Kenya's Anthony Mwaura is a creative genius.
At 25, he is a millionaire after he chose the
unbeaten path and established one of the most
sought-after advertising firms in the region.
Whatever Mr Mwaura touches — be it the in-
house music production studio he ran two years
back, or the corporate branding company he
currently manages from his magnificent office
on Riara Road in Nairobi — turns into gold.
“I dropped out from the Kenya Institute of
Mass Communication in 2009 where I was
studying TV production due to lack of school
fees. I later decided to use the skills I had
learnt in production and editing to make a
living,’’ said Mr Mwaura in an interview with
the Business Daily on Monday.
At that time, he could record up-and-coming
musicians like Juliani, Jimmi Gait, A Star and
Ekko Dydda, who today are some of the biggest
acts in the music industry in the eastern Africa
region.
“I used to charge them $120 per song and I
had five musicians I was dealing with. I could
hire a camera since I had none and use my
second hand laptop to edit the content in my
house,’’ he recalls.
The home-based production studio, he called
Washamba Unlimited, stoked his passion for
entrepreneurship. This was back in 2010.
The business, he says, was not paying off as he
had expected, forcing him to close down the
shop.
He ventured into corporate advertising in 2011
and he renamed his company Absolute Media
Pictures Limited, which has since become
renowned for producing content mainly for the
electronic media.
“We are also involved in live motions and
company branding,” he says.
His breakthrough came in the same year.
Uganda was going through a political
transformation and the need for active and
vibrant media content was inevitable. His client
was none other than Kizza Besigye, the
controversial opposition leader.
The Ugandan
politician was running for presidency under the
Forum for Democratic Change.
Good deal
Dr Besigye contracted Absolute Media Pictures
to create and design campaign materials for his
election bid. The deal was worth $25,000, a
huge contrast to the entrepreneur’s earnings
from the makeshift studio earlier.
Although his
client lost the election, the contract gave his
new company the drive to soldier on.
“I continued to operate from the house and
invested the money in equipment before a
friend approached me with seemingly good
deal that almost brought me back to my
knees,’’ said the Absolute Media Pictures
managing director.
The job involved covering the South Sudan
independence anniversary, but hardly did he
know that he was dealing with fake promoters.
“We got duped and on coming back to Kenya. I
had lost almost all my savings,’’ he recalls.
“I was broke and I had to reinvent myself. It
was a lifetime lesson.”
Frustrated but unbowed, Mr Mwaura
repackaged himself and set out to recover what
he had lost in the dubious deal, the lowest
point in his life, he says.
However, he urgently needed capital for his
business.
“I approached two of my closest friends and
involved them in the running of the company,”
says Mwaura.
“One in the creative department while the
other one headed the company’s accounts
section.’’
He says working with innovative people who
strongly believe in him and what he does has
seen the company grow.
Soon after, he teamed up with his too friends,
business deals began flowing in. Today, the two
are the shareholders of the company.
“One must believe in people and give them an
opportunity to grow,’’ says Mr Mwaura.
Their notable television commercials include
those of Airtel, Kenya Commercial Bank ('Weka-
Weka'), Coca Cola, Ford Foundation (under the
famous Uraia advert), Kass TV rebranding and
Tanzania’s NBC Bank.
Mwaura is cagey when asked how much they
made from some of the engagements. He
remains mum for a while, his silence a
reflection of a man who closely guards the
company’s worth in his conversations.
Marketing strategy
The Airtel deal sealed last year, he says, earned
the company $150,000.
“The commercials were used both in East and
West Africa,’’ he adds but remains scanty on
how much they made from other commercials.
Mr Mwaura says he has learnt from his role
models the importance of remaining loyal to
clients.
“Honesty in service delivery is key to any
business. We have invested much in quality
and mostly in our creativity,’’ he says.
“We have made most of our clientele base
through referrals and this is the best
marketing strategy a company should
embrace.”
This has helped the production and advertising
firm to prosper.
“We invest much of the profits we make in the
company,’’ he says, adding that they are yet to
reach the apex and that more work lies ahead.
In the next few months, these youthful
millionaires plan to shoot Miss Tourism fete in
Tanzania.
OLX, an online e-commerce platform, has
engaged the company for its upcoming
television promotion.
“This is a $54,000 contract and we are very
optimistic that we will deliver the best,’’ he
says.
The businessman is a workaholic who is said to
spend most of his time researching and sleeps
a couple of hours. He is also a family man.
He says that the advertising industry is not yet
saturated and more talent is needed.
“When we started off, live motion advertising
was evolving, but we have learnt what the
industry wants and perfected our art. Research
is paramount in any career,’’ says Mr Mwaura.
“It is hard to get people who will give you the
value for what you want, but you have to invest
in them to get the required results later.”
source: nation.co.ke
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