28/10/2016
THE MAKING OF A GREAT ADVERTISING EMPIRE!
The post on Facebook was over a year old. A reputable Advertising giant in Ghana was looking for copywriters so they could expand their services. The desire in me was far stronger than the deadline. I wrote a piece entitled ‘A TYPICAL GUINNESS AD’ and forwarded to the mail provided. Three days later I received a call from the CEO himself. He was interested in meeting me and we fixed an appropriate date after he assigned me some tests online which I completed with zeal to his satisfaction (I gathered).
So I was to meet him on a set, they were shooting an Ad for a leading telecommunication company in Ghana. It was exciting as I anticipated; the whole experience gave me goose bumps.
It confirmed that which I had conceived in my mind that I would be an Ad man one day. I had chalked several successes before this particular opportunity. Chevrolet had paid me $2000 for a concept I developed for them, Guinness Africa $1000 and American Real Estate Company Coldwell Banker another $500 as well.
My story had not been all rosy though. I had suffered embarrassments as well. When I started this journey; like any other passionate teenager with no idea about how things really worked I tried to shoot an Ad with a digital camera in a restaurant in Kumasi. A particular lady ridiculed me and made sure I realized it was all meant for me. I ignored her and went ahead to finish it. I keep that mental picture and because of it I hate mediocrity.
So now back to the matter. I was offered an intern position (sort of) with the firm. I was to report in January, all these happened late December, 2013. I went back to prepare. It was difficult for me because I was moving from Kumasi to Accra the capital. I was fresh out of school and money was an issue for me. I called for help from family members outside the country and it seemed help never came; at least until April. All along I kept in touch with the CEO with intermittent greetings and explanations. Then someday in April, the third day to be precise I was finally ready for Accra. I told the CEO about my coming and he bade me to come. I made it to Accra; stayed with an uncle in one of the areas in the outskirts of the city called Taifa. I was commuting one and half hours with traffic both ways to work every day. But before that, this happened;
I got to the office on Friday, the 4th of April. I walked to the reception and greeted the person in charge. I told him the reason I was there and he asked me to take a seat at the reception. Then he made a call to the CEO. I was ushered into his office after a few minutes of waiting. Then he dropped this on me “We can’t work with you, and I hope you know why” I answered yes and then I was shown the door. I came to sit in front of the office with so many thoughts going through my mind. After everything I was supposed to just head back to Kumasi. I gathered my thoughts together and went back to the office, I apologized first and then explained the reasons I was reporting in April rather than in January. He agreed to take me back.
So I started on Monday and these were the conditions of service. I was to work from the reception, I was to work alone, and I was to work directly with the CEO. I accepted the conditions for the opportunity to me was far bigger than all the other distractions put together. For three weeks I was given tasks to accomplish, I would write copies for clients and forward them to the CEO. He would review them and give me feedback. From his remarks, my ideas were not the best. I learned a lot at the place just by observing. I still look back to that moment of my life as a breakthrough for me. The CEO was kind to me and as soon as he realized it wasn’t working he offered me a way out, which I took. As a boy who grew up in a slum, I knew the first thing about survival; thus knowing when to quit.
So I returned to Kumasi and started working on an idea; I called it Phoenix, then Peach, then Premier and then back to Peach Advertising Ghana. It’s been three years now. The late night sleeps, the long reads, the sweaty walks have all paid off eventually. We are on our way to building A GREAT ADVERTISING EMPIRE!
From the CEO's DESK.
