Communications Planning & Insights Senior Lead

The Communications Planner acts as the liaison between Brand Planning, Creative, and Media. As a critical member of PMG's Strategic Planning and Insights team, this role will spearhead tactical briefs and campaign touchpoint architecture. This individual is responsible for mapping out which messages should reach the consumer at certain points along the journey, and also outline the correct production needs to accommodate the format for those touch points. With an ever-changing media landscape, this individual should be a multi-channel expert who will challenge and inspire teams to think differently about how channels can work together to enhance what we're producing and can liaise with specific channel leads to ensure accurate delivery of a campaign architecture. This person will also be able to translate those channel-specific insights to the Strategic Planning and Creative teams.

The Communications Planner is a critically important role and requires a blend of analytical and intuitive skills, marketing and consumer research experience, digital media expertise, thoughtfulness and effective communication skills.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrate a strong understanding of the consumer journey and the forces that drive consumer content consumption across both media and creative
• Be comfortable working across multiple clients and verticals
• Act as the connective tissue between creative and media
• Transform research, brand input, your own expertise, and media/content influence into tactical briefs that empower creative teams to make smart, bold choices without losing sight of the context and implementation within media channels.
• Communications Planning (media mix, delivery goals, flighting, daypart, etc.)
• Assist in determining the optimal strategic approach across channels
• Skilled in creating messaging frameworks, ecosystems, tactical briefs, and comms tasks
• Support and assist teams in the development and writing of cross-channel plan recommendations including plan presentations with accompanying flowcharts and budgets
• Create briefs for internal teams and work with teams to create media partner RFPs inputs
• Maintain collaborative, productive working relationship with Client Strategy, Creative and Media teams to ensure media strategies are being delivered and brand goals/client needs are being met
• Provide research and analysis to assist with various issues that arise in the execution of the tactical plan
• Strike the balance between data and intuition: utilize first and third-party research tools to delve into the specifics of our brand partners, customers, and the market, then know when to leverage that research and when to buck it for common sense.
• Be the consumer's greatest advocate: apply solid understanding of audience profiling techniques, media consumption habits and competitive analysis, plus a healthy dose of inhabiting a customer's mindset to produce strategies that mean something to consumers.
• The right person will understand how digital media fits into a broader communications framework and will be equally comfortable talking about traditional media, as well.
• Stay apprised of industry standards, new media programs/opportunities and can advise on new ways to reach targets
• Mentor and support junior team members

Skills & Experience:

• 7+ years of media/Communications Planning experience, across digital channels
• Extremely detail oriented with strong organization skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for frequent contact with internal teams and the assisting of POV's, plan presentations, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to apply critical thinking and analysis in business writing with strong analytical skills and ability to relate results to client business objectives
• Solid quantitative understanding of media planning and buying
• Working knowledge and practical application of media research tools (MRI, Simmons, Nielsen, YouGov, ComScore, Kantar, etc.) with the ability to analyze syndicated research
• Proficient in building decks using PowerPoint and Keynote