Landmark Event Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, turned a bustling hub for content material creators and types as YouTube PluggedIN held its second version. The occasion, a brainchild of Adetutu Laditan, the founding father of Woof Studios Africa, supplied the best atmosphere for manufacturers to attach with creators as they pitch their initiatives to them.
In partnership with Insight Redefini, the occasion, themed “Beyond the Placement: Rethinking How Brands Work with Creators,” examined how manufacturers, businesses and creators can transfer past typical promoting placements to develop content material that mixes enterprise goals with genuine viewers engagement.
Speaking at the occasion, Babatunde Olaifa, Group CEO of Insight Redefini, emphasised that the expansion of the creator economic system depends upon significant collaboration amongst manufacturers and creators. He famous that no single stakeholder might construct the ecosystem alone, highlighting the significance of mixing their respective strengths to remodel inventive concepts into beneficial content material.
Building on a 2025 pilot, this yr’s version expanded the dialog to extra manufacturers, with a concentrate on small-group discussions and one-to-one engagements designed to attach manufacturers with creators and transfer promising concepts in the direction of marketing campaign briefs, partnerships and funded content material.
Adetutu Laditan, Founder and Creative Director of Woof Studios Africa, highlighted the rising ambitions of Nigerian creators and the necessity to handle the enterprise and manufacturing complexities concerned in turning inventive concepts into content material that may be funded, produced and distributed to wider audiences.
Discussions all through the occasion centred on three priorities: involving creators earlier within the inventive course of, guaranteeing brand-funded content material stays related and genuine to audiences, and translating conversations into tangible partnerships, content material alternatives and measurable outcomes.
A key spotlight was a model panel moderated by Esosa Osagiede, Group Creative Director at Insight Redefini, which explored what manufacturers search for when choosing creators for partnerships.
Panellists, together with model managers from established Nigerian manufacturers, recognized model match and real viewers affect as important issues. They pressured that follower counts and views alone don’t essentially mirror a creator’s means to attach with audiences or affect their perceptions and behavior.
One of the panellists, Media and Consumer Experience Manager of Mondelez International, Bolaji Popoola, famous {that a} shared understanding of goals, audiences and artistic course is crucial to constructing efficient partnerships.
Prominent Nigerian creators, together with Kiekie, Taoma, Aproko Doctor and Ify’s Kitchen, additionally shared views on collaborating with manufacturers by way of content material that displays their inventive identities whereas assembly business goals.
In an interview, Babatunde Shobanjo, Chief Operating Officer of Insight Redefini, described the initiative as a optimistic growth for the media and advertising communications trade, pointing to the worth of making platforms the place manufacturers and creators can discover new methods of working collectively.
The emphasis on collaboration displays Insight Redefini’s built-in strategy to advertising communications. Earlier in 2026, businesses inside its ecosystem, working with international companions, received a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity within the Creator Collaboration class for Vaseline’s The Real Nigerian Prince marketing campaign.
The occasion comes amid rising curiosity in digital video and creator-led content material as platforms for manufacturers to attach with audiences. YouTube beforehand reported that watch time in Nigeria grew by greater than 50 per cent yr on yr in 2025, with the platform reaching greater than 30 million adults within the nation every month.
