Welcome to Meri Podcast, an Ethiopian business podcast where we invite industry professionals to share their insights and experiences. In this episode, we have the privilege to talk to Melaku Bahru, a craft master in Ethiopian creative industry, specifically commercial ads for companies. Melaku was born and raised in the beautiful Harar inside jegol. Growing up in a neighborhood like his taught him the culture, tradition, what the society looks like, and what one can do. He started working when he was seven years old, and his parents taught him how to use his time efficiently. Growing up in a typical marketplace, he saw different products, including cultural products that women used to change the color of their hair. This experience by itself was like a story, culture, and ideas, and he was inspired by it. So he started painting and dealing with different colors and designs at a young age. He studied at a public school, paying six birr. Melaku says what grows into who he is and what he is doing originates from those backgrounds. Melaku sees life differently. He dropped out of university, where he was studying computer science, and joined the design field, specifically graphic design. Harer was too small town for him, so he moved to Addis 12 years ago, believing it is a better place to do business. At that time, he didn't know what advertising and communication were, and advertising agents like Astar, Zeleman, Cactus were already ten years old. Early on in his career, Melaku did billboards and stuff, and his first project was a print ad for Meta Beer in Selamta Magazine. It was around '99, and they paid him 650 Birr. His first client was Zemen Bank, and when pitching, there was no creative director, art director, or any team. It was him and another freelancer. 0:00 - Intro 3:03 - from ideation to production 12:31 - challenging the industry 19:25 - From onboarding to Marketing 28:22 - Definitions for ATL, BTL, TTL 32:46 - Clients to focus on 38:06– Challenges and Overcoming 44:44 – staying ahead of competition 49:32- internal vs. marketing agency 57:14 – Hiring 1:11:58 – Evaluating Performance 1:15:21- Balance b/n breaking and encouraging talent 1:27:18 – Early story 1:33:14 – Local brands 1:51:49 – Routines 1:57:08 – patience Social Links https://twitter.com/MERI_Podcast https://www.instagram.com/meripodcast/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKNuQ80qNSpt2x-7dsazJg https://www.tiktok.com/@meripodcast https://www.linkedin.com/company/meriethiopian/