At the Modern Marketing Expo 2026, Anisa Fielding, Head of Marketing at the IMM Graduate School, challenged one of the most persistent shortcuts in African marketing: treating a continent as a consumer segment.

Her message was simple: relevance begins with understanding context.

Article at a Glance

• The Modern Marketing Expo 2026 took place from 8–10 September at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
• The event connected marketing strategy with AI, branding, retail media, commercial value, print, signage and production technology.
• Anisa Fielding presented “The African Consumer Decoded” during the event’s Modern Marketing Power Hour sessions.
• Her presentation examined seven lenses shaping consumer behaviour across African markets: context, capacity, culture, connectivity, community, channels and cohort.
• Participation in the Modern Marketing Expo connects IMM Graduate School with the practitioners, ideas and market realities shaping modern marketing.

Modern marketing meets the real market

Modern marketing no longer sits neatly inside advertising, digital channels or social media.

That was evident at the Modern Marketing Expo 2026, held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 8–10 September.

The event brought marketing, branding and technology together with the co-located Sign Africa, FESPA Africa, Africa Print and Graphics, Print & Sign expos.

That created an environment where conversations about consumer insight, artificial intelligence, retail media and brand strategy sat alongside the technologies used to produce physical customer experiences.

The Modern Marketing Power Hour sessions added a strategic dimension to the event.

Alongside Fielding’s presentation on African consumer behaviour, the Modern Marketing Power Hour programme included:

• Gerald Yapp, Creative Director at In-Detail Advertising and Design, explored how businesses can use AI with greater purpose and creative discipline.
• Camagu Sam, Senior Sales Manager at Mall Ads / Provantage, examined the changing role of retail spaces and shopper media.
• Tendai Rukwava, Founder and CEO of Coral Communications, addressed responsible AI, governance and the need to keep accountability human.
• Dirk Swanepoel, Team Leader: Commercial Law, and Aletia Oberholster, Team Leader: Intellectual Property Law at Barnard Incorporated Attorneys, considered how brands, intellectual property, customer relationships and commercial structures contribute to lasting business value.

The underlying question was similar: how should marketers respond when the systems around the customer are changing?

The sessions covered different topics, reflecting the expanding scope of modern marketing. Consumer understanding, technology, creativity, governance, retail and commercial value are increasingly connected.

The African consumer, decoded

For Anisa Fielding, the starting point was to question the consumer segment itself.

Her presentation, “The African Consumer Decoded,” opened with a warning:

“The fastest way to get Africa wrong is to make it simple.” There is no single African consumer, Fielding emphasised.

Consumers across the continent operate within different cultures, economic conditions, retail systems, languages, technologies and social structures.

Even consumers of a similar age living in the same city may have different income rhythms, household responsibilities, devices and routes to purchase.

That means geography alone is not a strategy.

Fielding proposed seven lenses that marketers should examine before developing or scaling a campaign: context, capacity, culture, connectivity, community, channels and cohort.

Each asks a different question.

• What makes the market structurally different?
• How and when can the consumer afford to buy?
• What meaning surrounds the product?
• How is technology accessed?
• Who carries trust?
• Where does discovery become purchase?
• How do age and life stage change behaviour?

The value lies in seeing how those forces interact.

Together, these lenses support an exploratory strategy rather than a reproduction strategy. Reproduction starts with a model that worked elsewhere and asks how it can be rolled out. Exploration starts with the local consumer reality and investigates the problem, trust, access, distribution and regulatory conditions before deciding what can scale. The principle is straightforward: export the learning, not the assumption.

Value does not simply mean cheap

One example is affordability. A consumer may have limited disposable income without having limited aspiration.

Quality, reliability, identity and status can remain important even when cash flow is constrained.

Consumers may therefore adapt through smaller packs, prepaid models, informal credit, shared purchasing or month-end buying.

The important distinction is that affordability is not only about how much someone can pay. It can also be about when they can pay.

A smaller purchase does not necessarily indicate a smaller ambition.

Mobile-first does not mean universally online

The same caution applies to digital behaviour. Africa is frequently described as mobile-first, but network availability does not automatically produce digital participation.

Device affordability, data costs, digital confidence, electricity, language and relevant content can all affect whether a customer can use a digital service.

At the same time, African consumers are not simply receiving global digital culture.

Amapiano is a useful counterexample. The music moved through DJs, nightlife, phone-to-phone sharing, creators, dance culture and playlists before accelerating globally. Consumers became part of the distribution system itself.

For marketers, the wider lesson is that reach and influence are not identical.

A trusted trader, family member, WhatsApp group or community voice may influence a decision more effectively than the person with the largest public following.

Connection to industry must be visible

For the IMM Graduate School, participation in the Modern Marketing Expo goes beyond appearing at an industry event.

That connection to practitioners, professional communities, sectors and current market realities is central to how the IMM Graduate School approaches its specialist marketing and supply chain management education. Anisa Fielding’s contribution provided a practical example of what that looks like.

Marketing students and working professionals need theory, but they also need to understand what happens when that theory encounters real consumers, imperfect information, changing technology and different market contexts.

Industry engagement helps keep those questions inside the learning conversation rather than outside it.

Good marketing does not begin by reducing a market until it fits the strategy.

It begins with understanding the market well enough to build the right strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the Modern Marketing Expo 2026?

The Modern Marketing Expo 2026 was a marketing, branding and technology exhibition held at Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg from 8–10 September 2026. It was co-located with exhibitions covering print, signage, branding and visual communication.

Who presented at the Modern Marketing Power Hour at Modern Marketing Expo 2026?

The Modern Marketing Power Hour featured Anisa Fielding of the IMM Graduate School, Gerald Yapp of In-Detail Advertising and Design, Camagu Sam of Mall Ads, Tendai Rukwava of Coral Communications, and Dirk Swanepoel and Aletia Oberholster of Barnard. Sessions covered African consumer behaviour, AI-powered marketing, responsible AI, retail media, intellectual property and commercial value.

Who represented the IMM Graduate School at the Modern Marketing Expo 2026?

Anisa Fielding, Head of Marketing at the IMM Graduate School, presented The African Consumer Decoded during the Modern Marketing Power Hour.

What was The African Consumer Decoded about?

The presentation challenged the idea of a single African consumer and examined seven forces that can shape consumer behaviour: context, capacity, culture, connectivity, community, channels and cohort.

Why is African consumer insight important for marketers?

African markets differ significantly in culture, economic conditions, infrastructure, technology use, purchasing behaviour and consumer expectations. Effective marketing therefore requires local evidence and context rather than assuming that one strategy will work across the continent.

How does the IMM Graduate School stay connected to the marketing industry?

The IMM Graduate School’s industry connectivity includes engagement with practitioners, professional communities, sector issues and events. Participation in forums such as the Modern Marketing Expo creates opportunities for its people to contribute to, and remain involved in, contemporary marketing conversations.