Planning Associate Director

DISCIPLINE OVERVIEW: COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN

Communications design is the discipline and practice of crafting how a brand idea will be delivered through communications across an owned, earned and paid ecosystem in order to achieve a desired behavioral outcome.

Initiative’s Communications Design team is creating the future of planning.Borrowing skills from User Experience, Digital, Public Relations and Content, these media professionals are responsible for curating how people connect and participate with brands through culturally rich ideas. Instead of considering the experience of a brand in components (media / channel planning), Communications Designers think about brand experience in totality (ecosystem planning) ensuring every encounter is useful and impactful.

The Communications Design team dynamically brings brands to life through their actions. They:

Are experts in consumer and communications behavior, and how changes in behaviors are creating new opportunities for connection

Lead the creation of the dynamic ecosystem approach to deliver a strategy

Work with partners (media, creative, technology, platforms, Specialty Business Units) to curate how a brand should connect within culture

Lead the identification of the right audiences to address how to meet business goals, and guide the quantification of connection encounters holistically

Champion innovative, forward thinking activities that help brands create value with their audience.

ROLE OVERVIEW: THE CLIENTS

This role is working on two of the most exciting accounts here at Initiative – Bupa and Salesforce.

Bupa Healthcare services is one of the largest clients within Initiative, they are a future facing digital client looking for us to show expert knowledge and leadership in how digital and technology can be used to compliment & enhance comms design solutions.

Bupa comprises five different business units, PMI (Private Media Insurance and what they are most famous for) SME, Dental, Care Homes and Clinics. The different BUs have very different requirements, from annual planning to monthly tactical campaigns, and the Comms Design Director plays a key role, working with the Strategy Lead, Comms Design and activation teams to develop through the funnel campaigns. This role will be responsible for looking after Clinics, Dental and SME.

We are very proud of the work we are doing with Bupa and this continues to evolve. Recently we worked on their This Is Health brand repositioning and currently we are supporting their GB Paralympic planning.

They are a digital first client looking for leadership and latest thinking on how offline meats online and the digitisation of all things media.

Salesforce is one of our most important clients globally. We work closely with the US in order to ensure we apply a local spin to the global strategy which we developed at the beginning of this year. The focus is on building awareness of their AI and CRM products to a focused BDM target audience.

ROLE OVERVIEW: ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, COMMS DESIGN

As the Associate Director, Communications Design you are at the forefront of bringing the next generation of planning to life. You are responsible for ensuring the adoption and adherence of communications design principles across your client base, ensuring your team consistently delivers best in class idea led, culturally empowered communications ecosystems that drive effectiveness.

With experience gained in detailed media, digital, communications or experience design roles, you are an expert in the UK media landscape and what this offers us for ecosystem planning, and how channels and experiences work across paid, owned, earned and shared connections. You are considered a communications trailblazer amongst your peers & clients. When it comes to managing big projects you are a skilled & experienced conductor of stakeholders. Your experience allows you to think outside the box and if necessary re-design the box altogether. These abilities enable you to orchestrate and oversee the design & produce market leading communication campaigns through ecosystem planning.

You have a demonstrable understanding of the digital landscape and how we can leverage digital-centric product to deliver client needs. Your understanding goes beyond digital media planning and activation, stretching to understanding the benefits of a sophisticated data & tech infrastructure, and the importance of optimizing clients owned & earned assets to create a seamless brand experience (including but not limited to SEO, CRO, Content and Digital PR). This will enable you to have productive conversations with our clients regarding their digital marketing journey/transformation.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Client

Responsible for the development of the detailed communications plan to power the idea

Together with Group Director, CAM and Director, Communications Design present the Connections Design holistic approach to the relevant stakeholders

Manage the outputs of day to day requirements and workflow of the client

Responsible for presentation of client education program around Communications Design relevant marketplace trends.

Internal

Responsible for the management and training of design team in communications planning fundamentals

Responsible for the best practice application of planning approach including key tools and techniques to surface media and marketing intelligence and insights to produce an impactful, culturally rich communications plan across owned, earned, shared, paid (OESP)

• Write and manage outputs from RFP submissions from the Design discipline, in collaboration with Partnerships leads

Commercial

Contributor to client Key Performance Indicator (KPI) delivery

• Contributor to Specialty Business Units (SBU) growth and client profitability

New Business

Contributor to new business as required

Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s):

Client

Able to deliver best in class communications planning solutions that propel the communications idea

Able to effectively lead the management of the client’s communications budget to successful outcomes

Accurately and effectively manage client’s day to day communications design product requirements

Internal

Able to successfully manage Communications Design planning outputs from team

Able to lead the RFP process, including briefing and partner selection together with Partnership colleagues

Able to deploy tools and techniques to deliver best in class communications planning outcomes across OESP

Commercial

Contributor to SBU revenue growth through planning outcomes

Contributor to organic revenue from communications design

QUALIFICATIONS:

Ability to delegate and oversee direct reports

Proven ability to develop and maintain strong professional relationships with clients, colleagues and vendors

Excellent written, verbal communication and presentation skills

• Strong time-management and organizational skills
• Required PC proficiency and solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Proven problem solving ability

Ability to work successfully within a team, handling multiple projects and meeting tight deadlines under pressure

THE PERKS

We guarantee that your career with us will be varied and exciting. Every day in this fast-paced environment presents a different challenge and if you work smart and are the best at what you do, your time here will produce endless possibilities for your future.

You will get our support in developing your skills at every step of your career journey with us. Your manager will help you create a tailored career path and through our in-house experts, and online performance management and learning and development tool, you will have access to a wide range of internal and external courses. In addition to this there are always plenty of internal sessions on the latest developments in the industry, e-learning courses, bite-size learning sessions and on the job training and development.

We aim to provide all of our people with a supportive and fun work environment where you can develop your full potential and benefit from the broad range of opportunities within the agency both in the UK and globally.

When you join us, we want to make sure you feel valued – and that you are rewarded for your fantastic work. So we also offer a range of benefits:

• Unlimited annual leave. In addition, the office usually closes between Christmas & New Year
• Income Protection (after 2 years’ service)
• Assurance
• Medical Insurance or Health Cash Plan (dependent on level)
• Personal Pension Plan with matched contributions from 3-6%
• Hours (Mon-Thurs, flexible start/finish times)
• finish Fridays
• Maternity & Paternity Pay
• programme, including subsidised monthly massages
• time off for Volunteering
• mortgage advice
• education
• Assistance Programme
• free season ticket loan
• breakfast
• Café
• eye tests
• Bar Night
• discounts
• benefits including Dental, Travel insurance, Ride2Work, GymFlex and many more

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