Associate Marketing Manager Dolls

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

Job Description

The Opportunity: 

The position will be part of the local Italian Marketing team under the responsibility of the Head of Marketing.

The Associate Marketing Manager Dolls will be key to drive local strategies and plans to gain market share within the Dolls category and to ensure sustainable profitable growth. You will ensure effective, creative, and efficient implementation of brand strategies and plans by working with various business functions and agencies with the objective to grow sales and market share. Furthermore, you act as key interface on the brand for both internal and external stakeholders.

Main responsibilities of the position:

• Being the business owner for the Mattel Dolls category and Mattel own IP in its entire scope
• Develop deep expertise of the marketplace, retail dynamics and shopper behavior to drive opportunities, mitigate risks and drive customized programs
• Drive Franchise execution cross department collaboration
• Design and execute local marketing plans in line with global strategies and priorities
• Drive portfolio strategies, pricing and launch decisions
• Drive A&P strategies deployment and Management
• Driving media strategies and plans
• Monitoring business results and effectiveness of initiatives. Take actions when necessary
• Develop an out of the box thinking to challenge the status quo among the team
• Ensure Team development leadership and engagement, leading a team of four people (1 Brand Manager, 1 Ass. Brand Manager, 1 Intern)

What Your Impact Will Be:

• Portfolio Strategy, Plans Execution:
  • Develop understanding of the market, retail dynamics, consumer and shopper behaviour in order to drive opportunities and influence product and marketing strategy development
  • Develop Dolls Category Strategy and portfolio for short and long term. Leads workshop for brand strategic alignment
  • Translate global strategy into the local context for the market, whilst incorporating the global brand identity for your range. You will team up with the Regional Marketing Team and other stakeholders to streamline your approach. Special focus on PR projects. Identify gaps & build local programs (where relevant)
  • Design and execute local marketing plans in line with global strategies and priorities
  • Ensure best effective and impactful amplifications &implementations of Brand strategies and action plans in the country
  • Maintain constant communication with Market Lead and Regional Marketing team to share expertise of the local market as well as identify synergies, alignment, best practices, and opportunities within the country. Feedback market insights to regional brand to feed into future brand strategy
  • Present portfolio and brand strategies & plans to key internal & external stakeholders
• Franchise execution:
  • Partner closely with Regional Brand Marketing, PR teams, Regional Content, Live events and Go-to-market, local Sales, Consumer Products and local partners to drive sales, revenue and market share
  • Identify franchise opportunities in partnership with Consumer Products team and execute joint activation programs
  • Close contact with content team to maximize new content releases and platforms
• Line & Product management
  • Responsible of the SBB & line & pricing architecture for Dolls Category, making sure to align with the wider European directions and merging local nuances and needs in conjunction with sales (P&L, margin, forecasting).
  • Feedback to regional for future product development, top items.
  • Pricing coordination & input to finance team
  • Participate in S&OP process: drive quotas hypothesis, lead forecasting direction for the category, Align with sales team & planner. Monitor results.
• Media Management & Digital media:
  • Lead agency briefs, Manage local media agency for the execution of brand marketing activities across all different media channels
  • Partner with Digital team and media agencies to set-up media strategy for the portfolio & brands
  • Develop and execute effective and efficient media plans
• Management of the Advertisement and Promotion Budget. Plan FY Brand budget - Allocates spends in line with global direction (Strategic input). Distribute to Digital & GTM team & CP/Franchise
• Partner management:
  • Manage relationship with Licensors teams (Disney, Universal & Warner)
  • Prepare country decks for quarterly reviews and summits
  • Organize regular touchpoints with Licensors in-market
  • Develop joint marketing & retail programs with licensors
• Track and evaluate business results and effectiveness of initiatives and propose actions when necessary – assess Dolls team accordingly
• Team management: coach and develop Dolls team – 2 direct reports and 1 dotted line report
• As part of the category leadership team, contribute to team projects

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For: 

• University degree in Economics, Business Administration, Marketing or any other related field (Bachelor/ Master/ Diploma)
• Preferably extensive experience in commercial/marketing surroundings preferably in Toys, FMCG or licensed consumer goods, Apparel or Health & Beauty industry
• Minimum of 2 year of management or coaching/development experience.
• High competitive spirit
• Result oriented, winning mentality, competitive, strong will to succeed
• Strategic thinking and tactic skills / Design action plans that can be easily applied
• Creative and high initiative
• Proactive in seeking information
• Ability to work in wide variety of projects with aggressive deadlines
• Use financial information to make strong decisions
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships
• Strong influencing skills
• Native level of Italian is a must. Fluent in English
• Demonstrated a growth mindset by staying curious and continuously learning, embracing challenges, and improving themselves

Additional Information

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Mattel we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

How We Work:

We are a purpose driven company aiming to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. We live up to our purpose employing the following behaviors:

• We collaborate: Being a part of Mattel means being part of one team with shared values and common goals. Every person counts and working closely together always brings better results. Partnership is our process and our collective capabilities is our superpower.
• We innovate: At Mattel we always aim to find new and better ways to create innovative products and experiences. No matter where you work in the organization, you can always make a difference and have real impact. We welcome new ideas and value new initiatives that challenge conventional thinking.
• We execute: We are a performance-driven company. We strive for excellence and are focused on pursuing best-in-class outcomes. We believe in accountability and ownership and know that our people are at their best when they are empowered to create and deliver results.

Our Approach to Flexible Work:

We embrace a flexible work model designed to empower a culture of growth, optimism, and wellbeing, where every employee can reach their full potential. Combining purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility, our focus is to optimize performance and drive connection for moments that matter.

Who We Are:

Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We engage consumers and fans through our franchise brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Monster High, MEGA and Polly Pocket, as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. Our offerings include toys, content, consumer products, digital and live experiences. Our products are sold in more than 195 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and ecommerce companies.

Mattel is recognized as a Great Place to Work™ and as one of Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2022.

Visit us at https://jobs.mattel.com/ and www.instagram.com/MattelCareers.

Mattel is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer where we want you to bring your authentic self to work every day. We welcome all job seekers including minorities, females, veterans, military spouses, individuals with disabilities, and those of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Videos to watch:
The Culture at Mattel
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