Achieng Butler has over 25 years of strategic marketing experience working across English-speaking and French-speaking Africa. She has worked across different industries including consumer goods, telecommunications, tourism and education.
Her intimate knowledge of the African market and her in-depth understanding of classical and digital marketing, over the years enabled her to share nuggets of wisdom with Waithera Kabiru on the iMarket Podcast.
Key Take-Aways from Working Across the Globe
While Achieng has worked nationally and internationally, she greatly respects the continent of Africa. There may not be extensive and efficient data collection that can be used to better marketing efforts, but marketers can find the information they need by understanding what consumers care about and how they live their lives. Brands can easily use that information to get richer insights and develop strategies that are more effective and relevant.
She notes that people can build stellar careers in Africa because you have autonomy, accountability and decent budgets to work with in the marketing field; you have the more latitude to create and grow your career.
Marketing in a Digital World
Marketing is the strategic engine of any business and it’s up to marketers to steer the organization towards keeping up with the trends. They are in a unique place to make ‘digital’ and ‘technology’ a central part of what and how brands adapt to doing things. One mistake marketers’ make is just focusing on one aspect; promotion. In this new digital world, everything changes, it’s not about promoting the brand, but how can the brand actually stand out on the platforms that the audience use every single day.
Brands need to realize that digital has to be at the heart of everything we do otherwise you struggle or become obsolete. This is one of the biggest lessons that organizations learned when the pandemic hit.
Networking
Moving from the corporate world to entrepreneurship opened Achieng’s eyes to the difference in networking. In the corporate world you’re visible based on the organization you work for, but as an entrepreneur you have to be deliberate in making yourself visible to others, hence you must consistently be open to networking in spaces that you didn’t operate in before.
Keep in mind the kind of groups you are engaging with and remember that you don’t always have to network physically because there are supportive online community groups that you can join. You must know where to find resources that you need and how to connect in a targeted way.
