PROFILE: Bernard Ology, on why he abandoned his accounting, procurement and supply chain logistics qualifications to become a creative designer

Bernard Ology is an advertising, marketing communications and branding professional with over 10 years of experience and a strong background in creative, strategy and brand building. 

He is the Co-founder and Creative Director of BrandKnew Communications, a boutique creative and advertising agency in Kampala.

Working with mainly medium-sized brands, SMEs and startups, he has established a reputation for beautifully crafted, design-led graphic narratives across various genres and media platforms.

Throughout his professional life, Ology’s creative streak has touched more than 50 brands. Some he worked on with other teams, but those he built from the ground up, include Eco Concrete, Protea Hotels Kampala, Edge Technologies, SB Intellisense, Lake Heights, Breathtaking Uganda and OiLibya.

Other clients include Protea Hotels, Latitude 0 Hotel Kampala and Best Western Plus Hotel. He also created the digital migration campaign for Uganda Communications Commission, as well as various brand experience campaigns for Marasa Africa.

Bernard’s career began at New Media publications, the publishers of Zenji and African Woman magazines before moving on to lead the creative team at Graphic Systems, where his passion for the craft and creativity of graphics led him to work with the late Gen. Elly Tumwine in developing the CHOGM 2007 tourism catalogue – the first-ever detailed coverage of Uganda’s tourism potential. 

He also developed the brand identity and front & back of house materials for New Brookfields Hotel – Sierra Leone and Royal Nick Hotels – Ghana. He successfully developed the front and back of house brand collateral for Latitude 0 Kampala as part of their launch in Kampala in 2018/2019.

Working with Uganda Golf Union, he conceptualized and designed the Uganda Open as well as the Zone Six Golf souvenir magazine during the time Uganda hosted the Zone VI golf championship in 2016.

In 2017, Ology designed the World Bank Open Day communication to educate Ugandans on the work of the World Bank in the country.

In partnership with Corporate Image Ltd, he conceptualized and designed the 70th-anniversary Magazine for Uganda Breweries

In 2015, conceptualized and designed Cente Business Life – a financial literacy program of Centenary Bank that was instrumental in offering financial literacy for small and medium-scale businesses in Uganda.

An accounting, procurement and supply-chain logistics professional turned creative designer

Ology became a creative designer out of sheer passion rather than training. He studied Procurement and Supply Logistics and later accounting.

“I was passionate about advertising, design and attention to detail from an early age. Unlike the other areas I trained in, the creative industry was more attractive because it thrives on ideas – as long as you have creative ideas, you will rise. Plus, hard work and the right skills are rewarded in the creative business,” he says.

In his view, “procurement and accounting are dogged by hierarchy which is non-existent in the creative industry”.  

Ology says that while the creative industry is an emerging sector that promises to create several of today’s and future jobs, it is still muzzled by a number of bottlenecks.

“The creative sector is considered the youngest yet fastest-growing economic sector in the world. According to data by UNESCO, these industries account for 3.1% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 6.2% of all employment,” he says.

CEO East Africa Magazine asked Ology what if he were made a Minister of the Creative Industry, what he would do to tackle the challenges, Ology had the following interesting ideas:

Fix Skills Shortage: The creative industry in Uganda remains amid a skills shortage, despite an abundance of talent across the country. Developing and retaining talent has been one of the greatest challenges hurting the creative industry. I would set up creative skilling centres in every city in Uganda to train the youth with the necessary skills to get into and evolve within the industry. Within the same context, I would ensure the integration of creativity into the business school curriculum and ensure that all students have the opportunity to pursue a career in the field.

Fix The Uneven Funding To The Creative Industry: Creative agencies often struggle to access funding from banks and other funding institutions because of the low interest in the sector. Recently the tourism sector got a UGX 44 billion Covid-19 relief facility and the creative industry was conspicuously left out, yet the sector was one of the hardest hit.

Fix The Cost Of the Internet: The creative industry relies heavily on the internet and as such, the cost of the internet has a strong bearing on the cost of operating the business. Given that Uganda today has one of the highest internet costs in the world, I would immediately engage all parties involved, to bring down internet costs by at least 50%.

Tax relief on creative equipment, machines and software: The right computers, cameras, software, rendering equipment, printers and many other assets required in the set-up of a creative agency are expensive. I would lobby to cut or remove taxes altogether from all creative delivery machines and equipment to reduce the cost of doing the business to spur development.

Pitching Fees: Creative agencies invest a significant amount of time and resources into pitching for new businesses despite the uncertainty of winning the business. Given the high expenses of pitching – and the rising likelihood it may not succeed – I would lobby to have a standard practice where clients should pay a pitching fee to all participating agencies. This would limit the growing practice of clients inviting agency pitches merely to steal ideas or sanitise an already rigged pitching process.