Associate Director, Brand Strategy

ABOUT THE ROLE AND OUR TEAM:  

The Knot Worldwide (TKWW) is a global leader in the wedding and lifestage category, representing 19 brands across 16 countries. We are looking for an Associate Director of Brand Strategy to maximize our global scale and breadth of brands to more impactfully engage with our varied consumers and ensure we remain relevant for the future. This brand leader will be responsible for the holistic vision and execution of our consumer external-facing Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives across the TKWW ecosystem. They will also be focused on driving the strategy and marketing programs for emerging audience initiatives (ie Multicultural marketing in the US) and next horizon frontiers (meta verse weddings anyone?) infusing innovation as a core competency within our global marketing department. 

This leader must be an expert at brand positioning, understanding the nuances between emotional and functional benefits in a consumer’s decision making journey and be able to identify key differentiators in order to translate these benefits into motivating marketing messages and omni-channel marketing programs. This leader must be able to distill complex ideas, consumer need states and expectations into data informed concise and compelling recommendations requiring action. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Set the holistic vision and own the successful execution & performance reporting of our consumer external-facing Environmental, Social, DEI and Governance (ESG) initiatives across the TKWW ecosystem.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align priorities, drive focus and ensure shared team fulfillment, impact and accountability across programs. 
• Set the brand positioning, benefits hierarchy, messaging strategy and integrated marketing programs for specified projects. 
• Inspire Innovation across marketing through culture tapping, landscape intelligence and provide bold recommendations for leadership consideration. 
• Build the recommendation and test and learn strategy to improve our penetration with multicultural audiences (pros, vendors, consumers, parents, etc.) 
• Brand strategy agency relationship and serve as conduit between agency and SLT communication 
• Develop briefs rooted in data and consumer insights aimed at maximizing brand equity across our brands & geos when relevant 
• Partner directly with Corporate Communications Director to inform strategy, policy governance connected to brand strategy and enable cohesive company wide success for ESG initiatives
• Continuously monitor competitive branding, positioning, communication and messaging trends to optimize brand strategy and positioning
• Work closely with the Integrated Planning, Product Marketing & Insights team to develop a deep knowledge of our target audience and routinely understand the effectiveness of our marketing programs against our audiences 
• Aid in developing audience-first integrated marketing communication plans that are rooted in our brand guidelines and roadmap  
• Promote a test and learn mindset that aids in driving confidence in brand strategy recommendations 
• In collaboration with key stakeholders & product marketing leaders, consistently evaluate brand strategy to ensure differentiated and meaningful brand positions are being delivered against target audiences in right channels to lead to maximum impact 
• Recommend measurement strategies, including the definition of key performance metrics to improve brand equity 
• Present and sell through key findings and future plans to Senior internal stakeholders

SUCCESSFUL ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, BRAND STRATEGY CANDIDATES HAVE:

• Bachelor’s degree
• 8+ years in brand strategy or planning role
• Ability to synthesize information to develop understanding of key insights
• Expert communicator able to tailor message to a range of audiences and markets
• Proven experience in strategic marketing at both the enterprise/brand and product portfolio level
• Experience in media strategy and marketing analytics
• Strong organizational and communication skills, attention to detail
• Willingness to work flexible hours to meet team output expectations
• Strong presence with ability to interact and partner with Senior leadership
• Outstanding written, verbal, analytical and presentation skills
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills
• Strong time management and organization skills; ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects

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