Associate Communication Strategy & Activation

Bimbo Bakeries USA•Chicago, IL

About The Position

Bimbo Bakeries USA (BBU) is undergoing a marketing transformation to accelerate Branded growth. The Associate of Communications Strategy & Activation will be critical in elevating brand storytelling and delivering bold, breakthrough, culturally relevant creative activations. The ideal candidate is a strategic brand builder with experience developing creative and translating to integrated activations and brand experiences. This role reports to the Manager of Communications Strategy & Activation and is part of the Marketing Center of Excellence at Bimbo Bakeries USA.

Requirements

4+ years of relevant experience in agency and/or brand roles.
A bachelor’s degree is in Marketing, or a related field is required.
Understanding the inner workings of agencies across creative, packaging, digital, social, and PR.
Collaborations with peers in consumer insights and media, driving consumer-centric activations.
Strong understanding of campaign production.
Experience leading an integrated agency team from brand side, agency side, or both.
Experience with packaging design, aligned to best practices to stand out on the shelf.
Relationship builder who practices empathy and respects diverse backgrounds and needs.
Authentically builds credibility and followership through courage and self-awareness, resulting in allies.
Confidence in managing complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity.
Strong problem-solving and analytical skills; ability to determine critical issues and develop effective action plans.
Effective verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to use storytelling to influence decisions.
Gritty and resourceful when necessary.
Trusted to make well-informed decisions and take evidence-based risks.
Self-starter who can meet deadlines, is well organized and can work autonomously.
A strong project manager with expertise in designing ways of working across a global, matrixed organization.
Experience working in a remote team setting under pressure and in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to travel 10-20% domestically and/or internally for internal meetings, conferences, creative shoots, and/or brand activations.

Nice To Haves

A master’s degree is a plus.
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

Brand Partner
Partner with assigned Brand teams on all aspects of brand building to achieve annual business goals and improve brand equity.
Provide expertise and enable excellence across brand foundations, packaging design, visual identity, creative development, paid asset production, and integrated communications.
End-to-End Creative Development & Production
Responsible for the end-to-end creative development process for brand platforms and brand campaigns that are distinctive, relevant, and have proven potential to extend across full-funnel consumer touchpoints.
Craft creative briefs for agency partners, working closely with Brand and Consumer Insights to ensure we are providing clear direction that is informed by a strong understanding of the brand purpose, business strategy, and audience.
Inform creative testing approach and stimulus development, participate in research when possible, and guide creative optimizations to apply learnings.
Guide creative asset production process, with production cost consultants when applicable, through pre-production, shoot, and post-production to deliver assets on time and on budget that uphold the creative integrity and are aligned to brand strategies, standards, and specs needed.
Steward the brand purpose, personality, and tone of voice throughout the creative development process.
Integrated Communications Strategy, Planning & Activation
Responsible for the communications strategy, planning, and activation of assigned Brand’s annual integrated plan designed to achieve full-funnel objectives.
Spearhead collaboration across functions and agencies to ensure the big idea guides how the plan is built, connecting touchpoints, providing budget recommendations, and defining and measuring KPIs for each channel and tactic.
Coach brand teams and cross-functional partners on how to drive consistent storytelling excellence across all consumer touchpoints.
Champion a big-picture perspective and consumer-centric approach that leverages insights and prioritizes relevance.
Steward the brand platform and campaign throughout full-funnel plan development.
Cross-Functional Connector
Serve as the cross-functional quarterback and dot connector, identifying and including the relevant cross-functional partners across the Engagement Studio, Media, eComm, Shopper, and Consumer Insights for expertise and visibility.
Provide expertise and guidance to internal stakeholders on creative excellence, production, and holistic comms strategy that includes earned.
Agency Management
Support team efforts to centralize agency management and governance (internal and external), holding our agencies accountable to pre-defined deliverables and standards (excludes our Media Agency of Record).
Foster IAT collaboration, establishing ways of working that enable fully integrated plans that are informed by the idea.
Agency management to foster long-term relationships and maximize agency output.