Portfolio — 2025

Courtney
Watitwa

Brand strategist turning unclear identities into revenue-driving narratives — with the execution instincts to make them scale.

Brand Strategy

Go-to-Market

Campaign Execution

Marketing Automation

Nairobi, Kenya

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About & CV

I deliver positioning overhauls, messaging frameworks, and campaign strategies for high-growth companies — then build the automated systems that make those strategies scale. Clients include international B2B SaaS brands. I don't just think in frameworks. I ship.

Brand

Auditing
Positioning
ICP Development
Messaging

Marketing

Content Strategy
Channel Planning
Campaign Execution
KPI Monitoring

Automation

Zapier · n8n
Make · Notion AI
Reclaim.ai
Dashboard Build

Tools

HubSpot CRM
Asana · Notion
Monday.com

Data

Google Sheets
Excel
Google Workspace

Education

BA Project Planning
Moi University
Expected 2028

Brand Strategist & Marketing Consultant Nov 2024 – Jan 2025

Independent · Remote · Orchestra · Conveo · Eye-Able

Delivered end-to-end brand overhauls for three international SaaS clients. Built messaging frameworks adopted as the foundation of go-to-market execution. Packaged, priced, and sold tiered consulting services independently.

Marketing Operations Specialist Apr 2025 – Present

Ideal Blinds and Curtains · Remote

Architected automated marketing workflows eliminating 5+ hours of manual work weekly. Built real-time dashboards connecting campaign activity to operational outcomes. Drove 10%+ productivity gain in 3 months.

Communications & Operations Coordinator Jun – Aug 2024

Eldoret Community Development Group

Ran multi-channel communications strategy driving 30% increase in community engagement. Managed end-to-end event logistics across a 3-month programme.

Student Operations Coordinator Jan 2024 – Present

Moi University · Eldoret

Coordinate support across 10+ cross-functional project teams alongside full academic coursework.

Campaign Concept

Brief

Brand

Nairobi Diaries

Objective

Cultural relevance & community ownership

Audience

Urban Nairobians, 18–32

Campaign window

12 weeks

Channels

Instagram · TikTok · OOH · Events

Tension

Nairobi is globally visible but locally underrepresented. The people who built the culture are watching it get exported.

The big idea

"This City Raised Me"

An invitation for Nairobians to claim authorship of their city's story — and Nairobi Diaries as the platform that holds it. Not content about the city. An archive built by the city.

Territory 01

The origin story series

Short-form video portraits of young Nairobians — the matatu conductor who became a designer, the Mathare kid who became an engineer. Each opens: "This city raised me." The audience nominates who's next. Nairobi Diaries archives them permanently.

Territory 02

The city map of belonging

A living digital map where the audience pins the places that made them — not tourist spots, real spots. The kibanda. The pitch. The corner. Printed as OOH poster series for the campaign close.

Territory 03

Raised by the city, giving back

People who "made it" — however they define that — do something for the neighbourhood that raised them. Nairobi Diaries documents it. A feedback loop between brand, aspiration, and local pride.

Instagram — launch caption

You didn't just grow up in Nairobi. Nairobi grew you.

Tag someone whose story needs to be told. #ThisCityRaisedMe

OOH billboard

Every street taught you something. Every hustle shaped you. This city raised you — and it's not done yet.

TikTok hook — 0–3 seconds

"The city that raised me doesn't look like the one you see on TV."

Opens on a real neighbourhood — not CBD, not Karen.

Client Work

Orchestra

Brand positioning overhaul

B2B SaaS Positioning GTM

Conveo

ICP development & messaging

B2B SaaS ICP Messaging

Eye-Able

Audience strategy & content

Accessibility SaaS Content Channels

The problem

Orchestra had a product story but no brand story. Their messaging described features, not outcomes — leaving them undifferentiated in a crowded B2B market. Prospective customers couldn't understand who it was for or why it mattered.

What I did

Full brand audit: competitive landscape, messaging gaps, ICP analysis
Identified the gap between their narrative and where revenue actually came from
Built messaging framework — positioning statement, value pillars, audience narratives
Delivered a prioritised action plan adopted as the foundation of GTM execution

Outcomes

Full audit

Competitive & messaging analysis

3 pillars

Revenue-aligned messaging framework

GTM

Strategy adopted for execution

Adopted

Client implemented across all channels

The problem

Conveo was marketing to everyone and converting few. Without a sharp ICP, every piece of content was diluted. The brand identity was unclear from both the inside and outside.

What I did

Built detailed ICP across firmographic, behavioural, and psychographic dimensions
Mapped distinct messaging to each segment — pain points, language, proof points
Redesigned brand narrative to speak to highest-value buyers
Aligned brand identity with revenue objectives, not just awareness goals

Outcomes

2 ICPs

Fully profiled target segments

Segmented

Tailored messaging per audience

Aligned

Brand narrative tied to revenue

Delivered

Full strategy deck and framework

The problem

Eye-Able had a strong product in an underserved niche — web accessibility tooling — but their content didn't reflect the nuance of their audience. Decision-makers (procurement, legal, IT) each needed different entry points to the brand.

What I did

Mapped multi-stakeholder audience — each segment's concerns, language, content needs
Built channel strategy matching each audience type to the right touchpoint
Developed content framework: themes, formats, cadence, tone per channel
Created positioning language that worked across technical and non-technical buyers

Outcomes

3 segments

Audience maps with distinct strategies

Multi-ch.

Channel-specific content framework

Deployed

Strategy adopted by client team

Clarity

One brand voice across all audiences

Brand Audit

M-Pesa Global
— an unsolicited audit

M-Pesa is one of the most important financial products in the world. Its brand doesn't reflect that. This is my diagnosis of where the positioning falls short — and what I'd do differently.

Positioning clarity

/10

Strong locally. Confusing globally. Two different brands in one.

Messaging consistency

/10

Varies wildly by market. No unifying brand voice.

Emotional resonance

/10

Deep cultural equity in Kenya. Weaker in expansion markets.

Global narrative

/10

The world doesn't know what M-Pesa stands for beyond mobile money.

Gap 01 — Positioning

They're selling a product. They should be selling a movement.

M-Pesa didn't just build a payment product — it built financial access for millions of people who the banking system had abandoned. That is one of the most powerful brand stories on the planet. But their current messaging talks about features: send money, pay bills, buy airtime. The revolution is invisible in their own communications.

Gap 02 — Global vs Local

The brand behaves like two different companies.

In Kenya, M-Pesa has deep emotional equity — it's woven into daily life and identity. In expansion markets (Ethiopia, DRC, Egypt), it arrives as a generic fintech product with no cultural story. The brand needs a global narrative strong enough to carry the weight of what M-Pesa actually represents, while giving each market room to localise it.

Gap 03 — Audience

They're speaking to users. They should also be speaking to the world.

M-Pesa's communications are almost entirely functional — aimed at existing users. There's no brand-level story being told to policymakers, international press, global partners, or the next generation of African consumers who will make financial decisions based on brand trust, not just functionality.

Recommendation

The positioning line that's missing: "Built here. Built for here."

Reclaim the origin story. M-Pesa was built in Africa, for Africa, by people who understood what financial exclusion actually looks like. That's not a footnote — it's the entire brand. Build a global campaign around that truth and let the product messaging follow from it, not the other way around.

Messaging Rewrites

Three real brands. Real copy that exists on their websites right now. Here's what I'd change — and why.

Before — Equity Bank homepage hero

"Equity Bank is an African bank with a vision of being the champion of the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa."

After — Rewritten

"We didn't build a bank for Africa. We built a bank that belongs to Africa — starting with the people the old system left out."

The thinking

The original is all declaration and no story. "Champion of socio-economic prosperity" is the kind of language that sounds impressive in a boardroom and means nothing to a first-generation bank customer in Kisumu. The rewrite earns the same claim by showing it — the word "belongs" does the ideological work without stating the ideology. The phrase "people the old system left out" makes the customer feel seen before they've opened an account.

Before — Safaricom LinkedIn bio

"Safaricom is a purpose-led technology company that applies mobile technology to enable the socio-economic empowerment of Africans."

After — Rewritten

"We make technology that works for African lives — not adapted from somewhere else, not watered down. Built here, first."

The thinking

"Purpose-led technology company" is every tech company's positioning in 2025 — it says nothing. "Socio-economic empowerment" is passive and bureaucratic. The rewrite claims the thing that actually differentiates Safaricom: they're not a Western tech company operating in Africa. They're an African tech company, full stop. "Not adapted from somewhere else" names the implicit competitor — every imported product — without naming it.

Before — Twiga Foods website

"Twiga Foods is a B2B food distribution platform that connects farmers to urban retailers through technology."

After — Rewritten

"The food supply chain in Africa is broken. We're fixing it from both ends — starting with the farmer, ending at your corner shop."

The thinking

The original is a category description — fine for an investor deck, wrong for a brand. "B2B food distribution platform" is a classification, not a reason to care. The rewrite opens with the problem — which is the real reason Twiga exists — then positions the company as the solution in a single sentence. "From both ends" does double duty: it names both stakeholders (farmers and retailers) while implying a systemic fix, not a workaround.

CourtneyWatitwa

About & CV

Campaign Concept

Client Work

Brand Audit

Messaging Rewrites

Courtney
Watitwa