The 10th edition of the Nigeria Digital PR Summit opened in Lagos on Wednesday with a clarion call for brands, creators and institutions to move beyond visibility and drive measurable action with purpose-driven storytelling. The two-day summit, themed “Digital PR in Action: Owning Your Narratives, Telling Your Story”, convened communication leaders, agency chiefs, corporate communicators and creators at the Conference Centre, Naval Dockyard, Victoria Island.
“Welcome to the 10th edition,” Segun McMedal, Co-Convener and President, Upticomm Marketing Company told a packed hall, describing the gathering as a decade-long effort to sharpen Nigeria’s digital communications practice. McMedal said the milestone edition will focus on practical tools and frameworks that help practitioners shape narratives deliberately, not reactively.
Dr. Samuel Ayetutu, Chairman of Lagos NIPR, set a practical tone for discussions: “Create content that drives action, not just awareness.” He mapped out a compact framework for “good content”: insight-led, objective-driven, authentic and measurable.
The theme, owning the story through insight and measurement, echoed throughout sessions and panel debates, as speakers stressed that creativity must be married to strategy.
Representatives of institutions underscored PR’s national importance. Lieutenant Colonel Onyechi Anele spokeswoman of the Nigerian Army reminded delegates that “we don’t fight only with weapons. Perceptions can sabotage national security.” She warned that “a single false post can undermine integrity,” and commended the summit organisers for creating “a vital space” to coordinate how Nigeria is told in both physical and virtual spheres. “The essence of PR is to ensure truth travels as far as falsehood,” she said.
Franklin Ozekhome, Pop Culture Strategist and Co-Founder, Maskvrade, urged brands and creators to think in systems: From Influence to Infrastructure, Attention, Visibility, Endorsement, Borrowed Reach, Attraction, Deep Data, Distribution and Repeated Loops. He described Afropop as “one of the world’s richest cultural engines” and called on communicators to build “infrastructure around emotions” so culture becomes an engine of growth rather than a momentary trend.
Ayeni Ekundayo, Co-Founder of The BusinessPlus Agency, reminded delegates of the everyday fragility of reputation. “A tweet, one clip, can change the world,” he said, noting the tensions between visibility and credibility in a scroll-heavy era. His message: be responsible, be responsive, and stay the course.
Soji Akinlabi, Senior executive at the intersection of Media, Marketing Communications, and Technology, made the case for podcasting as a high-value tool for thought leadership. “Podcasting is the most personal medium in the digital visibility stack,” he said, explaining how audio builds emotional connection and credibility, and urging brands to define tone, voice and narrative to leverage audio across platforms.
From the finance and development side, Babajide A. Sipe, Group Head, Brand Transformation & Digital Marketing, Bank of Industry, called on attendees to adopt AI fast but wisely. “AI amplifies reach and improves efficiency, but it brings reputational risk, check facts, keep the human tone, and treat AI as a tool, not a substitute for judgment.” He called for better media literacy and internal governance around AI use to protect reputation in the perception economy.
