About EssenceMediacomX

EssenceMediacomX, part of GroupM, is a global data and measurement-driven agency whose mission is to make advertising more valuable to the world. After merging in 2023 EssenceMediacom fuses Essence’s performance, data, analytics and creative technology DNA with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.

This role sits in our EssenceMediacomX building on Oxford Street alongside clients including Google, ITV, Airbnb and L’Oreal.

The Role

In this role you will work across the BT Consumer account, focusing on brand activity across a variety of products including Broadband, TV and mobile. 

Position/Title: Business Director - Brand

We’re looking for a highly experienced, clever planner who loves both new ideas and the craft.  EE/BT is one of the biggest advertisers in the UK, so our benchmark is not work that’s merely good enough - it has to be great.

Practice Summary:

As planners we’re the conductors of the orchestra that is paid [and beyond] media.  We sit at the centre and make sure everything is working together perfectly.  We search for insight and intelligence so that we can build innovative media plans, owning the process and incorporating cross-channel budget allocation, in-flight cross-channel optimisation, reporting and post-campaign analysis. We are our clients’ key contacts for a unified view across all aspects of their campaigns.

Position Summary:

The Business Director will oversee media campaigns with support from more junior planners, and assist the Planning Lead in ensuring our work is bleeding-edge quality.

They will demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the overall media landscape and available research, using these to inform and communicate planning recommendations. The Business Director has oversight and responsibility for the day-to-day management of media plans, working to fulfill the client’s media strategy in the context of changing market conditions. They are responsible for ensuring investment is optimal to deliver campaign objectives, via effective planning.

Our clients:

We work across the EE/BT group.  Although their public faces are very different, the two brands are managed very closely together.  They’re one of the nation’s biggest spenders, and some of our most-loved brands.  They are genuinely important to the nation with their creation and management of the UK’s connectivity networks, and we reflect that importance with how we try to help consumers and give them useful solutions in a modern world.

Our team:

Team Connect is a very big team that is 100% allocated to EE, BT and Plusnet.  A successful candidate can expect to work on multiple aspects of these brands.

This includes broadband, mobile, TV [TNT Sport], gaming, devices and brand-centric work such as Hope United and sponsorship activation. 

This particular role is purely Brand-focused, but will entail liaison and collaboration with Performance planners.

At EMX we have separate Planning and Client Service roles.  Both practices have continual client contact, but we are looking for a dedicated planner who loves the technical aspects of the role.  Focus is on the best responses possible.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities:

• Oversee and quality assure all deliverables produced by junior team members.
• Maintain fantastic relationships with key clients in media and marketing teams.
• Ensure the delivery of high quality tactical response presentations, actionable weekly reporting, insightful post campaign analyses and clear briefs to Activation.
• Deliver clear and compelling rationale to support media investment recommendations and to evidence campaign performance versus expected outcomes.
• Take a lead role in client presentations and in briefing Activation teams.
• Work with Activation and Analytics.
• Take responsibility for the performance of assigned media budgets against intended outcomes.
• Be a point of escalation for team issues (within and outside the team).
• Contribute to internal thought leadership and team process/workflow enhancement, increasing work quality, making us more efficient, and increasing Essential satisfaction.
• When required, assist with new client onboarding, working closely with Client Services.
• Identify and build out one case study per quarter suitable for internal sharing.

• Line manage 3-4 direct reports to support career development and Essential satisfaction.

Competencies (specific knowledge, skills and abilities):

• Forecast expected outcomes of brand and performance campaigns and manage spend accordingly.
• Basic spreadsheet capability (VLOOKUP, Pivot Table) are a must,
• Superior presentation design skills, in slides or document format.
• Thorough understanding of industry standard media research tools (Comscore, Touchpoints, TGI, YouGov).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills, close attention to detail and ability to quality control work.
• Ability to adhere to deadlines and project manage multiple campaigns.
• Superb client relationship and management skills.
• Development and maintenance of productive relationships with vendor partners.
• Proven problem solving and decision making skills.
• Ability to work independently and to collaborate in a team environment.
• Skilled in quantitative reasoning.

Management Responsibility

• Motivate a team, leading by example while coaching juniors.
• Provide timely and actionable feedback to aid in team development and improvement.
• Monitor and support Essential satisfaction across client teams, identifying and implementing ways to maintain or increase satisfaction.
• Foster strong working relationships across the client team to facilitate flawless execution of plans.
• Communicate effectively across all levels of the team.
• Understand when to escalate issues to managers.
• Calculate the workload implication of new campaigns and feed in to resource management. 
• Provide awareness and recognition for jobs well done.

Required Education and Experience: 

• At least five years of experience in a pure planning role.

• Demonstrable interest and expertise in planning craft.
• Mastery of basic planning/insight tools such as eTelmar, TGI, YouGov, WARC, etc.
• Strong experience and interest in dedicated planning tools.
• Interest and knowledge of Planning and Media trends and issues.
• Proven experience in media at Senior Manager level.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibility and activities may change at any time with or without notice.