Director Brand Communications - EM South

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization

Steer the execution of the Global and EM Brand Communications strategy, ensuring powerful and consistent deployment throughout EM South with the ambition to fuel brand heat and drive market share.

Implement and execute all brand communication touch points along the defined brand calendar, including Sport & Style Brand Activations, PR, Media Buying and Planning.

Drive a focus on maximizing marketing efforts to other key African markets (Nigeria, Kenya).

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead all aspects of Brand Communications for the adidas brand in EM South including key campaigns and launches; calendars and processes; external agency partner management; events and initiatives; media buying and PR.
• Sharpen the Brand's positioning/ perception, while maximizing its connection to athletes, consumers and other sport and culture stakeholders in the Market
• Work closely with all Marketing functions, Sales and Channel leads to analyse business performance and seize business opportunities across EM South to meet and/or exceed KPIs and financial targets
• Align with Senior Brand Director on the strategy across all categories and develop a relevant Brand Communications approach that drives brand priority product ranges, franchises and concepts locally
• Effectively manage the assigned Marketing Expenditure (MaEx) Budget, optimizing ROI.
• Own the seasonal calendar and MaEx allocation there of
• Provide a clear vision and direction to internal and external stakeholders (including agencies and partners) with relevant objectives and KPIs.
• Lead local relationship with EssenceMediacom to deliver on required KPIs
• Establish a high performance culture and drive employee engagement, leading by example.
• Provide a suitable performance framework for direct reports by setting performance targets and coaching for continuous improvement.

KPI’s:

• Brand Net Sales and Margin
• Market Share of brand
• Market Share of search for adidas brand
• Full Price Sell Through
• Brand Sentiment
• Media and PR performance KPI’s
• Deployment of Marketing working budget
• ROI of all marketing spend

Key Relationships:

• Senior Director Marketing EM South
• Functional leads within Marketing team-EM South
• Director Brand Activation - EM Hub
• BU Leads- EM Hub
• Director Legal- EM South
• Sales and Retail Channels- EM South
• External Agencies

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Significant knowledge & experience activating the brand communication marketing mix (media, events, sponsorship, retail, PR) with a major global brand or retailer (sporting goods / lifestyle industry)
• Deep understanding of the local sport environment (including events & partners) and lifestyle market (including local culture and partners)
• Experience setting brand communication strategies to deliver growth in local market
• Strong project-management skills
• Proven ability to lead large-scale projects
• Experience leading a dynamic team of individuals
• Ability to manage both internal and external parties (athletes, partners, agencies)
• Marketing budget management (MaEX)
• Advanced user of MS Office suite of products
• Experience in both market and above market organization preferred

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree in Marketing and/or a minimum of 8-10 years equivalent professional experience in Brand Communications & Sport’s Marketing
• Fluent in English
• Passion for sport, culture and the adidas brand
• Proven ability to lead teams and processes
• Highly organized and proven track record to build and implement strategy