In Focus: Interview with Zachary Ouma, Creative Director at Dragonfly Limited, Kenya

BY IAA Global June 22, 2018

Zachary Ouma

Zachary Ouma is a Creative Director and a co-founder at Dragonfly (Kenya). He has worked in the digital advertising industry for over 10 years. He has previously worked with leading digital agencies in Kenya including Squad Digital, Creative Edge, Dotsavvy Africa.

Dragonfly is a Digital-first company in the business of making brands look good by offering 360 advertising solutions. Digital advertising - Creative Digital Campaigns, Content Development, Social Media Marketing, Website Design Development, Digital Short Videos - TV & Radio and Print.

Thanks a lot. It was a huge honor winning a Gold at the Muse Awards. It meant a lot to us, being the first Kenyan and African agency to WIN. This has given us a lot of mileage and to our client a strong belief and conviction in our creative work and process.

With the change on spending patterns by clients we are seeing heavy spend on digital, which will lead to a significant shift. The ever increasing rate of mobile penetration, smartphones will be a STRONG medium for creative consumption. The change in digital trends will have an equally huge impact on the industry. The likes of AR and VR will shape how content will be consumed and the transformation from M2M (machine to Machine) to IoT (Internet of Things) where one can do a lot with just a touch of a button is going to have a huge impact in the industry.

The Freedom of pushing your limits is unrivalled; You can Push your creativity to any level. The power to change behaviors and spark change is something I adore. Creative solutions that can impact a generation for a lifetime. It's very easy to strike creative collaboration. With a great idea it is easy to convince fellow creatives to jump in and offer their expertise on a project.

My daily source of inspiration is My Mum Norah Arija who induced in me the Art of "make it happen" from a young age. She always pushes me to be better every single day. Among many in the industry, I would highlight James Mbiyu, currently Creative Director at Cactus Ethiopia. He instilled in me the discipline and creative ethics required. How to lead an always SPIRITED team, Learn something new every single day and push your creativity and skillset LEARN.CREATE.LEARN

Kenya, being the hub of creativity in East and Central Africa, our creative industry is so crucial in positively impacting and inspiring the region.

Be patient and put in the hours. Be ready to learn from the fails and successes. Always sharpen yourself.

Pencil, Paper, Computer, Internet and Belief.

I churn out more work at night. "Ssshhh…. Don't tell anyone"

Teamwork. There is no perfect team. Inspire, motivate, believe in your team and you will always do amazing work as a unit.