Brand Strategy Director

Brand Strategy Director, London

EssenceMediacom is GroupM's newest and largest agency, committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs for brands. It has disrupted the old models across media, creative, innovation, and analytics to find new opportunities for advertisers and deliver truly integrated media solutions.

Born out of two pioneering agencies, EssenceMediacom fuses Essence's performance, data, analytics, and creative technology DNA with MediaCom's scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.

As part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and GroupM, WPP's consolidated media investment management arm, we have access to the richest data, most robust benchmarks, and most advanced capabilities in the market. This helps us provide comprehensive solutions to all marketing challenges.

Our 'breakthrough' ambition is underpinned by our commitment to 'continuous learning.' We aim to ensure our people fulfil their potential by investing in their whole-person wellbeing, careers, and capabilities, which in turn helps grow our clients' businesses.

EssenceMediacom, with 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets, is one of the world's leading communications specialists, with billings of more than US $21 billion (Source: COMvergence, 2021). Its global client roster includes adidas, Coca-Cola (TCCC), Dell, Google, Hasbro, Mars, NBC Universal, P&G, Richemont, Shell, Sony, and Uber.

The Role

Creating industry-leading comms work that influences people, culture, and builds business value. Working on an iconic global brand that has the desire and firepower to shift culture.

Reimagining how adidas connects with people via new and interesting ways to use media and technology. The AD strategic planner will be responsible for the Emerging Markets region: 28 markets, organized in seven clusters across the fast-growing region South East Asia, Pacific, India, South Africa, Middle East, Turkey, and Israel.

If this sounds inspiring, you may well be one of us.

We're looking for a strategist who loves to create the present and shape the future of comms.

Here's what you'll get to do:

1. Delivering comms strategy and media planning guidance across priority workstreams

• The AD strategic planner (Brand) will lead on thought leadership projects for adidas addressing wider topics that fall outside day-to-day campaign planning - including but not limited to:

• Best-in-class comms approach to win with GenZ

• Thought leadership pieces which demonstrate ways for adidas to deliver more impact with certain channels such as OOH or across events such as races
• Ensuring the clusters implement the global adidas strategy, tailored to local specifics.

Continually educating clients and agency teams

• The strategy AD will also be leading our learning agenda across all markets and clients, continually educating clients and agency teams on the changing landscape.
• Drive audience, category, market, and competitive insights
• Help inspire and elevate the output of the Account Team

What we think are 3 best things about the job

• You'll work on adidas, a fantastic brand which is elevating media and comms across brand and performance to the next level, supporting ambitious growth targets across the region.
• The Emerging Markets Hub team is based out of London, and you'll be in close contact and exchange with great colleagues working for adidas worldwide and adidas Europe.
• You'll get to know about many different markets, their media landscapes, and the strategy and planning specifics.

Who are you - Accountabilities:

• Ensure that the Global media strategy is implemented across all EM markets - Strategically identify localized opportunities to push the global adidas agenda.
• Develop annual strategic planning guidelines
• Support the strategy, planning, deployment, and reporting of campaigns. Strategically analyze support each cluster in reaching and surpassing thresholds.
• MWB planning and investment priorities - Develop Thresholds and Ideal media budgets in partnership with clusters to ensure media efficiency
• Create industry-leading ideas and POVs, be consumer first, identifying real insights and behaviours
• View the communications and media landscape as an integrated and connected system
• Develop a strong trusted relationship with key client stakeholders
• Create quarterly strategic business reviews, extracting key learnings
• Help to grow strategic best-practice across the team and network
• Ensuring governance across media channels and campaign process
• Interface with the other specialist function units across the global and regional teams

Who are you / Key skills and experience

Experienced Strategist & Media Planner

• Proven media strategy skills with the knowledge to plan across all comms channels
• Strong understanding of media planning theory, media behaviours, and landscape (especially digital)
• Ability to both devise strategy (shaping narratives and frameworks) and talk in detail about media planning

Insightful and analytical thinker, with an attention for detail

• Good at handling data and extracting learnings and insights
• Ability to identify actionable consumer insights: a keen observer of people, culture, and brands

Persuasive Communicator

• You have good communication skills and the network, strong at presenting
• Ability to lead and manage the clients

Excellent at creating beautiful decks!

• Adidas are highly visual, how we present work matters!
• Need to be good at creating presentations that make the thinking and ideas pop!

Experienced team member

• Collaborative, able to work with a team and inspire, guide, and manage the output

High energy and driven

• Committed and passionate about what you do!
• Striving to work on industry-leading campaigns, lead and motivate a highly functional team both in the hub and in the cluster teams
• Highly organised with an ability to manage multiple workstreams effectively and efficiently

Sports, sports, sports + Youth Culture

• You have an affinity for sports and are passionate about youth culture!

Regional experience

• Fluent English mandatory
• Willingness to travel occasionally
• International planning experience is beneficial
• Other languages and cultural experience a major bonus!