Brand Manager - Cognac

Campari Group today is a major player in the global branded spirits industry, with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super premium brands, marketed and distributed in over 190 markets around the world, with leading positions in Europe and the Americas.

Headquartered in Milan, Italy, Campari Group owns 25 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 26 countries, and employs approximately 4,700 people.

Shares of the parent company Davide Campari - Milano N.V. are listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001. Campari Group is today the sixth-largest player worldwide in the premium spirits industry.

Job Title: Brand Manager, Cognac
Reports to:  Senior Brand Manager, Cognac
Job Location:  New York, New York
Organizational Layer: Local
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Campari Group is a leading global player in the spirits industry with a portfolio of over 50 premium and super premium brands including such iconic brands as Grand Marnier, Courvoisier, Espolòn Tequila, SKYY, Aperol, Appleton Estate, Wild Turkey, Russell’s Reserve and Campari, a key ingredient in one of the most famous Italian cocktails in the world, the Negroni. Through innovation, development and acquisitions, Campari Group continues to create a story with consumers by capturing the spirit of "toasting life together."

At the Campari Group it starts by setting the bar high and developing brands through the inspiration and creativity of our people. Not only do our brands create a captivating, unique experience but so do the people behind the brands. This is a company where leaders are created, and our people and brands are our passion.

General Description of the Role

In the role of Brand Manager, you will be the driving force behind the growth plans for our Cognac brands: Courvoisier and Grand Marnier. We are looking for a candidate who can take these brands, with a rich history and French legacy, and make them synonymous with culture in the US while managing full brand plans to drive commercial excellence.

In collaboration with the Senior Brand Manager of Cognac, you will build brand plans for Courvoisier and Grand Marnier that meet the brands’ objectives. Both brands have relatively high awareness, however, the awareness is latent and there’s a need to reignite these brands to drive consideration and trial. You will lead full brand initiatives by leading conversations across all internal and external cross functional teams including but not limited to Agencies (AOR, Creative, Media, PR, XP, CRM) and Cross Functional Internal teams (Global, Trade, Sales, Media, PR, XP, CRM, Field Marketing).

Working collaboratively with cross functional teams and leading multiple agencies to align stakeholders is a must. The ideal candidate will charismatically sell internal and external cohorts on the brand visions and execute plans for Courvoisier and Grand Marnier. 

The ideal candidate will need to have:
•    Strong business acumen skillset
•    Strong Commercial Execution mindset (with experience in the 3 tiered system a plus)
•    Understanding of brand building blocks to drive different metrics across the brand funnel
•    Project Management experience with examples of managing timelines and deliverables
•    Experience galvanizing teams to get people aligned and excited to execute the brand plans
•    Experience managing A&P budgets and recommending shifts in budget to adhere to brand plans
•    Strong analytical mindset with experience creating data-driven recommendations leveraging a variety of sources (i.e. Nielsen, IWSR, VIP/iDig, Qual/Quant, etc.)
•    Ability to identify opportunities to recruit and retain consumers from competitive categories such as Liqueurs and Cognac
•    Experience executing brand plans across marketing and sales organizations
•    Agility to optimize and respond to learnings in real time to drive efficiencies 
•    A Can-do attitude 
•    Experience marketing to a Black American consumer and building brands in culture
•    A love of music, fashion, and travel is a plus! A candidate that can shape local consumer communications while connecting plans across different marketing touchpoints will excel at this role. 
This is a highly visible role leading the Cognac portfolio across the number one market in the world.
This Brand Manager role will be based in New York City HQ. To learn more about Campari visit us at www.campari.com 

RESPONSIBILITIES
Brand Marketing Strategy
•    Lead development of Brand Planning and Strategy across all areas of Brand Management to deliver value, volume and market share growth goals while building short and long term brand image and equity.  •    Diagnose key issues and opportunities facing your portfolio and develop multi-year strategies to address these for your portfolio of brands. 
•    Lead annual integrated marketing and communication planning, serve as brand(s) owner to ensure consistent brand strategy across all marketing touchpoints
•    Have a deep understanding of the current and potential multicultural consumer, with an emphasis on Black American cognac drinkers, and translate the intel into a brand strategy and execution plan.  
•    Partner with internal media, PR, XP teams to develop strategy recommendations while optimizing ROI.  

Program Development and Execution
•    Lead consumer activation plan across advertising, digital and social media, public relations, special events, sponsorships, and trade
•    Work with external agencies, internal support functions, Global and creative partners to develop advertising and creative content plans. 
•    Work with our partners in Global Strategic Marketing, Commercial & Customer Marketing, and Sales to ensure that brand building activities are executed properly and on time.
•    Manage the execution of new products across the supply chain
•    Develop strong insights to action to inform the effective commercial selling stories, sales decks, sales sheets for execution
•    Ensure post recap learnings are incorporated into next best practices for future executions

Business Growth & Optimization
•    Proactively manage and analyze the brand’s P&L including pricing analysis, promotional strategy, SKU management, and managing your A&P budgets to ensure efficiencies in the annual plan. 
•    In partnership with our local Commercial teams identify opportunities for portfolio or geographic expansion and identify growth model to achieve goals.
•    Work with our Commercial teams to ensure that BTL efforts are focused on the appropriate areas to grow the brand across TTL touchpoints. 
•    Proactively review and analyze a multitude of sources to keep track of business performance and identify gaps to fill for year end goals
•    Regularly track brand performance metrics for internal business reviews

Cross-Functional Collaboration
•    Galvanize cross functional teams to excite and ignite energy around the brand plans 
•    Gather input from cross functional teams to develop cohesive recommendations on brand strategy and execution
•    Provide clear direction to cross functional teams with regular check ins
•    Be the voice of the brand across the organization driving conversation and answering any questions that come up
 
Project Management & Budget Management
•    Attention to detail on A&P budget management tracking on a regular basis 
•    Lead monthly budget conversations with finance to guide the brands A&P spend
•    Manage PO / Invoices for all Brand Budget
•    Collaborate with Trade team to ensure holistic view of budget is accurate and on budget
•    Ability to manage multiple projects at a time keeping stakeholders on schedule for delivery
•    Attention to detail on timelines 

Requirements        
•    5 + years in brand management with CPG experience.
•    MBA preferred; BA/BS required.
•    Experience building brands with multicultural, Black American, and Hispanic consumer groups. 
•    Previous experience managing agencies, talent, and internal cross functional teams.
•    Passion for hospitality, entertainment, and influencing culture.    
•    Strong understanding of marketing strategy and ability to develop marketing tactics that deliver on brand objectives.
•    Creative and enthusiastic thinker who can champion the brand and bring it to life.
•    Strong analytical skills, problem solving and financial/business understanding.
•    Strong ability to effectively present and communicate to leadership and cross functional teams.
•    Ability to build collaborative relationships, influence and work cross functionally.
•    Can distill consumer insights, competitive and category trends into areas opportunity leveraging strong judgement. 
•    Thrives in an environment that is demanding and fast-paced, and able to adapt to changing situations.
•    Highly proficient in PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Data Analysis, Syndicated Research (i.e. Nielsen).
•    Ability to travel.

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion:

At Campari Group we believe in building more value together, thus we see diversity in all forms as a source of enrichment. Our employment policies and practices ensure that we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities in all aspects of employment without regard to any individual’s race, religion, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or characteristics or expression, political affiliation or activity, age, veteran status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Campari Group believes that fair compensation and equal opportunities are crucial for employees’ well-being, empowerment, and engagement.  Our efforts to ensure fair pay have earned us the Fair Pay Certification by Fair Pay Workplace, an independent organization dedicated to dismantling pay disparities based on gender, race and their intersection.

Note to applicants:

Your application will be assessed based on your abilities, expertise, general knowledge and experience, not because of any confidential, proprietary or trade secret information you may possess. You must not disclose to Campari Group any such information. In the event that you are asked a question that cannot be answered without disclosure of any confidential, proprietary or trade secret information (including from a current or prior employer or their vendors or customers), you must decline to answer the question.

Notice to third party agencies:

Please refrain from cold-calling or emailing our executive leadership team or the HR community directly. The Talent Acquisition department manages centralized recruiting operations globally, including the selection and management of external suppliers. Currently, our preferred supplier list is at full capacity. To ensure we have your information on file for future consideration, we kindly request that you complete the online form provided here.