their products and services are worth choosing.