Strategist

WHO WE ARE

We are IPG Mediabrands, a CLIENT-FIRST, CONSULTING-LED, COMMUNITY-DRIVEN group of 18,000 media and marketing specialists in over 130 countries on a mission to ensure our clients win in the marketplace. In 2007, Mediabrands or MB was born in the global arena under the parent company InterPublic Group (NYSE: IPG) which is currently headquartered in New York City, USA.

Through our portfolio of brands, and culture of collaboration, we offer the media and marketing capabilities it takes to invest smarter and grow our client's businesses now and in the future. Through our diverse community of people and leaders, we offer teams of experts who thrive in a culture of excellence and equity. Through our commitment to brand values and media responsibility, we offer leadership to help our clients always act in the best interests of the communities they serve.

In the Philippines, IPG Mediabrands was founded in 2015 by the late and beloved Venus Reyes-Navalta and is registered in SEC as IPG Mediabrands Philippines, Inc. We are structured in the country as an umbrella company of a number of brands or business units such as UM (media agency), Initiative (media agency), Magna, Orion, MediaBrands Content Studio (MBCS) plus our now affiliates Kinesso, Reprise (performance marketing) and Matterkind (programmatic / addressable media) which unified into one business unit still called Kinesso that incorporated its own company in 2021 to form Kinesso Philippines, Inc.

We are looking for a STRATEGIST who can join our INITIATIVE (media agency) team:

ABOUT THE TEAM

INITIATIVE is different to other media agencies.

We are not trapped by a legacy structure primarily centered on paid advertising. Instead, we are liberated by a new world structure designed to deliver highly differentiated and highly effective communications strategies for our clients. Our new world model is comprised of 4 central craft centers or pillars 1) Client Advice & Management, 2) Strategy, 3) Communications Design and 4) Partnerships.

There are 4 central behaviors that bind all INITIATIVE employees together. These behaviors are always encouraged and rewarded by the agency. We are:

Fearless in our approach.

Be fearless. Push back on clients when appropriate. Have the courage to take bold ideas to the table. If you believe in something don't take no for an answer. Remember, fortune really does favor the brave.

Brilliant in our work.

Everything you do for the agency and our clients must be of the highest standard. Good enough is not good enough. Be obsessed about producing brilliant work. Every day. Every time. No exceptions.

Dynamic in our design.

Be dynamic and agile. Design these things into your plans for clients. Remember we must keep pace with technology and consumers. Don't be afraid of change, run towards it.

Seamless in our execution.

We sell solutions not services. Always stitch together the various services of Initiative and IPG Mediabrands in a way that is seamless for clients. We operate as one united IPG Mediabrands and never in siloes. We will not tolerate turf wars across business units and expect you to play nicely in the sandpit as you collaborate with others.

THE STRATEGIST ROLE

ROLE OVERVIEW: STRATEGIST

The Strategist develops strategic recommendations that address client communication challenges. Working across various accounts, you'll craft effective, innovative, and award-worthy communication strategies with the Strategy Unit. You'll analyze cultural, consumer, and market insights to design holistic plans that drive business results. Reporting to the Strategy Director, you'll support and co-create strategic responses while managing parts of the process independently. Success in this role requires curiosity, creativity, initiative, and strong presentation skills.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Client

• Demonstrate understanding of the clients key business and challenges
• Be considered a valuable contributor during client meetings, providing, for example, research &/or understanding of key consumer behaviors & motivations/mindsets
• Arm the client team with knowledge & expertise to speak confidently about the strategic direction (e.g. new audience definition) where required
• Identify the need to customize a tool/product for clients business and execute in conjunction with the Analytics team
• Write & publish a compelling POV on a strategic topic important to client business, noting how that thinking will strengthen their brand going forwards
• Measurable client & strategy business KPIs

Internal

• Demonstrate a good understanding of consumers & their behaviors
• Use qualitative and quantitative cultural tool research to develop applicable insights into the consumer connection with the brand
• Clearly demonstrate how the research insights deliver on the business need and focus on results and measurement
• Be a Velocity Planning Expert & champion its usage (in particular, direct application of the Cultural Analytics tools) amongst the team and client base
• Develop initial strategic directional thinking, focusing on the platform & communications architecture thinking (demonstrating truly integrated, cross-channel ideas/insights across new channels)
• Identify an opportunity/need to bring in diversified (SBU) services & incorporate into a broader strategic solution
• Use complex data/information to translate complex concepts into simple, powerful narratives (+ present key strategic implications/recommendations to the team/client)
• Create and lead internal strategy ideation workshops (demonstrating understanding the real business challenge, audience/targeting, insight generation, and innovation)
• Create and lead internal training sessions on core tools/processes, educating other disciplines (e.g. CD or Partnerships) in the adoption of insights, implications, and targeting
• Write an awards submission & enter work into a competition

Commercial

• Contribute to Agency & Client revenue opportunities through Strategic output

Prioritization:

• 20% Client
• 75% Internal
• 5% Commercial

Key Performance Indicators (KPI's):

• Client

o Positive client relationships; understands clients business and challenges

o Measurable client & strategy business KPIs met

• Internal

o Inclusion of Strategy management in client business

o Proactive, daily working knowledge & usage of the Infinity Planning Process to generate valuable and useful insights/information including managing the Associates output

o Positive feedback on ability to collaborate with other teams & SBUs

o Collaborates with all teams to steward campaign strategic rigor

o Proactively seeks to understand campaign results & learnings to optimize the Loop

o Lives Initiative behaviors whilst also demonstrating solid time and management skills

o Accurately and effectively manages campaign-level day to day Strategy requirements

o Contributor to development of the final brand platform, ensuring Process outputs have been included

o Helps the Associate Director/Directors develop the initial strategic communications architecture

o Contributor to campaign KPIs through best practice, timely, accurate planning information & intelligence

• Commercial

o A key contributor to Agency & Client revenue opportunities by improving the teams Strategic output

o Contributor to client KPI delivery & Agency revenue opportunities through the improvement of the Strategy Teams strategic output (the provision of best in class thinking & future-focused insight/idea generation)

DESIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Advertising, Communication Research, Statistics or any related field
• Exposure in market research is an advantage
• At least 1 to 2+ years in an integrated planning role in a media, creative, innovation or communications discipline (e.g. digital, content, invention, social, activation)
• Strong written, verbal communication, negotiation, and presentation skills
• High-level of proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Strong time management, organizational and analytical skills
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of an integrated team
• Detail-oriented, organized, conscientious, with the ability to multi-task and work well under tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to work successfully within a team, handling multiple projects and meeting tight deadlines under pressure
• Good client communications skills, confidently presenting to both internal and external clients
• Amenable to a flexible hybrid work arrangement with at least twice a week office reporting at Two NEO, BGC, Taguig City.

If you believe that the team and this role might be perfect for YOU, go ahead and click on LinkedIn's Easy Apply to start the process.

IPG Mediabrands is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity in the workplace. We encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

Thank you in advance for your interest in IPG Mediabrands Philippines, Inc.!