Guinness Nigeria has appointed marketing and brand strategy professional Olusegun Akinyemiju as Head of White Spirits (MSS Category), strengthening its senior leadership team and reinforcing its focus on strategic growth within the spirits segment.
Akinyemiju assumes full strategic and commercial leadership of one of the company’s most significant and high-volume spirits portfolios, overseeing portfolio performance, innovation pipelines, profitability, market expansion, and brand equity in a dynamic alcoholic beverages landscape.
With over a decade of experience blending consumer insight, commercial acumen, innovation, and strategic execution, Akinyemiju brings unparalleled capability to elevate Guinness Nigeria’s White Spirits portfolio, champion category leadership, and deliver sustained value in one of Africa’s most vibrant consumer markets.
His extensive career demonstrates deep expertise in category management, brand revitalization, and commercial execution within the spirits and FMCG sectors. At Nigeria Distilleries Limited, he served as Senior Brand Manager for the Gin and Liqueur Category, where he held end-to-end ownership of the portfolio.
Akinyemiju spearheaded growth initiatives by optimizing product mix, campaign strategies, pricing architecture, and margin enhancement programs to deliver sustainable profitability amid intense competition and economic pressures. He led innovation pipelines, launching new SKUs and line extensions informed by consumer insights, flavor segmentation, and cross-market trends tailored for On-Trade and Modern Retail channels.
He also crafted channel-specific go-to-market strategies across General Trade, Modern Trade, and On-Trade, while driving integrated marketing campaigns, experiential activations, and digital amplification to strengthen brand preference and loyalty.
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Previously, as Senior Brand Manager (Commercial Growth) for LORD’S Dry Gin—one of Nigeria’s flagship premium spirits brands—he orchestrated a comprehensive brand transformation. This included a full renovation and innovation relaunch to counter counterfeiting, resulting in rapid sales acceleration, significant market share gains, and enhanced brand equity through insight-driven digital, influencer, and full-funnel ATL campaigns. He executed Nigeria’s largest spirits sampling activations, forged distributor partnerships for operational excellence, and successfully launched a ready-to-drink SKU that captured incremental revenue and top-tier market positioning while protecting margins through supply chain and cost optimizations.
Akinyemiju’s leadership extends beyond spirits into broader marketing excellence. As Head of Marketing – West Africa for i-Fitness Centre Ltd., he architected omnichannel growth strategies, forged high-value corporate wellness partnerships with multinational corporations, and built high-performing teams equipped with advanced MarTech tools to achieve exceptional revenue multiples and rapid market penetration.
Earlier roles at leading agencies—including Business Director at DeQube Agency, Senior Brand Manager at Noah’s Ark Communications, and Senior Manager – Consumer Engagement at Rock Thompson Nigeria—saw him deliver award-winning, high-impact campaigns for iconic brands in telecom, FMCG, and beverages. He consistently drove triple-digit revenue uplifts, market share breakthroughs, viral activations, and measurable ROI through data-driven strategies, creative storytelling, experiential marketing, and cross-functional leadership.
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