Sr Specialist Integrated Marketing US

Company Overview

Looking for a career where you can make a difference? At Mary Kay we are committed to enriching the lives of women and their families around the world, we offer careers with unlimited opportunities to do something beautiful every day. More than 5,000 employees work in locations around the world. They provide the products, marketing and other support to millions of Independent Beauty Consultants (IBCs) who work as independent contractors, selling our products directly to consumers in nearly 40 markets on five continents. We are a company that believes in our people and cares for them with truly exceptional benefits. We offer:

·         A comprehensive health plan which includes medical, dental, and vision with low premiums

·         401(k) plan

·         A generous profit-sharing program

·         Free access to on-site fitness center and on-site clinic 

JOB PURPOSE  

Contributes to strategies that drive increased revenue, market share, trial and recruiting for Mary Kay. Responsible for marketing Mary Kay products to both Consumers and the Mary Kay Sales Force. Accountable for leading assigned US product category. Responsible for leading product launch and tactics. Leads the development of product strategies, pricing recommendations, positioning of products and oversees the complete product life-cycle management of assigned product category. Performs market research, product health reviews and competitive analysis to identify areas of improvement. Makes projections for future product launches and identifies product gaps. Prepares executive forecast approval documents. Is accountable for results, i.e. growing market share and making a significant contribution to category ROI of designated product category: skin care, fragrance & body care, men’s & sun care or color cosmetics. Serves as the expert resource to internal and external departments. Leads the development and planning of the quarterly Look Book and Preferred Customer Program as well as tracking and maintaining profitability of the program. Works independently with minimal guidance but must ensure direction is aligned with Manager and Director.

 ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES   

·         Manages all aspects of the product launch process from definition to delivery and on-going maintenance, so that product launches and phase outs occur as planned. Partners with appropriate teams to ensure a fully integrated product launch. Completes complexity review for each promotional launch with all appropriate teams, making any launch changes necessary to minimize disruption to our sales force. Conducts 360 review of promotional brief with all US partners.

·         Proactively assists Manager in planning product portfolio management. Activities may include, but are not limited to:

o   Recommending additions in support of year-over year sales growth (may include re-promotions of regular line products).

o   Recommends estimated product sales and works with key groups including Brand Development, Finance and Global Inventory Control to project sales and to capture expenses for all quarterly promotions.

o   Recommends new product pricing and identifies opportunities for regular line price increases.

o   Partners with Finance in preparing for senior level and executive forecast approval. Presents forecasts at the vice president level. May include forecasting support to the Brand development and international markets, particularly Canada.

o   Communicates with key internal groups to ensure consistency of programs and product launches.

o   Key contact for systems implementation for respective product changes: new product launches; price changes; ad hoc promotions. Includes go-live systems audit by sku (.com, In Touch).

o   Conducts research online and via sales force events to gain qualitative and quantitative information regarding promotions and opportunities for improvement. Creates recommendation summary and analyzes results.

o   Creation and launch of product incentives (PWP/GWP).

o   Annual review of health of assigned category: in depth analytical assessment by sku, category, and market share; develop phase-out proposals; accumulation of findings in global template; presentation to Brand partners and/or US leadership.

·         Analyzes effectiveness of programs and promotions within different independent sales force segments. Analyzes sales, cost, activity and independent sales force feedback regarding promotional quarters, special promotions and regular line items. Completes post-promotional analyses. COLOR CATEGORY SPECIFIC: Identifies factors influencing shade mix of past launches. Applies learnings to project shade mix for future color launches. Provides shade mix forecast for color launches. Initiates, updates and revises US Illustrated Calendar and Promotional Product Programs.

·         Inventory Management: Partners with Global Inventory Control (GIC), Product Promotion Team, and all other US Marketing teams to manage inventory of new product launches; alerts teams on potential early run outs or excess inventory; develops contingency plans. Monitors regular line sales and makes recommendations to re-promote or phase-out regular line products. Monitors Section 1 and Section 2 new product sales using daily sales reports and analytics. Works with partners to initiate additional promotional efforts to avoid excess inventory. Prepares communications for early product run-outs as needed. Proactively manages obsolescence. Works with global inventory control to determine which items should be placed on sale; determines pricing and duration. Obtains final approval from Manager and Director prior to execution. Interfaces with departments as necessary across the company to facilitate the sale. Works closely with departments including GIC and IST to manage implementation of approved changes. Develops and implements phase-out plans to minimize obsolescence.

·         Interacts frequently with the US Sales Force by fielding phone calls/e-mails, general market research, working special events, or providing necessary support as respective product expert.

·         Partner with supporting marketing groups to ensure that promotional video strategies and content is applicable and desirable for the various channels. Work closely with A/V team and creative to ensure product positioning and marketing strategy is aligned for channel usage.

·         Collaborate with Global Marketing and Creative partners to produce quarterly Look Book. Proactively plans and paginates each look book utilizing assets from Global partners and makes recommendations on flow and amount of content for each product. Creates briefing documents to share with Manager and Director for approval and provides direction to Creative for each issue. Oversees routing of document to team and key internal partners.

·         Manages the Preferred Customer Program enrollment schedule and partners with IST on ensuring a smooth enrollment process each quarter. Utilizing previously created PCP sample strategy, proactively recommend the sample for each quarter and work with marketing category owners to determine final sample. Collaborate with finance partners on forecasting the number of samples needed for each quarter. Gather actuals after each enrollment and maintain documentation showing profitability.

·         This job requires on-site work at a Mary Kay facility.