Global business is easy to talk about in a classroom. It’s much harder, and far more meaningful, to experience it. During an eight-day immersion in Ghana, the Marketing Leadership Institute (MLI) brought global business to life through hands-on company visits, candid conversations with local leaders and cultural exposure that reshaped my view of emerging markets. Wisconsin MBA students visited seven companies spanning data insights, CPG marketing and creative content to give us a holistic view of the way business is conducted in Ghana.
From the moment we touched down in the capital, Accra, we were welcomed with open arms by our tour guides and set out to see the country. Our trip began by learning about the history of the country and its independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to achieve this milestone. Stops included the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, a tribute to the first president who helped guide Ghana through its first years of independence, as well as the National Museum of Ghana, where we learned about much of Ghana’s culture and history pre-colonization. One of the most powerful moments of the trip was on day two, when we traveled to Cape Coast and visited the Cape Coast Castle. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the castle was built in 1555 and served as one of the largest fortresses to hold slaves before being shipped off to Europe or the Americas. An estimated 10-40 million slaves passed through the same walls we had the opportunity to visit, with all of us being moved by how dark history can be.
Company Visits
At this point, you may be wondering how the MLI chose Ghana as the immersion trip for this year’s MBA students. That is all thanks to the work of Ato Micah, a 2008 MBA alum of Wisconsin and the Nielsen Brand Center. Of Ghanaian descent, Ato had a few different stops at CPG companies in the U.S. before deciding to open Maverick Research, a syndicated data firm for the Ghana market. Maverick was the first company we had the opportunity to visit while in Accra, meeting several members of their team and learning how important open-air markets are to the citizens of Ghana. They walked us through the Madina market, where we visited mini stores and tabletop shops that Maverick partners with to perform retail audit marketing. No matter if it is household food staples or cleaning products, Maverick is able to track it all and help give vendors and store owners at these markets a better idea of who their consumer is and how/why they’re purchasing.
Beyond consumer marketing, we also explored the infrastructure that makes Ghana’s economy function day to day with stops at both Freezelink and DP World, two key players in Ghana’s supply chain logistics. At Freezelink, we learned about the lack of established cold chains in the West African market and how their work is helping to minimize waste for farmers, while also deliver medicine and vaccines to more remote parts of the country. DP World focused on how grocery items are imported into Ghana and their journey from port to both grocery stores and open-air markets through a series of different warehouses and delivery modes.
As a career switcher, agencies were not something I was familiar with when coming to Wisconsin, but I have since learned just how important they are to helping companies execute on marketing campaigns. Therefore, I was most excited for our visit to Insel Communications, a creative marketing agency that has worked with some of the biggest names in West Africa. Founder Russel Eni walked us through different case studies, such as work with Shell, Ecobank and Airtel Tigo. He talked about how they land new clients, how his team goes through ideation and the different stages of bringing a campaign from concept to execution. It was an engaging and insightful introduction to the inner workings of a creative agency.
A mid-week visit to 57 Chocolate opened our eyes into the local cocoa scene, where we learned that Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world. Most of that cocoa is exported, where it then returns to Ghana as edible chocolate, so 57 Chocolate’s mission is to keep everything in Ghana. We had the opportunity to sample different flavors and even make our own chocolate bar! We then traveled to another creative agency, EchoHouse, who specializes in targeting younger demographics through influencer marketing, creative digital media and event production around West Africa. Our final visit was to Unilever Ghana, where they showed us how they create different pricing and pack architecture to reflect the different needs of consumers at open-air markets and grocery stores.
No matter how big or small the company, each one we visited had such an important impact on the Ghanaian market. My biggest takeaway from this trip was just how important the open-air markets are to the Ghanaian economy. Even with newer, more modern grocery stores opening, a large percentage of the country still relies on these markets to get their everyday essentials. I really enjoyed learning the different ways modern companies integrate their campaigns and work to fit the blend of two different store types into their marketing mix.
I’d like to send a big thank you to Ato Micah for inviting us to his country and helping us learn so much! A huge thank you also goes out to Alan Stoffer, Schelzia Ross, Lorelei Zinsky and everyone at the Marketing Leadership Institute for organizing such a great trip!
MLI MBA students
Koya Kimura, Meghan McFadden,
David Hadar, and Wilson Noll
David Hadar and Koya Kimura