Senior Manager Brand Communications - Sports Performance at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization
The Senior Manager Communications will play a key role across the Emerging Markets hub team by ensuring prioritized concepts in Sports Performance categories (football, training, running, basketball, specialist sports) are planned and executed brilliantly in partnership with our cluster marketing partners. The role requires a self starter, highly motivated individual who can work collaboratively across a matrixed brand organization engaging with Global, Regional and Local stakeholders across the business. A strategic mindset, coupled with the passion for brand guardianship as well as the operational skillset to speak with expert level confidence will be required to be successful in this role.You will mainly focus on the 360 communications planning and orchestration of plans from strategy to execution through to reporting and insights that will fuel the next round of seasonal planning.

Key Responsibilities

• Understand global and be a key player in the development and sell in of the Emerging Markets strategy
• Provide seasonal input into the Omnichannel calendar (in partnership with Omnichannel Planning) to drive and co-ordinate cross functional teams to deliver against key franchises. You will focus on key campaigns and associated category / cultural moments that can create an opportunity to create brand desire
• Horizontal oversight onto commercial moments and always on branding on .com / in store
• Create activation plan to significantly improve the Brand and Business KPI’s for Sports Performance categories
• Manage the implementation, launch and ongoing activation of all primary / secondary franchises in line with brand and business unit objectives
• Provide regular go to market 360 communications plans to Senior Leadership outlining the why, what, where, when and how of a campaign
• Guide clusters in marketing working budget planning in line with set principles of media, retail and activation budget planning
• Ensure global updates are regularly communicated in line with our end to end campaign process and feedback from local partners is shared back to global partners to help shape toolkits and direction
• Guide end2end campaign process: briefing, planning, campaign coordination and reporting cross functionally (channels, categories, brand activation in clusters) to deliver against an agreed plan
• Ensure global and Emerging Markets guidelines are upheld during all execution of the brand activation
• Be the conduit for all Emerging Markets and global contact relating to Sports Performance categories

Personnel

• Manage & develop team members within brand communications team in order to maximize full potential and support high performance culture
• Set personal objectives, targets, guidelines and assess all direct reports
• Set correct processes and interaction models in order to create value across the organization
• Role model our 3C’s culture of collaboration, creativity and confidence
• Identify and prepare talents within the team for career progression within the adidas organization

Key Relationships

• Market & Cluster- all functions (business units, brand activation, wholesale, DTC, Sports Marketing,
• Global Business Unit Partners
• Commercial / retail leads (EM DTC, WHS, eCOM)
• External Agencies
• Financial Controlling (MWB)

KPI’s

• EM Brand Health KPIS (i.e.NPS, Brand momentum, SPI)
• Category Market Share vs. plan within EM
• ROMI
• EM Net Sales, Category growth, FPST and traffic
• MWB compliance

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• He/she must be well organised and a strong level of empathy and passion for Sports Performance categories
• Strong Leadership skills
• Good communication (both written and verbal), presentation and facilitation skills
• Strategy: ability to develop and implement a visionary strategy for managed categories.
• Strong project management skills
• Problem solving mind
• Strong networking abilities
• Industry awareness and market knowledge
• Well rounded brand activation experience essential across a mix of retail, brand, events, digital, and editorial. Product / merchandising experience in addition to the above would be an advantage
• Excellent interpersonal skills to manage and motivate own team in addition to a wider cross functional team
• Budget management experience
• Creative vision combined with practical experience
• Analytics evaluation experience
• Passion for sports
• Agency Management: Creative, Media, Digital, Events
• Ability to travel, domestic or international, as required
• Good negotiations skills

Requisite Education And Experience/ Qualifications

• University degree in business / marketing
• 5-8 years of relevant work experience
• Minimum 4 year’s leadership experience
• Knowledge – digital marketing, consumer Brand experience and event management
• Client experience a must, agency experience a plus
• Experience in the sporting goods industry is preferred