The internships that students have gotten through the Media in Ghana program exist across a broad spectrum. Some students have been allowed to do very little, while others have been asked to do way too much. I feel lucky to have landed at Mullen Lowe Accra, the oldest ad agency in Ghana. I write this as a guide to whoever ends up at Mullen Lowe on future Media in Ghana trips. The culture, the people, the location, and the award-winning work done by the agency will make this internship a valuable experience that you will never forget.
The Culture
Mullen Lowe exists under the umbrella of the Advantage Group, a full-service media group with multiple branches in the heart of Osu. The Advantage Group consists of Prodesign – A team of architects and designers specializing in modern commercial spaces and retail build-outs, Ad Vantage Productions – a full service production studio for in-house production of commercials and other promotional materials, Print On – A printing company for the production of materials both in-house and from outside clients, Oxygen Plus – An agency dedicated to overseeing and executing innovative activation ideas and events, and Mullen Lowe – A full-service ad agency complete with strategy, creative, media, and executive departments. The open-door policy of these different departments creates a unique and comprehensive media entity that can handle any creative marketing challenge from top to bottom.
In the first week of my internship, I spent half a day touring each different department in the Advantage Group. At each stop, I was able to find people who were more than happy to show me what they were working on and allowed me to shadow them throughout the day. I’ll admit I felt a bit awkward at first because I didn’t have a guide to introduce me as an intern, so many people seemed to be wondering what I was doing there. Fortunately, almost everyone I introduced myself to was warm and welcoming. I got comfortable within the first week.
After touring each sector, I finally landed in the creative department at Mullen Lowe as a copywriter. The office had many designers and art directors but only one other copywriter, so I had no shortage of work. After hearing some of the horror stories of the other students’ offices, I was pleasantly surprised that my office had fast wi-fi, air conditioning, and brand new Mac computers on almost every desk. The people in the creative department were more relatable than in some of the other departments, as they were up-to-date on pop culture that I was also familiar with. Some of them had gaming computers on which they would occasionally play Mortal Kombat, PUBG, or Counter Strike. One of the art directors, Ato, often played music out loud on his speakers. His music ranged from Kid Cudi, to Playboi Carti, to Johnny Cash. It was most popular music from the U.S. with which I was familiar. On one of my first days, another intern asked, “Desmond are you going to storm Area 51 when you get back?” a reference to a popular internet trope that was going around at the time. When I responded “yes,” he replied laughing “Oh so you want to die? The U.S. government will fire 300 rounds per minute at those people.” This is Ghanaian dry humor. There was a lot of joking banter between colleagues, but mostly in Pidgin, so I only understood about 20% of it. I was usually still able to laugh along at the appropriate times based on the inflection and timing of what was being said. Overall, the familiar culture in the office helped me feel comfortable almost immediately.
The People
Mama D – Mama D is the big boss at Mullen Lowe. She’s extremely knowledgeable and good at what she does. Boss would be the most apt adjective I could use to describe her. She drives a blacked-out Jaguar, always has a few pieces of gold jewelry, and commands attention in any room she walks into. She can seem intimidating at first but is actually really fun once you get to know her better.
Yoofi Brew – Yoofi is the head of the creative department and the only other copywriter on staff. He is funny, friendly, and easily approachable. A good person to go to if you’re unsure what you’re supposed to be doing. He’ll gladly give you a project to work on and give you feedback along the way.
Ato & Sylva – Ato and Sylva are the two main art directors in the office. Ato is the one who would often play the music that was familiar to me. He also owns a gaming laptop with Mortal Kombat on it if you wish to get your ass kicked. Both are very relatable and good at what they do.
Tabitha – Tabitha is my desk-mate and was the first to reach out to me to help her on a project when I got to the office. She is very sweet, and a good person to know if you’re having trouble adjusting to the culture of Ghana. Together we drafted the concept and plan for the Go Green Awards, a yearly award show recognizing Ghanaians making an effort to improve the environment. The award show is meant to connect the winners to networks of like-minded individuals, sponsors, and funding opportunities. She presented our concept to Mama D, who loved it, but I’ll be leaving Ghana before we get the opportunity to put the plan in action. I’m excited to see if it takes off after I’m gone.
Leslie – Leslie is the go-between for clients and the agency. He works in the media planning department but comes upstairs to the creative department to give us briefs and check on our progress to make sure everything gets done within the provided timeline.
Tim – Tim is the resident obruni in the office, although he’s lived and worked in Ghana for 25 years, so he’s not really an obruni in the true sense of the term. He’s from the UK and works on designing for a wide array of different projects. A good person to talk to about Ghanaian culture, politics, and economics because he has the frame of reference to relate things to another western country similar to my own.
Emmanuel Lamptey & Nana Amoako – These two older gentlemen work in the research and strategy department, which is in another building from the creative department, so I don’t see them very often, but I make a point to go over and say hi to them at least once a week. In my first week of touring the agency, they were very helpful in answering my questions and helping me get acquainted with the way things work. They took me out to lunch on the first day, and would not let me pay for my own food or for the taxi. They’re well respected throughout the agency.
The Location
Mullen Lowe is in the Osu neighborhood of Accra, which has been a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing in the sense that most of the best restaurants, shopping malls, clubs, and casinos are in Osu. It’s right near the beach and is a bit more of a tourist destination than much of the rest of Accra. It’s been a curse in the sense that it’s one of the furthest neighborhoods from East Legon, where we’ve been staying. It takes me an hour and a half to get home on the trotro in peak traffic. Being that it’s a touristy area with many nice restaurants, the food is much more expensive than the rest of Ghana, and an Uber to the neighborhood costs 20 to 30 cedi ($4 – $6 USD) depending on the time of day. Expect to pay about the same prices as you would at a restaurant in the U.S. I’ve found it nearly impossible to spend less than 50 cedis a day here.
After being embedded in the neighborhood for 5 weeks, I have a pretty good grasp on the best food spots, where to catch a trotro, and how to navigate the neighborhood in general. I offer the following in hopes that you can take advantage of some of the gems I’ve discovered, and not make the same mistakes that I did.
TroTro
To catch a trotro back to East Legon you need to go to the corner of Oxford st. and Mission st. right in front of a restaurant called Papaye. There are trotros stopped here at all times of the day and they all go to Madina, stopping at Shiashie and Okponglo Junction along the way. If you are staying at the Aya Centre, get off at Okponglo Junction. If you are staying at Webster University, get off at Shiashie. I usually walk to the trotro stop from work and walk home from the stop that I get off at, but if you want to take a taxi to the stop in front of Papaye it should only cost about 5 cedis. Tell them you want to go to Papaye and they’ll drop you off right at the stop. The trotro should only cost 2 to 3 cedi.
Food & Drink
Frankie’s Hotel Restaurant – This restaurant at the top of Frankie’s Hotel gives you a great view of Oxford street as you eat. They offer just about every type of food including Ghanaian, American, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Italian. They also have coffee, wifi, and TV’s that are usually playing CNN. Expect to pay at least 50 cedis for lunch here. Location: On Oxford st.
Zion Thai – The best Thai food in Accra and one of the closest restaurants to Mullen Lowe. The owners and chefs are Thai expatriates. The outdoor seating above the restaurant is a nice place to escape the bustle of the city. It’s very lowkey around lunchtime but gets busy at night. Location: On Mission st.
Second Cup Osu – This cafe has giant iced coffees for 16 cedis. It’s nicely air-conditioned and has fast wifi. It’s a bit of a far walk, but the iced coffee and AC make for a nice reward at the end of a hot and sweaty walk. It’s right across the street from Kebab King. Location: On Oxford st. inside the Samsung store.
Kebab King – Kebab King is one of the cheaper sit-down options in Osu and also happens to be directly across the street from Second Cup. They too have fast wifi if you ask one of the employees to log in for you. They have a burger that is essentially a big mac, and their kebab wraps are really good. The seating area is above the restaurant providing a nice view for people watching on Oxford st. Location: Oxford st.
My jerk chicken guy – Along Mission st. halfway between Zion Thai and Oxford st. you’ll see a guy smoking jerk chicken, pork, and yams inside giant oil barrels converted into charcoal grills. You’ll likely smell it before you see it. For 12 to 15 cedi you can get some of the best jerk chicken you’ve ever had. This is probably the cheapest good food I’ve found in Osu. The jerk chicken and a sliced mango from the fruit stand up the street makes for a well-balanced meal. Location: On Mission st.
Burger & Relish – This is the best burger I’ve had in Accra, but also the most expensive. They do trivia nights on Thursday nights at 8:30 and it’s a blast. A good place to start the night before going out to bars or clubs.
Other Tips
I wouldn’t suggest buying souvenirs or other similar goods in Osu, especially not on Oxford st. Some of the sellers can be pretty determined to get your attention and sell you something and they are likely to upcharge you a lot if they can tell you are a tourist. If you walk with a purpose and look like you know what you’re doing they likely won’t bother you, but if you look vulnerable you might end up with a 50 cedi painting that you didn’t even want.
Some of the backstreets have a few small shops that sell nice clothing and shoes at an affordable price.
I would suggest Ubering into Osu so you can get to work on time and then taking the trotro home to save money. If you uber both ways it will be at least 50 cedis ($10) just to get to and from work each day. That’s $50 a week to get to your unpaid internship. The trotro costs less than $1.
There’s a large church, a primary school, and a large soccer field just a couple hundred meters away from the Mullen Lowe office. If you see something interesting happening here I would suggest sitting and watching for a while. I’ve seen some good soccer games, a band performance, and a choral performance sitting on the edge of the field in the afternoon.
The Work
As I mentioned earlier, some of the students on the trip had very little work entrusted to them, while others were expected to do too much. I feel that I had a nice middle ground at Mullen Lowe. There was no shortage of work for me to do, but there also wasn’t too much pressure for me to carry the weight of anyone particular campaign. They listened to my ideas and used much of the strategies and copy that I came up with, but they also could have gotten the work done just fine without me.
The agency has won many awards for their work in the past, so it’s possible that I could have my name on an award-winning campaign that comes out of the agency this year. I wrote copy for a campaign for cybersecurity company CGNet, as they launched an online cybersecurity assistant to help educate Ghanaians about the importance of online safety. I helped come up with a strategy and copy for the Go Green Awards, as well as some educational materials for schools to try and promote environmentally friendly practices in Ghana. I wrote a newsletter and press release for Azar Chemicals’ new Shield Gloss paint. I pitched my ideas and helped come up with copy for Republic Bank’s next campaign. The campaign isn’t out yet, but it’s called The Little Blue Men, so if you see Republic Bank advertising with men and women dressed in all blue acting as an embodiment of the financial conscious of Republic Bank’s customers, please let me know. I would love to see a picture of our campaign out in the world.
Overall, my experience at Mullen Lowe has been nothing but positive. I’ve been a bit more busy with work than some of the other students in the group, but I’ve really enjoyed the work I’ve been doing, as well as the people and the environment here. If you find yourself with an internship at Mullen Lowe, consider yourself lucky, and I hope you can make use of my experience to make yours even better!
