Therese Jones
Co-founder of Brandmeister
Therese Jones
“I had always felt a connection to Ghana,” says Brandmeister co-founder Therese Jones, who moved to the country’s capital Accra from New York in 2018. After a visit to the country five years ago, Therese was determined to do some kind of work there, but it took a while to figure out exactly what.
“At first I did the clichéd thing a lot of people do, which is when you think of an African country you think of philanthropy right away,” she explains. “But when I came here, I realised that the impact could be in the products that lead the country, or the way it’s presented. There were so many people starting really great companies, but their marketing and images didn’t depict the quality of the brands.”
Therese set up Brandmeister together with Bernard Kafui Sokpe and David-Clay Onah, and the three collaborated from the US, Ghana and Nigeria for some time before she took the plunge and relocated permanently. She’s no stranger to big moves, having left New York for Connecticut when she was a teenager, and moved around the state for much of her teen and adult life. As the oldest of five children, she says her siblings looked to her to help make the adjustment each time, meaning she quickly learned how to meet and understand new people - something that came in handy once she got to Accra.
Brandmeister’s first client was STD testing app Verifie, which had been searching for a creative partner to help engage with people. The agency came up with a tongue-in-cheek digital campaign, entitled Let’s Have A Quickie, which got people’s attention. By the end of two weeks the app had been downloaded over 3,000 times, and Brandmeister’s creative is still in use today.
It’s the kind of approach the agency has become known for – playful, smart creative campaigns, often with an event or digital focus. Brandmeister has worked with companies including Vodafone, Coca-Cola and Pernod Ricard, as well as online marketplace Tonaton. It also collaborates with international agencies, working with Ogilvy, OMD Worldwide and others on digital and influencer campaigns on the continent.
“Brands are looking at coming back from Covid-19 stronger, and I believe that our past campaigns are helping us attract companies that want to make noise when things start to get a little more normal,” says Therese, when asked about life post-lockdown. “We’re just trying to figure our way around this landscape. I’m grateful but surprised.”
And Therese’s experiences as a child still inform her creative approach to this day: “My partners always say to me that being able to think about different people’s experiences helps with our campaigns,” she explains. “Everyone moves differently in every town. The way people make friends, the way they watch and consume entertainment was different in every place I moved to, and I look back on things like that when we’re brainstorming any strategy or brief and looking realistically at what the brand’s audience is. If I didn’t have that experience of being moved around so much when I was younger, I don’t think I would look at things that way.”
Interview by Selena Schleh
