Marketing Lead (Urban Markets Development) at Mamlo Foods

Purpose of the Assignment

The Marketing Lead will lead the design, implementation, monitoring, and refinement of MAMLO's urban marketing and consumer acquisition strategy. Beyond project implementation, the Temporary Marketing Lead will develop a practical 2–3-year Urban Informal Market Strategy that will guide MAMLO's commercial growth after completion of the project.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Marketing Leadership

• Develop and operationalize an urban consumer acquisition strategy.
• Position MAMLO products for low-income and lower-middle-income urban consumers.
• Support development messaging emphasizing nutrition, affordability, and natural ingredients.
• Identify high-potential market segments and prioritize expansion opportunities.

2. Development of the Urban Informal Market Strategy

Lead development of a comprehensive strategy covering:

• Target consumer segmentation.
• Informal retail market expansion.
• Distributor engagement framework.
• Product positioning.
• Pricing strategy.
• Promotion strategy.
• Sampling strategy.
• Sales activation framework.
• Route-to-market model.
• Customer retention strategy.
• Performance indicators.
• Implementation roadmap for the next 2–3 years.

Distributor and Retail Development

• Identify, recruit and engage distributors operating within informal urban markets.
• Strengthen relationships with wholesalers and retailers.
• Develop distributor onboarding processes.
• Test alternative distribution models.
• Recommend scalable market expansion pathways.

Consumer Engagement and Brand Activation Oversee implementation of:

• Product sampling campaigns.
• Consumer education activities.
• Estate and community activations.
• Institutional demonstrations.
• Promotional campaigns.
• Introduction of new consumers to smaller SKUs.

Ensure activities increase:

• product awareness;
• purchase intent;
• first-time purchases;
• repeat purchases.

Support the management of Sales Promoters Provide technical supervision for the seven sales promoters by:

• developing work plans;
• assigning territories;
• monitoring daily activities;
• coaching promoters;
• reviewing performance;
• ensuring consistent messaging;
• documenting field insights.

Market Intelligence and Learning Support in the establishment of systems for collecting and analyzing consumer purchase behaviour, pricing sensitivity, customer preferences, distributor performance, sales performance by channel, repeat purchase behaviour, and competitor activity.

Capacity Building Strengthen MAMLO's internal marketing capability by undertaking the following:

• mentoring staff;
• documenting marketing processes;
• supporting the development of standard operating procedures;
• supporting in relationship-building;
• transferring knowledge to the internal team;
• ensuring continuity beyond the consultancy.

Expected Deliverables

The Marketing Lead will deliver:

• Urban Consumer Acquisition Strategy.
• Two-to-three year Urban Informal Market Strategy.
• Distributor Engagement Framework.
• Sales Promotion and Activation Plan.
• Sampling and Promotional Campaign Calendar.
• Consumer Research and Market Intelligence Reports.
• Final Project Report documenting lessons learned and scale-up recommendations.
• Marketing toolkit including messaging, promotional materials, and field guidelines.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) The Temporary Marketing Lead will be assessed against:

• Completion and adoption of the Urban Informal Market Strategy.
• Number of distributors and retailers engaged.
• Number of market activations successfully implemented.
• Reach of consumer sampling campaigns.
• Growth in product visibility across target markets.
• Improvement in consumer purchase intent and repeat buying.
• Increase in sales within target urban markets.
• Quality and timeliness of market intelligence reports.
• Capacity transferred to the MAMLO team.
• Delivery of all agreed project outputs within six months.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Commerce, Agribusiness, or a related field.
• At least 5 years' experience in FMCG marketing, market development, or commercial strategy.
• Demonstrated experience marketing products to low-income consumers.
• Experience working within informal retail ecosystems in Kenya.
• Strong understanding of distributor and wholesaler networks.
• Experience leading consumer activation and sampling campaigns.
• Strong analytical and market research skills.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and project management abilities.

Desired Experience Experience working with nutritious food products, agriculture, SMEs, or social enterprises will be an added advantage.