Meet Chris, the reformed geek

Ideally, if you were to cut to the chase, Chris Bitti is just a very well reformed geek. NATION | DIANA NGILA 

By JACKSON BIKO

In Summary

• Chris Bitti, CEO, DB Agency. Age: 39
• Major achievements: Rebranding Citizen TV (Kenya), Digitising Safaricom Annual Reports, Leading the way when it comes to Experiential Digital in East Africa, Mixed martial arts Black belt at 15.

Ideally, if you were to cut to the chase, Chris Bitti is just a very well reformed geek. And he will concur.

He started out doing math and computer science. At some point, he studied artificial intelligence in university in South Africa before quitting to do design and motion graphics. The person he was to later become quickly unspooled as he delved into brand strategy.

Born in Cameroon and educated in South Africa, Chris, who was running a business in South Africa, was enticed to dip his toes in the Kenyan market by Gil Kemami and Koome Mwambia – then of Ogilvy and Mather. He started DB Agency with Coca Cola as his first client soon after.

But he isn’t just a businessman, he insists when I meet him in his office at International House in Nairobi. There is a musician in Chris, crying to be let out. That’s his first love. That’s who he is at the core. And he wants to make music for the big screen eventually................................

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So you were roped in from South Africa by Koome and Gil?

Yes. They said, “Come, there are lots of opportunities for a man with your skills and talent back in Kenya.” I was doing well in SA, running my company. I thought, Kenya? No, man.

“What is in Kenya that isn’t here in SA?” I asked them. But I came and did some work for Capital FM as a consultant and when I got the Coke deal, I decided that indeed this was the place.

What’s the story with music, where does it stem from?

People think this is me. This business is just 30 per cent of who I am. The rest is a musician and martial artist. You know, all my brothers and cousins are black belts. I got my black belt back in Cameroon when I was younger. I just got back from Cameroon to visit my mom and I brought back my belt.

Music and martial arts?

Yes. See that room? That’s my studio, that’s where I am most comfortable in. I want the makers of Transformers to call me one day and ask me to make music for that movie. Of course, that will be Transformers 17 or something. (Laughs).

But I have time to learn what Hollywood has learnt in the last 60 years or so. I always tell my colleagues, you can’t have one career in life. I just can’t do one thing until I’m 60, come on!

You ran a business in South Africa, how do these two countries compare?

Kenya is the hardest and most difficult market I have ever experienced in my life! You know when I land at JKIA, I start feeling the pressure. In Kenya, the market changes so quickly and Kenyans are so fast; you bring something fresh, three months down the line guys have caught on! (Laughs).