Brand Manager at NFT Consult

Roles for the Brand Manager Job

• Contributing to the strategic and tactical brand plan development and implementation of marketing plans and briefs.
• Overseeing junior members of marketing team by clearly stating goals and objectives; maintaining open communication; and motivating to accomplish tasks.
• Demonstrating technical marketing skills and high-levels of company product knowledge.
• Co-ordinating the implementation of approved annual Brand Plans in the main On Trade and Off Trade channels.

Brand Planning

• Conducting consumer research, competitive landscape scoping, as well as discussing with Brand Companies, and utilizing industry journals to inform the planning process for the assigned brand portfolio.
• Delivering the annual brand plans for the key brands within the assigned portfolio, while ensuring that the plans are locally relevant and comply with the global marketing strategy as well as local legislation.
• Reviewing Brand plan regularly to ensure it remains in line with consumer trends and ensuring opportunities are continually assessed and reviewed for alignment to Brand Strategy, and other market dynamics.
• Monitoring the Communication strategy regularly for alignment to consumer objectives.
• Reviewing brand initiatives constantly to ensure synergy with business objectives.

Implementation of Brand Activities

• Spearheading the creative process (in conjunction with creative agencies) for marketing campaigns within the assigned brand portfolio.
• Implementing brand activities and ensuring that they are enacted effectively, efficiently and in a timely manner.
• Working with cross-functional teams (e.g. Trade Marketing, Commercial team, Supply Chain, Finance) to align and deliver brand activities in a timely manner.
• Managing sponsorships and its execution in co-ordination with Events team.
• Communicating brand standards, plans, strategy, and marketing programs to key stakeholders (internal & external).
• Developing innovative consumer programs (in conjunction with various agencies) for ATL, BTL, and trade facing programs as well as influencer marketing activities.
• Assisting with development and implementation (in conjunction with the Digital Manager) of a digital plan per assigned brand with focus on Social Media and Content generation.

Maintain Brand Mandatories

• Ensuring concept of Brand equity is understood and applied as a key pillar within the business.
• Working with key business partners to ensure the correct measurement tools are identified and applied to track brand equity.
• Leveraging factors influencing brand equity for strategic business opportunities.
• Using Brand Equity Measures defined to set objectives for marketing initiatives.
• Identifying and defining target market using appropriate tools.
• Identifying consumer needs, wants, behaviour and usage habits using relevant tools, habits and attitude studies and ad hoc research.
• Reviewing Beverage Landscape Study for consumer insights and needs and identifying Consumer need states using agreed process
• Ensuring portfolio analysis in terms of offerings needs and behaviour is completed and relevant insights determined and documented.
• Ensuring brand architecture and positioning is understood and leveraged accordingly to translate into concise brand strategies.

Competitive Analysis

• Working with various internal and external teams (e.g. Commercial team, Brand Ambassadors, PR agencies etc.) to gather competitive and consumer insights.
• Processing data and information to understand key consumer insights.
• Ensuring research initiatives are developed and managed in line with Company processes
• Ensuring research output is presented logically for interpretation based on the end users’ needs and within the agreed time frame and budget.
• Analysing Information to determine progress, anticipate needs, and make recommendations and decisions.

Budget Management

• Ensuring Key Brand Programs are detailed and duly costed for the respective Financial year
• Developing fact based rationale to support the detailed brand activities.
• Defining budget wholly guided by the Brand Strategy; Budget should be aligned and approved by Key Stakeholders.
• Assisting with the proposal and development of the A&P budget for the assigned portfolio in collaboration with Trade Marketing.
• Tracking and providing regular budget updates and forecasts throughout the year, while ensuring that expenditure does not exceed agreed levels.
• Documenting and reporting in line with company processes and in line with the company’s Financial Calendar.

Manage Brand Communication Strategy

• Developing 360 degree Communication plans across all key touch points anchored on the Communication Strategy.
• Identifying consumer insights for Communications strategy agreed with Global Brand Owner and local Marketing Manager.
• Ensuring Communication objectives are aligned to Brand Plan and that the Communications processes and procedures are understood and applied.

Agency Management

• Managing all key aspects of agency relationships (Range: Advertising. Research, Promotions, Media) from brief development to agency briefing and agency evaluations using relevant evaluation guidelines, and approved by relevant internal stakeholders.
• Ensuring agency relationship is based on respect, sharing, open and honest communication.
• Keeping relevant Agency advised of consumer, category and total market dynamics as well as internal policies and procedures.
• Ensuring that annual contract(s) are managed timeously.

Brand Manager Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field.
• Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) qualification.
• Five (5) years of solid marketing experience in a Multi-national FMCG environment.
• Demonstrated experience in brand development, including brand positioning and brand building activities.
• Proficiency in MS PowerPoint, Word and Excel.

Skills

• Strong leadership/management skills
• Strong Project Management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent planning and organising skills and the ability to meet deadlines
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to manage and make best use of relationships at various levels
• Problem solving skills
• Ability to have a high level of attention to detail
• Ability to multitask and to manage many competing priorities