Global Planner - EMEA

at  EssenceMediaCom

GLOBAL PLANNER, ROYAL CANIN (MARS) – EMEA

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, Hasbro, Mars, NBC Universal, P&G, Richemont, Shell, Sony, and Uber.
Find out more at www.essencemediacom.com. Alternatively, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
Reports to: Planning Manager

ACCOUNTABILITIES INCLUDE:

Client Management

• Participate in calls and meetings with clients to understand their business, and discuss performance and future strategies
• Support the creation of rationale for a media plan, any optimisation decisions and their outcomes
• Support in delivery of post-campaign analysis and insights
• Deliver reconciliation information regarding media delivery

Media Planning

• Work with Manager and Senior Planner to research audience, media touchpoint and source of growth opportunities
• Interrogate historic performance data to determine or optimise the existing opportunity and key variables which might improve the effectiveness of our media plan
• Grow understanding of key data sources including MMM data and start to be able to interrogate and apply learnings
• Create media plans via planning templates and manage booking sign off
• Ensure media plans contain direct links to KPIs detailed in the media strategy
• Work with the Global team to identify opportunities to implement “test and learn” strategy acros local market plans
• Monitor performance of live campaigns to identify key wins/challenges
• Meet regularly with digital partners to broaden knowledge and understanding of the latest developments and how these couple be tested or implemented across existing and future briefs
• Help to generate relevant and innovative ideas and understand available tactics, e.g. use of data, technology, creative and trading techniques, to drive volume and efficiency
• Build knowledge of key tech stack solutions
• Provide media specialists with their brief – budget, audience, phasing, targets and any other relevant information to support their detailed in-channel planning

Execution

• Support in aggregation of output from media specialists – planning; reporting; insight/analysis
• Supply reconciliations of delivery across the plan from each media owner/media specialist which the Planners directly booked

Reporting & Optimisation

• Work with the buying teams, and Media Executive to interpret performance data and decide on optimisation opportunities
• Generate key charts/slides which demonstrate performance, test learnings and next steps
• Ensure strong commentary that gives insight and action (beyond what the result/trend is)

Team Management

• Work with and develop the Exec, making sure they understand the targets, media solutions and analysis techniques required to maximise effectiveness of our plans
• Work with and develop the Exec to provide strong media delivery and financial reconciliations
• Manage the media specialists to ensure they are correctly briefed and supported in their scope of work
• Work with Finance team to reconcile and deliver efficient PO to invoicing process

A BIT ABOUT YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

The successful candidate will be ambitious and collaborative with a can-do attitude. They will want to embrace the culture at EssenceMediacom and likewise on Royal Canin, and be excited by the opportunity to get stuck in and learn from a welcoming and friendly team.

Summary of requirements;

• Experience in a media agency (either planning or digital)
• Experience in client management and servicing skills
• Experience managing a media budget for clients
• It is essential that the candidate has a good basic understanding of the digital landscape/tools
• Interest and/or experience in planning across both Brand and Performance campaigns
• Excellent presentation skills (writing and delivery)
• Strong communication and ability to hold a room in all situations
• Experience managing global media partners
• Hands-on experience using digital platforms and reporting tools such as Google Analytics, Data Studio and PowerBI would be advantageous

Personal attributes

• Strong team player, shows relevant initiative and pro-activity
• Positive and passionate approach that motivates the team & champions team successes
• Winning mentality, striving to exceed expectations
• Self-driven, passionate for new ideas and solutions
• Works effectively with other agency partners
• Effective and calm under pressure
• Ability to respect deadlines and project manage team, inter agency partners and clients against a clear plan
• Able to multitask and change priorities rapidly, flexible
• Numerate and administratively competent with strong attention to detail
• Possess the skills to solve problems promptly. If facing challenges, raise them with line manager/team lead in an effective way
• Analytical capabilities – comfortable with data to provide strategic recommendations by using all available data

This role is to work within a centralised European planning team across the Royal Canin brand in 16 markets.
The team’s main role is to develop appropriate full-funnel media plans based on globally defined strategy for each of our markets and deliver that brief for deployment, supporting them in seeing that through to successful execution. This role requires an interest, and ideally some experience, in planning across both Brand and Performance campaigns as the team look after the full media mix for RC across Europe, with 4 of the 16 markets currently operating in the D2C space.
We expect the candidate to have planning experience, but this could come from a traditional comms or digital background as Royal Canin is a fully digital account. Ideally, we would like someone with strategic thinking capability who is not afraid to get stuck into data and get hands-on within digital platforms and 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 strong relationships and communication skills as well as excellent organisational approach to infrastructure. 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.
As a Planner, you will be supporting the team to manage and implement our digital transformation agenda, ensuring RC are getting the most value out of their digital business partnerships.
Success will require the ability to toggle between seeing the bigger picture – for annual planning and overarching regional performance – and the forensic detail of multiple market campaign management.
The Planner will work with the team to understand the global strategic guidelines and help the Senior Planner and Manager apply these across local plans, while building knowledge on the local nuances presented by each market.
The Planner will have direct client contact and is responsible for work coordination with the Senior Planner and Exec in the team. The Planner will report into the Senior Planner and work closely with the entire team on the planning processes from brief to execution to reporting with local buying teams for the clients in each market.
If you love entertainment and working as a team to achieve goals and overcome challenges, this is the role for you!