Associate Manager, Brand Strategy & Activation - Hot Wheels

Mattel•El Segundo, CA

11d

About The Position

The Associate Manager, Brand Strategy & Activation will assist with defining the long-term brand equity, positioning, and cross-category strategy while also driving day-to-day brand activations, in partnership with internal cross-functional teams and external agencies. The Associate Manager will focus on the Hot Wheels adult fan business, developing and executing strategies that define the brand strategy, accelerate brand awareness, drive launches and grow the full franchise business.

Requirements

5+ years (3 years with MBA) experience in brand marketing (on brand or agency side), franchise management/marketing, content marketing, or purpose-driven strategy/marketing.
Experience managing a portfolio spanning multiple categories (toys, apparel, publishing, etc.).
Self-starter who is detail oriented, driven, focused, pro-active and collaborative
Strategic thinking: Ability to define brand vision and multi-year roadmaps.
Consumer insights & research: Strong understanding of consumer psychology, brand equity drivers, and cultural trends. Ability to synthesize data and pull insights to create recommendations
Thorough understanding of marketing mix and KPIs
Portfolio management: Balancing toys and non-toy CP categories under a unified brand.
Cross-functional leadership: Skilled at influencing Design, Product, Marketing, and Franchise teams without direct authority.
Financial acumen: Experience with P&L at the brand or category level.
Communication skills: Excellent at storytelling, presentations, and influencing senior leadership.
Strong PowerPoint creation and presentation skills, proficiency in Outlook, Word and Excel

Responsibilities

Partner with Toy and Franchise Marketing to ensure brand consistency across product, experiences and retail
Develops Content in partnership with Mattel Studios to ensure brand objectives and alignment
Serve as the cross-functional integrator between content, product, experiences, retail, and marketing
With leadership, plan brand “moments” (anniversaries, entertainment launches, retail programs) that supports all businesses at retail and work with commercial partners to ensure flawless execution
Translate brand strategy into campaigns, content, and activations
With leadership, plan integrated marketing plans (digital, retail, social, influencer, events, PR) and work with commercial partners to execute
Ensure media strategy is executed well across regions, and manage day-to-day creative production
Ensure creative execution stays consistent with brand positioning (via brand guardrails) and product highlights
Ensure brand stories are executed well to drive demand generation, brand love, and consumer loyalty
Manage day-to-day execution of agency scope in partnership with brand creative
Track & report on campaign performance (awareness, engagement, conversion)
Track & report on franchise health through consumer engagement, sales performance, and cultural impact.