Lead - Business Development & Marketing

Job Purpose:

Develop & implement overall marketing, branding and communications plan and execute strategic alliances to create & sustain a positive brand perception of the organization thereby resulting in increased conversions & sales. Spearhead & align VM initiatives with overall marketing strategy to ensure higher footfalls & dwell time and cost savings through efficient vendor management.

Role & responsibilities:

Regional Duty Free (Hyderabad Duty-free, Kannur Duty-Free, Goa Duty-Free and Vizag Duty-Free) Brand perception, awareness & advertising:

• Create & sustain RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) identity in sync with the strategic business plan of the organization
• Create and execute measurable marketing communications plan across all communications disciplines including Print / Radio / Television, Laqshya sites & mediums within the airport and other strategic mediums as required for appropriate positioning of RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF), its products, offers and specific product launch campaigns
• Marketing in Digital Media & relevant channels. Focus on ROI to increase cost effectiveness of campaigns
• Manage the creative agency as per agreed SLAs. Develop copy/content, creative designs of marketing communication materials for publicizing campaigns, promotional offers, product launches, etc.
• Creating Promotional Videos for RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) for advertising on social media
• Analyze latest marketing trends and track competitors activities and provide inputs for fine tuning sales & marketing strategies
• Create a Brand book for the business to cover all aspects.
• Participate in industry related Certification & Awards.

Strategic Alliances:

• New tie-ups & partnerships with travel agencies, regional associations to directly aid conversions & walk-ins to the store. Partner with Banks and retail brands at airport or from associated industries to get best offers from them for RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) customers to further aid conversions and sales
• Corporate business development by liaising with corporates including IT companies in Hyderabad and enhance brand visibility from RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) to ensure walk-ins from new channels/customers

Corporate Communication & Media Relations

• Plan, develop and execute companys PR programs and earmark an Annual calendar to drive the same.
• Create strong relations with industry media platforms International as well as domestic. Ensure that there are regular brand communications that appear on the International Travel Retail platforms.
• Develop new avenues of exciting corporate communication strategies in social media, passenger experience and favorable positioning of the organization by managing media, placement of contributory articles and liaising with various stakeholders.

Store Visual Merchandising Implementation

• Lead the in-house VM team to ensure uniformity & alignment with the overall marketing efforts to attain company's strategic goals and ensure higher footfall
• Ensure development & execution of planograms to enhance visibility of high-margin, on-promotion, products & their communication
• In store media management for enhanced visibility of offers & prices including signages placement & POS communication
• Collaborate with Category & Operations teams to create visual strategies & promotional events in order to entertain, excite and maintain interest of target groups of customers
• Identify & source props, marketing/communication collaterals, lighting, fixtures, etc. as required from time to time

Activations & BTL Activities

• Identifying & executing new initiatives/ideas/BTL activities. Develop the events calendar & ideate on execution of in store dcor for major festivals, important days and Sale oriented category festivals, lucky draw & prize distribution ceremonies and obtaining PR therefrom
• Design & lead execution of pax engagement activities from time-to-time
• Oversee execution of Mega Promotions and HPP/SPP setups liaising with category team & brands and associated setups

Marketing execution of strategic & new initiatives

• Scope of Work preparation (SoW), vendor identification & onboarding for agencies for Website development & maintenance and Digital Marketing agencies
• Execution support by identifying & onboarding of vendors for category related festivals
• New product/offer/brand launch communications support
• Club RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) Loyalty Program Marketing support & alliances
• Marketing support for Group Travel program
• Agreements closure in conjunction with GHIAL Legal Team for alliances

Vendors Management for procurement of Marketing and Operational support collaterals

• Ensuring ready availability of operational support material to aid sales including Carry Bags (Paper & Poly) & STEBs Bags, Bottle sleeves, fixtures, communication props, etc. through vendor identification and onboarding. Cyclical procurement as per Operational requirement
• Gift-with-Purchases (GWP), backlits/VM related materials vendors identification & procurement as required for strategic initiatives and for sales support
• Print collaterals vendors identification and procurement as per marketing requirements
• Electrical/lighting equipment procurement\

Digital Marketing

• Review social media plan, provide inputs in content and track the social media postings to ensure strengthen the RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) brand and its offerings reach to target audience;
• Review agreements with external agencies and perform timely renewal / closure
• Review FIDS updation in time bound manner to increase RDF (HDF, KDF, GDF, VDF) offerings visibility through digital media at store level
• Continuous improvement in website performance and ensure error-free updation.
• Lead pre-order feature launch in website.
• Look at new avenues to channel social media growth for the business.

Preferred candidate profile

12 to 15 years experience in Marketing/Communications roles with a minimum of 5 years in a Retail or customer facing industry setup. Duty Free Experience would be an added advantage.