Customer Marketing Manager – Europe (based in Hamburg, Germany)
Summary:
The Customer Marketing Manager will be a key member of the commercial team to:
• Translate overall marketing strategies in channel specific activation plans
• Identifies opportunities to grow Hershey’s brands with tailored activities by region, countries, channels
• Ensure effective and consistent cascade of Marketing strategies to Sales and Distributor’s team
• Identify commercial opportunities (New Market / Channels / Occasions)
• Define, build & track KPI measures in collaboration with sales and marketing
• Establish Country category management strategy and activation plans
• Develop commercial insights (Channel, Customer and Shopper) to foster the brand strategies
• Develop external partnerships for current & new business opportunities
• Enhance customer relationships through insights and knowledge enabling business growth
• Evaluate, measure and monitor responses to instore programs
• Participate in key customer meetings to identify areas of growth
The role requires developing and implementing an effective and coordinated customer marketing and sales plan in support of cross functional organizational alignment. This is a customer facing role representing the corporation with customers, partners and suppliers within the market/s as it relates to the function.
The customer marketing role is expected to leverage and grow partnerships with the distributors as well as key retailers both in modern and traditional trade. The candidate will lead both the plan and work with the respective counterparts to achieve the country & cluster business plan.
Major Duties/Responsibilities:
Summary of major duties:
MARKET STRATEGIES (CUSTOMER MARKETING PROGRAM – DEVELOPMENT)
* Collaborate with sales team to identify opportunities and develop strategies that meet customer and business growth expectations
* Seek internal resourcing, alignment and approvals as necessary
* Manage agencies, partnerships, resourcing to ensure success
* Develop and leverage relationships with distributors’ (customer) marketing counterparts
* Defines and grows the business through effective customer marketing and sales plans
* Communicates and consistently monitors progress of the execution of the customer marketing strategy with internal and external stakeholders.
* Helps develop and execute joint business plans with distributor partners and identified key customers within markets.
* Lead customer & shopper insights development and implement those with key customers enabling Hershey’s to build stronger trade partnerships.
* Execute the insights across vertical marketing plans to drive market share via increased number of shoppers, transaction size per purchase and purchase frequency.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
* Monitor and understand trends, work closely with shopper insights group, category team and marketing to develop insights and ideas that can be leveraged to ground and support new business recommendations
* Clearly establishes: New “where to win” and “how to win” trade, customer and shopper programs that deliver the outcomes required with clear marketing, sales and financial deliverables.
CUSTOMER MARKETING PROGRAM – EXECUTION
* Leads the development, execution and evaluation of agreed customer marketing programs designed to make Hershey’s win in-store, give Hershey brands the highest weighted distribution and drive strong consumer off take for Hershey’s products.
* Develops and deliver the respective customer marketing plans and the customer marketing calendar (annual promotions calendar) to support the business unit’s new product development (NPD) plans.
* Provide Sales’ inputs and final sign-off on all promotional materials to be used for key initiatives and coordinate closely with Key Accounts and Distributors in the supervision of all promotional activities.
* Other deliverables include but is not limited to:
o Leading the development of the business unit’s customer marketing and category management processes and solutions together with key internal and external customers to
grow Hershey’s product categories.
o Developing, implement and evaluate category plans to meet business objectives.
* Delivers adequate and relevant sales training (for customer marketing topics) directly and as require
MARKET INSIGHTS AND ANALYSIS
* Provide leadership in driving for efficiency improvement of all customer investments
* Lead the instore programs ROI tracking and improvement
* Identify market trends and issues and convert into actions that drive growth of business
* Co- owns and co- leads the execution of a healthy P&L for the market which includes but is not limited to: total business, brands, channel and customer P& L and most importantly the management of trade spend & customer promotion budget.
* The candidate articulates the right and relevant financial deliverables with respect to channels, customers and/or shoppers for the market which reflect the investment in the marketing strategies.
* The candidate owns the execution of the appropriate levels of control and audit processes within the sales organization and at the distributor on trade spend or customer promotion spend. It is the candidate responsibility to coordinate both reporting and funding requirements with key internal and external partners within the region.
* The candidate has a full understanding of distributor and or retailer financials and drives and influences the directions taken by distributors and key customers toward financial expectations of the Hershey Company..
Minimum Education and Experience Requirements:
Education:
Bachelor’s degree holder or higher. Preference for candidates with business related degrees, an MBA is a plus. He or she must know and understand current trade trends, market conditions and sales enablers through continued education and training.
Experience:
• Minimum of 8 years solid work experience in CPG industry, in Customer Marketing/Sales (key account management, distributor management, trade or customer marketing)
• Demonstrated ability in key functional tasks and a clear progression or expansion in terms of areas of responsibility or increase in business size and complexity.
• Multi market past management is a must.
• Smart, Creative and Proactive Thinker is a must
• Able to handle multiple tasks under pressure
• Strong understanding of how businesses work
• Understanding of Marketing strategy and shopper behavior
• Customer facing and relevant channel experience helpful