)
)
VP, Brand Strategy Director – Maker’s Mark
We’re looking for a VP, Brand Strategy Director to lead brand planning on one of the agency’s biggest client accounts, Maker’s Mark.
Overview
Doe-Anderson has been the AOR for Maker’s Mark for nearly 50 years, and our passion for this brand runs deep. We partnered with our clients to build and grow it from its inception. We are now in need of a team of leaders to steward it into the next 50 years of this unique industry relationship.
While a majority of Maker’s Mark’s sales has historically been domestic, we have ambitious plans not only to continue to solidify its place in North America but also to help build it as a global icon. We have been tasked to help deliver this through big strategic thinking, brilliant and brave creative ideas, steadfast executional leadership and a deep respect for the brand’s distinctive voice and positioning.
The ideal candidate for this position is a team-builder, a problem-solver and a superior communicator with experience leading internal teams and working alongside other senior marketing professionals.
The VP, Brand Strategy Director will work closely with brand planners and digital strategists assigned to the client account, actively leading and guiding the brand planning process to create an integrated and consumer-centric strategic approach that enhances the output of all team members in the cross-discipline brand team.
This is a very unique opportunity in our industry. You will lead integrated marketing for an iconic global brand, working with not only a sophisticated global marketing organization at Beam-Suntory but also the founding family of the Maker’s Mark brand. (That’s right, the founder’s grandson is one of our most senior clients.) And you’ll do all this in one of the most established, fully independent, employee-owned agencies in the country.
The ideal candidate will be a seasoned Brand Strategist who can harness the best of data, research, trends, category knowledge and old-fashioned creative instinct to lead teams to breakthrough ideas. This person will be able to effectively coach and guide junior team members along the way. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a high level of personal motivation and curiosity, lead with empathy and seek to inspire the best work from everyone. You will have outstanding long-term client relationship skills and the ability to earn the respect of those around you for your capacity to listen and lead. You will recognize that advertising is a team sport and know how to involve everyone to build a path to success.
Responsibilities
Strategic Planning
Help develop presentations and briefs that will effectively articulate recommended brand strategies to connect our clients’ brands to target consumers
Lead, manage and analyze consumer and marketing research projects on behalf of our clients
Participate and collaborate across agency disciplines to develop marketing solutions to meet clients’ marketing challenges
Help build the agency’s brand planning capabilities, sharing proven approaches, frameworks and best practices to help enhance Doe Anderson’s offering
Team Leadership
Guide, coach and manage the work of junior team members on shared accounts
Mentor others in the strategy group, helping the team unlock its maximum potential and deliver best-in-class work for clients
Help set standards and lead best practice development for the group
Foster strong working relationships across agency disciplines, especially creative, analytics and media as well as client services
Develop and oversee team-based projects like agency-sponsored research, white papers, workshops and more
Agency Thought Leadership
Work with Strategic Planning team colleagues to concept, obtain, synthesize, distill and distribute relevant industry information and marketing intelligence that helps build agency knowledge and expertise as well as its profile in the industry.
Reports to: EVP, Chief Strategy Officer
Qualifications
Senior-level agency planning/strategy experience
Critical thinking and analysis skills
Strong presentation and persuasion skills
Strong record of effective team leadership
Fresh ideas and a willingness to share them
The ability to embrace and empathize with diverse perspective
Preferred Qualifications
Spirits, CPG and/or Hospitality experience is preferred.
Global brand experience a plus.
Preference for willingness to relocate to the Louisville, Ky. area, however this role may be considered as remote for candidates currently living in the Central or Eastern time zones, with regular bi-monthly travel to Louisville, Ky.
The Perks
Summer Fridays
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, we close-up shop at 3:00pm every Friday. Because making the most of every summer makes us better at what we do. Get what you gotta do done (well), and go have fun.
Work-from-anywhere Weeks
For four weeks a year, you can choose to work from literally anywhere in the world you want to. When? That’s up to you. Where is, too. Like the name says – anywhere. The farther flung, the more culturally enriching, the better.
Agency Recharge Weeks
For a full week in the summer and winter, we all close our laptops (and the agency closes its doors) to rest and recharge without worrying about what we might be missing at work. That’s in addition to your standard vacation time.
Totally Employee Owned
We’re 100% employee owned. No holding company or board of directors to answer to (or pay out profits to). Once you’ve put down roots here, you can buy in and be an owner alongside the nearly half of our employees who are, too.
