Mars Wrigley Confectionery - Customer Activation Lead - Coles

Job description

As Customer Activation Lead with MWC you will be responsible for creating and executing customer activations for one of our key grocery partners, Coles. This means you will bring our brands to life instore, drive optimal physical availability, engage customer buying team and media agencies to drive shopper conversion. A key aspect of this position will be your ability to build and maintain strong and influential relationships your assigned channel/customer. You will represent their voice, and the voice of the shopper internally to ensure future business strategies help support the strategic ambitions of the customer and execution plans to maximise conversion opportunities for MWC.

Key Responsibilities

·  Grounded in shopper and customer insight, develop and execute channel and customer activation initiatives that delivers the short and long term brand portfolio aspirations, drives optimal physical availability, engages the shopper and drives conversion over the next 3 years.
·  Partner with the Customer Development team to lead and deliver an annual rolling activation plan (Ready To Sell) which is aligned to SCM choices, category growth drivers, customer needs and influences shoppers throughout the path to purchase. Effectively adapt and adjust activity plans to reflect the changing customer and internal environment.
·  Lead activity plans that are aligned across Sales and CBU’s and brought into the S&OP+ process where appropriate, ensuring trade-offs are made to meet wider business objectives.
·  Leading total customer prioritization and strategic choices to drive scale and conversion across annual integration planning process.
·  Partner with the Perfect Store team to establish channel and customer specific KPI’s which deliver both short and long term physical availability opportunities and ROI is calculated and used to continuously improve future plans for platinum & gold activities.
·  Negotiate & deliver instore shopper communication including POS and sales selling stories are tailored appropriately for assigned customer/channel and designed to maximize conversion ROI and impact in the retailer/channel. Managing an instore investment budget of > $5mil.
·  Represent voice of your customer and shopper internally to ensure future business strategies help support the strategic ambitions of the customer and execution plans maximise conversion opportunities for Mars.

The ideal candidate

·  Customer and/or marketing experience that includes selling, negotiating and leveraging insights and proven ability to understand and translate brand strategies into engaging customer strategies that are mutually beneficial for company and customer.
·  Ability to assess needs, propose mutually beneficial solutions, overcome objections, demonstrate resilience and manage conflict with a positive & confident mind-set and close to maximise mutual value.
·  Good numeracy and analytical skills and experience of applying a wide range of analytics that drive insights and actions for complex customers and a variety of business situations.
·  Good business acumen with an understanding and application of the sales cycle, trends and broader business implications to making judgments and recommendations for action.
·  Ability to understand shopper needs and behaviours and the fundamentals of category management and how you might apply these to drive differentiated customer solutions.
·  Good interpersonal skills and proven ability to develop long term, effective and influential business relationships with multiple stakeholders.
·  Able to respond and adapt to a fast moving, changing environment with a can do / solution based attitude.
·  Experience in areas such as (but not exclusive to): Sales, Customer Management, Marketing and Category Leadership.

Why Mars Australia?

·  Awarded Australia’s #6 company for 2018 in the Best Places to Work survey in the 1,000 + employees category;
·  Genuine career progression, a focus on development with access to global opportunities;
·  Enrolment to world class training via our Mars University centre of learning excellence;
·  Opportunity to opt-in to our Mars superannuation co-contribution matching scheme;
·  Access to our Maxxia Rewards Programme offering discounts across dining and entertainment;
·  Be paid weekly!

About Us:

Mars Wrigley Confectionery (MWC) is the world’s leading manufacturer of chocolate, chewing gum, mints, and fruity confections, manufacturing great products which make consumers smile.

We are proud to make some of Australia’s most loved confectionery brands, including MARS®, M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, MALTESERS®, PODS® EXTRA®, SKITTLES®, STARBURST®, P.K.®, and JUICY FRUIT®. Six of our famous brands are among the top 20 confectionery brands in Australia and our oldest brand, JUICY FRUIT®, has a heritage of over 100 years in Australia. Since 1957 our refreshing gum products have been produced at our factory in Asquith, New South Wales and since 1979 we have been producing our delicious chocolates at our factory in Ballarat, Victoria.

For more information about careers at Mars, please visit www.mars.com/australia/en/careers .

Mars Australia & New Zealand is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion.

At Mars Australia & New Zealand we prefer to manage all sourcing directly, please do apply to this role if you are interested. Introductions via agency will not be accepted.

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