Brand Manager: Brand and Innovation

KFC; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

None

Job summary

KFC South Africa is seeking a senior marketing professional to lead brand strategy and innovation. You will translate consumer and cultural insights into distinctive campaigns, guiding cross-functional teams to deliver growth across physical and digital touchpoints.

In this role, you will manage end-to-end campaigns, develop briefs, evaluate sponsorships, and balance long-term brand building with short-term commercial delivery to drive measurable ROI.

Qualifications

• Experience translating consumer insights into marketing strategies.
• Proven ability to manage end-to-end campaigns.
• Strong collaboration with cross-functional teams.
• Understanding of brand growth and product innovation.

Responsibilities

• Translate brand and innovation strategy into clear annual and window plans and campaigns.
• Identify growth opportunities across the customer journey using consumer insights.
• Develop strong, insight-led briefs with clear objectives and measures of success.
• Manage campaigns end-to-end from brief to evaluation and optimisation.
• Balance long-term brand building with short-term commercial delivery to drive ROI.
• Coordinate across internal and external stakeholders to ensure on-brand execution.

Skills

Brand management

Strategic marketing

Campaign management

Cross-functional collaboration

Data-driven decision making

Education

Bachelor's degree in Marketing or related field

Job description

At KFC, we pride ourselves on being original. We even named our recipe after it. But for us, the answer to the question is simple. Be You. Everyone at KFC is different. Unique. It’s what makes us special - Our people, The Originals. And we welcome you to join us. Bring your individuality to the table. Bring your grit and energy. Bring your spirit. Your story. Your drive and your passion. Bring it. Every piece of you. Even the parts you don’t like. Because we value our people no matter what. We’ll feed your potential and we’ll support you; to be your best self, to make a difference, and have fun. Together, we can be part of something truly extraordinary. All you have to do, is Bring it.

This role requires you to manage the delivery of the brand and product innovation strategy, by translating the strategy together with consumer, cultural, digital and commercial insights into distinctive strategies, connected customer journeys and plans that grow brand equity, relevance and sales. The role manages the delivery of the brand and innovation agenda across all physical and digital touchpoints, from proposition development through to campaign delivery and marketplace execution, partnering cross-functionally with key internal and external stakeholders to deliver high-quality campaigns and activities to meet agreed brand, innovation and commercial targets. Through data-led decision-making and strong execution, the role balances long-term brand building with short-term commercial delivery to achieve measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

Manage Brand Strategy & Growth Delivery

• Translate KFC South Africa’s brand and innovation strategy into clear annual and window plans, priorities, campaigns, growth levers and measurable delivery plans.
• Use consumer, category, cultural, competitive, digital and commercial insight to identify opportunities, risks and growth priorities across the customer journey.
• Partner with Finance and Commercial teams to assess the financial implications of marketing, pricing and promotional decisions.
• Develop strong, insight-led briefs that clearly define the customer problem, target audience, customer proposition, commercial objective, role of communications and measures of success for assigned initiatives.
• Manage corporate identity and help ensure consistent, distinctive KFC brand expression across customer and stakeholder touchpoints.
• Identify, evaluate and manage approved sponsorships and brand or product collaborations that strengthen relevance, extend reach and deliver measurable brand and commercial value.
• Recommend how assigned propositions should grow across relevant customers, occasions, products and channels.

Drive Innovation & Full-Funnel Activation

• Manage assigned brand and innovation campaigns end-to-end, from insight, business case, product development and briefing through to creative development, launch, optimisation and post-campaign evaluation.
• Develop recommendations and business cases for new innovations, products, propositions, promotional mechanics and offer improvements, considering consumer, brand fit, operational feasibility and commercial potential.
• Prioritise innovation opportunities based on consumer value, brand fit, operational feasibility and commercial potential.
• Partner with Food Innovation, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance and Insights to ensure propositions are desirable, commercially viable and executable.
• Use testing and commercial evidence to recommend whether initiatives should progress, change, scale or stop, considering cannibalisation, complexity and wider portfolio impact.
• Deliver integrated, full-funnel activity across physical and digital channels, linking brand and innovation objectives to measurable brand and commercial results.
• Apply sound judgement to ensure campaign and proposition work is distinctive, relevant, on-brand and appropriate for the customer and occasion.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Facilitate collaboration across internal and external stakeholders, setting clear priorities, roles, deliverables, timelines, dependencies and decision points.
• Partner with digital, CRM, delivery, social, PR, communications and media specialists to improve campaign reach, conversion, retention and effectiveness.
• Manage media briefs and contribute to channel strategy and investment recommendations within the agreed brand plan.
• Develop connected customer experiences across restaurant, digital, delivery, CRM, loyalty, social and partnership touchpoints.
• Support MarTech, automation and first-party data solutions that improve targeting, reporting, optimisation and speed to market.
• Coordinate Operations, Franchise Partners and functional teams around brand priorities, innovation and marketplace execution.
• Identify execution risks early and drive resolution or escalation, ensuring plans are practical and executable.
• Maintain accountability for marketing deliverables while respecting specialist functional ownership.
• Manage day-to-day agency and partner relationships, providing clear direction and holding partners accountable for quality, timing and delivery.

Monitor, Learn, Optimise & Respond with Agility

• Monitor brand health and commercial performance against agreed targets, recommending actions that improve growth, effectiveness and ROI.
• Manage assigned brand and innovation, campaign and media budgets within delegated authority and recommend investment shifts across channels.
• Track performance across sales, transactions, ticket, mix, margin, brand objectives and ROI; identify drivers and recommend corrective actions while balancing short- and long-term priorities.
• Connect consumer, media, digital, restaurant, competitor and commercial data to diagnose performance and identify opportunities.
• Set KPIs and learning objectives, lead post-launch and post-campaign reviews, and identify what worked, what did not and why.
• Apply a disciplined test-and-learn approach and share relevant learning to strengthen future propositions and plans.
• Use technology, data, AI, MarTech and automation responsibly to improve analysis, productivity, personalisation, reporting and decision-making.
• Respond quickly to cultural shifts, competitor activity and trading performance, recommending agile actions that protect the brand and unlock commercial opportunity.

Champion Customer, Culture & Creativity

• Build a deep understanding of relevant customers, occasions and needs, using consumer insight, culture and social listening to shape distinctive brand and innovation action.
• Stay close to South African consumer behaviour, food culture, competitive activity and relevant social and cultural trends.
• Partner with Insights to translate research into actionable implications and bring a clear customer perspective into cross-functional decisions.
• Monitor competitor propositions, pricing, promotions and innovation, and recommend relevant, commercially meaningful responses.
• Manage creative development from brief through approval, challenging agencies to improve creative quality and effectiveness.
• Protect distinctive KFC brand expression while ensuring local relevance.

Education

Bachelors Degree in in Marketing, Business Management or related fields

Experience

Post Graduate Qualification or MBA Preferred

• Approximately 4 to 6 years of progressive marketing or brand management experience, preferably within FMCG, QSR, retail or another fast-paced consumer environment.
• Experience independently leading significant brand, innovation and product initiatives or campaigns from brief through to execution and performance review.
• Experience translating consumer insight and commercial performance into clear marketing recommendations.
• Experience translating brand strategy, positioning and stewardship across campaigns, customer propositions and physical and digital touchpoints.
• Experience identifying, evaluating and activating sponsorships, strategic partnerships and brand or product collaborations that delivered measurable brand and commercial value.
• Experience supporting or leading brand, product innovation, promotional activity or customer proposition development.
• Strong commercial understanding, including experience managing marketing budgets and interpreting sales, transaction, mix, margin and brand performance.
• Experience managing creative and other agency partners.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
• Good understanding of digital, social, media and CRM and how these disciplines contribute to integrated marketing.
• Experience within a franchise or operationally complex consumer business advantageous.

Capabilities

• Brand management: Ability to translate portfolio strategy into compelling propositions, campaigns and growth plans.
• Brand strategy and stewardship: Able to shape and protect brand positioning, portfolio architecture, corporate identity and distinctive brand assets, and translate them into compelling brand campaigns and activities across physical and digital touchpoints.
• Customer understanding: Strong ability to use consumer insight and customer behaviour to inform decisions.
• Commercial acumen: Understands the relationship between marketing choices, pricing, product mix, sales, transactions, ticket and margin.
• Creative judgement: Able to write strong briefs, evaluate creative work and guide agencies toward distinctive, effective solutions.
• Innovation: Able to identify opportunities and lead approved propositions through development, testing and launch.
• Analytical thinking: Able to diagnose performance, distinguish symptoms from underlying issues and recommend practical actions.
• Integrated marketing: Strong understanding of how brand, media, digital, CRM, social, restaurant and delivery touchpoints work together.
• Agency leadership: Able to provide clear direction, challenge constructively and hold partners accountable.
• Cross-functional influence: Able to align and mobilise stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
• Project leadership: Strong ability to manage complexity, dependencies, timelines and multiple workstreams.
• Cultural intelligence: Strong understanding of South African customers, culture, food and emerging trends.
• Digital, data & AI fluency: Comfortable using modern marketing tools and partnering effectively with specialist teams.
• Learning agility & ownership: Curious, accountable and comfortable operating at pace while knowing when to make a decision and when to escape.