Director of Media

Overview

Director of Media role at Lindt & Sprüngli USA. The Director of Media will leverage world-class media expertise to translate strategic brand priorities into best-in-class media strategy & media plans that drive measurable awareness and demand across Lindt USA. This role partners with the media agency to develop effective and efficient media plans, and supervises optimization of all media campaigns. It uses data, performance analysis, and testing of new media channels and growth tactics, maintaining a test & learn mindset to evolve the media plans over time.

The role contributes to the global Lindt learning agenda, collaborating with international colleagues and spearheading global media tests as appropriate. The Director of Media teaches and trains the internal brand team on media strategies and collects media inputs for annual planning.

• Serve as the primary link between the brand team, international marketing, insights manager, and the media agency for strategic planning, briefing, tactical execution and optimizations of media plans
• Oversee the execution of all paid media by the media agency(s): linear / non-linear TV, OTT, OLV, paid social, and potential future digital channels across all advertised brands
• Lead the annual strategic media planning process, including key briefs, analyses, and presentations, to achieve buy-in from senior leadership
• Source and own the rolling master media plans, updating throughout the year as necessary
• Lead all aspects of media financial investment and oversight: budget planning and invoice reconciliation
• Lead media audit processes - contractual & annual media performance, with support from International and 3rd party auditor
• Lead any contract negotiations and pitches with support from International, Legal, and 3rd party consultants
• Serve as primary collaborator with the Communications/PR teams for paid social campaigns/tests & influencer marketing
• Provide guidance to the brand teams on creative and media asset needs, based on the media plans
• Build strong partnerships with Retail/E-Commerce teams for SEM/SEO and with Wholesale/E-Commerce teams for media support, making actionable recommendations for potential synergies
• Proactively stay current with industry news, consumer trends, and media platforms that can drive media evolution & business performance
• Build understanding of Lindt brand equity and sub-brand equities; ensure media channels align to Lindt equity and brand positioning
• Demonstrate media expertise and navigate complex issues with a strong understanding of brand strategy and best-in-class media practices

• Continuously identify opportunities to improve effectiveness and efficiency of media strategy and plans
• Define and establish a multi-year Lindt USA media learning agenda
• Contribute to, learn from, and spearhead tests within the global digital and media learning agenda
• Evolve global media principles to reflect the changing media landscape
• Lead mid-year and annual reviews with the media agency to build competitive landscape knowledge and identify areas for improvement

• Lead review of agency-developed campaign performance analyses with data-driven insights on plan effectiveness, cost analysis and optimization
• Provide consistent media campaign/channel performance readouts and recommendations to business stakeholders
• Develop KPI dashboards for annual plans and campaigns to track performance over time
• Establish and share media best practices and benchmarks; highlight opportunities to test, learn and optimize based on consumer insights and new channels

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Minimum of 10+ years US integrated media (traditional linear TV + digital) planning experience or equivalent in a Brand Marketing role with significant (7+ years) media oversight
• Experience with FMCG brands; experience with international organizations is a plus
• Ability to operate in a dynamic, fast-paced, deadline-driven environment
• Track record of success in a KPI-driven environment
• Media financial stewardship and oversight

• Media agency experience