Graphic – 70 years of sterling qualities
Three score years and 10 mark how long the now Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) has been around. Born in the Gold Coast, growing up and aging in Ghana, it has managed to stay on top, sleek with fashionable products 70 years on.
The company has not grown weak and frail in strength even at 70. It has continued to stay bubbly, standing tall, poised and looking confident which to me is a true mark of nothing but success.
My association
Advertisement
I came face to face with this strong company and its flagship and generic brand, the Daily Graphic, in the mid-70s, straight from the university.
My world opened up as a young woman, joining then, Ghana’s media icon and meeting some fantastic professionals in the newsroom, including Elizabeth Ohene, Ben Mensah, Ben Akumanyi, Nana Daniels, Razak El-Alawa, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, Ken Bediako, Joe Aggrey, Christian Aggrey, Wendy Asiamah, Uncles Lovelace Johnson, Perigrino Peters and many more who all made some impact on my professional development.
The GCGL is my first love in journalism, my first love ever, in the job market and my first love entering the real world of independent life. I have never looked back on mediocrity since then.
I still have some affection for GCGL because there, one learnt values such as integrity, professionalism and leadership, something that has been projected all these years and which aligns with my philosophy in life.
Resilience
Seven decades on, the name Graphic is still standing tall in the Ghanaian media space. Its huge influence among its peers has made it a generic name. The GCGL, even at 70, has not withered. The wear and tear of age and business challenges may have hit GCGL along the way, but what is interesting is the resilience with which it bounces back growing and thriving as one of the best in its industry as I recently discovered.
Growth and success go hand in hand when management focuses on external and internal stakeholders in like manner. Imposingly displayed at its main reception at its head office in Accra are countless public awards and recognition which adduce to the fact that Graphic has served its community very well.
Such recognition includes an award from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for consistent payment of its statutory taxes to the state.
Conscience, culture
Their social conscience in their community has been unparalleled. They continuously organise annual free medical checks for the vulnerable in the community and also mobilise their staff to donate blood to the National Blood Transfusion.
Their level of community consciousness has led the Adabraka Atukpai Mantse to honour Graphic for its contribution to the growth of Adabraka in Accra.
Internal culture
The GCGL’s internal culture speaks loudly with the kind of shared values they have nurtured with time.
For them, the saying: “The customer is always right” is not just a mere appendage. Keeping an eye on the customer is a topmost priority. In everything