Strategic Brand Planning Director

General Mills

Food. Purpose. You.

We serve the world by making food people love. As one of the world’s leading food companies, General Mills believes that food should make us better. Food brings us joy and nourishes our lives, connecting us to each other and the earth. General Mills operates in more than 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Annie’s, Lara Bar, Yoplait and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, General Mills had global net sales of US $17.6 billion during fiscal 2015.

We seek out the best talent, and then give them development resources, support and the chance to lead something big. Choosing a career with General Mills means joining a company where you can make a difference in the lives of millions of people. There is tremendous opportunity here for individuals who want to advance food through innovation and serve the world.

EOE/Minorities/Females/Vets/Disabilities.

https://www.generalmills.com


Position Details

Strategic Brand Planning Director
Job
Full-time
6/20/2017
Twin Cities Metro
Minneapolis, MN

The Strategic Brand Planning Director will design, implement and champion General Mills’ multifaceted marketing communications strategy.

This driven leader will be a skilled primary relationship-builder with deep credentials. With a keen focus on “who” we’re talking to and “what” we’re saying, this role will lead the efforts to listen, understand and anticipate consumer needs while navigating communications landscape. Figuring out who the growth target is and what messages would be most relevant to the consumer will be at the forefront of these efforts.

We need someone who can effectively drive the kind of marketing communications and strategic thinking that will grow General Mills’ brands. This person will never cease to find new ideas and opportunities to strengthen and expand our ability to connect with consumers. As a key collaborator, this person knows how to unite and motivate various agency partners and internal stakeholders toward a common goal.

Set and drive the vision for communications strategic planning and build strat planning capability for General Mills North America Region

Work closely with internal consumer & marketplace insights to understand the evolving competitive landscape.

Ensure that General Mills articulates its brand foundations to best resonate with consumer behavior and need states

Foster collaboration between Consumer Insights, Creative, and Media agencies to inspire and guide creative content in consumer first orientation

Filter all of the inputs, ideas and needs into clear brand strategies that will lead to growth

Collaborate to build strong, differentiated brand purpose and identity with brand owners as well as key internal and external stakeholders on key projects

Lead a team of Strategy Managers to guide the Marketing team in:

  • Finding the business, brand, communications and audience insights that will lead to business growth 
  • Defining and sizing the key target audiences
  • Writing creative briefs that inspire and drive great work
  • Being the voice of the strategy in creative development and refinement
  • Evaluating and measuring ideas in market for optimization

Advocate for the voice of the consumer throughout the connections planning process

Lead audience definition – partner with Brand, Consumer Insights, and Media teams to translate consumers into growth, creative, and media targets.

Map consumer journey to understand where they are and when they are most receptive to messages

Influence communication strategy to amplify impact of communications by intercepting them at the right points in their journey

Partner with Consumer Insights to learn and experiment around communications

Drive a culture of experimentation that puts General Mills on the forefront of brand building

Serve as an influential and inspiring leader and teacher to the organization

15+ years of marketing, business strategy, (13 years with Masters)

People management experience

10+ years experience with communications strategy

5+ years experience in a Strategist related work, preferably in a Creative Agency

5+ years experience in Consumer research

Expertise in market research, competitive intelligence, scenario planning, information and data management, quantitative analysis, forecasting and building sales/financial/deal models

Significant cross-functional leadership capabilities in a matrix organization with ability to lead, collaborate various stakeholders (functions, regions, country/clusters) and influence without authority.

Proven success in driving for results, taking ownership with entrepreneurial spirit to get things done

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, in addition to excellent interpersonal and presentation skills, including significant experience presenting complex business cases to senior cross-functional audiences and executive committees, a must

Experience and skilled at framing and guiding strategic problem solving to inform decision-making, leveraging hypotheses generations, secondary data analyses and other analytical tools.

Able to apply these approaches to solving complex and ambiguous problems

Deep CPG business and marketing communications experience

Developer of people, direct management experience

Agency and client side experience preferred



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