Making Cooperatives Work: O pt  imizing Development through Social Capital.

Nomad Ghana Wins 2023 MUSE Creative Award . Under the leadership of Annika Hernroth- Rothstein, the newest member of the continental creative agency has emerged in Ghana as a force to be reckoned with.

Thank you John & Gladys Katto. Words cannot express how grateful I am to you both for altering the course of my professional life. All I can say is THANK YOU!

Thank you Adris Kamuli. You are is like a "father" to me when it comes to Advertising and Design. You hand-held me and for this I will eternally be grateful.

Freedom has come to West Africa. East Africa is regarded as the birthplace of ground-breaking mobile money technology. Mobile money has been the most powerful accelerator for financial inclusion since the introduction of M-Pesa in the mid-2000s, and it may be the only route for Africa to achieve cashless economic status.

One of the best ways to beat the stigma surrounding mental health challenges is to keep the topic in the conversation.

Frank Muthusi the Chair Person of the Uganda Advertising Association and General Manager of FireWorks Advertising asked a great question, one that is worth pondering especially if you’ve been in any sector for 10 years and over. The question is this and I paraphrase, is the golden age of advertising in Uganda behind us, with us or yet to come? For my friends who have been around, the late 1990s have something in them and can easily be characterised as the “Golden Age of Advertising” in Uganda. O  ne can argue that these were the days of big ideas and larger-than-life personalities who graced both the society pages and the business columns. The days when the consumer was not a “millennial” easily distracted, won’t settle for the familiar and is not afraid to asks questions. The past often looks rosier than the future. I was privileged to get a gig at MTN in its “hey-day” and I even sat a few feet from the revered Eric Van-Veen. I believe that Eric and his Advertising agency are responsible for the death of CelTel Uganda. They crafted a lethal advert which featured Patriko Mujuuka as “kaziro” the shoe shiner with a mobile phone. I wasn’t deeply into advertising at the time, but I still remember the Advert and most importantly what it communicated. Are the great AD-times behind us or ahead of us?

The 2016 United States of America Presidential election, will go down in history as one which defied many of the fundamentals of election predictability. Most of the poll-stars got it wrong in scoring the election for Hillary Clinton; with some, not only just placing her in a firm lead but also presumptuously scoring a double digits lead margin! This is how the Hillary Clinton campaign was failed by design. My friend Moses Mukisa looked at the American election through the lens of the power of Articulated Vision. In a Facebook post: He underscored the fact that in his campaign, President Elect Trump had articulated his would be vision for America in simple words: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. On the other hand, however, Clinton’s vision was vague, with many people not sure what she stood for, her slogan wasn’t inspiring. STRONGER TOGETHER was bland and so was I AM WITH HER. To a man with a hammer, all problems look like nails and for someone that has been doing branding for almost 2 decades, I would like to submit my analysis on how Clinton lost the election because of a weak brand position and ultimately Design. The Obama Hangover. The 2008 Presidential campaign was one of many firsts: it was the campaign that brought America’s first African American president. Not many people will forget the “O” in Obama. The American flag designs were embellished with rays of hope beaming over the horizon; a universal symbol for a brighter future. The unique O in his message was that of HOPE; one he had even written a book about. Hope is so powerful, it ranks so high among the reasons that have helped mankind to make the advances it has. Barack was not the son of the ‘bond woman’, but the son of a FREE MAN: A Kenyan whose roots were firm in the Kenya village of Kogelo. He was free spirited and the word “negro” did not arouse flames of anger and offense as would have been to another African American with roots obscured by slavery. This was the fault of Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid, he often came off as a vindictive angry black man. Basically, the message of HOPE, CHANGE and OPTIMISM became synonymous with OBAMA and the power of this brand was the “O”. His message was encapsulated by a slogan-YES WE CAN! An affirmative mantra that appealed to the people and transcended the boundaries of politics. YES, WE CAN! The 8 years of the Obama Presidency have been relatively clean. Obama didn’t have any personal scandals and his oratory skills, cool and sporty demeanor vindicated him in many ways. “The Trump Card” Trump is a man who needed no introduction. He was not a new comer on the American Scene. Many people will argue that his was a protest vote by the American people against politicians but the simplicity and incisiveness of his message was remarkable. The Phrase MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN appealed to the human spirit: we are all called to greatness. Even when many Americans could not say when they thought America was greatest, they felt a sense of personal responsibility to indeed make America great again. The slogan drew so many similarities with, YES WE CAN. “Hillary & History” Hillary, like Trump needed no introduction. She was part of America’s power brokers and the first lady of the administration that is credited with Americas most “prosperous –era.” The colossal error that failed Hillary was trying to lead using the past. A past that she was also not comfortable with given the scandals it came along with., Bill’s women problem, some half truths she told in the past and the e-mail scandal many will never understand. The desire to look back when it benefited her, brought with it a load that was weightier than her “future” gear. Most of her gains were erased by the steps she took back to score points from her achievements. In short Hillary was stuck in Neutral. “Designers Bland Brand Blander” I recall a time when Photoshop 5.0 had just been launched and working in layers was now possible. The layer effects bevel and emboss and drop-shadow were so loved by designers and clients alike that if a concept was weak, all you did to strengthen it in order to get client approval was to apply a bevel and emboss effect to the headline or at worst drop a shadow –and Voila! You had it! The ‘O’ in Obama having delivered a double victory seemed to bias the Branding team on the Hillary campaign. They simply could not think beyond ‘H’. This is the typical designers’ block! The campaign strategists of the Hillary campaign were hell bent on fitting the design into the strategy as opposed to letting the strategy inform the design. 2016 and 2008 have this in common too, Trump seemed to have leant from Obama and Hillary repeated John McCain’s mistakes both in strategy and tactics. Sun Tsu the great Chinese general summarized it this way. “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory and tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” It is clear that the Trump campaign was heavy on strategy but weak on tactics and while the Clinton team was excellent with tactical implementation, their strategy was flawed. True to Sun’s words: Trumps victory was slow but we still hear the noise of Clinton’s defeat on some American streets. How Good is your Brand?

Last year Courageous leadership is possibly the book that had an immediate impact on me. After reading the book by Bill Hybels, It was quick to see that for so long we were happy to sell pity-stories because we were not courageous enough to actually sell a vision. I will explain. Last year Courageous leadership is possibly the book that had an immediate impact on me. After reading the book by Bill Hybels, It was quick to see that for so long we were happy to sell pity-stories because we were not courageous enough to actually sell a vision. I will explain. Most people find the courage to face friends, family and even strangers to ask for help when they have reached their wits end. They come with the proverbial pity-story and shamelessly paint “poverty-pornography” in a bid to cajole whomever they are trying to get help from. They even make false promises that make it hard for those that would have helped to actually help them. You hear statements like, “Please lend me a 5 million shillings to clear my 6-months rent arrears, I will pay it back in one month, the land lord is going to kick my family out on the streets.” – WOW! – Where were you 6 months ago?! APPLYING THE COURAGE Part one: Last year my wife and I decided to be courageous, we wrote letters to friends and family asking for support as we tried to raise the $850 US dollars we needed for the trip to FEARLESS. In under 2 months we were able to raise over 50% of what we needed from well-wishers and friends. We got courageous and vulnerable enough to ask and not borrow! Part two: We booked an Airbnb which turned out to be a nightmare. We spent the night uncomfortably cuddled in a “not so clean bed”. The next morning, we were on the hunt for a new place. We were driven to another “cheap” house that could pass for a haunted estate – (No Wi-Fi, cobwebs everywhere, UTI waiting to Happen Toilets). It was depressing to see what our “budget” was doing to us. We got our minds renewed and switched on the courage again. We opted for proper hotel accommodation and even asked to have the honeymoon suite with super fast Wi-Fi internet, warm water etc. I told my wife, If we need to borrow from Allan Tayebwa (GOLDMINE FINANCE) we WILL. Let’s get out of here! THE RESULTS While in that room, I connected my laptop and found an email from a prospective client. I read through it and it looked like one of those “too good to be true” e-mails of clients simply scouting for a possible agency in Africa. I replied it half-heartedly and went to bed. The next day, while out in Nairobi town. I received a call (it is important to have your contacts on your email sign-off) from a lady in New-York and to cut the long story short. That business relationship has grossed more than $100,000 USD worth of business. So as you plan to go to FEARLESS. Switch on the courage.