Writer | Creative | Ogilvy Tanzania

Job Purpose – Summary

A Writer is responsible for taking their client's advertising brief and generating original copy ideas that grab the attention of the target audience. They are involved in creating a campaign that has an instant, positive impact on the consumer in order to promote the product or brand being advertised. This may include creating straplines, slogans, body copy, jingles, and scripts that accompany advertising visuals. Writers will work in close partnership with their Art Directors and have input into the visual elements as well. A Writer at Ogilvy Tanzania will produce big-picture advertising for big-picture client.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Campaign Content Creation:
• Strategic & Creative Development:
• Market & Brand Understanding:
• Collaboration & Communication:
• Creative Management & Execution:
• Quality Assurance:
• Write material for established campaigns.
• Develop sales concepts or ideas for accounts.
• Review and revise existing slogans and taglines.
• Develop and execute outstanding advertising that sells products and builds brands.
• Originate and deliver, in conjunction with appropriate agency sources, outstanding strategic solutions based on business scenarios, consumer insights, and a thorough understanding of the total communication mix.
• Ensure all agency briefings yield relevant, original, and efficient solutions.
• Develop a strong partnership with the Creative Director, Associate Creative Directors, and peers on each account, based on a shared commitment to effective solutions.
• Facilitate first-time selling and timely execution of creative and media solutions.
• Remain up-to-date with new ideas, techniques, and styles (e.g., art, films, technology, digital, social media, TV programs, music, fashion, trends).
• Understand and appreciate the nature and value of their client’s brand.
• Familiarize themselves with the product and competitor activities in the market.
• Be proficient in discussing the client's core message and target audience.
• Ability to generate numerous fresh, original ideas from a brief.
• Build key relationships with Account Management, Planning, and Traffic departments.
• Meet regularly with relevant departments to discuss client requirements and core messages.
• Portray a helpful and innovative image for the Creative Department.
• Think creatively and devise imaginative and intelligent advertisements based on client briefs.
• Push boundaries of original thinking to explore new creative solutions.
• Effectively communicate creative ideas to diverse audiences with varying creative knowledge levels.
• Translate the strategic creative concept into different creative executions for client presentations.
• Execute creative ideas to the highest standard, involving and communicating with the necessary creative team.
• Modify initial ideas into workable concepts until client satisfaction.
• Align copy with art direction and vice versa.
• Edit and proofread advertisement copy.
• Guard against producing deceptive copy or advertisements that may lead to consumer confusion.

PROFESSIONAL, TECHNICAL SKILLS AND PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• Experience: 2-5 years of experience as a writer.
• Client Understanding:
• Idea Generation:
• Writing & Presentation:
• Client Collaboration:
• Ability to attend consultations with account executives to clarify and internalize brand requirements and core messages.
• Familiarity with advertising and promotional material used by competitors.
• Understanding the target consumer class and tailoring advertising to their tastes.
• Ability to brainstorm ideas with creative team members and develop new, catchy, and convincing ideas to communicate the advertiser's message.
• Skill in evaluating and refining ideas, making decisions between alternatives.
• Strong ability to write compelling advertising copy.
• A strong understanding of what makes standout creative.
• The ability to engage and demonstrate ideas effectively.
• Ability to help explain concepts to the advertiser and adapt them according to their needs.

Ogilvy Beliefs

• Continuous Improvement: People need regular OS upgrades; even the best OS will be obsolete tomorrow unless it's constantly upgraded. The same is true for people.
• Practitioner Culture: We need more cows than milkmen; we are a culture of practitioners, not managers. We contribute before we comment.
• Creative Differentiator: Creativity is, and will always be, our differentiator. Creativity now includes the holy trinity of Data - Content - Tech.
• Diversity as Strength: Diversity is a competitive advantage; new profiles, new skills, new styles of leadership make us a stronger company.
• Collaborative Advantage: Collaborative advantage > Competitive advantage. Find partners who are on top of their game at the skillset we need. It’s the only way to scale at speed without pretending to have all the answers.
• Team Success: Team Individual: You get a lot more done when everyone stops worrying about who gets credit at the end. Teams succeed, individuals fail.
• Embrace Failure: Fail often, fail fast. We see intrapreneurs in all our people and encourage a culture of pilots. Test, succeed and scale; or fail-fast, learn from the failure, and start something new.

Company Overview – Ogilvy Africa

Ogilvy Africa is the largest network agency on the continent, serving 40 countries with a team of approximately 900 people across Central, East, and West Africa. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Ogilvy Africa manages a portfolio of over 100 brands for clients such as AB InBev, Airtel, Africa CDC, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Distell, Equity Bank, Exxon Mobil, Kenya Airways, Mondelez, NCBA, Nestle, Philips, PWC, SAB Miller, Sanlam, Total, UNICEF, and WWF, among others.

The agency offers services across the full spectrum of marketing domains, including advertising (online and offline), Customer Engagement & Commerce, Digital Transformation, Shopper Marketing, Media, PR & Influence, all under one unified setup. Ogilvy Africa has also created proprietary marketing products in areas such as real-time marketing, social intelligence, virtual experiences, influencer management, e-commerce enablement, and content hubs. Their unique operating model, "One Ogilvy," allows clients and brands to simplify agency structures and create seamless omni-channel experiences for consumers across touchpoints. Fueled by the holy trinity of content, data, and technology, Ogilvy Africa strives to be the best-practice agency model for Developing & Emerging markets.

In its 20+ years in Africa, Ogilvy Africa has won the highest number of regional and global awards for the region, including Cannes Lions, Clio awards, Dubai Lynx Festival, and SABRE Awards (Global and Africa), to name a few. Ogilvy is a leading global creative network of WPP, launched by David Ogilvy over 70 years ago, and is referred to as the Agency of Giants by several industry experts.