Planning Manager

Description

Position at EssenceMediacom

Account Manager , E ssenceMediacom – Worldwide, London

EssenceMediacom is GroupM’s newest and largest agency, committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs for brands. It has disrupted the old models across media, creative, innovation and analytics to find new opportunities for advertisers and deliver truly integrated media solutions.

Born out of two pioneering agencies, EssenceMediacom fuses Essence’s performance, data, analytics, and creative technology DNA with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise.

As part of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group, and GroupM, WPP’s consolidated media investment management arm, we have access to the richest data, most robust benchmarks, and most advanced capabilities in the market. This helps us provide comprehensive solutions to all marketing challenges.

Our ‘breakthrough’ ambition is underpinned by our commitment to ‘continuous learning.’ We aim to ensure our people fulfil their potential by investing in their whole-person wellbeing, careers, and capabilities, which in turn helps grow our clients’ businesses.

EssenceMediacom , with 10,000 people across 120 offices in 96 markets, is one of the world’s leading communications specialists, with billings of more than US$21 billion (Source: COMvergence , 2021). Its global client roster includes adidas, Coca-Cola (TCCC), Dell, Google, Mars, NBC Universal, Richemont, and Bayer.

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Reports to: Account Manager

The role

This role will be working on NBCUniversal Home Entertainment and Consumer Products division, within the Account Planning team. As part of the role, you’ll be working on some exciting upcoming movie releases including – Jurassic World Rebirth, Downton Abbey 3 and Wicked: For Good.

The NBCUniversal International team is responsible for strategy, planning, market coordination, insight, and pan-regional buying for Home Entertainment delivering campaigns across 15+ markets in LATAM, EMEA and APAC. For consumer products, the team is responsible for tactical planning and buying of offline media channels across EMEA.

The account manager will be responsible for managing planning and response to briefs across a range of movie titles, working with digital, biddable and local teams to prepare and develop integrated plans for home entertainment campaigns. 

We expect the candidate to have planning experience, ideally across both digital and offline. The candidate will need to demonstrate strategic thinking and the capability to analyse and interpret data from reporting tools. The candidate should be motivated by creating smart and forward-thinking connected digital communications plans to help solve problems.

This is a key client facing position that requires building strong relationships and communication skills as well as an excellent organised approach and strong attention to detail. The successful individual will be expected to manage a direct report as well as working seamlessly with cross-functional teams, to promote harmony across the account.

3 best things about the role

1. The People. There is an inclusive and supportive team culture. The relationship with the client is productive, transparent and collaborative.
2. Entertainment marketing. This is a fast-paced category with diverse planning needs due to an exciting range of movie releases & wide ranging market landscapes.
3. Building up Strategic Planning. Supporting the Business Directors on strategic projects and developing rationales for media plans to then help present directly to clients.

Accountabilities

Client Service

• Client servicing & network management - Be in regular contact with clients and local agency teams.
• Manage the end-to-end planning cycle through coordination of teams and key deliverables, identifying ongoing opportunities to optimise the process.
• Bring new thinking, insight and ideas into the account team through new processes, media owners and opportunities to grow the client relationship.
• Share and seek to re-apply work and best-practices across Universal and the wider agency.

Strategy & Research

• Support the Business Directors to deliver strategic planning using relevant tools and insights to deliver integrated solutions that address Universal’s business goals
• Support the creation of rationales for media plans working with the whole team to ensure that all channels are aligned to audience definitions, campaign objectives and overarching strategy
• Run consumer research using key audience insight tools – TGI, YouGov, Telmar and Audience Origins.
• Competitive spend & Creative reporting on key releases to provide competitor insights.

Planning & Buying

• Maintain a holistic view of global planning to support and help elevate planning responses.
• Coordinate planning work with the digital teams to deliver connected campaigns, ensuring that planning budgets from biddable, digital and local teams are correctly tracked.
• Planning and buying offline media channels – Addressable TV, Cinema, Audio etc
• Regularly meet with vendors to understand the media channel offerings and benefits.

Management

• Team management – direct management & development of Media Planner
• Responsible for objectives setting, training and development of the Media Planner and holding regular meetings with planner to discuss feedback, progress, provide any further on-the-job training.

Finance

• Finance campaign management including managing Purchase Order loading and ensuring that spends are reconciled on time for billing.
• Oversee all the finance queries for offline media.
• Be the main point of contact to guide the planner to deliver monthly finance reconciliations.
• Annual, periodic and ad-hoc financial reporting.

What you will need

• Have a genuine enthusiasm for film and entertainment
• Proven experience working across all media channels, preferably on a multi-market basis.
• Strong understanding of media planning theory, consumer media behaviours and landscapes.
• Experience of managing media budgets and finance.
• Strong analytical thinker, with strategic skills.
• Excellent project management skills – able to prioritise workload and workstreams based on wider priorities. 
• Good communication skills – ability to persuade multiple stakeholders.
• A driven and positive attitude and willingness to develop talent.
• True team player who enjoys building relationships with clients and colleagues around the world.
• Experience with key planning and insight tools (TGI, Comscore , Addynamix , YouGov etc.).
• Excellent attention to detail and an ability to interrogate data.

Key Experience

• Film or Entertainment experience is a big plus
• Experience managing senior stakeholders & complex client organisations
• Media planning & comms planning experience

About GroupM

GroupM is the leading global media investment management operation serving as the parent company to WPP media agencies including Mindshare, Wavemaker, EssenceMediaCom, and each global operations in their own right with leading market positions. GroupM’s primary purpose is to maximize performance of WPP’s media agencies by operating as leader and collaborator in trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. GroupM’s focus is to deliver unrivalled marketplace advantage to its clients, stakeholders and people.

GroupM and all its affiliates embrace and celebrate diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are a worldwide media agency network that represents global clients. The more inclusive we are, the more great work we can create together.