Associate Brand Manager, US Brands - Maker's Mark

What makes this a great opportunity?

• Opportunity to work on one of the key Brand Houses for Suntory Global Spirits within a highly complex and diverse region
• Have a direct impact into the key drivers for business growth in an extremely competitive category where details will significantly matter.   

• Learn how to bring multiple teams and lines of thought to work collectively towards one goal 
• Play an integral role in the business and brand planning cycle 
• Opportunity to work across range of projects, from brand strategy to commercial programming to innovations 

Role Responsibilities

• Be a brand builder for the Maker’s Mark brand through strong localized and regionalized analytics and critical thinking to drive the business the right way
• Play key role in development and implementation of strategic marketing direction delivering against key value, brand health, and volume/sales/profit growth objectives, including execution of key in-year activations.
• Ensure tracking on Nielsen and The Bar of each brand performance vs Plan, previous year, competitive brands and category trends, leading the monthly business reporting cycle and process and delivering reports to senior leadership.
• Participate and follow up with Brand House status and follow ups, leading integration of U.S. plan into Brand House Experience Designs.
• Work directly with Diplomats, Heritage Managers, and with Advocacy Lead on planning and executing market events with Market Managers
• Lead strategy and execution of quarterly programming, innovation launches, & local marketing & partnership plans, in coordination with local marketing teams and Brand House team.
• Own components of the brand’s digital plan including integration with digital communications channels, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce platforms, and media.
• Manage budget process including strategic oversight of the budget, processing PO’s, and managing the online systems.
• Jointly lead aspects of annual planning process and growth planning process, including directly managing with Market Development & Commercialization team the delivery of quarterly commercial programming.
• Directly participate and influence regional brief development as well as work with third party partners to deliver new programs and executions
• Be a part of the creation of brand up-dates, summaries and presentations throughout the year

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required, MBA Preferred
• 4+ years of experience in Brand Management, preferably in alc/bev or CPG, including at least one prior Associate Brand Manager rotation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong analytical skills and inquisitive personality to dive into untapped details
• Ability to perform structured financial analysis, turning data into actionable insights and recommendations
• Proven ability to execute projects that align with the overall strategy
• Strong project management experience, including budget management
• Ability to collaborate with agencies and other stakeholders to bring ideas from brief to plan and execution, ideally including experience briefing and development marketing plans with agencies.
• Strong team player who can also work autonomously
• Able to deliver in a fast-paced environment under pressure/time constraints
• Flexibility in approach to enable strong collaboration cross-functional partners and multiple stakeholders
• Experience working cross-culturally and/or desire to learn about different cultures
• Knowledge of the spirits industry, particularly the three-tier system and distributor partnerships
• Experience in the industry with knowledge of chains and the independent market is preferred but not mandatory