Head of Marketing at HomeChoice Holdings Limited

Description

• homechoice is a leading South African homeware retailer. For over 35 years we’ve helped our customers create beautiful homes they love with an innovative range of quality products they can afford. 
• Responsible for the development and execution of an end-to-end customer engagement strategy by leading both sustainable on- and offline initiatives to maximize sales opportunities across all customer touch points and providing our customers seamless access to our products and services to meet business plan revenue targets in the most efficient way.

What you will love doing in this role

Develop and execute the marketing strategy 

• Own the Executive Planning process for setting sales plans to meet future retail growth objectives
• Translate business strategy into clear objectives for the marketing area, aimed at improving profitability, growing the customer base and increasing existing customer contribution, through all channels
• Develop and execute campaign strategies to support retail strategy in SA and Foreign markets
• Continually optimize marketing efforts to strategically drive demand across all channels
• Collaborate with business partners and management to understand current and future business needs and influence marketing product development, credit policy and channel strategy to meet these requirements 
• Develop annual strategic plans across all channels and partner with various teams to plan, manage and deliver an overall business plan to meet financial targets and business strategic goals; update plan monthly based on performance
• Drive strategic thinking for acquiring new customers to drive consistent total business growth across sub-groups, geographical areas, markets and channels
• Use ongoing testing and insights to develop sound, fact-based marketing strategies to drive incremental ROI against business objectives
• Formulate innovative ideas and leverage new technology solutions to drive sales
• Establish Marketing as a centre of excellence

Manage marketing planning 

• Accountable for the development, management and execution of all marketing initiatives and performance 
• Ensure day-to-day decision-making in the development, implementation, and execution of tailored campaigns within a sound overall programme
• Improve marketing through feedback mechanisms such as focus groups, customer surveys, industry forums, field travel, and testing
• Reassess current systems and processes and propose enhancements for optimisation across all channels
• Responsible for the management of processes for establishing the brand, Merchandise and Marketing offers, communication package and training and development aides needed by various channels. 
• Provide input and support for sales training, product knowledge and installation training programmes tailored for specific audiences (contact centre, sales agents, etc) which achieve overall customer experience enhancement and increased demand for our products and services
• Develop, implement and maintain customer life cycle to determine what changes and improvements are needed across touchpoints to improve customer retention and spend
• Serve as a resource to resolve escalated issues related to marketing
• Identify and troubleshoot issues and opportunities and implement solutions, which may include design, test, and execution support
• Provide business leaders with insight and recommendations on sales performance and efficiency and prepare and deliver business recommendations to various levels of leadership.
• Drive innovation to enhance productivity, effectiveness and efficiency

Drive content communication across all channels 

• Manage planning and execution of campaigns across Marketing Planners and Creatives to optimise effectiveness and efficiency of spend
• Support, manage and drive consistent execution of targeted marketing content across all channels 
• Increase customer spending through the development of effective and integrated campaign content for targeted groups of customers

Analysis and insight development 

• Partner with key stakeholders and analytics teams, other business groups, and third parties to identify customer and performance insights
• Review and analyze results on a weekly, monthly and YTD basis to determine trends, opportunity areas, and action plans to drive results 
• Provide actionable insights, successes to expand upon, and opportunity areas needing focus to drive sales and service
• Gather channel and customer information to get a pulse for the business and coordinate marketing campaigns to drive efficiency
• Identify opportunities to improve sales by gathering and analyzing data, and partnering with appropriate areas to develop solutions
• Research and identify industry and competitor (local and international) best practices and trends to benchmark against to increase effectiveness
• Continuously acquire, maintain and apply advanced knowledge of the business, its products and processes, to drive sales and improve marketing efficiencies

Financial and budget management 

• Negotiate service provider agreements and contracts to achieve cost-effective outcomes for the business, including SLA’s to ensure maximum efficiency of all marketing spend 
• Calculate total adspend cost and make recommendations to the business for cost-effective alternative marketing solutions  
• Keep abreast of new trends and developments of marketing material 
• Develop annual budget submissions for all adspend needs across all channels and drive and negotiate efficiencies and benefits 
• Manage the adspend costs within the agreed budget with improvements at the margin 
• Ensure ongoing cost reductions and efficiencies are continuously being implemented, particularly at the margin 
• Calculate and provide an accurate budget for the department's overheads

Reporting 

• Compile and issue standard daily, weekly and monthly reports according to business needs and requirements timeously 
• Generate and issue ad hoc reports through data mining analysis to provide management with key statistics and trends identified and provide recommendations to act accordingly 
• Continuously analyse and report on trends related to campaign testing, efficiencies, etc

Effective management of team 

• Lead marketing team to grow and exceed profitability targets
• Ensure team members have clear and tangible goals which are assessed bi-annually through the KPA performance management process
• Improving overall skill levels within the area by ensuring personal development plans are in place to address development needs and career aspirations
• Provide effective leadership to team members in order to achieve optimal efficiency across all divisions within the department 
• Manage any succession risks by identifying key personnel and developing appropriate succession plans with defined development initiatives to achieve career aspirations
• Ensure adequate and appropriate departmental infrastructure is in place to deliver against KPA's
• Promote staff engagement by ensuring adequate measures are in place to address pulse survey results
• Ensure team members work effectively with individuals across the business to gain knowledge on strategies, business processes to improve overall profitability and customer service

Requirements

What we will love about you

• We love your strong understanding of strategic marketing, integrated marketing, database marketing, customer engagement and segmentation 
• We love your exceptional financial and business acumen understanding and interpretation 
• We love your proven record of leading multiple areas simultaneously and developing strong collaboration between cross-functional teams 

What you'll need to do this role

• 4-year Degree / NQF level 7
• A minimum of 8 – 10 years of marketing experience in a retail environment
• Minimum of 3 – 5 years people management experience at a senior level 
• Proven record of successfully growing business results through complex marketing campaigns management
• Previous experience with planning and developing integrated media, digital and multi-channel campaign communication and solutions 

Behaviours we love

Wow my customer

• Walk in my customers’ shoes
• Deliver on my promises
• Deliver insight-led solutions my customers need

Treat the business as my own

• Take accountability
• Be curious, creative & explore opportunities
• Do it right & at the right time

Play as a team

• Be helpful
• Be inclusive