Senior Planning and Activation Executive

Job Description

SENIOR PLANNING & ACTIVATIONS EXECUTIVE

OUR VISION 
Spark Foundry. Famously Effective. Not one or the other, both. The thrill of the idea made better still by the pride of watching it work. A magnetic combination. Attracting clients that become advocates and talent, driven to deliver. Award winning and business changing. But a vision cannot be realized without the right ingredients.

You need diverse thinkers and diverse thinking. We call this Allsorts. This helps us tackle obstacles through different disciplines and perspectives. You need to thrive on the belief that great ideas are only great if they work. It’s not enough to be new, or cool, or interesting. Our solutions need to drive a business result. Everything else is vanity. You need to embrace both the art and the evidence. Right and left. Imagination and activation. Insight and technology. Big ideas, forensically measured.

All that while being a good human? Sound like you? Sound like where you’d like to be? We’d love to meet you

OUR VALUES

• Allsorts – We believe it takes Allsorts to get magical work. Diverse thinkers and diverse thinking. In what we do and who we are.
• Art and Evidence – Great ideas are only great ideas if they work. We believe it takes both Art and Evidence to thrive in the industry today. It’s one thing to dream it but another to prove it and it’s only great if you can do both.
• Royalty Makes Loyalty – There is a return on treating clients and partners like royalty. Nurturing clients’ businesses, listening to their needs and delivering excellence at every step allows us to build lasting and rewarding relationships.
• Good Humans - Decency in everything we do. Be a Good Human, Always. No matter who you are or who you think you are.

ROLE PURPOSE

The purpose of the Senior Planning & Activations Executive role is to plan and implement client campaigns - they are ultimately accountable for the delivery of all client activity. They will help direct the delivery of communication plans and management of offline and digital campaigns from buying and implementation through to reporting and the delivery of holistic campaign learnings. 

The Senior Planning & Activations Executive is to work in collaboration with the wider Spark team to deliver integrated and creative plans that considers all vehicles (display, SEM, SEO, Social) and mainstream media at every possible opportunity. The Senior Planning & Activations Executive ensures attention to detail in all facets of their work and will take accountability for any errors that occur.

WHAT BENEFITS DOES SPARK OFFER?

Be a part of the Publicis Groupe family, recent winner of the Employer of Choice Awards and one of the world’s most progressive and dynamic modern communications businesses. You can learn more about us at www.publicisgroupeanz.com.

Enjoy all the perks that come with our network offering:

• A comprehensive Wholeself program supporting Physical, Mindful and Financial wellbeing.
• A creative, lively and rewarding office environment where people love working with each other, supported by our Publicis Liberté flexibility approach “working your way, with us!”
• Access to our Global AI Platform, Marcel, connecting Publicis Groupe employees with opportunities for career mobility and collaboration across our global network.
• Extensive Learning & Development opportunities, including more than 15,000 learning programs via our online learning platform Marcel Classes.
• A culture of open feedback and support to reach your goals through our Career Conversations program.
• A committed Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy driven through our Viva! Women, Égalité, enABLE, EmbRACE and Ecologique committees.
• Leave benefits including Birthday Leave, Flexible Public Holidays, and an additional 5 days of leave (after 2 years of service).
• Work Your World program enabling employees the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world for up to 6 weeks per year.
• Parental leave policy with up to 18 weeks (based on tenure) paid primary carer leave, secondary carer swap and Cub Care leave.
• Access to counsellors, psychologists and professionals through Sonder - an all-in-on digital wellbeing technology platform designed to support psychological, medical & safety needs.
• Proud partners of Diversity Council Australia, Pride in Diversity, Family Friendly Workplaces, Supply Nation and the Australian Disability Network.

KEY Duties

Internal relationship management

• Direct relationships with internal teams and relevant external groups.

• Work in collaboration with the relevant internal resources and the Senior Planning Executive / Client Manager to create effective cross channel communication plans.

• Search for new, innovative and relevant communications ideas and present these to internal teams.

• Actively contribute to weekly (internal and external) WIP meetings - to raise potential issues within your client portfolio well in advance of the ‘boiling point’ for an issue.

 Media planning and implementation

• Create clear and coherent plans that aid client’s business objectives (e.g. timing, budget and business requirements).

• Be experts of the properties and capabilities of each medium's primary strengths and weaknesses.

• Work with and be able to interpret research, market data and systems to increase planning and trading effectiveness.

• Take on the day to day management and ownership of the implementation process - ensure media is bought and delivered to plan to meet objectives.

• Oversee and resolve problems and discrepancies relating to campaigns professionally and in a way that improves the relationship among all parties to the campaign.

Trading all campaigns using the Spark Activation Model & Philosophy:

• Work with the Activation Manager to brief partners, evaluate responses and provide feedback.

• Drive negotiations for clients with publishers and secure additional incentives over and above entitlements.

• Keep pace with market knowledge that will aid negotiations with publishers.

• Negotiate trading positions across all media ensuring all benchmarks (client & internal), trading strategies & contractual agreements are met.

• Benchmarks and performs all pre-trade work before booking.

• Aid the Client Manager to ensure all planning ideas are delivered through the trading process and relevant in-market opportunities are presented to clients.

TV tracking optimisation & reporting

• Finalise Benchmarking and Pre-Trade work before booking to ensure the rate position is best in market.

• Complete a TV tracking sheet as soon as the TV booking is laid down.

• Optimise TV campaigns and utilise the Tracking sheet to keep Activation Manager / Director up to date on progress of campaign.

• Ensure learnings are captured in implemented into Benchmarking for future insight for sponsorships or special events.

Competitor & market analysis

• Proactively completes regular and continuous analysis of competitor activity, market trends, economic issues and other factors effecting buys.

• Sources content and provide relevant insights for inclusion within competitor and market reviews and other ad=hoc client requests.

Trafficking and tracking campaigns

• Work with Senior Planning Executive and/or Client Manager to deliver ROI tracking recommendations for all client campaigns.

• Aid Coordinator to ensure that all elements have been trafficked correctly and tracking has been implemented on the sites (check that all tags are reporting)

•

Campaign management & finance processes

• Reconcile campaign delivery and ensure the final delivered plan reflects billings.

• Check proformas each month during invoicing time and implement any changes that may be required.

• Attend to account queries immediately and have zero outstanding account queries on a weekly basis.

Mentoring coordinators/executives

• Develop, train and delegate effectively with clear instructions and detailed list of expected deliverables

• Set good example for coordinators & executives and ensure they have all the tools and information they need to perform their jobs well.

YOUR SKILLS & WORK EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 3 years experience in a media buying related role – ideally across offline channels (TV, OOH, radio)
• Preferably higher education qualifications.
• Expert knowledge of the Australian media landscape.
• Expert across the following Office platforms: Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
• Excellent experience to evaluate and manipulate data, extracting insights for reporting.
• Advantageous with full understanding and experience using the following tools:
  • eTAM
  • BMD
  • Roy Morgan
  • EMMA
  • eRAM
  • Nielsen Digital / Answers
  • Sizmek and/or DCM
  • MOVE
  • AQX Fusion

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Develops professional relationships with media partners, clients and other relevant stakeholders.

• Attention to detail that is second to none.

• Confident and engaging people, presentation and communication skills.

• Strong organisational skills with the aptitude to juggle multiple priorities.

• Has a curious nature with a willingness for continuous learning and progression.

• Sound planning, project management and time management skills.

WHAT DOES LIFE AT SPARK LOOK LIKE?

We offer progressive flexible working options to everyone at all levels – It’s not a policy. It’s behaviour led and reinforced through our values. Mental health and wellbeing is something we take seriously – It’s championed by our own people internally and is a regular conversation. We have a lot of fun – Even in this virtual world, we are constantly looking at reinventing how we connect with each other.

If you don’t tick every box in this ad, please don’t rule yourself out. Research suggests that women and other people in underrepresented groups tend to only apply if they meet every requirement. We focus on hiring people who share our values of inclusion, collaboration, adaptability, fearlessness, and integrity, rather than ticking boxes – so if this role resonates with you, please apply.

Diversity. Inclusion. Equity. More than just words, these are part of our DNA. At Publicis Groupe we are committed to the inclusion and recognition of all people; regardless of race, age, culture, ability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status and religious affiliation. We believe that to deliver the best solutions to our clients, our people need to reflect the diverse communities in which our clients operate in. We value diversity and the skills, knowledge and experience that difference brings to our culture and solutions. 

Uniqueness is powerful; without it we wouldn’t be where we are today. So be you – we like it that way. 

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for people with disability or those that require additional support throughout the application process.  If you need any assistance or adjustments, please contact us via [email protected] - your personal information will be kept confidential.