Aishat Yetunde Anaekwe is a globally influential strategic brand leader and institutional architect redefining how trust, growth, and cultural relevance are built across Africa’s most dynamic sectors. With over 14 years of experience spanning global FMCG and pan-African financial services, she empowers brands to move beyond product — to move people, shift narratives, and shape economies.
At Coronation, a pioneering financial services group operating across investment management, insurance, banking, and digital platforms, she leads brand and communication. In this transformative role, she is driving the strategic unification of a fragmented, multi-entity structure into a powerful institutional brand — one rooted in clarity, credibility, and ambition. Her leadership underpins the group’s long-term mission to reimagine how Africa creates, protects, and passes on prosperity across generations.
Before joining the financial sector, Aishat held senior leadership roles at Heineken, Johnson & Johnson, and PZ Cussons, where she led multi-million-dollar brand portfolios, spearheaded market entry strategies, and delivered bold, insight-led campaigns across West and Central Africa. Her hybrid expertise — fusing commercial depth with cultural fluency — has made her a sought-after voice in brand architecture, consumer behaviour, and emerging-market strategy.
Pivotal Career Moment
There were a lot of ground-breaking milestones, but one moment that truly shaped my leadership journey was when I led the repositioning of Premier Cool, a heritage Nigerian brand that had lost its edge. I wasn’t just handed a brand plan, I inherited a market challenge: declining relevance, a cluttered category, and a rising generation that no longer saw themselves in the brand. I pushed for a radical shift, repositioning the brand around confidence and modern masculinity, anchored in a bold partnership with Manchester City FC. Not just for the glamour, but because their global presence and disciplined brand DNA mirrored the ambition of our audience. We scaled the partnership, reframed the narrative, and created a campaign that wasn’t just watched — it was felt. The results were undeniable: +22% growth in brand penetration, and Premier Cool became one of the most talked-about brands in the category. But more importantly, I saw how a brand, when connected to culture and clarity, can move from awareness to affinity. That experience shaped how I lead: I don’t chase attention. I build memories. I also ensure brand thinking is never divorced from commercial thinking. Since then, whether in FMCG or financial services, I’ve focused on turning brands into belief systems that drive preference, pricing power, and long-term equity.
Transition from FMCG to Financial Services
After 12 years in FMCG — from PZ Cussons to Johnson & Johnson to Heineken — I had built brands that moved markets. But I wanted to build institutions that move nations. Most people don’t know I have a Master’s in Finance. So, this wasn’t a detour; it was a return, but with sharper tools. FMCG taught me how to earn trust at scale, how to translate insight into influence, and how to shape behaviour in categories that touch millions every day. But I started asking bigger questions: How do we build long-term credibility in Africa? What does a trusted African institution look like? That curiosity pulled me upstream, from brand love to brand belief. From campaigns to capital systems. Finance gave me that canvas, Coronation gave me the platform. Today, I’m not just building awareness, I’m building confidence in how Africa creates, protects, and passes on prosperity. That’s the story I want to help tell, not just for the brand, but for the continent.
Defining Brands as Cultural Institutions
Cultural institutions are brands that outgrow their category. They do not just sell, they shape how people think, feel, and belong. Apple sells tech, but it is also a symbol of design philosophy. MTN became more than a telecom provider, it became a symbol of possibility. Life Beer was not just a beverage. It became a homecoming ritual, a cultural cue for progress and pride. That is what I mean when I say brands should carry meaning beyond the market. I saw that transformation up close. Turu Ugo Lota did not just move volume; it moved people. And now at Coronation, we are applying that same thinking to finance, building a brand that makes prosperity feel personal and possible. In Africa, where symbolism and storytelling are powerful currencies, we cannot afford to build shallow brands. We have consumed global narratives for decades. It is time to create our own. When brands become cultural institutions, they embed themselves in memory, identity, and aspiration. That is how we build legacy. That is how we build power.
Challenges of African Brand Credibility
The biggest challenge is perception. I have worked on global and regional brands, and too often African brands are seen as local by default and global only by exception. I have sat in rooms where insights rooted in African culture had to fight harder to be taken seriously. That experience taught me that credibility is not granted, it is built. Global brands are not born global, they are built, brick by brick, belief by belief. What they all have in common is clarity, consistency, and conviction. That is what African brands must double down on. We need to invest in brand infrastructure, not just factories, but creative capital, narrative design, and deep local insight. We need to treat storytelling with the same rigor we apply to our balance sheets, because in today’s world, brand equity is economic equity. And we must stop mimicking. Our strength is in our originality, our culture, our contradictions, our codes. The world does not trust what it does not understand, so we must make ourselves legible, not by diluting who we are, but by showing up with excellence again and again. That is how we build the kind of credibility that lasts, with purpose, perspective, and power.
Resonance in Campaigns like “Turu Ugo Lota”
It starts with respect. You cannot fake cultural relevance; the audience will know. Turu Ugo Lota worked because it was not just a slogan. It was a homecoming call. It tapped into the pride, hustle, and emotional language of a region that often does not see itself reflected in national campaigns. For a campaign to resonate, it must feel personal, like it is speaking for the audience, not just at them. That means going beyond translation to insight. It means understanding the codes, the music, the rituals, the tempo, the tension. That is how brands earn the right to participate in culture. Execution also matters. It is not enough to have a strong insight; you have to deliver it with excellence: the right casting, the right media mix, the right mood. Craft builds trust. But most of all, it takes courage. Turu Ugo Lota was a bold move. It leaned into identity, heritage, and regional pride at scale. That is not always easy to sell internally. But when you get it right, it does not just move numbers, it moves hearts. And that is the highest form of brand work.
Measuring Cultural Relevance
Cultural relevance is not just a feeling; it is a measurable form of brand equity. I assess it through three lenses: reaction, retention, and ripple effect. Reaction is about emotional connection in real time. Are people seeing themselves in the brand? Are they responding with pride, recognition, or resonance? It is not just about metrics, it is about meaning. You hear it in the language they use, the way they share, and the emotion behind their engagement. Retention is about staying power. A culturally relevant brand does not just trend, it sticks. You hear your message echoed in conversations, remixed in music, or embedded in everyday slang. It becomes part of how people talk, behave, and belong. Ripple is about influence. When competitors start copying your codes or when communities begin owning your brand without prompting, you are no longer just marketing; you are shaping culture. That is when you know you have moved from relevance to resonance. In a continent as diverse as Africa, you cannot rely on a single metric. You have to listen widely, observe deeply, and stay close to the cultural pulse. Because in the end, relevance is not just about reach, it is about recognition, repetition, and reverence.
Role of Consumer Behaviour
Consumer behaviour is not just data. It is identity. In Africa, it reflects how people hustle, dream, and navigate layered realities. You cannot segment by age or income alone. You have to decode ambition, rituals, trust dynamics, and cultural codes. At Heineken, we did not just market beer. We tapped into football, nightlife, and urban culture to understand aspiration. On Life Beer, we leaned into pride and tradition, where homecoming and progress go hand in hand. At Johnson and Johnson, I led skin health brands in markets where hygiene habits were shaped by taboos and gender norms, and where brand trust had to balance science with emotion. Today at Coronation, I see how legacy goals, informal systems, and trust gaps shape financial behaviour. People are not just consuming. They are hacking the system. From informal distribution to multi-brand loyalty, they are rewriting the rules in real time. The most powerful brands do not just observe behaviour. They co-create with it. They do not impose meaning. They build it with empathy and precision. Because in emerging markets, behaviour is not a backdrop. It is the blueprint. And if you want to lead, you do not just follow the data. You follow the culture.
Challenges for Women in Branding
One of the biggest myths in branding is that the market is neutral. It is not. Women are navigating systems that were not designed with them in mind — from boardrooms to budgets to brand narratives. And in Africa, those challenges are often magnified by cultural expectations, access gaps, and the pressure to overperform just to be credible. As a mother building a leadership career in male-dominated spaces, I’ve learnt that boundaries are as important as ambition. Through Brand Like a Woman, I have seen how many women are building brands while battling bias, expected to lead with empathy but judged if they lead with ambition. They are told to be visible but not too loud. Strategic but not intimidating. It is a constant negotiation between authenticity and acceptability. The real challenge is not capability, it is permission. Women do not need to be empowered, they need to be trusted, funded, and heard. That is why I focus on creating spaces where women can brand from a place of power, not apology. Where storytelling becomes strategy. Where visibility becomes value. Because when women lead brands, they do not just shift perception. They shift culture. And that is not just good for business. That is good for the world.
Impact of Mentorship
Mentorship is not just guidance; it is infrastructure. In Africa, where access often determines opportunity, mentorship becomes a bridge between talent and visibility between potential and power. I have seen first-hand how a single conversation can unlock clarity, confidence and capital. But mentorship must evolve beyond inspiration. It must be intentional, strategic and rooted in accountability. We need less advice from the top and more co-creation across generations where experience meets fresh perspective and where legacy is not just passed down but reimagined. For future African brand leaders, mentorship is how we scale belief. It is how we normalise ambition, demystify leadership, and accelerate readiness. Because the next generation is not waiting to be invited, they are already building. Our job is to meet them with tools trust, and truth. The future of branding on this continent will be shaped by those bold enough to lead and humble enough to teach. Mentorship is how we make that future inevitable.
Advice to Aspiring Brand Professionals
Start with obsession — about your craft, your customer, and your cultural context. I didn’t begin with a roadmap. I began with curiosity. From PZ Cussons to Heineken to Johnson & Johnson, I kept asking: What makes people choose one brand over another? What makes something stick? That obsession became my edge.
Second, take risks early. I pivoted roles, switched industries, and said yes before I felt ready — because waiting for perfect conditions is a trap. I moved from brand management to trade marketing, from skin health to beer to investment platforms. Each shift stretched me. And that stretch is where leadership is born. Also, treat your network like capital. My biggest breakthroughs came because someone I had worked with said my name in a room I hadn’t entered. Build with intention, stay visible, deliver with excellence, and don’t be afraid to stand out. In African markets, the pressure to play it safe is real, but breakthrough brands — and breakthrough leaders — are built by people who lean into their difference. You are your first brand. Package yourself like it. Finally, protect your voice. Leadership isn’t just about KPIs; it’s about clarity, conviction, and consistency. Your voice is your power, rain it, use it, and never shrink it to fit into small rooms.
Future of African Branding
The future of branding in Africa will be defined by ownership. Ownership of narrative, of platforms, and of value. For too long, African brands have been shaped by external templates. That is changing. We are moving from consumption to creation, from imitation to innovation. The next decade belongs to brands that are unapologetically local and globally relevant. We will see more brands built on cultural intelligence, not just market research. More storytelling rooted in identity, not just positioning, and more business models that reflect how Africans actually live, earn, and aspire, not just how they transact.
My role in that future is to help build brands that do not just sell, but shift something. At Coronation, that means reimagining how financial services can feel more human, more trusted, and more culturally attuned. Through Brand Like a Woman, it means amplifying the voices and ventures of women who are redefining leadership on their own terms. I want to help shape a branding ecosystem where African ideas are not just included. They are leading. Because the future of branding here is not about catching up. It is about setting the pace.
Vision for Financial Services Branding
One of the most urgent shifts I’m driving in financial services branding is a move from complexity to clarity, and from transactional to transformational. In a sector where language often excludes and trust is hard-won, branding must do more than look good; it must build belief. That means simplifying how we speak, elevating how we show up, and designing experiences that reflect the cultural and emotional realities of real people, not personas. From building brand architecture that flexes across life stages to platforms that feel intuitive and aspirational, the brand must meet people where they are and move them forward. Branding is no longer just a communication function; it is a credibility engine. It must feel like a compass — helping people build, protect, and pass on wealth with dignity and confidence. Because we are not just marketing financial products, we are reshaping how people understand money, wealth, and possibility across the continent.
Balancing Authenticity and Commercial Goals
It is not a trade-off; it is a multiplier. Cultural authenticity is not the opposite of scale, it is the path to it. In Africa, where culture is currency, brands that lead with fluency do not lose relevance. They gain resonance. But it takes discipline. You cannot treat culture as decor. It has to be core. I have seen this first-hand. When we partnered with the Nigerian Football Federation on a campaign that earned FIFA recognition from Gianni Infantino, it was not just a sponsorship. It was a statement. We tapped into national pride, football culture, and collective identity, and we showed that commercial ambition and cultural truth can power each other. The work earned attention, but more importantly, it earned trust. That is the real return on investment. The most successful brands are those that honour local nuance while delivering global value. They do not dilute culture to fit the brief. They elevate it to define the category.
Brand and Sports Collaborations
The right sports partnership gives you three things money can’t easily buy: cultural relevance, emotional reach, and mass visibility. When I worked on the Manchester City FC partnership at PZ Cussons, it wasn’t just about visibility, it was about aligning with a global fanbase and shared values of performance and excellence. At Heineken, I led campaigns across the UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, and Euro 2020 — tapping into the rituals, pride, and passion that make sport such powerful emotional real estate. We also activated around the James Bond premiere, a move that allowed us to connect with lifestyle-led audiences beyond sport — where sophistication, storytelling, and global appeal intersect. With the Nigerian Football Federation, we activated national pride on the road to the FIFA World Cup and AFCON, showing how sport can unify and inspire at scale. For African brands, these partnerships are a shortcut to global conversation. They offer cultural capital that extends beyond the pitch or screen. But they only work when there is alignment. The audience must see a natural fit, not a forced one. Whether it’s football, F1, or a James Bond premiere, the best partnerships are those that make the brand feel bigger, braver, and more human — because they meet people in moments of joy, pride, and passion. Done well, sports and entertainment collaborations aren’t just campaigns. They are credibility engines.
Emerging African Branding Trends
One of the most exciting shifts I’m seeing in African branding is the move from storytelling to story-owning. For years, brands borrowed from culture. Now they are becoming part of it. I’ve seen this first-hand from helping turn Life Beer into a symbol of homecoming and pride in the East, to building platforms that celebrate African womanhood through Brand Like a Woman. These weren’t just campaigns. They were cultural systems rooted in insight, identity, and intention. We are also entering what I call the credibility economy. Consumers, especially Gen Z, are no longer moved by polished promises, they want proof. They want brands with visible values, purposeful partnerships, and impact that is real. I saw this clearly while working on health campaigns at Johnson and Johnson, where we had to navigate science, stigma, and trust all at once. Another shift is the move from product-push to people-first branding. Today, it is not just about what you sell, it is about what you stand for. Message, media, model, and mindset all have to align. That alignment is what builds trust and loyalty. Whether I’m shaping narratives in fintech or working on creator-led platforms, the principle holds — branding now requires both cultural fluency and commercial clarity. And finally, I’m inspired by the revival of local languages and heritage in design, voice, and storytelling. From AI tools using pidgin to packaging inspired by indigenous textiles, African brands are proving that tradition and technology can do more than coexist. They can co-create. The future of branding on this continent belongs to those who move at the speed of culture while staying anchored in truth. Africa is not catching up. We are setting the pace.
Staying Inspired
I stay motivated because this work is personal. Branding, for me, isn’t about vanity metrics; it’s about moving people, shifting perception, and building institutions that outlive us. I’ve seen what one well-timed, well-crafted idea can do, from the pride sparked by Turu Ugo Lota in the East, to global recognition from FIFA for a campaign that elevated 33 Export on the world stage. Whether I was building trust in skin health at Johnson & Johnson, shaping nightlife and football culture at Heineken, or leading brand architecture in financial services, my drive has been the same: to use brand as a tool for transformation. I draw energy from being in conversation with culture — youth, fintech, fashion, politics because that’s where the next codes emerge. I study patterns, I build systems, I obsess over impact, I also protect my voice. Leadership can be loud and lonely, but purpose is fuel. When you build with intention, the work becomes legacy. That’s what keeps me going: building brands at the intersection of capital, culture, and credibility — not just to trend, but to become case studies, playbooks, and symbols of what’s possible.
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