Northward Marketing; Fractional CMO, UK & Africa growth markets

Marketing leadership forged in Africa's toughest growth markets, delivered board-ready for the UK.

Twenty years building revenue-generating marketing functions for global brands across Nigeria and West Africa, including Ford, Microsoft, Unilever, Philip Morris International, Kasapreko, United Spirits, Loveworld Inc. and LG, before bringing that operating experience to the UK. Northward Marketing gives UK businesses entering or growing in Africa, and African businesses professionalising for international markets, senior marketing leadership without a full-time hire.

Book an intro call hello@northwardmarketing.co.uk

+60%

Lead generation, Cars45 (Nigeria)

+7%

Market share, Ford West Africa launch

+300%

Client portfolio, Publicis Groupe

Markets operated: Nigeria & UK

About

Northward Marketing is built on one conviction: marketing functions should get measured in revenue, not just reach, wherever they operate. Northward Marketing's founder spent the first stage of a 20-year career leading marketing and commercial strategy across global agency accounts in Nigeria and West Africa, including Ford, Microsoft, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Shell, Philip Morris International, Kasapreko, United Spirits and Loveworld Inc. That stage included launching Ford into new territory and scaling Cars45's lead generation by 60% while managing a team of 15. That operating experience, now paired with UK-based leadership at Amazon and in higher education, shapes every engagement: for UK businesses entering or scaling in Africa, and for African businesses professionalising for UK and international markets.

UK–Africa market entry

Direct operating experience launching and scaling global brands in Nigeria and West Africa, now applied to UK businesses entering the market and African businesses expanding internationally.

Strategic planning & GTM

Positioning through to execution, including full-funnel digital strategy and go-to-market leadership for new products and territories.

Performance marketing

Data-driven SEO, PPC, and CRM work (Salesforce, HubSpot), with AI-enabled analytics to continuously refine spend and targeting.

Stakeholder leadership

Cross-functional and C-suite alignment across global markets, securing buy-in for transformational, insight-led campaigns.

Commercial ownership

P&L accountability and budget discipline; marketing framed as a revenue function, not a cost centre.

Two decades in the making

Twenty years across two markets, Nigeria and the UK, made this the natural next step.

2006–14

It started with words, in Lagos. Writing brand messaging for global names like DHL and Shell taught me that a single sentence, positioned correctly, can move a brand across a border. A few years managing client relationships taught me the other half of the job: no strategy survives contact with a client unless someone translates it into a brief people can actually execute against.

2014–19

Inside two of the world's largest agency networks, operating across Nigeria and West Africa, I ran revenue-generating campaigns for Ford, Microsoft, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Shell, Pepsi, Heineken, Philip Morris International, Kasapreko, United Spirits and Loveworld Inc.; accounts worth millions, decisions made in rooms with people who answered to global shareholders. I learned what disciplined, board-level marketing looks like in one of the world's hardest, fastest-growing consumer markets, and how to win business inside it: pitching new business that grew one agency's client portfolio by 300% in under a year.

2020–22

Then I went client-side, building a marketing function from the inside for the first time rather than servicing one from an agency desk. At Cars45 in Lagos, that meant leading a team of 15 through a 60% increase in lead generation and a 30% improvement in retention, not by directing from a deck, but by owning the number personally, in a market with none of the infrastructure UK marketers take for granted.

2022–26

Bringing that experience to the UK meant proving it travels: sharpening digital acquisition and cutting customer acquisition cost, running global go-to-market inside Amazon's scale and discipline, and leading integrated strategy for a UK institution navigating its own growth. Same underlying question in both markets, what does this organisation actually need from marketing to hit its number, answered from both sides of the UK-Africa growth corridor.

Twenty years spent building marketing functions in one of the world's toughest growth markets, then proving that judgment translates directly to the UK, is what convinced me the most useful thing I can now offer a business isn't another full-time hire. It's someone who already knows what it takes to grow a brand in Africa, in the UK, or in the corridor between them.

Ways to work together

Three engagement models, one commercial mindset.

UK–Africa market entry

Strategy and hands-on leadership for UK brands entering Nigeria or West Africa, and African businesses professionalising for UK and international markets.

Project fee or embedded retainer

Fractional CMO

Embedded strategic leadership, 1–3 days a week. I own the marketing function; strategy, team, budget, board reporting; without the cost of a full-time hire.

Retainer, 3-month minimum

Brand & GTM strategy

Fixed-scope projects: positioning, market entry, partnership strategy. Suited to a single sharp problem rather than ongoing leadership.

Project fee, scoped upfront

Interim leadership

Full-time cover during a search, restructure, or transition. Same seniority and pace as a permanent hire, without the long-term commitment.

Day rate, 3–12 month terms

How an engagement starts

A short, deliberate path from conversation to commitment.

Intro call

Thirty minutes, covering your commercial goals, current marketing setup, and whether there's a genuine fit before either of us commits further.

Scoping

A short written brief covering objectives, days per week, reporting line, and what success looks like at 90 days.

First 30 days

Audit of current performance, stakeholder introductions, and a prioritised plan; no lengthy onboarding before value starts landing.

Quarterly review

Performance against agreed metrics, with an honest conversation about whether to continue, scale up, or scale down.

Marketing leadership forged in Africa's toughest growth markets, delivered board-ready for the UK.

Twenty years across two markets, Nigeria and the UK, made this the natural next step.

Three engagement models, one commercial mindset.

A short, deliberate path from conversation to commitment.

Formal grounding behind the practice.