Comms Planning Director Hybrid Remote , London, England

OpenDoor I Media Planning Director, Strategy & Planning Team – Job Description

The purpose of this document is to help prospective team members better understand the role and responsibilities of the Media Planning Director within the Strategy & Planning Team at OpenDoor, WPP’s bespoke global operating model for Amazon.

ABOUT WPP & OPENDOOR

At WPP, we’re constantly reinventing the future of creativity on an ever-broader canvas, bringing together unrivalled talent, resources, and skills to provide an integrated offer of communications, experience, commerce, and technology.

Over the last decade, we have developed a dedicated global client practice with the mission of accelerating WPP’s impact for our largest clients by bringing them the best of WPP. Each team is custom-built around a client’s specific needs and challenges, providing easy access to the right capabilities. And that’s why we’ve built OpenDoor for Amazon.

OpenDoor is a unique integration of the best of WPP and Amazon – building on their respective strengths and visions. Whether at WPP or at Amazon, every project is an OpenDoor on new possibilities. Anything and everything can be an opportunity for our people to drive impact – for them to innovate, learn, thrive, and occasionally fail too.

The unique OpenDoor partnership model is built to deliver next-level productivity, fueled by our industry-leading approach to people, platforms, and process. OpenDoor spans across all WPP agencies and disciplines such as media, business consultancy, communications and brand strategy, tech and commerce, public relations, and production.

OpenDoor’s values are built from Amazon’s own 16 Leadership Principles, and WPP’s core values of Open, Optimistic, and Extraordinary. Together, when WPP’s Creative Transformation meets Amazon’s next-level customer centricity, our people come together to challenge and impact what’s done today and build a better future.

By joining OpenDoor, not only are you joining a cross-function team partnering with one of WPP’s top five global clients, but you are also taking a step to challenge yourself and the world around you every day, working in the most unusual way on some of Earth’s most ambitious opportunities in marketing, tech, media, business, and creativity.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a talented and driven Media Planning Director to join our dynamic OpenDoor Strategy & Planning team. In this role, you will play a pivotal role in crafting communications plans that inspire and deliver results for our clients in the ever-evolving entertainment landscape. You will be the voice of the consumer, translating insights into actionable strategies that drive business growth. You will be responsible for developing comprehensive customer journeys, uncovering compelling brand narratives, and building the blueprint for effective media plan development.

Prime Video is Amazon’s entertainment destination for movies, series, documentaries, and live sport. The Prime Video marketing division delivers all communications for the platform, including large tentpole titles such as The Boys and The Rings of Power, and live sport such as the Premier League and the NBA, as well as large-scale brand campaigns. OpenDoor is Prime Video's media partner everywhere in the world except North America and Latin America and makes up a considerable proportion of Amazon's global marketing efforts.

This is a full-time position based in London. This role plays a crucial part in supporting WPP's mission to deliver consistency, delivery excellence, and best-in-class service for Amazon in every country across its diverse businesses, including XCM, Prime Video, and RMI.

RESPONSIBILITIES

To drive business growth for PV, you will immerse yourself in consumer behavior, leveraging data, both quantitative and qualitative research, and your own intuition to identify key target audiences. This will involve conducting thorough audience analysis, encompassing demographics, psychographics, media consumption habits, and motivations. You will then develop comprehensive customer decision journeys, illuminating the path audiences take and identifying key touchpoints and moments of influence to optimize reach at every stage. Analyzing cultural trends, the competitive landscape, and brand insights will be crucial to unearthing the core idea that resonates across all media touchpoints, fueling a cohesive media plan for PV. You will design the communications architecture through to media plan development, ensuring that every tactic and investment decision aligns with the overarching strategy. Defining clear objectives, key performance indicators (KPIs), and measurement plans for each campaign will be essential. Collaboration with implementational planning teams will guarantee strategic alignment and effective execution. Furthermore, you will present strategic recommendations and insights to clients in a clear and persuasive manner. You will also oversee campaign management, ensuring quality control and that the output is of the highest standard. Developing a skilled understanding of commercial practices and of the wider agency is also crucial. Finally, you will build and maintain client and agency relationships at a mid-senior level, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of stakeholders and the client's business.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• 10+ years of experience in media or connections planning and an advanced understanding of media channels, channel ecosystems, and planning best practices.
• Have an advanced understanding of the Purchase Journey thinking and planning philosophy across all client work, including being an expert in a broad set of internal tools, as well as external tools to build a deep understanding of the consumer, the client’s business, and its specific opportunities.
• Have an expert overview of the media market landscape (across EU), trends, and start to build media owner relationships.
• A deep understanding of consumer behavior within media, particularly channels relevant to entertainment marketing.
• A knack for simplifying the complex, translating data and insights into clear, compelling written narratives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - you can clearly articulate your ideas and influence decisions.
• A passion for innovation and challenging the status quo with a positive, constructive approach.
• Depth of knowledge of both digital and traditional media channels and how to effectively deploy them across a campaign.

BONUS POINTS

• Multi-market experience including successful E2E management of Multi-Market campaigns (brief, RTB, execution, and reporting).
• Applies big picture thinking in work and proactively leverages an understanding of the organization and key industry trends.
• Designs differentiated communications (content focus, style, presentation, etc.) for various internal and external audiences.
• Applies knowledge of client, audience, channel, market, and category to effectively deliver compelling multi-media plans. Translates learnings and trends to create marketing communication strategies that are effective with clear measurement.
• Applies best practices to campaign management and acts as the escalation point for issues.
• Oversees team members to discuss current projects, workload, and activities, prioritizing resources accordingly.
• Improves workload management by supporting others in setting priorities and by postponing less relevant work.
• Provides actionable insights during mid and post-campaign reports to improve in-flight optimizations and future campaign brief recommendations.
• Familiarity with Amazon's way of working (e.g., narratives over PowerPoint) and their leadership principles.
• Familiarity with Amazon Ads.
• Understanding of Amazon's ecosystem.

BENEFITS OF OPENDOOR

• Unparalleled Access: Gain direct experience working with one of the world's most innovative and influential companies.
• Mentorship & Training: Receive guidance from experienced professionals at both WPP and Amazon.
• Cutting-Edge Technology: Utilize industry-leading tools and platforms, including WPP Open.
• Data-Driven Environment: Develop your analytical skills and contribute to data-driven decision making.
• Global Impact: Be part of a team that is shaping the future of marketing on a global scale.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their resume and cover letter to the talent team.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.