Associate Brand Manager

THE BARDSTOWN BOURBON COMPANY LLC•Bardstown, KY

31d•Onsite

About The Position

With ambitious growth plans, and a portfolio of quality whiskey products in the market, Lofted Spirits’ is looking for a passionate brand-builder to join its dynamic Marketing Team - to help inspire an audience of Whiskey Drinkers across America to know and engage with their brands. The successful candidate will help shape the strategy for the brand, then be a key driver of its execution and optimization – both across the organization, and with its many partners. As a key member of both the Marketing Team, and the broader Commercial Team, the Associate Brand Manager will passionately build their capabilities in Leadership, Commercial Acumen, Communications, and Brand Management. They will also play a key role in building organizational culture.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Communications or a related field, with an MBA qualification an advantage (but not a requirement for the role)
Minimum 2-3 years of experience in brand management, preferably within the CPG industry - with Spirits or Alcoholic Beverages experience an advantage (but not a requirement for the role).
Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities, combined with strong interpersonal skills – to engage and inspire senior leadership, partners, cross-functional teams and other stakeholders.
Strong to exceptional MS PowerPoint skills, combined with strong public speaking capabilities.
Experience with managing media / creative agencies.
Experience with media buying and evaluation.
Understanding marketing metrics; able to interpret the results and take action to increase effectiveness of marketing and communications campaigns.
Experience in SEO, PPC, and promoted campaigns.
Strong familiarity with the business applications of social media platforms.
Self-motivated as well as strong team player.
Excellent proof-reader and detail oriented.
Proven experience in project management, being both deadline and detail oriented, and able to lead multi-functional teams to deliver complex projects to the market.

Nice To Haves

Design and photography skills are desired but not mandatory.

Responsibilities

Be a thought-leader in consumer insights; consistently understanding, monitoring, and reporting on consumer demographics, behavior and trends, as well as the evolving competitive landscape. Use this insight to optimize current programs and build stronger future brand strategies.
Support the development of the annual Integrated Brand Plan - which will build mental and physical availability for the brand in the coming year.
Lead the quality execution of the Integrated Brand Plan by engaging and inspiring our full system behind the strategy, using robust project management skills to deliver key tactics and programs, and continuously monitoring performance against KPI’s to recommend optimizations to the plan.
Conduct After-Action Reviews on key initiatives and investments to drive continuous improvement.
Support the New Product Development process, from packaging & label development through to developing coordinated activation & communication programs to maximize in-market success and earned media coverage.
Engage directly with the brand’s key agency partners, ensuring momentum of key project deliverables, through strong project management and effective communication.
Execute a fully integrated omni-channel communication program, as a core element of the Annual Integrated Brand Plan.
Support planning and implementation of paid media/advertising across channels.
Support creative media campaign ideation and development in accordance with brand standards and established objectives, as defined by the Group Brand Director.
Support the creation and execution of Full System Execution (FSE) programs (1-2 per calendar year), ensuring strong engagement and commitment across the network.
Engage Field Sales Team on local media investment as needed.
Lead reporting and analysis on engagement, audiences, and campaigns
Deliver commercial programs to sales and distributor teams that support brand priorities.
Support the creation and development of all sales materials, including POS, merchandise and selling information.
Create content & user experiences in support of all the brand’s key initiatives - bringing our world (distillery, visitors center, products, people) to the audience, and the audience to our world.
Assist the Hospitality and Events departments in marketing and coordination of tours, reservations, private events and functions.
Work with the Homeplace team on product releases and PR opportunities.
Manage applicable marketing budgets, regularly tracking expenses, reporting on budget performance, and recommending adjustments as needed.
Monitor progress versus objectives and critical KPI’s - and routinely recommend optimizations based on insights as to what’s driving performance.
Collect and analyze data on critical elements of the plan, including consumer awareness and engagement, brand sentiment, product availability, and rate of sale.
Provide regular reports to senior leadership on the effectiveness of brand communications, activations and other core programs in the marketing mix.