Associate Director, Strategy
Description
About WPP Media
WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.
WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com
About EssenceMediacom: A Leading WPP Media Brand
EssenceMediacom is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data & technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve.
Role Summary and Impact
3 Best Things about the Role:
- Create the New: This job is about driving improvement and innovation through solid strategic thinking, and you will play a key role in developing media industry and FMCG category ‘firsts’
- Culture of Collaboration: You will have the opportunity to work with diverse, best-in-class experts across EssenceMediacom and WPP who enjoy working together and learning from one another
- Visibility and Mentorship: In a key role on a major client, you will directly interact with senior clients as well as agency leaders who will offer hands-on guidance to further your career development
Measures of Success:
- Stakeholder satisfaction (quality of strategic thinking)
- Growth mindset (learning agility)
- Make it happen (successful activations)
- Industry recognition (award wins, PR coverage)
Responsibilities of The Role:
- Analyze consumer panel and platform data, industry reports and social listening trends to generate compelling insights as the basis for communications strategies
- Develop strategic direction for campaigns and work with the planning team to land campaign strategy to distinctive and compelling media activation ideas
- Establish KPIs and measurement approach based on campaign objectives
- Keep up-to-date with media trends and platform innovations, create and present market landscapes on an ad-hoc basis
- Propose, manage and deliver thought leadership projects
- Develop and facilitate workshops, both internal & with clients
- Craft award entries for major global, regional and local awards
What We Expect:
In Three Months:
- Learned how to effectively use various data and insights tools
- Understood the client’s business, terminology, structure
- Understood the roles and responsibilities of different members of the agency team
- Started to establish relationships with internal and client stakeholders
- Built a solid, up to date understanding of the diverse media landscape in China
In Six Months:
- Met with all your clients and established yourself as a strategy expert
- Become a trusted partner to your seniors and your peers
- Developed an effective pattern of collaboration with other team members
- Independently delivered and sold in campaign strategy for multiple campaigns
In 12 Months:
- Delivered annual strategy for multiple brands
- Contributed to award-worthy campaigns that are recognized as ‘best-in-class’ by the industry
- Identified at least one area of thought leadership and created provocative content to build EssenceMediacom’s reputation with clients and to drive the client’s business forward
- Consistently act as a role model to other team members
Skills and Experience
At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:
- Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
- Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
- Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.
What You Will Need:
- Mindset is crucial to success in this role. We’re looking for an open-minded, ambitious individual with a ‘can-do’ attitude and a strong sense of ownership. You will have a desire not just to develop great strategic thinking, but also to help our planners turn it into award-winning executions across any channel.
- You’ll have solid strategic and problem-solving capabilities and will be comfortable with analyzing and synthesizing different types of data to develop insights and implications. You will have the ability to fuse qualitative and quantitative thinking, simplifying complexity to storytell clear solutions.
- You’ll have a strong grasp of how media works. This means you may work in a strategy role at another media agency or you may be a strategist at another type of agency with experience in connections planning.
- You will excel at influencing stakeholders and enjoy collaborating with cross-functional experts in a matrix environment.
- You must have excellent communication skills – fluent written and spoken English and Chinese are a must – as you will be working closely with foreign and Chinese clients as well as local media partners.
Life at WPP Media & Benefits
Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events.
WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.
Please read our Privacy Notice (https://www.wppmedia.com/pages/privacy-policy) for more information on how we process the information you provide.
While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.