ANN GITAO-KINYUA

Focal point for all brand building work for Shell and Engen brands, across Vivo Energy’s 23 markets. Responsible for shaping Marketing & Brand Strategy, working in close collaboration with Country Marketing teams and Heads of Business functions in the Central team. Lead the strategic management and profitable growth of existing and new products and services, including development of compelling customer value propositions, launch programs, brand activation and promotions. Focal point in managing the Licensor relationship with Shell & Engen. Member of Vivo Energy’s senior leadership team.

Key Achievements

• Set up the Marketing organisation from scratch, identifying, recruiting and on-boarding high calibre Marketing teams.
• Created and embedded Vivo Energy Way of Marketing, achieving a unified understanding of our approach to winning in the markets in which we operate.
• Set up a research and market intelligence framework to provide market and consumer insights. Subsequently facilitated numerous country workshops to extract value from research programs, achieving deeper consumer and market understanding.
• Led the design and implementation of a Consumer Segmentation framework that provided a deeper understanding of consumer needs, attitudes and behaviour.
• Led country workshops to identify the most valuable segments and develop compelling consumer value propositions that have helped drive brand preference and achieve volume growth.
• Lead virtually and across cultures to develop effective brand communication campaigns that have led to double-digit growth in brand health performance indicators, achieving brand preference leadership in 10 of 15 markets and delivering over $50million in incremental value from Marketing campaigns.
• Led the successful launch of loyalty programs in five markets and rollout of digital platforms across fifteen markets.
• Leading the shift to data driven Marketing and digital integration, including the use of social listening tools to mine consumer insights.
• Leading the development of simple data analytics tools and frameworks that enable the country teams make sense of, and extract value from, the large amount of data generated across the business on a daily basis.

I was charged with developing and driving the regional marketing strategy of the Group’s 21 multimedia brands spanning four East African countries – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Responsible for providing insights on the changing media environment to the Executive Team and the organization at large. Managed a team of 13 in Kenya and provided oversight to the regional marketing teams. A member of NMG’s Executive Top Management team responsible for shaping the organisation’s strategy.

Key Achievements

• NMG faced the challenge of launching its second TV station into a crowded market dominated by four players.
• Led a cross-functional team to develop a strategy to differentiate the TV station from NTV, NMG’s other TV station, and position it against the dominant market leader.
• QTV became the fastest growing and fourth largest TV station within six months of its launch, accounting for 25% of the television division’s revenues within its first year.
• NMG needed to make a guarded entry into Rwanda with a radio station, against a background of limited media freedom.
• Developed a strategy to position the radio station as a lifestyle and music station which resulted in KFM becoming the ‘most listened to’ urban radio station within a year of launch.
• NMG’s printing press was aging and required replacement.
• There was however uncertainty about the future of the print industry.
• Co-authored a Board strategy paper on the ‘Future of the Print Industry’ that resulted in ‘GO’ decision for investment in a new printing press worth US$20million.

Responsible for developing and driving marketing strategy for NMG’s eight multimedia brands in Kenya and providing insights on the changing media environment. Managed a team of seven in Kenya. Member of NMG’s Executive Top Management team responsible for shaping organisation strategy.

Key Achievements

• Led the marketing team in conceptualization and execution of a high-impact consumer promotion that achieved circulation growth of 7.4%, three times projected growth for the period, and a participation rate of 17% (70% higher than the norm).
• NMG was considering its strategic options for participating in the radio industry in Kenya, a highly competitive industry with over 100 players.
• Authored radio strategy paper setting out if, and how, NMG should play in the radio industry. Strategy was subsequently adopted by NMG Board.
• Sales for The EastAfrican (regional newspaper) had been flagging for some time. Developed a campaign that grew awareness levels by 40% and led to 36% increase in adoption levels in just three months.

Responsible for developing and driving marketing strategy for NMG’s television and radio brands.

Key Achievements.

• NTV’s viewership had been declining for some time due to lack of a clear brand identity and target audience.
• Led a cross-functional project team in development of a new brand identity for NTV.
• Achieved team alignment on brand purpose and target audience, effectively managed external music and identity suppliers to deliver on time and subsequently relaunched the brand, halting viewership decline and putting NTV on a recovery path to achieving a strong no.2 position
• Praised by the Managing Director, Broadcasting Division upon completion of the project for, ‘your ability to influence and gain buy-in while effectively managing stakeholder interests’.
• Led product development for a Kiswahili radio station entering a crowded market, defined a unique positioning for the brand and successfully launched the station, resulting in QFM becoming the third largest Kiswahili station, four months after launch. The brand subsequently became the largest contributor to the radio division’s revenues in under two years.
• Easyfm’s brand awareness was low, which resulted in low trial and listenership.
• Devised an event marketing strategy for easyfm, conceptualizing and managing four successful events that grew brand awareness by 40%.

Responsible for leading the development of integrated communication campaigns for clients in partnership with the Creative Director and for assisting agency clients develop strong brands. Charged with the profitable management of client accounts and leading new business pitches.

Key Achievements.

• Led the advertising division of Young & Rubicam Brands over a period of three years, resulting in a 55% contribution to the group’s overall profit growth of 200%. This included leading the agency team to win six significant new pieces of business over an 18-month period, resulting in a 35% increase in revenue.
• Played a lead role in the development of brand positioning and communication strategies for several successful brands including: a tier one national bank, a national daily business publication, a leading alcoholic beverage, Kenya’s leading mortgage provider, a national airline and a leading investment bank.
• Facilitated brand strategy workshops for Young & Rubicam clients that led to stronger, more focused brands and business growth.
• Described by the Young & Rubicam Brands Group Managing Director as someone who ‘has found her way into the hearts and minds of our client partners. 'She has fixed; she has enhanced; she has created.’.