Digital is the New Pop: Who and What to Expect in this Year’s Digicon Pop 2021

With just a tap or a click, goods and services can be accessed these days by anyone at any time. Digital is the new “pop”, as it has been assimilated in all aspects of our lives, whether as organizations, brands, or individuals.

The Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) presents this year’s DigiCon Pop, which will be held virtually from October 11-15, 2021.

As digital adoption rapidly accelerates, attendees will be able to get the lowdown on new digital practices and trends that have trickled down to billions of people around the world, more so here in the Philippines.

“Digital is the new masa,” shares Leigh Reyes, Board President of IMMAP, Chair 3meritus and Product Officer (C3PO) of MullenLowe TREYNA. “From village Viber groups, to live selling, from learning how to navigate by QR code, to Zoom e-numans and Zoomba, digital has made a full shift to the mainstream.”

This year’s featured speakers are comprised of industry giants such as Adam Grant, best-selling author of Think Again and an esteemed Organizational Psychologist from the Wharton School of Business; Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author of The Wiki Man and Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense, and one of the industry’s leading experts on consumer behaviors; Scott Galloway, who’s deemed “One of the World’s 50 Best Business Professors”, founder of Prophet and L2 Inc., and host of the award-winning podcast, Pivot; Laurent Ezekiel, Chief Marketing Officer and Growth Officer for WPP, the largest advertising holdings company worldwide; and Gill Zhou, APAC and China Chief Marketing Officer for one of the largest technology companies globally, IBM.

Five days of DigiCon Pop dives into a DEEP framework which consists of four programming tracks that cover its Pop theme and brings together over fifty keynote speakers from all over the world.

The Disruption track will cover innovative trends and digital excellence that has ultimately pivoted how the public has conducted business in every sector – more so in the past year. This track will feature speakers such as Michael Patent, founder of sports and entertainment agency, Culture Group; and Todd Schweizer, co-founder, and CEO of independent financial platform, Brankas.

The Expansion vertical invites attendees to unlock key sectors that evolved by putting digital first as its key asset and to uncover new opportunities through data. Key speakers for this track include Nicholas Kontopolous, APAC Regional Head of Growth Marketing for Adobe DX; Bea Atienza, IBE Leader for Colgate-Palmolive; and Isabel Yap, Special Projects Officer and Senior Assistant Vice President for East West Banking Co.

The Emerging leg will discuss rising digital trends and tools that any business should venture into, including media and e-commerce platforms. This category brings together speakers like Ash Mandhyan, CEO of Quanta Digital, and Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports.

The final track, Possibilities, will be about understanding new potential markets and exploring underserved needs by consumers that span multi-generations through innovative strategies. This leg will feature speakers including Budjette Tan, writer and co-creator of hit comic series, Trese; and Grace David, CEO of Edukasyon.PH.

DigiCon Pop also marks the anticipated return of two events that aspiring practitioners and professionals have been looking forward to, especially following a year of hiatus due to the pandemic.

DPop Youth – presented by Unilab – is back for a one-day workshop and competition for university students to learn, socialize, and showcase their talents in the digital industry. On October 13, 2021, students can look forward to hearing from key industry leaders on strategy development, creative strategy, and media orchestration. “It’s exciting because we really want to equip our future digital marketers with the right skill set and mindset for their future,” says IMMAP Board member and Co-Founder of Gigil, The Ideas Company, Herbert Hernandez.

Student attendees will also get the chance to hear from DigiCon’s “baddest” speaker yet, one of the biggest social media personalities of today, Bretman Rock. A breakout content creator and digital influencer, he now boasts a following of over 43 million on all major platforms, continuously making headlines as a trailblazer for both the LGBTQIA+ and Asian-American communities through his social content and his very own MTV reality show.

Also returning is the country’s premier awards show for digital marketing excellence, the Boomerang Awards. With the theme Unmute, this year’s comeback promises to be louder, bolder, and more inclusive with the addition of Tech Innovation categories. “Before, Boomerang Awards just celebrates campaign effectiveness, but we realized we needed to be more inclusive through these Tech Innovation categories because digital is basically touching all businesses,” says Dennis Perez, IMMAP Vice President and Media Director for Unilever Philippines.

Special categories have also been added to the award body’s extensive roster including The Purple Boomerang Award, presented by Investing In Women, which focuses on gender equality and gives extra recognition to economic empowerment for women.

Another special addition, in collaboration with Facebook, is The Blue Impact Boomerang. This special category recognizes campaigns that were developed as “people first”, and will be measured through effectivity of using Facebook, mobile ingenuity, and innovation in driving business objectives.

Submissions for the Boomerang Awards are up until August 13, 2021, and will culminate with the awards show on the last day of the DigiCon Pop on October 15, 2021.

For more information about DigiCon Pop 2021, please visit the official website at www.digicon.com.ph where you can check out a breakdown of the various tracks, more details about this year’s speakers, and how to avail ticket prices.

IMMAP DigiCon Pop 2021 would like to thank Gold sponsors Manulife Philippines and McDonald’s.