Manager, Retail Marketing

ABOUT YOUR ROLE:

• We are a fast-moving team and if living Off The Wall has always been your thing, this is the perfect job for you to explore. We value teamwork and this means within the marketing team and also cross-functional teams that fall under the bigger team of Vans Korea.
• More than one brand building experience is a must. You must be able to showcase brand campaigns from development stage to how it impacted the business or brand elevation.
• With your experience, be prepared to answer the following: What is your suggestion for next brand communication message for Vans in Korea?
• You will be part of an exciting and dynamic Vans marketing team in Korea and report to Sr. Manager of marketing in Vans Korea and have team members responsible for different marketing functions.
• Your job entails two major parts, which is to (co-)lead Brand Communication and Brand Marketing in Korea
• Brand Communication requires you to define our target segments and developing an over-arching communication message that defines a clear consumer tension and the brand role to relieve that tension.
• Brand Marketing involves deducing a strategy & plan that will effectively convey the aligned communication message and be building brand equity in the best way possible.
• You must be a people person with effective communication skills, pay attention to detail, and have a great work ethic.
• Most importantly, we are looking for an authentic, down-to-earth, and someone who is going to be transparent and genuine.

  

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WILL INCLUDE:

BRAND COMMUNICATION & GTM ALIGNMENT

• Be part of Vans’ new and structured GTM process, to support Korea’s Marketing Lead to develop a local GTM story that is consistent with global Vans story and still tailored to be resonant with the local market.
  - Must have strong understanding of brand in general and also Vans, which will translate into understanding global GTM priorities.
  - Must be able to define the core target, local target, consumption target, and our potential target group – this should enable us to develop a locally resonating GTM story.
• Be knowledgeable about the fashion category in general and specifically the sneaker category that Vans is in.
  - Must have insight to how the category has moved in the past and what the key drivers for the category will be in the futures.
  - Must be able to define what products have worked in the past for Vans and will work in the future, to forecast consumer trend and marry that with brand priorities for sharp product-driven marketing stories.
• Be curious and sensitive about brands in general, trends, and consumer insights
  - Should have general curiosity towards brands and their initiatives. Be curious about how and why a brand acts a certain way to achieve what kind of a goal.
  - Be sensitive about trends – Have an opinion about how trends have gone or comeback, be able to relate it to the category that Vans is in to have a sharp insight to how we can leverage trends in a smart way.
  - Listen and observe the consumers – Ask “Why?” on consumer behavior and spending patterns. Be able to apply that to the Vans’ consumer base to hone our current target consumer and how we can be more appealing to the target.

IMC CAMPAIGN PLANNING

• Local Message Development – This has two parts. One is to find the most effective way to implement the global brand story in the local market. The other part is to develop a local message for locally developed stories or collections to drive commercial return in tier 2 and 3 stories.
• GTM Calendar Management – By now, you will have a fair idea that the local GTM calendar is developed through implementing global stories for top tier brand campaigns and local stories for campaigns that fall on tier 2 or 3 to drive locally relevant commerciality. Managing all of this into one calendar is key and is a skillset is required.
• Story Localization and Creation – In each story, it might just be a translation of the copy or developing a new copy from scratch. Executing that to localize each story to be resonant in the local market is key for this position.
• Asset Localization and Creation – Often times, we have to localize existing assets or create new assets. Whatever the goal may be, having the most effective assets to work in the local market is key. We are looking for someone who understands what “localization” actually means, which doesn’t just mean “translation.”
• Asset Management – With assets from global, APAC, and some locally produced assets, we need to be efficient in our spending and managing those assets in the most effective way possible.
• Media Planning – When we do all of the above, one must have in mind how we are going to implement this into the local market, which includes things from defining deliverables to monitoring media KPIs so that we hit each KPI successfully.
• One-team Spirit & Commercial-driven Mindset – Marketing isn’t always about marketing metrics. We are looking for someone who understands that we work as one team across all functions to achieve the ultimate goal of reaching our customers in a meaningful and consistent way to drive healthy conversion, which directly translates to healthy commercial numbers.

PR EXECUTION

• Be the point person for our PR initiatives – This role will handle all of Vans’ PR initiatives. This includes managing key launch dates, organic/paid media, seeding, and relationship management.
• Organic Media – Often communicated through APAC/Global team, launch dates must be tightly managed to be communicated to relevant local teams, press releases localized and delivered on times, and monitoring coverage.
• Paid Meda – On major campaigns, paid media planning is a must. Utilizing given budget, one is required to plan the most effective paid media plan that will bring the most amount of coverage.
• Seeding – The most important portions of all is to manage our seeding initiatives, which include devising/improving our current seeding plan, getting our shoes to the right people, and monitoring coverage.
• Media, Stylist, Agency Relationship Management – Managing relationship with our PR retainer agency, media, and stylists are key to drive maximum result.
• Product Management – Ordering seeding products in advance, managing inventory, and getting them to our target influencer on time.
• Action Sports – There is a global team that will manage the athletes across all markets. However, smaller executions such as seeding athletes, supporting them on events, and communication with them are required for this role as well.

WHAT WE WILL BE LOOKING FOR IN YOU:

• Education: University degree or equivalent through experience in a relevant field
• A deep understanding of the Vans brand, the action sport industry and street culture
• Language skills: Preferably fluent in Korean and English
• Ensure good level of engagement with team, provide timely and appropriate guidance to team, supporting talent development and continuous learning
• Collaborate with various stakeholders, with proven effective internal & external communications
• Excellent writing, interpretation and communication skills
• Experience in working in multicultural teams.
• Excellent ability to work to tight deadlines.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Enthusiastic, pro-active and can handle stress and take initiative.
• Proven project management experience.
• eCommerce capabilities across SEM, SEO and eCommerce platforms/ marketplaces as well as analytics are a plus.

R-20260419-0005