Associate Director, Strategy

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships - all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open - we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com.

Overview of job

We are currently looking for an Associate Director - Strategy to join us in Bangalore office. In this role, you will be responsible for crafting the digital narrative for brands on scaled digital platforms, leading to successful brand outcomes

Reporting of the role

This role reports to: Associate Vice President Strategy.

3 best things about the job:

• You will be responsible for building India -centric cultural and audience understanding relevant for the brand through superior storytelling, leveraging local insights, trends & socio-economic shifts
• This would help unlock category, consumer cultural, competition and shopping insights that lead to improved media recommendations for existing clients
• Lead strategic conversations with senior clients on identifying growth levers - new audiences, platforms and media models to drive brand metrics

In this role, your goals will be:

In three months:

• Get deep understanding of the category, consumer and competition approach for your set of brands
• Present deep dive on audience behaviours, attitudes, emerging trends relevant to be addressed in marketing - both qualitative and quantitative
• Start engaging directly with the client on key projects
• Work with the media team in landing the implications of the insights on media recommendations

In six months:

• Regular engagement with client with a cadence on strategy
• Working on identified large strategy project along with account team, based on business challenge
• Work with cross-functional teams as the strategy expert guiding content, influencer and other brand activations

In 12 months:

• Delivering Breakthrough work by new thinking around audiences, consumer journeys, platforms that influence brand goals
• Bringing cross-category learnings together to set up client strategy workshops, setting up partner days, and regular reviews with clients
• Involved in central strategy projects that deliver thought leadership with articles and whitepapers

What your day job looks like at WPP Media:

• Research, research, research! - Build a strong foundation that elevates discussions with senior clients
• Crafting narratives that address the business/brand problem statement with strong insights
• Working with cross-functional teams including content, media planners to land the implications of these insights into action plans
• Strong overview and custodian of the account’s strategic direction, business challenges and emerging opportunities

What you’ll bring:

• Extremely well-read, well informed about marketing trends especially in the travel sector, having a strong POV on culture, audiences, localized insights, brand building and emerging role of technology in marketing
• Extreme curiosity - investigating the why of something, being able to draw patterns and learnings from multiple industries and adjacencies
• Excellent presentation and storytelling skills -Independently building a client-centric perspective, ability to confidently present to senior management, make executive level visually stunning presentations
• Familiarity with digital marketing principles including OTTs, Video, Social and KOLs
• Must be able to articulate consumer journey, key touchpoints/platforms and brand behavior on platforms needed for brand growth
• Optimistic and collaborative - Being able to successfully work across functions, disciplines while being seen as a valuable contributor and enabler

Minimum qualifications:

• 8+ years with a blend of account planning and media agency exposure
• MBA++ with marketing specialization
• Preference for working on global brands in senior roles presenting to top management
• Must understand fundamentals of digital marketing including Google, Meta certifications.

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. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days. 

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to 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.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process. 

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