One of Africa’s most influential woman leaders and CEO of Dentsu, Sub-Sahara Africa, Dawn Rowlands is billed as the star attraction at the annual Women In Marketing and Communications Conference/Awards (WIMCA) scheduled to hold on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at the Prestigious Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos at 9 am prompt. The theme for this year’s event is “Women in Leadership: Building a strong Professional PIE (Performance, Image, Exposure)”.

Dawn would be speaking on “Engaging Female Consumers In Challenging Times” alongside other notable professionals in the business of brand management and the integrated marketing communication industry. Some of them are Ayodele Otujinrin, Marketing Manager, Godrej; Bunmi Adeniba, Marketing Director, Unilever; Iquo Ukoh, Managing Director, Entod Marketing; Ilyas Kazeem, Group Marketing Director, Eat ‘N’ Go Africa; and Charity Ilevbare, Category Lead (Life Care), Seven Up.

Other speakers are Steve Babaeko, CEO, X3M Ideas; Victor Gbenga Afolabi, GCEO, GDM Group; Debola William, GM Marketing, UAC FOODS; Mr. Adebola William, Group CEO, Red Media;

Funmilayo Falola, Head, Brand & Marketing Comms, Wema Bank Plc, and Tokunboh George Taylor, Managing Director, Hills+Knowlton Strategies.

The other sub-theme is the career development session is themed “Maximising work-life integration in the new norm”.

The event, WIMCA, is divided into two segments that hold on the same day; the conference and the awards. The conference has two sections that include- a career development session, and a Marketing to women session. The Awards segment comes at the end of the conference presentations. It is a free event and interested participants, men, and women, can register at http://wimca.ng/register/

Dawn made her mark in the world of media and fast became one of the youngest media entrepreneurs in SA. Having built and sold two businesses before the age of 35, she is an accomplished female leader. Dentsu Aegis Network has given her the opportunity to develop the African Region, which has been an amazing journey from 40 to over 1500 passionate people.

She has been responsible for the growth of the SSA Network expanding the footprint in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania taking DAN SSA from 5 owned markets to 10 in just 6 months. DAN now has offices in Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal and Ivory Coast. She has been strategic in expanding Dentsu Aegis Network’s vision of being 100% digital by 2020 going from almost obscurity in the market.

She has gained local and global recognition for her leadership winning The MOST Awards Media Legend 2019. In 2018 DAN SSA won the Financial Mail Africa Impact Award. Dawn received the AdReview Advertising Achiever of the Year 2012 and she won a Gold Stevie Award for Maverick of the Year 2012. In 2013 she took the Access International BusinessWoman of the Year. Dawn has served on the board of the Loeries for 2019 and 2020 and was appointed as co-chair for the Adweek Africa Advisory Council.

Speaking on the choice of Dawn Rowlands, the convener of WIMCA and Publisher of Brand Communicator, Joshua Ajayi said, “Dawn Rowlands is one of the industry best and she will be coming to WIMCA to inspire other women professionals and participants on marketing to women while she speaks alongside other notable industry leaders.

“Over the years, WIMCA has been a platform for marketing and communications discourse and empowerment for women in Nigeria, and this year we have expanded our net to other African countries and beyond the continent with the choice of our speaker.”

Basically, the objectives of WIMCA include serving as a mentorship platform for young and prospective female professionals to ignite their potential towards attaining enviable heights in marketing and management. Also, it is to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in women towards creating and sustaining enduring marketing and communications industry businesses.

Expected attendees include chief executives of marketing communications businesses and brands, marketing directors of corporate organisations, senior advertising practitioners and professionals, senior and middle-level female executives in creative, public relations, media planning, digital, and experiential marketing agencies. Participants are also expected from the public sector.

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