Head of Marketing, Retail & Online, Japan

BACKGROUND OF THE APPOINTMENT

The appointment is for a newly established marketing role that will focus on driving sell-out of Jabra (and BlueParrott) product lines through key retail channels – both online and offline – across Japan and elevating Jabra market share in the region. The role will require close working alignment with the regional & local-market retail & online sales leadership.

GN Audio (Jabra/BlueParrott) is looking to strengthen its Retail & Online Marketing (i.e., Consumer Marketing) team in Japan; introducing increased online/digital and channel/trade marketing capability to accelerate retail partner marketing engagement and deliver best-in-class launch and in-life marketing programs for its family of wireless (and true wireless) headphones/earbuds. Consequently, GN Audio (Jabra/BlueParrott) is looking for a consumer marketer with proven track-record within CE across the region.

ORGANIZATIONAL PLACEMENT / REFERENCE CRITERIA

As a Sr. Marketing Manager, Retail & Online Japan you will join GN Audio’s Global Marketing team, which consists of 130+ employees across the globe. You will work flexibly from the GN Audio (Jabra/BlueParrott) office in Tokyo and will report to the APAC Head of Retail & Online Marketing based in India. You will also be required to work closely with the Head of Sales, Retail & Online Japan, and the wider R&O APAC sales team.

The position offers a flexible working location and will require regional travel to customer across the region on a regular basis (in normal circumstances), as well occasional global travel to attend (for example) global kick-off events or major tradeshows.  

The overall purpose of Japan retail & online marketing team is to build and execute retail marketing programs and to drive sell-out of GN Audio’s Jabra & BlueParrott product portfolios through priority retail channels (both in-store and online) in close collaboration with the regional sales team.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

In this role, you will be responsible for the planning, execution, and measurement of retail & online marketing activities with priority retail partners (e.g., Yodobashi, BIC Camera, Amazon). You will work collaboratively with sales colleagues, distribution partners and key retail contacts to develop channel marketing plans/campaigns that span both the online and offline world, and which deliver against clear sell-out goals.  You will also be responsible for consumer PR and digital marketing planning locally.

As a key member of the Regional Retail & Online Sales/Marketing team you will work to drive instore and online visibility (including retailer search optimization), store staff and third-party (reviewer) recommendation & the promotion of the Jabra line-up of Bluetooth™ wireless headphones & truly wireless earbuds with identified priority retailers.

You will assume direct line-management responsibility for Retail & Online Marketing Manager Japan, responsible for PR, Influencer & Digital Marketing.

SPECIFIC WORK TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Execution of the R&O channel marketing plan, working directly with key retailers in Japan to implement activities such as in-store displays & training, to-channel and through-channel communications, co-op sell-out campaigns and online initiatives

• Working hand-in-hand with local sales account teams to develop & execute specific sell-out campaigns for priority partners, agreeing targets for run-rate uplift and measured against these

• Identifying new opportunities for retail excellence within priority partners to drive incremental sell-out

• Planning, delivering & measuring the effectiveness of digital campaigns with retail partners, and ensuring that Jabra online presence is maximized within partner e-shops/e-commerce sites (whether Jabra brand pages, product detail pages or inclusion in partner online campaigns)

• Through training & education, creating Jabra brand advocates amongst retail sales associates to help tell the brand story and drive sell out

• Management of through-the-line consumer/retail marketing initiatives in the region, including (but not limited to) digital retargeting campaigns, social media campaigns and email marketing
  Coordination of the PR plan in collaboration with PR/Comms team at APAC level

• Negotiation & management of the overall Japan Retail & Online marketing budget (including marketing opex, MSF, co-op funds and retail space fees)

• Reporting on retail/online marketing execution and performance against agreed metrics monthly & attendance of Japan Quarterly Business Reviews

• Attendance of customer meeting with the Retail & Online sales team, as necessary

• Coordination of regional sell-in presentations to retail customers in collaboration with the sales team and the regional (APAC) product marketing manager

GREATEST CHALLENGES / ATTRACTIONS OF THE JOB

The role offers an exciting and challenging opportunity to become part of a Japan sales/marketing team which is on a tremendous growth trajectory. The role requires a highly motivated and determined team-player, who is ready to make a real impact across this region.

You will get the chance to work with an experienced R&O sales leader, and to be part of a high-performance sales/marketing team. The role will require you to share best-practice with other APAC retail & online team members, and to collaborate closely with marketing colleagues at HQ level, in Copenhagen. It will also give you the opportunity to be customer-facing on a regular basis.

To succeed it is vital that you are motivated by working in a fast-paced environment, where you have daily interactions with retailers, distributors, and your sales/marketing colleagues. Excellent customer engagement and negotiation skills will be crucial as you cooperate and coordinate with key retailers. Furthermore, you have a proven track record of improving sell-out to key retailers and reaching defined KPI’s within Japan.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• An academic degree at bachelor level (preferably Masters in Marketing or Business based)

REQUIRED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• At least 10 years’ experience of working in B2C channel marketing & in-depth understanding of the retail channel landscape in Japan

• Knowledge of the CE or telecoms market

• Solid experience of working in a regional marketing organization, ideally holding a pan Japan role

PREFERRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously & to budget

• Excellent negotiation skills & adept at working with customer partners at all levels

• Experience of setting-up and executing digital campaigns & maximizing online brand presence & search optimization with key retailer partners, with focus on measurable results

• Adept at working with distributor partner teams to plan & execute channel campaigns

• Competent at managing MDF or similar marketing funding programs

• Able to work and negotiate within a matrix organization

• Fluent in Japanese & English (both written and verbal)

PERSONAL PROFILE REQUIREMENTS:

• Passion for marketing and delivering best-in-class measurable results for regional sales and marketing

• Good interpersonal and stakeholder management skills with the ability to engage at multiple levels

• Results oriented and ROI driven. With an ability to set measurable targets and instill discipline to assess performance against these

• Strong commercial acumen

• Self-driven and positive attitude

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

#Li- Jabra