Marketing Manager, Maru-Hi

What makes this a great opportunity?

Join a team working to create the next big thing in beer in the US as the Marketing Manager for Maru-Hi at Suntory RTD co., North America! Suntory is one of the world’s largest spirit companies, as well as one of the largest beer and RTD manufacturers in Asia. We have big ambitions in the US and are looking for a stand-out marketing manager to help build a world-class organization and become a major player in the US beer/ FMB market.
Reporting to the Director of Marketing, the Marketing Manger will take day-to-day lead on BTL and trade marketing activities, including experiential programs activations. The marketing manager’s remit can be summed up as “deliver stand out, impossible-to-forget brand experiences across all BTL touchpoints.”
The ideal candidate has a passion for marketing and understanding consumers. They are always curious about what’s next in culture, how consumer behavior is changing and adapting, and passionate about finding ways to connect our brand(s) to both.
The ideal candidate is also a self-starter and are comfortable working with all kinds of stakeholders and projects, moving from a board room presentation one hour, to an agency feedback call the next, to a distributor ride along later on. 
What makes this a great opportunity?
•    Organizational Impact: Lead the development and deployment of National Commercial marketing programs and assets that will drive the business on Maru-hi and other Suntory malt brands.
•    Financial Impact: Serve as the catalyst to understand what works and what doesn’t, and drive scale in key programs / assets across the U.S. marketing organization by key brand category, making a substantial impact on BI efficiency.  
•    National Purview: Work cross-functionally with stakeholders at Suntory Holdings, Suntory RTD co leadership, and Regional field teams to develop strong programming backed by data & insight. 
•    Strategy Development: Develop commercially viable strategic BTL programs for on and off premise that drive growth. Lead commercial tool development that is strategically sound & improves our marketing execution. 
•    Complex Problem-Solving:  Evolve and prioritize Marketing Program and Asset development while further influencing improvement and change in the Suntory organization. 
•    Leadership Exposure:  Regular communication with, and presentation to Senior leadership at Suntory RTD Co North America and Suntory Holdings
•    Stakeholder Management: Positioned to influence and interact closely with key business functions providing clear visibility to how broader groups need to work together effectively on key brand categories. 

Role Responsibilities

•    Marketing Asset Development for Maru-Hi across all channels of trade in the US Market.  This is inclusive of the following:  On/Off Premise POS, Promotional programming, experiential and sponsorship activation, eCommerce Digital assets, Print assets, Sampling, activation guides, & Sell sheets. 
•    Own Merchandising and Display Standards for key programs.  
•    Develop and deploy Program Selling Tools (i.e. Program Sell Sheets/ best practices and standards guidelines) to aid in key customer sell-in by our commercial sales team.  
•    Develop and own content for US Brand Toolkits to aid in communicating our brand experience plans to our commercial sales teams, distributor partners and customers.  
•    Ensure linkage of Marketing plans to Commercial Sales programs (incentive programs, KPIs, etc.)
•    Manage multiple agencies and vendor partners to develop and execute programs and assets, including sweeps, rebates/ pricing, BTL, and experiential.
•    Budget management- own and track marketing spend across brand activations.
•    Work collaboratively with Suntory RTD North America sales reps and leaders to build best-in-class trade programming that drive business results.  

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in Marketing, preferably with Brand, Regional and Commercial Sales connectivity 
• Bachelor’s degree preferred 
• Industry experience in CPG or AlcBev preferred 
• Understanding of social networking/media technologies and their application to marketing highly desirable
• Experience working closely with or within the Sales function

• Experience working with and activating major sports leagues, teams or other high-profile partners in the sports, music and/or entertainment landscape.

• Tech-proficient with strong working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other digital tools 
• Works well in a fast-paced, action-oriented environment
• Strong written and oral communications skills
• Demonstrated ability to make critical decisions and problem solve
• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Strong negotiation and persuasion skills
• Proven track record of: 
• Ability to develop marketing programs and assets 
• Flexing analytical and strategic mindset to think about the marketing planning process and ways-of-working in both the near- and longer-term 
• Attention to detail with process and team development 
• Brand Investment management 
• Agency management 

Location: Chicago, IL, Los Angeles or San Francisco, CA, New York, NY, Miami or Tampa area, FL)

Salary Range - The salary range for this role, based in the above locations  is $110k-125k, along with an annual bonus, 401K match, profit sharing, and medical and wellness benefits. The salary range is commensurate with the candidate’s location, experience, and skillset. The range will vary if outside of this location.