Director, Communications

The Director of Communications, West is a part of the media leadership team for the region in the West and is a key role in the overall marketing team for this region. This role and team are the key relationship holders and builders with our marketing colleagues across Brand Marketing, Field Marketing, Sports Marketing, Culture Marketing and On-Premise Marketing teams. This role is also accountable for proactively leading all aspects of communication execution in the region: Communications planning, campaign execution, thought leadership, supporting Creator Marketing and Media Partnerships in projects and the leadership and maintenance of all communication agencies and photographers for Red Bull in the West Region.

The role of the communications team in the region is to develop and define the overall media ambitions for our marketing plan in the region and to then develop and define the overarching messaging and communications strategy for the brand in the West region. Our aim is to get more US consumers talking about our brand and products through media: traditional media coverage, non-traditional media coverage, working with Creator Marketing to have influencers and creators talk about us, opinion leader engagement and partner content amplification. This team develops and maintains media relationships in the West region – not only amplifying projects from the region but what would be interesting from the World of Red Bull to the consumer.

She/he applies his/her sharp editorial skills to identify the best stories and create differentiated stories and experiences which are “beyond the ordinary” to grow consumer engagement with the Red Bull brand across most relevant earned, partnered & 3rd party media. She/he acts as an entrepreneur in his/her region, building and nurturing the most engaged teams, working with the best and most innovative partners, constantly fostering media innovation and development of business opportunities in consumer communication and interaction through digital and traditional media channels.

Areas that play to your strengths

All the responsibilities we'll trust you with:

• Establish, grow, and lead the Communications team – setting the team up for success for the next 3 years and beyond. Ensure the team builds a strong bond with all marketing departments in the region. Including but not limited to Sports, Culture, Brand and Field Marketing.

  Lead, motivate and coach the team on how to drive programming strategies that deliver high impact EMO results, day in and day out

  Bring new ideas to the table by leveraging industry knowledge, networks and experience

  Actively share knowledge, resources, and experience with the media network team, across regional teams and RBMN leadership team

  Develop, manage and oversee the communications budget across the region.

• The development of the media business plan for the region in partnership with the Head of Media for the region. The communication team provide inputs to help develop what is the best business plan to support our marketing colleagues. What has the most media value? What activity will drive the strategic pillars? What media inputs and outputs can be expected for the ambitions we have? The central liaison between marketing and media to develop the right business plan for the region.

  Ensure the regional communication plans utilizes the most effective and efficient media tactics to drive earned media coverage – traditional and earned social, reaching new consumers every day (“always on”).

  Communications department in most cases will be the media network lead on all marketing events and activations in the region, especially those projects with a heavily-leaning earned outcome. Therefore, they are responsible for bringing together the Media Captains table and the total media plan (PEMO PLAN) for each project that the communications team is the “Media Captain.” The Media Captain will have this plan approved by the Santa Monica Media Network Comms and Programming teams.

  Provide ongoing consumer media insights and reporting from your region to provide real time shifts in what is the best media plan for the audience opportunity in the West territory

  Intimately know and understand the local consumers’ media consumption habits and related media markets. Apply this knowledge to build the most efficient and effective comprehensive plans surrounding the regions marketing activities.

  Build a strong network of editors, journalists, freelance writers, social media producers and photographers, to effectively bring the brand to life.

  Ensures that the regional media team is aligned with all media strategies across product, events, creators/influencers, athlete, and dancer projects to adapt and develop hyper-locally relevant plans.

• The Communication team works with the field marketing and regional marketing teams to “mine and uncover” the best ideas with media potential. The regional team then works with Santa Monica experts to bring these from idea to fully developed projects and or media products that we can include into BP, A Limitless Pitch or the MNLT monthly rolling projects fund.

  The Communications team is also responsible for the “always on” media pitching and activities: athlete stories, national year long campaigns etc. They work closely with media relations to mine from the region what is relevant to be included and pitched to the national key media outlets: both traditional and social.

  Always on – FMEDL earned content for athletes, FORBS, colleges… how can we stay in front of consumers daily via earned social outreach? In coordination with other departments – production, creator marketing, sports marketing etc.

  Training and on-boarding of all approved photographers in the West Region.

  Crisis Communication – this role works directly with The Head of Communications and The Head of the Media Network in Santa Monica, should a crisis occur. This role puts procedures in place to avoid and or de-escalate a crisis however should one occur, leads the region if a “crisis” situation is enacted.

• Define objectives, goals, messages and tactics for each project – whether being the Media Captain or the communications lead this will be an ongoing responsibility

  Identify the appropriate media amplification channels for each project and or campaign.

  Act as the Red Bull Media Liaison in the region, identifying stories and media opportunities that more resonate with your consumers (whether they be from your project or across the WORB)

  Measure media outcomes – mini-PIR or the FULL PIR in consultation with Santa Monica functional leads – communication of what worked, what didn’t and learnings for all across Media Network and into marketing.

  Keep SAMO informed of opportunities that could be uplevelled nationally and or globally.

  Is accountable for all communication agencies used across the region.

  Build and maintain the Communications budget for the region.

• The communications team is the central contact point for any media enquires that the field team in the West Region may have. You will manage the list of agencies, videographers, photographers, media production companies that can assist them to deliver small media executions.

EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise

that matter most for this role:

• Has 10+ years’ experience in a Senior Communications role for a major brand. Bachelor of Business, Communications or Journalism is preferred.
• Track record of delivery results against tight deadlines.
• Experience working with media executives on executing communication strategies.
• A strong creative and project management background.
• Proven success in thinking strategically about how to build audience engagement.
• Exceptional leadership qualities and exceptional presentation skills.
• Excellent at building relationships in all fields of media, digital platforms, and entertainment.
• Clear understanding of competitor activity and consumer behavior in both a media and FMCG business context.
• Lives and breathes media industry in the US.
• Excellent traditional and digital media industry knowledge.
• Problem solver and good mediator aligning and coordinating conflicts of interest.

• Travel 40-50%
• Permanent
• Benefits eligible