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TALES FROM THE AMERICAN NORTH
- Adris KamuliReady For Anything
- Rene DelagadoFrom Miami Ad School student to art director at Leo Burnett, Chicago
- Sitha NgyI'm in love with this place.
Adris Kamuli
Having left Miami Ad School at the end of March 2006, I decided to go back home to Africa. It’s now 2 years and half since I came back to Uganda. I had a brief stint at Saatchi & Saatchi in Uganda but later moved on to Creative Communications an affiliate of Grey Worldwide in neighboring Rwanda, an agency owned by a long time friend JP. Here, I flirted with brands like MTN (Telecom Company) Rwanda Air, Bralirwa (Breweries) and amongst others. While in Kigali, I did consultancy work with Saatchi & Saatchi on special projects including the ‘Your phone is your stadium’ World Cup 2006 campaign.
Working in the two agencies, I noted that, Marketing/Brand managers can influence the way the agency thinks, which is reflected in the work they output. Advertising in Africa is blossoming but a bit conservative. Because of cultural norms, some cool ideas can’t work. Some are considered offensive to the cultures and traditions of some sections of society and marketing managers don’t want to take risks.
Owning an agency was one of the reasons why I came back to Africa. I sat down with some old friends who are passionate, energetic and hungry for challenges. Since we shared the same philosophy, we decided to open up an ad agency in Kampala the Capital city, to compete with the big fish in the pond. One of my colleagues is strong in media, another an art director, a designer and myself as the CD. With my two years at Miami Ad School and the exposure I got from internships at Carmichael Lynch and BBDO, I was ready for whatever the world throws at me. I was ready for anything.
We opened an agency called MAAD Advertising. To some, it sounds like a rehab center but it’s not. Truth be told, we’re not insane, we’re just crazy about ideas. We didn’t have any client when we opened in January this year, and relied on personal contacts to figure out the way forward. We only had our laptops and our brains. Many pessimists didn’t wish us well. They thought we would close after a couple of months. We were determined to stick in there. We remained focused and kept our ears on the ground. We spent a couple of weeks doing speculative work and making phone calls.
Luck came knocking, when one of the telecom companies got fed of their agency and called for agencies to pitch. We were 4 months in business with no big client or a big client portfolio. I had some pieces in my portfolio from Miami Ad School (Most of which were not relevant in this market), a few speculative ads and few pieces from other agencies we worked for. We were few in numbers but that didn’t stop us from getting the account.
As I speak now, we’re a team of 16 people including creative, account managers, media planning, Strategic planning, production, finance and administration. For the last 6 months we’ve had the account; we report at work at 7:30am we leave office at 10pm. It’s common to find us in office on Sunday. It’s that hectic but it’s fun. Interesting to note is that, the client has registered some considerable success in terms of numbers and brand building.
Because of our work, we’ve received numerous calls from universities for internships, which we’re yet to consider.
In last 10 months at MAAD, I have noted the following:
• If you’re determined and focused, anything is possible. Belief in one’s worth can yield dividends.
• A creative is as good as his /her last ad.
• It’s easier to come up with lots of creative ideas, than it is to manage people. I wish it were part of the school curriculum, where creative people are taught how to manage people.
• Not every clever ad is effective.
• To have fun in advertising, you need to be passionate about it.
Working in the two agencies, I noted that, Marketing/Brand managers can influence the way the agency thinks, which is reflected in the work they output. Advertising in Africa is blossoming but a bit conservative. Because of cultural norms, some cool ideas can’t work. Some are considered offensive to the cultures and traditions of some sections of society and marketing managers don’t want to take risks.
Owning an agency was one of the reasons why I came back to Africa. I sat down with some old friends who are passionate, energetic and hungry for challenges. Since we shared the same philosophy, we decided to open up an ad agency in Kampala the Capital city, to compete with the big fish in the pond. One of my colleagues is strong in media, another an art director, a designer and myself as the CD. With my two years at Miami Ad School and the exposure I got from internships at Carmichael Lynch and BBDO, I was ready for whatever the world throws at me. I was ready for anything.
We opened an agency called MAAD Advertising. To some, it sounds like a rehab center but it’s not. Truth be told, we’re not insane, we’re just crazy about ideas. We didn’t have any client when we opened in January this year, and relied on personal contacts to figure out the way forward. We only had our laptops and our brains. Many pessimists didn’t wish us well. They thought we would close after a couple of months. We were determined to stick in there. We remained focused and kept our ears on the ground. We spent a couple of weeks doing speculative work and making phone calls.
Luck came knocking, when one of the telecom companies got fed of their agency and called for agencies to pitch. We were 4 months in business with no big client or a big client portfolio. I had some pieces in my portfolio from Miami Ad School (Most of which were not relevant in this market), a few speculative ads and few pieces from other agencies we worked for. We were few in numbers but that didn’t stop us from getting the account.
As I speak now, we’re a team of 16 people including creative, account managers, media planning, Strategic planning, production, finance and administration. For the last 6 months we’ve had the account; we report at work at 7:30am we leave office at 10pm. It’s common to find us in office on Sunday. It’s that hectic but it’s fun. Interesting to note is that, the client has registered some considerable success in terms of numbers and brand building.
Because of our work, we’ve received numerous calls from universities for internships, which we’re yet to consider.
In last 10 months at MAAD, I have noted the following:
• If you’re determined and focused, anything is possible. Belief in one’s worth can yield dividends.
• A creative is as good as his /her last ad.
• It’s easier to come up with lots of creative ideas, than it is to manage people. I wish it were part of the school curriculum, where creative people are taught how to manage people.
• Not every clever ad is effective.
• To have fun in advertising, you need to be passionate about it.
Adris Kamuli
Adris Kamuli
Adris Kamuli
Adris Kamuli
