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MARKETING TALENT
Kenya Breweries appoints Charles Okanya as Acting Marketing Director
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024
Currently Head of Consumer Planning at EAB, he is a behavioural researcher with experience in strategy and marketing insight functions.
Kenya Breweries Limited has announced the appointment of Charles Okanya as its Acting Marketing Director, effective from 1 September 2024.
He is currently Head of Consumer Planning at East African Breweries PLC, and will oversee all marketing initiatives at Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) in the interim.
Okanya is a behavioural researcher with over 15 years of experience in strategy and marketing insight functions across Africa, having worked in five markets on the continent.
“He specialises in leading the business with ideas and insights that help sell more by critically understanding why consumers behave as they do, and where their behaviours intersect with business objectives,” KBL says in a statement posted on social media.
Charles Okanya. Photo: Kenya Breweries Limited
“Charles is skilled in consumer attitudinal and behavioural segmentation, insight funneling, and marketing-growth frameworks. He has previously worked in telecommunications, mobile money, beverages and personal care.”
Worked in research and strategy agencies
Before joining Diageo Kenya seven years ago, he spent the early part of his career working with research and strategy agencies such as Nielsen, Synovate, Kantar, and Ipsos, where he was the head of advertising research solutions.
During this period, Okanya ran over 100 market and social research studies in sub-Saharan Africa and lived in four countries across West, South, and East Africa, which gave him a perspective on cultural sensitivity.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science and a Master’s degree in Population Studies and Research from the University of Nairobi.
On his LinkedIn profile, Okanya states: “From my years in consumer insights and planning, I have come to increasingly understand that no good decision, in personal or professional spheres, is made in a linear fashion. Taking into consideration the interdependencies of systems, events and people always brings out the best outcome.”
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