Senior Brand Planner

Carmichael Lynch • Minneapolis, MN

1d

About The Position

The senior brand planner is responsible for partnering closely with the planning director and internal teams to guide the strategy on client accounts. This person will need to fully and deeply understand the client’s business context, manage the development of research projects, trend reports, creative briefs and consumer-driven strategies to inspire effective creative campaigns.

Requirements

• A minimum of 4+ years of strategy and/or brand planning at an advertising agency or on the client side.
• Demonstrated ability to work with creative teams.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and execute quantitative and qualitative research projects.
• Expert at working with Simmons/MRI and syndicated research partners.
• Ability to develop a positive, collaborative and influential relationship with clients, at times serving as the primary contact for clients within planning team.
• Ability to proactively drive work forward while collaborating with key partners throughout.
• Excellent writing, reasoning and presenting skills.
• Curiosity and desire to understand culture and what drives human behavior.
• Passion for the creative process and developing break-through work.
• Proactive, accountable, resourceful, and results oriented.
• Motivated to seek new opportunities and to take initiative.
• A bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on psychology, sociology, anthropology, advertising, or related field or relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

• Experience leading and coaching junior planners on projects.

Responsibilities

• Creates and communicates brand strategies using tools such as brand architecture, consumer segmentation, etc.
• Develops inspiring creative briefs based on a deep knowledge of the client’s business, competitive landscape, cultural environment and target consumer.
• Inspires integrated teams with kickoff presentations that bring the brand, the consumer and the strategy into sharp relief, crystallizing what we are doing and why.
• Collaborates with integrated internal teams including creative, account management, media, PR, social and analytics, to ensure cohesive cross-channel strategy from start to finish.
• Provides ongoing inspiration to integrated teams throughout the creative development process.
• Leads discussions of relevant cultural trends with the internal team and clients, with key implications for the client’s brand and business.
• Develops expertise in client(s)’ businesses, proactively identifying opportunities for improvement and bringing informed POVs that carry our client’s business forward.
• Leads cross-functional idea generation workshops for internal and client teams.
• Is a skilled storyteller who can develop and lead client presentations and working sessions that make strategy comprehensible for a variety of collaborators (agency, client, vendor, etc.).
• Oversees development and execution of all primary and secondary research projects. Including setting research objectives, developing questions that need to be answered, identifying and negotiating with research providers and presenting the final client deliverables.
• Guides team in target audience creation and insight development using targeting tools such as Simmons/MRI, segmentation studies and other primary and secondary research reports.
• Keeps up-to-date on the best research methodologies to use for various needs.
• Develops solid relationships with assigned clients serving as the primary point of contact for all strategy-related needs.
• Reframes client requests and digs deeper on the problems the clients are looking to solve.
• Mentors junior planners on projects, helping them grow and develop in their careers.

Benefits

• Professional Development (performance reviews 2x annually, training opportunities related to your field of development, one-on-ones with managers, etc.)
• We offer competitive, equitable salaries (reviewed annually to ensure equity and competitiveness)
• A strong, vibrant, continually-evolving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion belief (in thought and action), encompassing our agency and our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Recognizing the voices that need to be heard.
• Competitive, company and employee sponsored benefits, including: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, PTO (vacation/sick time) allowance, maternity leave, parental leave, paid company holidays, Family Building Benefit (adoption, surrogacy benefit), and much more.
• Please note that these benefits only apply to full time roles

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior