Help develop, manage, protect and grow our portfolio of Microsoft Office brands and branded products while working in a high performing brand strategy team. In this ASG position, you’ll be a brand strategist working across a range of strategy projects from naming to brief writing, but will have a core responsibility for developing and driving effective brand management policies and practices across the Microsoft ASG portfolio. If you’re a strategic thinker with passion for brands, strategy, and implementation and also have the cross-functional skills required to shape and strengthen brands that drive business, then this could be the next role for you.
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As Director of Brand Strategy and Management, you will be responsible for infusing a strategic mindset and brand-led perspective into our portfolio of ASG branded services and apps. You will create and direct the application of world class brand practices across the ASG system, working toward fewer stronger product brands and platforms that are more closely aligned with Office and Microsoft. You will help the brand strategy team elevate the role of strategy at all stages of communication development for apps and branded products. Your unique role within the team will be to create policies, guidelines and education materials for branded products, services and initiatives within the Microsoft ASG portfolio. This role focuses mostly on Office, Office 365, and Skype but will also include new apps and services that are currently in development.
Engagement with the Product teams, the Central Marketing Group, Brand and Strategy leads and CMR will ensure integration across all areas of the business, including product management, product and program marketing. The brand management development and implementation initiated by this role will drive the development of a powerful brand portfolio. Success in this role also requires close collaboration with others in the Brand and Marketing community working on strategies and execution of research to gain learning about and validate architecture.
This position has accountability for brand stewardship as it relates to brand management primarily, but will also extend beyond that to all strategic aspects of branding and marketing. The primary functions may include implementing brand management tools and guidelines, providing brand strategy support and counsel as well as leading internal brand education and training. Secondary functions will vary, but may include any of the strategic support functions performed by any member of the ASG Brand Strategy Naming and Management Team.
You will be responsible for tackling the following kinds of strategic challenges working in close collaboration with partners from PMM, CMR, and Brand/Marketing:
•Collaborate with CMG and CMR research to drive best-practices in brand management and brand architecture processes, analytics, measurement, and ROI analysis.
•Drive brand roll out projects for assigned brands and branded products to ensure fit with brand strategy, alignment with corporate goals, and to maximize marketplace impact.
•Drive brand management into logo design and visual identity-centered initiatives as needed.
•Drive facets of brand management including visual and naming guidelines, “brand tools” assets and support brand alias escalations.
•Conduct brand management training and evangelism activities with internal product groups and external agency partners.
•As needed, drive important, adhoc strategy projects that require strategic leadership and quick attention. These could include but are not limited to: naming, creative brief writing, positioning work, platform creation and/or development, architecture development.
•Train and mentor junior colleagues to drive a culture of learning and improvement.
•Gain the trust and admiration of Microsoft senior leadership by leveraging your unique combination of marketing expertise and business understanding to help them drive their business forward.
As a Director of Brand Strategy and Management you’ll be in a position to showcase your strategic thinking skills while also driving for results. This role includes frequent cross-group v-team leadership and periodic contact with senior Microsoft executive management.
The Brand Strategy Team is a “Center of Discipline Excellence” for the ASG marketing group therefore, brand discipline expertise is highly valued and leveraged across the team. There is an expectation of continual improvement for our discipline application and within the team’s collective skills.
Experience:
•Candidates should have 10-12 years in brand and business-building roles (i.e. analytics, development, marketing etc.) including a minimum of 5 years senior-level experience driving marketing or brand strategy and execution either on the corporate or agency side.
•Consumer branding, naming and architecture experience is essential. Technology branding experience is preferred.
•Master’s degree or equivalent experience is required.
•Keys to success include:
•Demonstrated strength managing teams.
•A passion for details, decision-making and action-over-opinion.
•Fluency in corporate objectives, marketing objectives, and business and technology strategies.
•Ability to build strong collaborative relationships with a diverse range of partners.
•Excellent communication skills and the proven ability to influence at multiple levels of the organization.
•Ability to shape and harness qualitative and quantitative research to drive good decision-making.
•Ability to simply explain and apply complex concepts and research outputs.
•Strategic understanding of the relationship between brands, names and architecture as it relates to a wide range of marketing communications, e.g., advertising, public relations, internal communications and visual identity.
•Strong interpersonal, negotiation, impact and influence, and conflict-management skills.
•A track record of success working in a consultative or advisory capacity at all levels of top-tier organizations.
•A track record of success in the consumer branding/marketing strategy arena.
•A track-record of building sustained relationships with senior leaders in an environment where you had to consistently message new or unpopular thinking.
•Ability to teach and mentor more junior colleagues, helping them learn new skills and methodologies.
•Strong interpersonal, negotiation, and conflict-management skills
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