Currently serving as Senior Director, Frontline Marketing ECAF at The Coca-Cola Company since 2024, Warau Kahoro leads frontline marketing strategies for the East and Central Africa franchise from Nairobi, Kenya. She is a distinguished marketing leader with over 15 years of progressive experience driving brand growth, innovation, and profitability across Africa’s dynamic consumer markets.
In this pivotal role, Kahoro spearheads consumer-facing activations, integrated campaigns, and trade initiatives that strengthen Coca-Cola’s iconic portfolio and deepen market penetration across the region.
Her career is marked by consistent excellence in high-impact leadership positions. Prior to Coca-Cola, Kahoro served as Marketing Director, Beiersdorf Central, East & West Africa , where she orchestrated brand expansion across 34 markets, with strategic focus on Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Angola, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. She directed end-to-end marketing operations, championed consumer insight-driven innovations, led social mission programs, and coordinated multi-category campaigns.
As a key member of the CEWA leadership team, she shaped regional marketing strategies while fostering high-performance teams through targeted training, coaching, and agency partnerships. Her tenure delivered consistent year-over-year brand growth, successful new product launches exceeding targets, talent development (with four internal promotions), and strengthened cross-functional collaboration.
Before Beiersdorf, Kahoro spent over a decade at Unilever, rising through progressively senior roles across East and Southern Africa. As Marketing Head, Foods & Refreshments Division , she held full P&L responsibility, driving tailored growth strategies across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia—achieving a 500-basis-point increase in category profitability and substantial gains in market penetration and brand equity.
Earlier roles included Sunlight Marketing Manager & Strategic Business Manager to the Managing Director, Homecare Category Marketing Manager (delivering 1,440 bps profit enhancement and market leadership), and regional savoury brand leadership positions that generated double-digit sales growth, multiple innovations, and enhanced brand equity.
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Warau’s journey began with foundational roles in sales, trade marketing, and brand management at Unilever and EABL, where she consistently surpassed targets—evidenced by achievements such as 239 bps market share expansion, 27% volume growth, and 110–137% sales target over-delivery.
Warau combines strategic vision, consumer-centric innovation, and people leadership to deliver sustainable business results in competitive emerging markets. A Chartered Marketer with a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Marketing from CIM, she continues to shape the future of frontline marketing and brand excellence at The Coca-Cola Company.
MarketingWorld Magazine’s CMO of the Week is a global recognition celebrating marketing and communications leaders who demonstrate exceptional leadership, drive brand transformation, champion innovation, and make meaningful contributions to market growth and stakeholder engagement.
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