Senior Associate, Strategy

IPG Mediabrands•New York, NY

6d•$65,000 - $70,000

About The Position

We seek a junior strategist who will support the Strategy Director in developing communications strategy for key brands within our client portfolio. This role will identify insights across culture, category, consumer, and connections to form the basis for strategic planning. By focusing on why people think, feel and act the way that they do, the Sr. Associate, Strategy will help create communication strategies and ideas that build Cultural impact, Community relevance and Commerce connection for the brand. Strategists at UM are ‘visionary architects’, building campaigns and insights at the intersection of science (data) and art (creativity), therefore this individual will be a strategic leader working in close partnership with team members across Planning, Analytics, Investment and Studios (content & partnerships) to deliver fully integrated campaigns. They will also collaborate with integrated client teams - including in-house creative, PR, etc. This role will also secondarily support the Research Director on pursuing the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. They are responsible for ensuring projects are completed in a timely fashion, managing vendor relationships, and analyzing data to glean meaningful and actionable insights.

Requirements

Enthusiastic consumer of, and curiosity about, pop culture and the ever-changing media landscape
Persuasive with outstanding written and oral communication skills
Comfortable with pulling, analyzing and applying data to support their thinking
Basic understanding of major desktop research tools (i.e. Google Trends) and qualitative research techniques

Nice To Haves

Previous experience at a media agency, creative agency or digital agency (1-2 years is ideal). That said, proven strategic comms ability and understanding of consumer behavior is most important, so please apply if you feel this is you.
Demonstrated creativity
Independent, efficient and prospers in fast paced environment
Proven ability to simplify the complex and focus on the points that matter most

Responsibilities

Become the expert and champion of UM’s proprietary data tools, syndicated research (Simmons-MRI, GWI, etc.) and have a knack for desktop research to uncover compelling insights within Culture, Communities and Commerce
Support in the development of UM’s consumer profiling for core HVAs (high value audiences) including synthesis of consumer data and storytelling
Maintain deep understanding of the business, brand, target audiences and category
Support the Direction in developing Strategic Blueprints that articulate the insights, strategic pillars and media imperatives for campaigns
Collaborate in the creation, selling and execution of activation ideas; Actively participate in ideation sessions with integrated planning team
Assist in crafting RFPs (requests for proposals) that are both inspiring and strategic, and stay involved in evaluating/shaping partner submissions
Partner with planning and investment teams to effectively pull-through strategy into media ideas and tactics
Package insights, strategy, and activation ideas for simplicity and clarity and assist in crafting compelling narratives across any client-facing presentations
Develop effective and inspiring working relationships within agency team and with senior clients