Senior Manager - Brand Smirnoff

Purpose of the role:

The purpose of the role is to manage the overall brand health and in-market performance of Smirnoff. In service of this, the candidate is required to pull together and inspire an eco-system of external partners and internal cross-functional teams towards delivering NSV, market share, recruitment (P4W), brand health targets set for the year. This role manages an NSV of INR 309 cr targeting to grow at 20% for the next three years. The role is accountable for shaping performance of the brand by developing an inspiring Marketing Business plan (MBP) and delivering creative excellence, media first thinking, performance management and championing compliance norms.

Key workstreams/ KPIS/ Core Responsibilities:

• All India Brand Performance for Smirnoff Core, development and implementation of all plans
• Develop a detailed understanding of the Smirnoff & Vodka growth opportunity and work in close collaboration with the marketing stakeholders, workgroup ecosystems and commercial regions to implement the required growth drivers to unlock & maximize the brand & business opportunity by market and consumer cohorts
• Lead the strategy & development of mental & physical availability assets for dark markets using best practices from next gen marketing
• Lead comms and content development within the aligned and signed off strategy and ensure brand salience, meaning and differentiation
• Deliver brand communication and content strategy with supporting threshold investment guidance that will ensure brand growth through recruitment, re-recruitment and reach imperatives
• Deploy planned media strategies ensuring brand content is developed from a connections first basis and delivered within context of multi-screen consumer engagement, orchestrated search parameters and owned community environment
• Rollout of serve strategy, lead partnerships, advocacy and drive culture and consumer centricity for the brand and vodka category for India
• Manage the consistent application of our brand assets through leading all work on brand design and assets associated with same, including on innovation and physical availability assets
• Partner the innovation team on new market strategy & launch plans and initiatives, including the development of assets for early-stage markets and work with the all stakeholders and markets to ensure the successful launch, rollout & scaling of Smirnoff Innovations

Qualification: Graduation from a Tier 1 Uni/Institution, MBA/ masters with specialization in Marketing (tier I/ II institute) but not compulsory, Specialised courses: an added benefit

Experience:

• Minimum 7-8 years experience in Marketing with at least 4 years core brand experience working with an FMCG/lifestyle brand/category
• Proven history of allyship and participation in progressive & inclusionary initiatives
• Invested in extra curriculars/ passion projects/ entrepreneurship and/or creative pursuits/ community & culture work

Knowledge & Inter-personal Skills:

Function capabilities for the role:

• Proven strategic judgement and analytical rigour, with the ability to translate strategy into action
• Proven management and implementation of full marketing mix with proven results
• Must have demonstrated strong creative judgement and flair, has an eye for design thinking and creative excellence
• High on cultural awareness and is a resident/ active participant of progressive subcultures
• Solid grounding in marketing with particular skills required in strategy, content / advertising development and digital
• Commercial & project management experience, to ensure that recommended marketing plans are successfully implemented in market
• Strong Analytical skills & proven record in translating consumer and customer insight into effective growth drivers
• Brilliantly executes with immense attention to detail
• Powerful articulation and storytelling

Leadership capabilities for the role:

• Delivering performance move effectively between strategy and operational detail
• Delivering performance knowing when and where to intervene and commitment to outstanding delivery of results
• Inspires agency partners and rallies them to effective implementation in service of the brand agenda
• Managing across a matrixed organisation creating outstanding teamwork and alignment
• Creating Possibilities - Outstanding Marketing Flair and Judgement
• Creating Possibilities - Energise and inspire others to deliver outstanding results