Brand Activation Manager (On Trade / Beer)

C&C Group; Belfast, Greater London, Bristol, Glasgow; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A premium drinks company in Belfast is seeking a Brand Activation Manager to lead and execute brand activation strategies for its beer portfolio. The successful candidate will manage diverse projects, collaborate with internal teams and agencies, and ensure brand activations meet consumer needs and business goals. An emphasis on consumer insights and creative communication skills is crucial. This role contributes to building a strong brand presence while supporting sales objectives.

Qualifications

• Experience in managing diverse projects effectively.
• Ability to translate consumer insights into actionable strategies.
• Proven track record in relationship building.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of below-the-line activation strategies.
• Work with agencies to create impactful brand activation activities.
• Support execution of brand activities on time and budget.

Skills

Consumer insight

Creative skills

Strong communication skills

Job description

C&C Group plc is a premium drinks company which owns, manufactures, markets and distributes a unique portfolio of beer and cider brands in its home markets and across the globe. You probably know us best from brands like Bulmers, Magners and Tennent’s.

About the Role

The role of the Brand Activation Manager is to lead, develop & execute the in-channel BTL activation strategies & plans for our owned portfolio of beer brands that allows us to win with consumers and meet our customers’ needs in doing so. The Brand Activation Manager will ensure our brands win with consumers and deliver for our customers in a way which builds both positive brand building equity as well as short term sales targets. This person will work within the brand team as the channel expert, to translate brand strategy into brilliant channel activations, and with the Channel Strategy & Planning team to ensure they are executed with precision via our sales team & customers.

Key Accountabilities

• As Brand Activation Manager for your respective brand group (Beer) & channel (On Trade), you will be responsible for developing & delivering the BTL plans for the brands, working as part of and alongside the Brand teams.
• You will have a strong understanding of both your brands & the channel in which you operate to drive the creation and execution of clear and powerful BTL brand activation plans.
• You will be responsible for briefing and managing the output of our chosen BTL agencies, managing them to create strong activities which will deliver against agreed consumer & customer metrics.
• You will lead the development of all brand assets – e.g. POS, glassware, founts, merchandise, promotional assets etc.
• You will play a role in the brand planning processes and develop clear actionable BTL strategies that enable brands to deliver against their consumer strategies via the channel and deliver the budgeted sales & profit.
• A category and insight led approach is required and you will use a combination of consumer, market, category & communications best-practice to define the appropriate set of strategies & solutions for brand-in-channel activation.
• Your thorough understanding of the market, consumer & channel will inform your decisions when defining the brand strategies across channel, to ensure creation to flawless execution each time with a focus on return on investment by activity.
• Working hand in hand with the Channel Strategy & Planning team, you will support the execution of the ‘gold standard’ on our beer brands, and to deliver brand activations on time & budget to hit the annual calendar of activity across the channel.
• Working closely with the Digital & Comms team you will lead the creation of innovative, impactful brand activation plans which utilise digital & comms channels, both our own and within our customers, which cut through with consumers.
• Working with CS&P, you will create strong sell in materials for our brand activities for both our own sales teams and our customers, bringing compelling brand & commercial stories to life.
• Set clear KPI’s and measures across all campaign performance making recommendations based on thorough performance review of activity.
• Manage all the BTL activation projects via the PDM process to ensure meet all governance & legal requirements.

About you

• Comfortable with managing a diverse workload of projects.
• Consumer insight driven, business planning, commercial strategy and creative skills a must with proven ability to translate into compelling narrative for action.
• Track record in building successful relationships with both internal and external partners.
• Ability to think conceptually yet retaining strong attention to detail.
• Strong ability to build and leverage relationships with internal teams, senior management, agencies and consultants.
• Strong communication skills.

About Us

Operating through the Matthew Clark, Bibendum, Tennent’s and Bulmers Ireland brands, the Group has a market leading range, scale and reach including an intimate understanding of the markets it serves.

From grass to glass, and everything in between, we grow, brew, manufacture, market, and deliver some of the world’s favourite drinks. C&C Group’s portfolio of owned/exclusive brands include: Bulmers, the leading Irish cider brand; Tennent’s, the leading Scottish beer brand; Magners the premium international cider brand; as well as a range of fast-growing, premium and craft ciders and beers, such as Heverlee, Menabrea, Five Lamps and Orchard Pig.

We seek to champion and embed sustainability in everything that we do at C&C. While delivering joy to customers, we always shine a light on people and the planet. We have a clear ESG vision delivering to a better world. We respect, support, and develop all our people to be their best, with a focus on results by creating a culture of winning together.

We also recognize that people come with a wealth of experience and talent beyond just the technical requirements of a job. If your experience is close to what you see listed here, please still consider applying. Diversity of experience and skills combined with passion is a key to delivering on our mission. Therefore, we encourage people from all backgrounds to apply. Please let us know if you require accommodations during the interview process.

C&C Group (and inclusive companies) do not accept unsolicited CVs from recruiters or employment agencies in response to any of our roles. For help, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team at [e-mail]. All applications need to come through the candidate portal https://careers.candcgroupplc.com/vacancies/