This is my first blog on the subject of Advertising, thanks for stopping by to take a look.
As a professional with 7 years experience in the field its always been some what difficult given that the level of comprehension given to the word advertising in Ethiopia is not well understood; on initial insight as to why this is the case one may think its due to the cacophony of 'Advertising Agencies' on every street corner of Addis.
Advertising Agencies are not typically one bashful computer science graduate in a 1 meter by 50 centimeter office on an assembled computer downloading logos and putting your name on it; im not talking about vector elements that are one part of logo I'm talking about full logos downloaded and "Your Company Name" replaced with your company's name.
Advertising isn't a protected term in Ethiopia so it seems every Tom, Dick & Harry (Ermias, Bekele, & Temesgen) are calling themselves ad companies; in a realistic world an ad company and print house are very different things.
These Sub-par companies are the reason we get people in the local market questioning why us guys with bigger offices charge 10 - 20 times the bashful 'Photoshop expert' in hayahulet geba bilo; simply put because brands are not logos; brands are tangible and intangible emotions towards your company and this is not something copied it takes Creative Direction, Brand Psychology, Copy Editing and a plethora of other departments before being handed over to a client.
And NO! one person can not do it all. you don't go to a neurosurgeon when you have a gastric problem do you ?
Everyone has a profession a skill set and when you go to the right place, or right company you will see the difference, Yes it costs more but its your brand, its your identity, its your pride. Imagine if Coca Cola went to hayahulet geba bilo for their branding in 1886 would we still have the same idea, feeling or respect for the brand ? would you respect someone that didn't create originally but stole ? Your brand represents you, represents your image.
Do you go to meetings with a cheap suit ? or do you look like a million dollars and then some.
Well you can only go to meetings when you have the correct brand bringing in the business
I leave you with this they say first impressions are what count, Before anyone meets you they meet your brand that's your spokes person so food for thought.... if your going to start up a company get the right guys for the job look for a company that does Branding, Corporate Communications & Marketing be careful there are only about 4 legit ones in Ethiopia.
Even over charged( I heard 10million birr for this account) print houses make mistakes becaise they are not Advertising Agencies simply print houses dont be fooled by price and office size or even the amount of staff on hand, look for skill.
