Associate Director Marketing, Pulses

Key Deliverables in this role:

Strong P&L and Process Ownership

- The incumbent needs to be able to drive Operational Excellence to lead a large and complex portfolio basket with multiple variants and dynamics

- While Market Development is critical to the role, the incumbent will also be responsible to skillfully manage the 4Ps of Marketing for this portfolio

P&L management in highly volatile and price sensitive commodity categories:

- Weekly price triangulation and GM balancing - creating a dynamic market price map model for each variant consisting of RM price movement from key source locations, Inventory carrying/replenishment cost, lead competition pricing in each sales channel in each market

- Process this data, derive actionable insights for right trade, consumer pricing every week - this is a Sales channel X State X Variant exercise that determines pace of offtakes in each market

Consumer Centricity and Stakeholder Management:

- Build right consumer portfolio for the category - Ensuring right basket availability is key to getting consumer franchise and ensures better unit economics. All successful players in the commodity business operate by optimizing mix and building range.

Identify big bets for building range in the portfolio:

- Develop channel specific pack price interventions with right price laddering and promo strategy

- Enable programs with front end teams to build right market assortment and availability

- Ability to understand and manage risks with CFTs that arise with working in a commodity business

- Partner with equity team to build Sampann brand equity to enable right to charge premium by developing persuasive, consumer validated assets:

- Build a coherent digital presence landing functional superiority, having superlative A+ content

- Use chef collaborations and PR to advocate use of the product line

- Internal Process Improvement

Re-engineer Value Chain given thin margin profile, actively lead opportunities to build efficiencies:

- Set up new procurement models to optimize for RM which is ~90% of COGS in volatile categories

- Seek ways to reduce business waste - better forecasting, aged stock mitigation mechanism

- Define/review product specifications & RM/PM procurement practices, right packaging

- Seek Freight optimization by initiating GTM models for reducing supply chain touchpoints

- Lead CFTs to improve supply metrics on OTIFs, Fill Rates

Media mix development and Innovation

-Develop right media mix model for thin margin commodity business to target right consumer cohorts:

-Develop, deploy effective and efficient media model optimized on reach, frequency and cost.

- Identify right market X channel X media approach given thin spend lines

- Drive consideration, advocacy by right consumer targeting on high affinity platforms

- Build the new commodities business which would have a TAM of Rs 6000 Cr making them bets for the near term. Work closely with R&D, Innovation leads and Channel teams on concept, product, business case and launch plans

Critical success factors for the Role:

Educational Qualification – MBA (General Management, Sales & Marketing)

Overall 7-9 years of experience in Sales & Marketing roles

Strong understanding of the Business, Category function in an FMCG set up. Having been in Central pan India roles is preferable.

Needs to have handled P&L for a brand

High degree of consumer understanding