Senior Brand Manager
Senior Brand Manager or Brand Manager
Who We Are:
At JonnyPops, our team is empowered to make an impact at work every day from producing high-quality, innovative frozen novelties to spreading kindness one pop at a time. We look for bright and ambitious individuals who seek out challenges, thrive in fast-paced and high-growth environments, align with our core values, and get fulfilment from seeing their work transform the world around them.
Based in Elk River, MN, JonnyPops develops, manufactures, distributes, and markets frozen novelties. Retailers from coast to coast including Target, Costco, Walmart, Publix, Kroger, Cub, along with thousands of regional and local grocers make JonnyPops part of their assortment.
Growing from a dorm room start-up in 2012, JonnyPop’ mission is to make "A Better Pop for a Better World!" JonnyPops leads the frozen novelties space in innovation and uses simple ingredients with no artificial dyes. Every pop stick includes a kind deed, spreading kindness every day.
Joining JonnyPops is an exciting opportunity to be part of high-growth brand and have a direct impact on the company’s success. Join our team and help us make “A Better Pop, for a Better World!”
What You Will Do:
The Senior Brand Manager will play a leadership role on the Marketing team, driving product management and brand-building for JonnyPops. This role is an exciting opportunity to join a high-growth CPG brand with unparalleled focus on innovation and quality.
This role will use consumer, category and competitive insights, and strong analysis to position JonnyPops products and create a sustained competitive advantage. The Senior Brand Manager is responsible for brand health and brand consistency, building JonnyPops into a national, household name. This must translate insights into action, developing National and key retailer marketing plans to increase market share, sales, and velocities.
The Senior Brand Manager will be part of the Brand and Product Marketing team, coaching and partnering with team members responsible for various segments, markets, and marketing channel initiatives within the business. The role will own several key segments of their own.
The position requires a high-level of organization, growth mindset, deep understanding of consumer insights, and ability to motivate teams through ambiguous situations. The ideal candidate is strong at building relationships, hungry to take on new challenges, and balances creative vision and analytical thinking. JonnyPops is rapidly growing, and successful candidates enjoy a fast-paced environment with an ability to make an impact each and every day!
Responsibilities:
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Brand Management: Be the brand champion, elevating consistency, and brand creative direction, and bringing a customer-first mindset to every point in the work.
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Maintain a deep understanding of the category, competitive landscape, and consumer dynamic through analysis and consumer learning agendas.
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Communicate and educate cross-functional teams (sales, R&D, leadership) on trends and be the voice of the customer in key decision-making.
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Own creative vision, branded templates, and police brand usage across organization.
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Monitor and report on brand health metrics and brand positioning in the market.
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Oversee creative agency, contractors, and/or internal creatives.
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Approve final marketing communications, creative, and content.
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Marketing Leadership: Lead with a growth mindset, fueling team and financial growth.
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Oversee Brand and Product Marketing team members, aligning brand marketing across all segments and markets.
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Build strong cross-functional relationships to motivate and lead teams through ambiguity and obstacles to successfully deliver projects.
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Execute monthly budgeting, forecasting, and oversee performance reporting.
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Make an impact every day with values-aligned actions.
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Key Retailer Strategies: Develop impact-driving marketing plans for Key Retailers and national campaigns:
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Own master ‘sales and marketing stories’ and why to buy JonnyPops within key segments and markets.
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Develop differentiated, breakthrough marketing plans that build brand awareness and bolster product velocities, in collaboration with all internal marketing leads.
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Oversee and coach omnichannel marketing strategies executed by internal marketing leads and manage performance plans across top key retailers.
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Product Commercialization: Guide commercialization projects, including product renovation, product extension, and commercializing new innovation.
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Leverage strong understanding of consumer, competitor, and customer dynamics to develop Marketing stories, positioning to win, packaging graphics, and product launch materials.
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Effectively influence and facilitate alignment among key cross-functional and leadership stakeholders (C-Suite, R&D, NPD) to advance commercialization projects and initiatives on time.
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Monitor products against performance KPIs and flag opportunities.
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Track product changes and communicate to cross-functional teams when impacted.
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Execute market validation and consumer acceptance of products.
Position Requirements – Less experience/education requirements will be considered for the right candidate.
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5-7 years of experience in a Brand Marketing position is required, with a preference to experience in the food and beverage consumer packaged goods (CPG) or natural food industries.
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A Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or related field is required, and a MBA degree is preferred. Years of experience in lieu of Master’s degree highly considered.
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2-3 years of proven experience as a creative director or similar creative role developing creative vision and overseeing creative execution. Hands-on experience in creative process, graphic design, and brand development.
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Experience elevating brand consistency through brand definition, tool/template creation, and creative oversight and/or execution.
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Experience in high-growth, entrepreneurial environment.
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Experience developing cross-channel, holistic marketing campaigns that build awareness and drive in-market performance.
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Experience building holistic customer plans including category growth strategies, sell stories, promotion, merchandising, and shopper/omnichannel marketing.
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Experience leading complex, cross-functional innovation and commercialization projects.
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Excellent working knowledge of software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign etc.
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Monthly required in-person at Elk River office location, weekly preferred.
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Willingness to travel up to ~20% of time.
Candidate Skillset:
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Proven track record of developing a clear creative vision and directing creative execution to support the vision is required.
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High level of curiosity.
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Ability to lead with confidence, gain consensus and influence amongst cross-functional peers, and facilitate critical thinking and problem-solving.
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Naturally curious, with an appreciation for ambiguity and the ability to embrace the “test and learn” mentality in pursuit of continuous improvement.
