The curtain has fallen on the third edition of Adicomdays, the major digital event in French-speaking Africa.
Organized once again in Abidjan by the Totem Experience agency, Adicomdays brought together many international figures from the digital world. Around thirty speakers from Africa and around the world set the tone for the two-day event with panels, inspirational talks, and
success stories on the theme of "communities taking power: why and how to build influential online groups."
"It takes a village to raise a child; community is the heart of Africa."
Kahi Lumumba
This year, Totem Experience wanted to highlight the virtual communities that are flourishing on the continent. These communities are highly responsive and very engaged. It therefore seemed essential for Totem to report on this new dynamic that is shaping the African digital world. Beyond web platforms, these virtual communities are a promising subject of study for brands, media, and public institutions in terms of marketing and brand awareness. They are at the heart of the development of the internet on the continent and have an impact on companies' digital communication strategies. In this sense, they are an essential lever for growth.
So what are these communities? How are they built and how can they be animated?
Digital giants, Akwaba!
The web giants kicked off the AdicomForum, the first day dedicated to conferences, discussions, and experience sharing. Representatives from Twitter, Google, and Facebook, the leading social media platforms, took turns presenting their strategies and visions for Africa.
The development of the internet on the continent is one of the major challenges for players such as Google and Facebook. David Steinacker, Senior Partner Manager at Google Africa, outlined the group's desire to invest in the development of Google Station, free internet access terminals designed to reduce digital deserts. He also highlighted the importance of mobile technology in Africa, where penetration rates are considerable.
"The next 1 billion users are going to be mobile only"
David Steinacker
On the Facebook side, where communities play a central role, Jocelyne Muhutu-Rémy, Strategic Media Partnership Manager, announced the rollout of activities in French-speaking Africa, starting with Côte d'Ivoire, where five people are currently in charge of development. She also highlighted Facebook's role in combating fake news, which plagues online communities and media every day.
How can influential online groups be built?
This was followed by feedback from the driving forces behind the African web who have successfully created and united communities.
One of the continent's distinctive features is the creativity and dynamism of a young generation that works every day to develop the continent, particularly through digital technology. Influential entrepreneur Céline Fotso discussed the creation of the JeWanda community. From a Facebook page to an online media outlet and events, JeWanda now brings together a large community around news on trends and entertainment for young people in Cameroon and French-speaking Africa.
These web personalities are in agreement: authenticity, interaction, and quality content are the essential ingredients for engaging and developing a community. The digital age is no longer about "likes
" but about sharing.
For brands, communication that integrates these communities can be a real lever for growth. Take the example of KFC Côte d'Ivoire, which has successfully used product-related fake news to develop a digital marketing strategy that brings together a community of consumers around brand identity values as well as local values.
Women are taking power
This year, the focus was on women's communities, which are multiplying across the continent and generating greater engagement. They are entrepreneurs, opinion leaders, and media personalities, bringing together large communities around unifying themes. Women's communities are growing stronger, more connected, more engaged, and ready to make their voices heard.
Seynabou Thiam chose Adicomdays to share her experience. She is the CEO and co-founder of YAAY, a community of "connected moms" in Senegal. YAAY is a network of women who help each other on a daily basis to deal with all the issues faced by modern working mothers. Since 2013, this community has grown to 8,187 members on Facebook and generates more than 10,000 interactions per month.
Over time, YAAY has created a real community of women who interact with each other, because bringing a community together is not enough: interaction, engagement, and a sense of belonging are essential for these communities to become real drivers of growth and development.
From traditional media to pure players: creating online communities
Adweknow also contributed to the event by organizing a panel discussion on the theme "From traditional media to pure players: creating online communities." Stanislas Balay (Dailymotion), Philippe Perdrix (35° Nord), Korede Odjo-Bella (Vibe Radio – Elle.ci), Habib Bamba (Orange CI), and David Gueye (TV5Monde) explored the theme of creating communities between traditional and digital media at a time when the latter are gaining power. Around this reflection, the speakers converged on a key point: traditional media should not be pitted against digital media. Traditional media must come to terms with digital media and create a global ecosystem for content distribution supported by both traditional and 2.0 channels. They must also take into account the "metamorphosis" of media users who, with the advent of digital technology, are becoming "active" in their consumption of content. They join online communities, express themselves, share, and critique. It is therefore essential for traditional media outlets with a web presence to develop interactivity in order to win over these new communities.
After three undeniably successful editions, Adicomdays can now congratulate itself on having created its own community. A global community that brings together communicators and creators of African digital content. Each edition is an opportunity to bring this community together to learn, share, inspire, and connect so that, together, stakeholders can create synergies and opportunities for the development of the digital communication market on the continent.