Account Director - Fashion

Together Group•New York, NY

4d•Onsite

About The Position

PURPLE is looking for an experienced Account Director for its Fashion division to join the agency. The Account Director will play an essential role in supporting the assigned senior management in the development and execution of: generating maximum brand exposure through creative product placement, profile features and launches. The Account Director must have a genuine passion for developing brands, using true initiative in order to achieve exceptional results. Impeccable client liaison skills and an established network of key contacts (brands and press) are essential. Account Director’s responsibilities would include increasing awareness for all brands assigned to them. In this role the Account Director will promote the different clients in all activities, campaigns, special projects, shows, presentations and events to the media and to develop and maintain relationships with key journalists and media within your assigned and designated market, acting as an ambassador for Purple.

Requirements

Proven experience operating in a senior position within the fashion industry
Proven commercial experience with working in a fast-paced environment
Management experience is highly desirable
Proven track record of creating a positive impact on business through implementation of a PR strategy
Discreet, professional and well spoken, with excellent communication skills
Extremely well-organised, methodical and efficient, with a good dose of common sense and initiative
Pro-active and able to show initiative/ideas to constantly promote the Purple offering
Creative and strategic thinker
Strong established fashion press contacts
International press contacts are also desirable
Strong experience of event management, including local and international Fashion Weeks
Strong presentation & superb writing skills
Able to identify communication opportunities across multiple media platforms
Strong MS Word skills; including PowerPoint and Excel
Working knowledge of traditional industry platforms including Launchmetrics, DMR

Responsibilities

Has the ability to provide counsel to clients as opposed to taking direction from clients; Is able to have tough conversations with clients with their best interests in mind
Is able to lead client calls / in-person meetings and think on one’s feet
Is able to take client business objectives and develop a linear and cohesive communication strategy that reflect those business objectives
As core account team lead, is able to pull in and collaborate with speciality resources across the agency (both in NYC, London and LA) to ensure the client is getting access to the agency’s network-wide expertise
Is able to lead client programs and campaigns – from planning to execution – in an organised and timely manner, within the specified budget
Understands the difference between a communication strategy and a media strategy
Shows accountability in terms of meeting client benchmarks and delivering strong media coverage; Delivers on this through team leadership and guidance
Own all media relations and continue to develop and maintain key relationships
Is able to provide strategic and tactical support to Divisional Director
Working with our in-house events team to manage launch events for media and influencers
Line managing their team to ensure they meet targets and have a development plan
Exhibits strong new business skills both from a planning and proposal perspective and during in-person pitch opportunities; Brings in new business opportunities through networking
Overseeing the management of all product-related media requests – from email inquiry through prospective media coverage – through sample product distribution and tracking and follow up
Taking inventory of and being responsible for client product inventory
General media monitoring across clients and all competitors
Consistently producing high quality internal and external communications content
Oversight and compilation of weekly client agendas
Proactively pitch story ideas to achieve maximum editorial placement across your brands
Manage and motivate junior members of the team to ensure day to day operations run smoothly and PR results are delivered; while supporting them in their growth to the next level.
Equally support VPs and senior members of the team to ensure maximum support across all levels.
Have a clear understanding of paid, owned and earned media strategies, and develop relationships with top editors to support this activity
Have strong connections with leading and emerging editorial talents in the US
Managing the Account Managers/Account Executive to help reach personal and team targets
Work cross-functionally with the VIP & Influencer teams across accounts, ensuring a cohesive brand strategy is implemented