Trade Advocacy Director

Brown-forman; Montgomery (AL); On-site; USD 177,180 - 201,900; Full time

Job summary

Brown-Forman is seeking an Advocacy Director to develop and implement strategic advocacy plans, build relationships with key stakeholders, and drive initiatives to influence brand perception in the US on-trade. The role includes recruiting and developing a team of brand ambassadors, coordinating with global advocacy, and driving ROI through budget planning and performance metrics.

Focus will be on growing physical and mental availability of our brands, including Jack Daniel’s, in on-premise

Qualifications

• 7-10 years relevant experience in drinks, hospitality or luxury goods environment.
• 5+ years’ experience in trade advocacy in multinational company with matrix structure.
• Strong written and spoken presentation skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical abilities with a data-driven approach.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of Advocacy strategy for Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve and Herradura across the US.
• Develop content and tools to increase impact and efficiency of brand trainings.
• Recruit and develop a team of brand ambassadors with onboarding and training.
• Build a vibrant Brand Advocacy community and connect with global councils.
• Plan and manage Advocacy budget and resources to maximize ROI.
• Develop metrics to measure Advocacy ROI and impact.
• Lead strategic planning of key Advocacy campaigns and key markets.

Skills

Advocacy strategy

Stakeholder management

Presentation skills

Communication

Data analysis

People management

Marketing acumen

Digital marketing

Strategic thinking

Collaboration

Job description

Current Employees, Consultants, and Agency Partners

If you currently work for Brown-Forman, please apply by clicking the Careers icon on the Workday portal. For best results, use Google Chrome to view this page.

Meaningful Work From Day One

The Advocacy Director is responsible for development and implementation of strategic advocacy plans, building relationships with key industry stakeholders, and driving initiatives to influence brand perception amongst the on-trade. This role is responsible for talent recruitment and development. Supporting the US with a focus on the Jack Daniel’s trademark the role will increase the physical availability of our brands in the on-premise as well as increasing their mental availability amongst internal colleagues, distributor partners, consumers and the global bartending network. The role is highly networked with Global and US&C Advocacy teams and expected to influence across Marketing, Advocacy and Commercial functions. This is a strategic as well as entrepreneurial role that carries the responsibility of growing and accelerating brands.

What You Can Expect

• Lead development of Advocacy strategy for Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve and Herradura Identifying current and future needs for consumers, on-trade and retail advocacy across the US.
• Lead development of content and tools to increase impact, consistency and efficiency of brand trainings done internally and externally.
• Lead recruitment and development of a team of brand ambassadors, through optimisation and alignment of Ways of Working, including structure, Onboarding, Training and Development.
• Develop and connect a vibrant and influential Brand Advocacy community.
• Partner with Europe and EI Advocacy Council to promote agility via best practice sharing, compelling content creation & continued evolution of the Advocacy discipline.
• Support hiring of B-F/Agency Brand Ambassador and Trade Advocate candidates as needed.
• Plan, recommend & manage the Advocacy budget and how/where to apply resources as part of resource planning, overseeing development of investment for influence in key markets.
• Build consistent metrics around advocacy effectiveness and impact to better understand "Advocacy ROI".
• Lead/enable (as appropriate) strategic planning of key Advocacy campaigns.
• Oversee development of “Key City” on premise segmentation and target account lists in priority markets, including international “Advocacy” groups.
• Lead advocacy trend spotting and insight, keeping abreast of emerging trends, technologies and influencers (consumer and trade) and work with teams to identify strategies and action plans.
• Lead development of new ways of working and doing Advocacy, including the application of digital to Advocacy development to broaden mental and physical availability.
• Co-lead/advise (as appropriate) planning of key Advocacy trade fairs and evaluation of programming.
• Represent Brown Forman as Advocacy Leader at key, high profile trade events in markets.
• Budget Management: Manage the trade marketing budget effectively, ensuring optimal allocation of resources to maximize ROI. Monitor expenses, track performance metrics, and provide regular updates on budget utilization.
• Strong understanding of trade channels, retail dynamics, and shopper behavior.

What You Bring to the Table

• 7-10 years relevant experience working in the drinks, hospitality or luxury goods environment.
• At least 5+ years’ experience in trade advocacy in a multi-national spirit/wine/beer company with matrix organization.
• Strong written and spoken presentation skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with key stakeholders from multiple business units and at all levels of the organization.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and analytical abilities, with a data-driven approach to decision-making.
• People management and development experience.
• Strong Commercial acumen and understanding.
• Strong Marketing acumen and capabilities.
• Understanding of digital marketing.
• Analytical and strategic thinking.
• Strong collaboration, influencing and organization skills.

What We Offer

Total Rewards at Brown-Forman is designed to engage our people to ensure sustainable and profitable growth for generations to come. As a premium spirits company, we offer equitable pay structures for individual and company performance alongside a premium employee experience. We offer a range of premium benefits that reflect our company values and meet the needs of our diverse workforce.

The range of pay for the role is: $177,180 – $201,900 per year plus a Target Short-Term Bonus of $34,100. The base pay salary will be $177,180- $201,900 paid semi-monthly, plus the cost of labor allowance pertaining to application locations. Chicago & Houston (10%); San Fran & NY (25%); DC & LA (15%). NOTE: Base salary range depends on a combination of job-related factors to include candidate skills, experience and internal equity.