On 16 September, a modest studio was set up inside the main auditorium of Mosaïek Teatro. As delegates filtered in for the Nedbank IMC rehearsal, microphones waited for the first off-the-cuff remarks, the occasional laugh and the background hum of a bustling conference. The plan was simple: record those sounds, stitch them together and, in real time, produce a song that would close the next day’s event.
The Nedbank IMC announced the experiment in a press release, naming Siya Metane, known as Slikour, as the creative lead. “Siya and SlikourOnLife are not coming to tell marketers that music can create cultural and commercial value. They are going to demonstrate it, live,” said Dale Hefer, CEO of the Nedbank IMC. The statement makes clear that the collaboration is meant to be a proof of concept rather than a finished marketing campaign.
SlikourOnLife grew out of Metane’s early work in South African hip-hop and has since become a platform that links artists, audiences and brands. The company describes itself as a bridge between African music and commercial partners, offering services that range from content creation to distribution on streaming services. For marketers, especially those running small to medium enterprises, the promise is that a song built around genuine conference moments can feel more authentic than a generic jingle.
During the rehearsal day, MC Donovan Goliath will introduce the experiment and check in with Metane as the track takes shape. The team will capture vox pops, short interviews with delegates, and soundbites from speakers. Those clips will be fed into a studio set up in the auditorium, where producers will arrange beats, add lyrics and mix the final version. The process is intended to be visible to the audience, turning the creation of a commercial product into part of the conference experience.
When the conference resumes on 17 September, the finished piece, dubbed “The Conference Song: Revealed Live”, will be performed on stage by Metane and Goliath. After the live debut, the track will be uploaded to major music platforms such as Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music, as well as to the SlikourOnLife and Nedbank IMC channels. The release strategy allows the experiment to be measured through streams, shares, saves and overall reach, providing concrete data on how a conference-born song performs in the wider market.
Why the experiment matters for marketers
Brands have been turning to music for years, but most campaigns treat songs as background. The Nedbank IMC experiment asks whether a piece of music that originates inside a marketing event can become a stand-alone media asset. For small businesses, the idea suggests a new way to generate content: capture everyday interactions, turn them into a track and let the audience distribute it. If the song gains traction, the brand gains exposure without the cost of a traditional advertising buy.
The broader trend in African marketing is a shift toward culturally resonant content. Agencies are increasingly looking for ways to embed local sounds and stories into campaigns, hoping to cut through the noise of globalised advertising. By testing the concept in a live setting, the Nedbank IMC provides a data point that other marketers can reference when deciding whether to invest in music-centric strategies.
For SMEs watching the conference, the key takeaway is not that every brand should produce a live song, but that the process of co-creating content with audiences can be measured and, if successful, scaled. The experiment also highlights the importance of having a partner who understands both music production and brand objectives, a role that SlikourOnLife positions itself to fill.
Whether the conference track becomes a streaming hit or simply a memorable closing moment, the collaboration puts the idea of “music as media” into practice. Marketers will be able to compare the post-event metrics with their own campaign data, and small businesses can decide if a similar approach fits their budget and brand voice.
