Director, Media Planning & Buying

Company: The Mars Agency
Location: Southfield
Posted on: January 14, 2020

Job Description:

The Mars Agency is a global marketing practice, specializing in marketing to shoppers, consumers and retailers across the ever-expanding omni-commerce environment. Mars uniquely refers to this environment as the - A-to-V CommerceSM - space, which incorporates everything from Autonomous to Voice commerce. - Mars, proud of its independence and growth-for-clients focus, operates internationally across the Americas, Europe and Asia through its network of 13 offices. - The Mars Agency is seeking a dynamic, forward-thinking Director, Media Planning & Buying to join our growing Media team, and create impact for our blue-chip clients (spanning verticals like Retail, QSR and CPG) from our Southfield, MI headquarters. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: Develop strategic, omni-channel, national and local media plans, with a heavy emphasis on traditional channels (TV, Radio, Print and OOH). Leverage relevant industry research, planning software and other tools (including our proprietary MarilynTM Predictive Commerce Intelligence platform) to inform media plan development, and to accurately project delivery, rating and share estimates. Collaborate with agency peers (Client Leadership, Strategic Planning, Creative) to present and successfully sell in media plans to key client decision makers. Build strong relationships with media vendor representatives, and effectively negotiate the best placements, rates, schedules and value-add opportunities for clients. Execute all media buys using industry-specific software platforms (e.g. Strata). Oversee the traffic process, working with agency peers to ensure needed creative assets are delivered to vendors on spec and on time. Manage post-launch stewardship and optimization activities - including tracking budgets, log times, make-goods, etc. Partner with the Performance Analytics team to compile and deliver end-of-campaign reporting, with a focus on drawing insights and implications from the raw data and communicating to clients in an intuitive way. Keep up to date with, and vet, emerging channels, vendors and innovation trends, and regularly share new opportunities and thought leadership with agency peers and clients. Partner with Media team counterparts to regularly share key learnings and best practices across clients, campaigns and channels. Help define and continuously improve the Media team's product & service offerings, approaches, standards, templates and tools, etc. Participate in new business pitches to help the agency secure media work with additional clients. Work with the Finance department to handle invoicing and reconciliation. SKILLS & CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED: Minimum 8 years of traditional media planning & buying experience is required, preferably within an agency environment. Bachelor's degree in advertising, marketing, or related field. Deep understanding of local and national media buying and ratings. Expert knowledge of Strata and/or other media planning & buying software. Passionate about media & marketing, with a clear point of view on where the industry is today and where it's heading. Ambitious self-starter who takes ownership of and great pride in his/her work. Collaborative team player, but unafraid to challenge peers or clients when necessary in order to achieve the best results for the project. Creative and strategic thinker who gets excited about taking on complex problems and guiding a cross-functional team to solve them. Curious and dissatisfied with the status quo, always thinking of ways to improve and grow. Doer (v. a talker) with a "roll up your sleeves and figure it out" - mentality. Dynamic personality able to effectively engage and influence key internal and external stakeholders. Confident presenter and clear, persuasive communicator (verbal and written) of complicated information.

Keywords: The Mars Agency, Southfield , Director, Media Planning & Buying, Advertising , Southfield, Michigan