Regional Marketing Marketing - SEA & THK

Location: Singapore, Beach Road

Summary:  

The role is responsible for developing category strategy and drive consumer demand with the objective of growing brand recall and market share, protecting brand identity increasing operating profit, and maintaining good brand health within the limits set by the organization.

The role holder will drive and coordinate within the commercial team & distributors to create synergy within & outside to build operational efficiencies.

The role acts as a lead between different departments Sales, R&D, Operation & Finance arms of the organization on Marketing plans & Innovations

The manager will also lead efforts in deployment of key global initiatives under the supervision of Regional Marketing leadership.

Marketing manager will work his Associate Marketing managers based out of key countries and act as “owner” of the brands in the cluster. He or she has the responsibility for the brand’s sales, brand and category strategy, market share and consumer KPIs (i.e., brand imageries, etc) growth and the successful delivery of the product and marketing programs. 

The role requires strong leadership, thinking/problem solving capability, and a set of solid and marketing management skills to implement the brand marketing plans to achieve the successful sales, share, profitability and consumer KPI results.

For the cluster, Marketing manager will build Annual Brand Plans, 3 Yr Strat Plans, consumer communication, media planning and launches by working closely with the local commercial and customer marketing team.

He or she is directly accountable for the category / brand’s sales and share growth, financial health, and the brand equities/imagery development in alignment with the regional Marketing head. 

To effectively perform his or her duties, a Marketing manager must be proficient in all of the following key brand manager qualities as defined by the Hershey Company: 

1. Leadership
2. Problem Solving
3. Communication
4. Initiative and Follow-through
5. Accountability
6. Collaboration
7. Creativity
8. Technical Mastery

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning and Review

• Examine competition performance and new entrant activities, analyze historic trends in pricing and category performance, interpret changing consumer behavior, study socio-economic indicators both at a country & regional level
• Gather inputs from Consumer Insights and other teams to build a long term strategy for the category – Portfolio, pricing and communication
• Lead the development of annual market activation planning focused on 3-year growth drivers, demonstrating strong leadership of brand centric cross-functional teams- annual budgets, overall sales, margins and market share targets, brand focus and present for approval
• Lead the change management process  within the category and ensure readiness to accept and adopt the changes to way of doing business which arise due to the above steps
• Develops consumer and customer insight-driven brand marketing programs, Builds long and short term brand portfolio growth plans to achieve the category & brand growth targets.  Translates country marketing strategies and priorities into brand strategies and business plans that match with the company capabilities.

Marketing Execution Leadership and Management

• Develops and implements the annual brand marketing plans to achieve the target sales, profit, share and consumer KPI results.  Drives marketing execution excellence in the following:
• Cascade category strategy and review brand wise strategy developed by associate Marketing Managers based on country priorities– annual budgets, overall sales, margins and market share targets, brand focus, etc.
• Concepts: develops, qualifies and implements insight-driven marketing ideas, concepts and innovations across all aspects of marketing mix;
• Category & brand portfolio management – develops optimal brands’ pack type, price and channel portfolio to meet consumer segmentation needs while achieving the profitability goals;
• Product/packaging innovations – builds and drives the continuous stream of product and packaging innovations to achieve sustainable growth for the brands;
• Advertising and Media – leads development and deployment of superior consumer communications across all ATL and BTL advertising and media;
• Agency management – work closely with the local associate marketing managers and COE in managing the advertising, media, PR, and promotion agencies to derive superior business results

Business Analysis, Realization & monitoring – Conducts in-depth analysis of market (category), consumer and customer analysis to derive data-driven indicated actions to guide the brand marketing plan development and optimization. 

• Conducts ROI analysis to monitor, improve and deliver optimum DME (ATL focused) efficiency, under the supervision of his or her manager;
• Monitoring - Oversee the gap analysis and brainstorm with team on action plans for course correction
• Participate in weekly & Monthly Sales review meetings, led by commercial teams; keep direct engagement with local distributor to share strategy and marketing plans
• Drive Monthly review for the cluster with APAC LT and build actionable insights

Team & Relationship Management –

• Be responsible and committed for the training and development plan for self and team. Be the ‘owner’ for self continuous growth under the supervision of the marketing head

• Cross functional engagement to achieve the larger organizational goals.
• Support and mentor associate marketing managers
• Manage agency and cross-functional relationships at both local and global levels to deliver breakthrough results, ensuring that the region’s needs are addressed within the global matrix.

Countries Supported: Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong

Knowledge:

• Well-developed marketing and sales skills that can develop and implement the brand marketing plans to achieve defined KPI results:- sales, share, profit and consumer KPI results.
• Knowledge of the FMCG Food industry including:
  1. The general external and internal trends impacting the business;
  2. The assessment, and
  3. A deep and thorough understanding of both consumers and customers. 
• Strong analytical skills to sort through complex data to make well-reasoned conclusions that translate the learnings into sound strategic direction and business plans / actions on advertising, promotion, competitive product / packaging innovations, pricing, retail programs, and other key programs that could affect the short and long term profitability and share position of the brands
• Thorough understanding of consumer research, TV & digital media, PR and communication development (ATL & Shopper)
• Strong communication skills to liaise key stakeholders across sub-regions and countries. Must have worked in SEA region (PH, TH, TW, MY)
• Experience of working in a Distributor based set up for driving demand and engagement 

Soft Skills:

• Strong leadership skills
• Strong thinking & problem solving capabilities
• Strong interpersonal & influencing skills
• Outstanding analytical abilities
• Ability to nurture and contribute to innovation and creative solutions
• Strong ownership to be accountable for sales and income results and the success of initiatives
• Strong verbal and written communicator to wide breadth of audiences including senior management
• Strong functional marketing expertise
• Lifelong learner and strong people developer
• Passion for winning in the marketplace
• Good knowledge of software applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
   

Education/Experience: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Business, or other related course. MBA is an advantage.

Experience:

• Must have at least 10 year’s working experience in category marketing management for an international FMCG, Cosmetics, or Liquor company.
• Must have strong marketing experience overseeing at least 2 of the following countries; Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
• Must have solid marketing experience in managing one or more brands including innovation.
• Must have experience working with an organization that has indirect trade/distribution model
• Must have project management knowledge, data analysis and consumer insight experience.
• Experience in customer/trade marketing is highly preferred.
• Experience in a food or beverage company is highly preferred.