#25

Samantha Siyieyio Kipury

GROUP MD – DENTSU KENYA

With over a decade of experience in Integrated Marketing Communications, Samantha has been responsible for leading agency teams in developing communication strategies that not only engage and resonate with consumers, but that also deliver strong positive impact on the client’s Profit and Loss (P&L).

Due to her focus and commitment, Dentsu Kenya was able to not only weather the storm that was 2020 due to Covid-19, but the company actually delivered record performance, which is a testament to both her and her team’s mettle. “Due to the global experience of our CEO Chris Madison, we were able to recognize the impact of Covid in other markets, and take on measures that would protect both our company and our clients during this period, the diligent application of these measures every day of the year is what allowed us to delivered these results—it was my no means a one man/woman show”.

“Campaigns like the much lauded and awarded Bonga For Good allowed us to showcase our tools ability to deliver against business outcomes, through the foresight of the Safaricom marketing team, we were able to work together to deliver a campaign that truly embodied the Safaricom brand purpose of transforming lives. Through this campaign millions of Kenyans were able to access basic food stuffs during lockdown through redeeming their Bonga Points—a first for Africa.”

When asked what it takes to grow a successful agency, her response was simple, “Brave Clients”.  Despite her humility, it is clear that when coupled with their client’s who Samantha is hugely proud of, Dentsu has the ability to leverage data and tools to deliver campaigns like no other, in addition to the Bonga For Good campaign above, another campaign that moved the country was the rebrand from Barclays to Absa Kenya. When asked to comment, her response was “The Absa leadership team is completely unafraid of stepping into a brave new future embedded in digital transformation to drive customer experiences, this fits in perfectly with our brand purpose and this partnership really was the foundation of everything you saw in the media. It was the embodiment of “Innovating The Way Brands are Built”.

Since founding Carat in 2010, Samantha has grown the agency to over 130 people, working alongside strong leadership in the digital and creative space.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage, they say. In 2010, at a corner of a 5 square foot open office off Ngong road, 25-year-old Samantha Siyieyio Kipury sat alone, her courage spilling over, filling the empty space around her. Her life had just taken a trajectory that would propel her career in the media industry in Kenya.

When asked about the future for Dentsu, her response “I do not think it’s a coincidence that we are growing in the midst of the greatest disruption to life in modern history, we have and will continue make huge internal investments in customer understanding in this landscape and leveraging data to drive these customer experiences for our clients. Strong performance is great, but people are why we exist. We exist to transform lives through our brands, and we are just getting started.”

CITATIONS

• Client Partnership
• Moral Courage
• Global Product Branding
• Digital Marketing Strategies
• Data and Tools
• Strategic Communication
• Services Rebranding