Brand Communicator has partnered with mediaReach OMD to livestream the Red Room sessions at the 2026 National Advertising Conference (NAC), extending the industry-focused conversations to a wider audience through Instagram.
Under the partnership, the sessions scheduled for November 12 and 13 at the Abuja Continental Hotel will be broadcast live on Brand Communicator’s Instagram platform, allowing viewers beyond the conference venue to follow discussions on the future of advertising and marketing communications.
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The arrangement builds on an existing relationship between both organisations, with Brand Communicator having previously covered Red Room conversations and maintained its role as a media partner to the National Advertising Conference.
The Red Room, an initiative of mediaReach OMD, is a thought-leadership platform held alongside the annual conference.
Its 2026 edition features four panel sessions involving industry professionals, brand representatives and marketing experts, all examining different dimensions of the sector’s next frontier.
The first session, titled “The Future Agency Model: What Survives After Automation?”, will explore how artificial intelligence and automation are changing the traditional agency business model.
Moderated by Promise Oduh, Associate Director of Planning at mediaReach OMD, the discussion will feature Kalu Kalu, Head of Media Planning at Moniepoint, and Brenda Nwagwu, President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN).
The panel will examine which agency services are becoming commoditised through automation, how agencies can redefine their value and what clients will continue to pay a premium for as technology takes over more executional tasks.
Another session, “Marketing Optimization for Zero Click Consumer Journeys”, will focus on how artificial intelligence assistants, generative search and recommendation platforms are influencing consumer decisions before users visit brand websites.
Eze Ezinne, Deputy Manager for Data, Tech and Tools at mediaReach OMD, will moderate the conversation, with Toyin Osebayo, Chief Operating Officer of digitXplus, and Dr Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi, President of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), as panellists.
The discussion will also examine Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), an emerging approach that focuses on making brands discoverable, understandable and recommendable by AI-powered platforms.
The programme will further explore the role of African cultural intelligence in building competitive brands through a session titled “African Cultural Intelligence as a Competitive Advantage”.
Moderated by Ann Obaseki, Managing Director of Lounge Network, the panel will feature Steve Babaeko, Chief Executive Officer of X3M Ideas, and Professor Uchenna Uzo of Lagos Business School.
The conversation will consider how brands can combine technological capabilities with a deeper understanding of African languages, traditions, communities and consumer behaviour to remain relevant in diverse markets.
The final session, “Audience Measurement & Digital Switch Over: Are We Ready to Operationalise the Future?”, will examine the implications of digital broadcasting and emerging audience measurement systems for media planning, buying and evaluation.
Emmanuel Adediran, Business Unit Director at mediaReach OMD, will moderate the discussion, featuring Patrick Gomes, Chief Operating Officer of FMEIL, and Dr Charles Ebuebu, whose participation was listed as pending confirmation in the session brief.
The conversation comes as audience measurement remains a significant issue for Nigeria’s advertising industry, with the main NAC programme also scheduled to present early data and insights from the DeepMove Meter television audience measurement system.
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Through the livestream partnership, Brand Communicator and mediaReach OMD aim to make the Red Room’s discussions accessible to a broader professional audience, while encouraging wider engagement with the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of marketing communications.
