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Caroline Ndungu
DIRECTOR-ABSA BANK KENYA PLC MARKETING AND CORPORATE RELATIONS
Caroline is a marketing and finance professional with over 15 years of extensive work experience gained in multi-national organizations across a diverse range of sectors and geographies. She has extensive experience in developing and delivering marketing and business plans and in evaluating and defining opportunities in a competitive environment, consequently developing value generating strategies to all stakeholders.
Ms Ndungu is a dynamic leader adept in managing accounts, collaborating with stakeholders, negotiating with vendors, and assuring service excellence. She is an expert in business development, portfolio management, budgeting and auditing, and document management. In her work, she is an influential communicator with ability to enhance customer experience, liaise with various departments, and coordinate operations to accelerate profitability.
Her management style involves deploying strengths-based leadership style for self and others while preferring to be an activator that catalysis ideas into action with contagious and engaging energy. Caroline builds bridges between people and groups and helping others find meaning and see the bigger picture, while giving them a sense of comfort and stability in the face of uncertainty.
Caroline’s key areas of expertise include business development, audit and finances, portfolio management, budget and profit/loss, customer service, project and program management, account management, training and development and brand management
Prior to joining Absa Bank Kenya formerly Barclays Bank, Caroline was the marketing director at EABL and Serengeti Breweries before then where she managed a portfolio of beer, spirits and adult non-alcoholic drinks providing marketing and innovation direction and strategy.
Before this, Caroline was the regional manager with Diageo, where she is credited with the implementation of the Tusker Strategy to deliver the brand vision of becoming Africa’s number one beer brand by value and volume.
She is viewed as a top-notch brand management guru, specializing in strengthening brand equity by delivering memorable advertising in support of the key brand benefit and in executing a world class reality program that builds on brand credentials while driving consumption, including the delivery of timeless experiential activities and promotions.
As a leader in business development, Caroline is also credited with accelerating growth in the premium and mainstream segments by delivering a quality proposition with Tusker Malt Lager through great packaging and engineering product quality.
In terms of offering value for money in the lower end market, Caroline’s tenure saw the rolling out of Tusker Draught to drive accessibility in the lower mainstream by providing a price point versus serve benefit on top of leading the regional agenda on Tusker core market of Eastern Africa and driving synergies on development work and budgets.
As Marketing and Corporate Relations Director, at Barclays Bank of Kenya (now rebranded as ABSA Bank Kenya, Caroline has utilised her immense communications/citizenship/marketing strategies to enhance the brand image.
She has since2014 ensured business growth, translated business requirements into strategy, and directed all marketing operations.
At ABSA Bank Kenya, Caroline defines annual plans, outlines content in alignment with business needs, exceeds customer expectations and prepares reports for senior management. She acquires funding, assures staff engagement, and oversees compliance and regulations.
Key achievements at ABSA Bank Kenya includes the introduction proposition Zidisha bonus account resulting in
major cost savings of KES 8b within 12 months. She also secured over 3 million new customers through the use of Timiza mobile application.
Within a very short span of time, Caroline has led her team to successfully initiated the ABSA brand into Kenyan market resulting in seventy-two (72) per cent awareness. The company brand within the market has also been elevated to the highest household utility level in a very short span of time. Her leadership has also seen the launch of Women in Business Proposition programme to enhance women within senior leadership positions within the market and the country at large.
The successful and impactful transitioning of the Barclays brand to Absa whilst maintaining stakeholder/current client engagement and growing the customer base is one of her major achievements. Caroline has also supported the bank’s top management team to showcase Kenya as a golfing tourism destination through the sustained sponsorship of Barclays Bank, now rebranded as ABSA.
Caroline has attended the IESE Business School for the Advanced Management Programme in 2007-2008 and the Strathmore University College and Business School where she qualified as a CPA-K, graduating in 1997. She holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Nairobi (1990 – 1993).
