Description

Role: Account Director                              Department/Team: Connections Planning     

Role Objective

We are recruiting for an Account Director who is an exceptional and driven media planner, to join our Connections Planning team.

You will be working on M&S Foods, Elite Sports Nutrition and Brita. The Planning AD works alongside a broader team at Mindshare including Client Leadership, Strategy, Insights, Partnerships & Buying. Enabling the delivery of best-in-class, award worthy, full funnel campaigns for our clients.

M&S is one of the most iconic British brands on the high street. This role is specifically for the Foods division. With a heritage spanning 139 years, producing renowned campaigns “This is not just” to Percy Pig there is a wealth of exciting opportunities to be involved in on this account. We have an exceptionally strong relationship with the clients and the business is growing, re-entering the FTSE100 recently. As the AD you play a pivotal role within the core M&S planning team. Shaping their annual media approach with data and insight at the heart to develop the strategic thinking, informing your day-to-day campaign planning. As a retail brand this a fast-paced account where you will need to be agile yet assertive. The account spans the full funnel from big brand campaigns through to footfall driving/app downloads. M&S are entering an exciting new phase of digital transformation, meaning we have a lot of opportunity to refresh the way we approach our planning with data at the heart and the opportunity to deliver fresh ideas to push boundaries.

ESN is a new DTC client to Mindshare. Your responsibility will be in creating and deploying their go-to market strategy across the UK and NL. An inherently performance-based brand you will be tasked in using branding to increase their online sales. This account offers opportunities in digital skill development, measurement and test and learn protocols.

Brita is a long-standing client with the agency where collaboration is central. You will have direct relationships with senior clients helping shape and navigate their brand and performance media. The account offers the opportunity to build internal and external agency relationships as we work closely with their creative and PR teams. 

About the role

You will be expected to demonstrate experience and knowledge in:

• Knowing the tools and means to build and target audiences in addressable and non-addressable media to validate the media approach ensuring that the defined audience can be reached at the scale required
• Designing an approach that outlines how and where we will connect with defined audiences – especially hard to reach / low media engagement audiences – in media for brand and performance campaigns
• Connecting the dots between the data we, the client, media owners and other internal teams hold to plan most effectively
• Designing the connections ecosystem & plan, working closely and collaboratively with channel specialists and wider agency teams from a paid, owned and earned perspective
• Day to day management of campaigns and annual planning as a key liaison between clients and channel specialists
• Designing measurement & testing framework to inform as well as measure and optimise the campaigns when live
• Management of your planning team to develop their skills. 

About you

• You show a breadth of understanding of all media channels and can confidently discuss the role they play within a comms strategy, be they offline or online channels
• Have an interest in both brand and performance campaigns
• You are a tool ‘wizard’...well not quite but excellent knowledge of audience research and planning tools (e.g. TGI & Touchpoints) is a must and awareness of / familiarity with alternative sources (such as media owner tools & data) is a plus
• Ability to draw clear insights and implications for media (i.e. connecting the outputs of different insight systems successfully)
• Demonstrate a passion for media and understanding of what makes a great media campaign, tangibly showcasing excellence in planning craft
• Take responsibility for the upfront work that needs to happen in order to deliver a great, clear and concise universal brief to the specialist teams that hits the clients' brief on the head
• You care about proving your campaigns work! How? By being able to create a holistic measurement framework relevant for your brand and applicable to every campaign that is digestible (setting KPI’s methods I.e., which tool/system, necessary tracking) and plan for adaptation/optimisation
• You are confident in presenting with passion and conviction, managing senior client relationships, running all agency team sessions and collaboratively leading client projects and tackling challenging conversations.
• You are excited to work as part of a team; immediate, wider department and specialists as required. Leading by example though presence and contribution. Taking the responsibility for working in a collaborative, inclusive way
• You demonstrate excellent attention to detail and accuracy in output and meeting deadlines. As well as strong organization to meet client expectations, manage workflow for self and junior team members.
• Demonstrate a proactive desire to continually improve own knowledge and wider skill set
• You are open minded, flexible and have a challenger mindset.

What we can offer you

• A strong salary commensurate and in-line with relevant experience
• 25 days annual leave and your birthday day off
• Ongoing internal and external training opportunities
• Flexible working
• The opportunity to attend industry conferences and awards nights
• Career and personal progression
• Private Healthcare
• Excellent pension matching structure

About Mindshare

Mindshare is a leading global marketing and media services network with billings in excess of £23billion worldwide. We work with some of the most famous businesses and brands in the UK – such as Unilever, Ford, KFC, Volvo, Marks & Spencer and TK Maxx. The Mindshare network consists of 116 offices across 86 countries throughout the USA, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific; each dedicated to forging competitive marketing advantage for businesses and their brands.

Our approach

Our ambition is to drive Good Growth for our clients.

Good Growth is about delivering growth that is enduring and is considerate of people and planet. Media is a powerful force, and we need to be mindful of the responsibility that it brings. We help our clients make better decisions by ensuring we use media in a trusted, inclusive and sustainable way. We recognise that in order to drive Good Growth, we need to place people at the heart of everything we do. Understanding people, not demographics allows us to place media meaningfully into their lives.

Good Growth is a big ambition – one which inspires change for the industry but also for our agency and we achieve this through our values of Energy, Empathy and Impact.

Working for Mindshare

Our brilliant people allow us to deliver our ambition. We invest heavily in their development to ensure they are progressing and thriving wherever they work in our business. We also think inspiration for our staff is key and our pinnacle and flagship event of the year, Huddle, connects people, opinions and perspectives across borders and is all about learning something new and participating.

Committed to Diversity & Inclusion

We have a big dream at Mindshare, to become the most inclusive place to work in the country! This will take time but the whole agency is passionate about making it a reality. To support this, we currently have 8 Employee Resource Groups available for our people to join and be a part of including, Roots, PrideM, Women in Business, Enable, Declassify, 0Borders, ADAM and Working Parents. These groups hold the agency to account for making progress and, along with our Mental Health Allies, design and lead events and initiatives that help us create a welcoming environment to all and a place where everyone can be their most confident self.