VP, Connections Planning

Connections Planning is a maturing function at Inspire, but one of the most important as well. Connections Planning is a focus within the Demand Generation Team, with a team of brand-dedicated connection planners who act as 'Sherpas' for developing, executing, measuring, and optimizing communications across paid and owned channels. Connections Planning is the right-hand to our brands, and a true conduit between our portfolio of brands, and the SMEs who act on their behalf. As the Connections Planning team continues to grow in size, and importance, there is an exciting opportunity to bring in a leader to lead this strategic team into the next chapter of Inspire Brands. You will be customer-obsessed, and also understand the importance of consistent messaging throughout bespoke channels and in a communications journey. Simply put, this role will lead a team who is responsible for how, and where we communicate with our current, and future customers.

• In close collaboration with Media Planning & Strategy; Brand Teams; Loyalty; and more, you will lead and refine the overall process from Brand Brief to activation across paid and owned channels
• Create a consistent approach to develop consumer journeys based on brand objectives, in order to make most impact across paid and owned channels
• In most instances, Connections Planning is also responsible for Comms Planning - therefore we need to align and define consistent approach for all brands
• In partnership with Media Planning VP and Biddable VP, work to ensure brands are taking advantage of strategic benefits of JBPs in place
• Lead approach to incorporate Brand Strategy and Creative with overall quantitative consumer journey (read: merge the art and the science)
• Clearly define role of Connections Planning in upstream brand ideation, and then, create consistent architecture of briefing processes from brand brief to tactical media plan
• Create feedback loop with analytics to show the impact of connections plans more clearly on previous campaigns
• Define content matrix needed from Brands in order to fill ever-evolving media plans that are more digitally focused, and more segment dependent

• Working closely with outside media agency, and internal insights team, this role is responsible for developing an approach to Audience Planning across the brands, which will move the teams away from "Demo Buying"
• Create framework to test and learn impact of personalized content to various segments, and the granularity needed before diminishing returns
• Within various segments, develop architecture for barriers and triggers to be overcome with connections plans
• Push media and brand teams to think beyond TV, and articulate various consumer journeys, based on bespoke audiences
• Within Audience Planning, push brand partners, and creative agencies, to think beyond TV and create exponentially more digital content
• Organize, concept, and develop culturally relevant connection ideas that can live at both individual brands, and also, across the entire portfolio
• Lead a rethink on what 'culturally relevant' means at an audience level, for each of our individual brands
• Execute feedback loops that allows for obsessive optimization of activations
• Lead ideation sessions with Connections Planning teams; JBP partners (Google, Snap, Twitter, Twitch, Spotify, etc) that allow for never-been-done activations for individual audiences

• Lead a structure that allows for you, and your teams, to be the right-hand of all our Brands, and specifically our CMOs
• Build blind trust with CMOs in order to allow for best-in-class activations
• Working closely with VP, Insights, develop tools that allow for planning at the segment level
• Oversee briefing to media planning and strategy team, and have final say on budget across all brands - offline and online
• In collaboration with VP, Loyalty, ensure that owned messaging reflect consistent communication as paid channels
• In partnership with VP, Biddable Media, lead and define needs of segmentation and feedback loops for all digital channels for where targeting against 1P and 3P is more easily available
• Working with CMO, synthesize complex audience plans into simple exec summaries for Brand Presidents, and also, key franchisee owners
• Develop and execute a strategy that allows for local to be a key component of audience planning

• Ensure talent development across entire team - from entry-level to Director
• Develop bespoke curriculum for 'residency' program for both undergrads, and new grads to get best talent from quantitative and qualitative fields
• Work with external partners to bring emerging and innovative technology and curriculum to train internal teams

• 12+ years of relevant experience in leading a connections planning team; strategic planning team; comms planning team; or media strategy team.
• Experience working directly with C-suite
• Deep experience leading a team of thinking outside the box when it comes to consumer journeys, and connections planning
• Experience managing budgets of over $500MM, primarily US-focused
• Ability to navigate a complex organization and work cross-functionally with many stakeholders - including CMOs and Brand Presidents

• Deep experience leading a team of strategic planners, comms planner, or connections planners
• Ideally, worked at a brand, or at an agency, leading a portfolio of brands
• Deep experience disrupting culture with connections plans that seek attention.
• Ability to work in a matrixed org, and be able to guide both paid and owned partners to create best-in-class consumer journey
• Excellent oral and written communication skills - need for storytelling ability is critical
• Ability to lead a team of 15+
• Deep understanding of how to create a learning agendas across plans
• Ability to work in a highly complex system, that requires an incredible balance of soft, and hard skills
• Need to be looking 3 years in the future - we need a visionary who is able to build the best architecture that future-proof and will create our practice to be best not only in our category, but the entire industry as a whole
• Ability to take advanced concepts, techniques, and standards, and translate strategies into a clear, and specific objectives for all individuals.
• Should be seen as an expert in the field of strategy or planning