Associate Manager, Partnerships & Events

Lead the development and execution of Retail Events & Sampling activities, Grassroots events (community, college), trade events, and Brand Ambassador program for the Liquid Refreshment Beverage (LRB) portfolio, creating brand engagement and enhancing brand visibility. Drive these field marketing plans and activate events to achieve Retailer Sales objectives, and Brand & Consumer objectives (equity, relevance and loyalty).

Accountabilities:

• Lead development & implementation of a comprehensive grassroots brand ambassador program to enhance brand visibility and engagement within Colleges & Universities, High School, and Community Sports (and potentially more as brand is scaled)
• Develop & execute national retailer activations (e.g., sampling events) and trade events that align with retailer & brand business objectives.
• Recruit, train, and manage a team of external brand ambassadors, ensuring they embody the brand identity and effectively communicate key messages.
• Partner with agencies to deliver best-in-class activation programs and influence & amplify activations that drive sales and brand love, utilizing influencers, digital media, earned media etc.
• Ensure consistency in brand messaging and representation across all grassroots marketing efforts, maintaining a cohesive brand image. Develop brand playbook inclusive of execution standards and best practices.
• Responsible for overall execution, stakeholder & agency management, metrics & reporting, budget management

Key Metrics & Financial Targets:

• Delivering on brand goals, including Trial %, sampling metrics
• Brand Awareness and Brand Health growth
• Delivering on Retailer & Sales team objectives, incl. Volume, Dollars Sales
• Consumer engagement & connections impact
• Maintaining category and functional expertise
• Managing to agreed-upon A&P budget

Own:

• Development and execution of national sampling, events and grassroots marketing strategies and plans, in collaboration with internal and external partners
• Relationships with new and existing vendors / partners to drive market penetration and consumer/shopper engagement

Influence:

• National A&P budget, allocation
• Stakeholder management including Internal (Marketing, Sales, Finance) and External (customers, partners, agencies) to build best in class programming

Veto:

• Ambassador programs or local events that do not match global brand guidelines or brand growth aspirations

Critical Relationships:

• National Brand Team (Media, Shopper)
• National & Regional Sales, Finance
• MAG Trade Marketing, Global Brand
• National Retail Sampling, Brand Ambassador and Grassroots playbooks, calendars
• In Market execution

Skills Needed To Be Successful:

• 3-5 years CPG marketing experience, ideally in Food & Bev
• Proven track record of driving business growth through field marketing, including scaled retail sampling efforts, grassroots events & ambassador programs
• Hands-on, self-driven, self-motivated, execution-oriented, with a can-do collaborative approach.
• Hands-on project management experience running multiple initiatives and deliverables simultaneously.
• Proven ability to think creatively, coupled with strong analytical skills
• Experience and confidence in communicating with cross-functional teams- both internal and external (e.g., customers and distributors)
• Ambitious, growth mindset, with an ROI-driven approach.

Extraordinary Leadership Expectations:

• A passion for pipeline and demand generation and a metrics driven approach
• Ability to think BIG, ambitiously curious and daringly disruptive to develop and deliver new programs that set us apart and breakthrough with consumers.
• Agility- ability to adapt quickly to internal and external factors

Compensation:

Compensation offered to prospective Team Members has taken internal equity into consideration and can vary depending on a positions’ location. The final agreed upon wage may vary based on the job-related knowledge, skills, and experience of the individual.

• Competitive annual salary from $67,000 to $84,000, based in Chicago, IL
• Bonus plan designed to recognize company performance and individual contributions
• Comprehensive health and welfare benefits
• Company matching 401(k) contributions
• Paid time off including annual leave, paid sick time and holidays
• Extensive opportunities for training, development, and career growth

Salary : $67,000 - $84,000