MEDIA RESEARCH

Pan-African media research body attracts top papers for conference

By our News Team | 2021

Annual event goes online-only due to Covid, but still attracts more than 4 000 African and overseas delegates.

With media consumption habits in Africa changing as a consequence of growing digitisation, social media access, globalisation and Covid-19, the Pan African Media Research Organisation’s (Pamro) recent annual conference took on increased significance.

The three-day online conference attracted an average of more than 4 000 people a day, with delegates attending from as far afield as the US, UK and the Netherlands.

Pamro has hailed the 2021 event as a success, adding that each of the six daily sessions covered a variety of topics, with presenters representing global brands operating in Africa.

Case studies brought topics to life

“All of the sessions were of excellent quality and the real-life case studies from the continent brought the topics to life,” said Dr Sifiso Falala, President of PAMRO and CEO of Plus 94 Research.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

“The theme ‘Finding certainty in uncertain times’ was a thread throughout the three days and the newly introduced online Q&A facility was also a hit, with many delegates able to direct questions to specific presenters,” Falala added.

As is the norm at all Pamro annual conferences, the event wrapped up with the announcement of the winning papers. The 2021 winners are as follows:

The Gold Award went to Carel Van Aardt, a professor and research director at the Bureau of Market Research. He presented on the topic of Towards a Multi-Dimensional Consumer Segmentation Tool for South Africa.
The Silver Award went to Joe Otin, CEO of The Collective Kenya. He presented on the topic of The Pandemic — A Catalyst for Digital Transformation in Africa.
The Bronze Award was scooped up by joint presenters Hendrik Van Blerk, the CEO at The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa, and Audience Measurement Lead at Ipsos South Africa, Hendrik van Blerk. Their paper was titled Essential Innovation.

“Despite pandemic challenges, we believe we were able to deliver a meaningful online experience to delegates within the virtual space and, with any luck, next year we will resume a face-to-face event in Morocco, as planned for 2019,” Falala said.

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