By Abel Mugume
Uganda’s advertising industry is loud when it comes to visible creativity. We celebrate the TV commercial that makes everyone laugh. We talk about the billboard that becomes a city conversation. We applaud the campaign that wins an award.
But the industry is often quiet about a different kind of creative power. The women who sit with complex briefs, difficult stakeholder expectations, tight timelines and limited budgets and still craft strategies that move people, shift behaviour and grow brands.
This is an appreciation piece for the women whose brilliance is not always seen, but whose thinking is always felt.
At MAAD McCANN, we describe ourselves as a 360 advertising agency structured for innovation, creativity and multidisciplinary problem solving. That promise is not delivered by slogans. It is delivered by people. And many of those people are women quietly raising the standard of strategic work in Uganda.
For years, there has been a silent myth that advertising is for men. Too many young women have approached this industry wondering if they will be heard, if they will grow, if they will lead. The truth is simple. Creativity is not gendered. It lives in empathy, observation, discipline, cultural intelligence and the courage to try again after rejection.
Across Uganda’s creative economy, there is growing recognition that creative industries, including advertising, are a real engine for opportunity, especially for youth and women. Research supported by the United Nations Development Programme shows that digital change is expanding how creative goods and services are created, distributed and consumed. If opportunities are expanding, then gatekeeping must shrink.
At the same time, we must be honest. Initiatives like Behind the Scenes by the International Center for Research on Women highlight that gender norms still shape women’s access to dignified and fulfilling work across creative sectors, including Uganda. That is why visibility and mentorship are not optional. They are necessary.
In my role in Business Development, I have spent over a decade shaping strategies across FMCG, manufacturing, construction, finance, social and behaviour change, pay television and telecom. One lesson stands out. A good strategy is not just smart. It is useful. It translates complexity into direction. It protects the consumer truth when opinions become loud. It ensures that creative work drives impact, not just attention.
Many women do this work every day without applause and sometimes without the title that matches the responsibility. They defend ideas. They simplify chaos. They connect insight to action. Strategy is not only written in presentation decks. It is lived in the decisions you fight for and the truths you insist must guide the work.
Appreciation without action is just good writing. As a leader, I am choosing to nurture, stretch and develop women’s talent in the spaces that shape outcomes but do not always get the spotlight, including client leadership, strategy, media thinking, behavioural insight and integrated planning. Talent needs room to try, to fail safely, to present, to lead and to own work from start to finish.
The shift is already happening. Platforms such as Goethe-Zentrum Kampala have hosted conversations about what it means to be a woman creative in Uganda, with a strong focus on consistency, professionalism and mentorship. Industry bodies like the Uganda Marketers Society continue to create spaces that encourage visibility and bold leadership for women in marketing. These conversations matter because they normalise ambition.
Gender equality in advertising should not be treated as a slogan. It should be a standard. Equal opportunity. Equal growth. Equal credit. Equal pay. Equal respect. When women are fully included and empowered, our work becomes sharper, more human and more culturally grounded.
To every woman pushing through the line, your strategy is felt even when it is not loudly celebrated. And to every young woman considering a career in advertising, you belong here. Whether through account management, media planning, digital strategy, creative production or social and behaviour change communication, there are more entry points than you think. Uganda’s creative economy is evolving, and with digital acceleration, the pathways to learn, earn and lead are expanding. Do not disqualify yourself before you begin.
The writer is Head of Business Development, MAAD McCANN
