Client Leadership & Planning Business Director

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Description

Position at Mindshare Worldwide

Job title: Client Leadership & Planning: Business Director
Group: Mindshare Worldwide
Client: Electronic Arts (EA)

About Mindshare Worldwide

Mindshare is a media services company that accelerates Good Growth for its clients. Our company values of energy, empathy and impact bind together our diverse global family of 10,000 people from every culture and with every specialist skill you can imagine. People at Mindshare create ideas and solutions that help not only our clients, but also the industry and the world.

You can check out some of our people stories and client work and awards on LinkedIn or Instagram or hear about the company in the words of our own people here.

What We Can Offer You

At Mindshare Worldwide, we offer a competitive salary package, with 25 days holiday increasing with service to a maximum of 30 days, with the option to buy an extra 5 days per year. We also have an enhanced pension scheme, Bupa healthcare, a monthly wellbeing fund and early finishes on a Friday during summer. These are just some of the great benefits we offer.

Based ten minutes from London Bridge tube station, our office has a rooftop with 360 views of London - a great space to hang out with colleagues and friends!

We also offer an extensive training programme to help guide your career development, there's a wide range of options to suit everyone at all levels of your career.

Our Values & Behaviours

Our new values, of Energy, Empathy and Impact not only align with our Good Growth ambition but represent our commitment and dedication to our people, helping them grow their careers, fostering creativity, embracing humanity, and changing the world. At Mindshare we are open to difference. We believe in being open and supportive of our people and all their differences to help them succeed. Be different at Mindshare and use your difference to shape the world through media.

The Role

This is a EMEA role for one of Mindshare's biggest clients, Electronic Arts. Within EMEA 'FC' (Football & Sports EA gaming titles) acts as a global function in the EMEA team. This means for FC the EMEA team will interface directly with Global and EMEA clients' teams

Key Markets:

EMEA (Non-FC Titles): UK, DE, FR, IT, PL, ES, NL, SE, AT, NO, DK, CH, IE, PT, FI MENA: SA, AE

FC (Football and sports Titles): UK, DE, FR, IT, PL, ES, NL, SE, AT, NO, DK, CH, IE, PT, FI MENA: SA, AE

In this role you will act as a main point of contact for our regional clients as well as discipline teams across the agency. You will represent the regional recommendations and have regular interaction with our global clients, being a trusted voice at the agency to represent EMEA nuance and needs. You will work collaboratively across all disciplines (strategy, planning, digital planning, B&I, etc) and serve as a trusted client partner, internally and externally alike.

You will be the 'number two' for the Global Client Lead and work in lockstep to drive EA's growth agenda and needs. You will also work closely with Client Leadership Account Director and Account Manager who will be focused on network excellence, best practice, integrated ways of working across disciplines

About EA & Vision

EA's mission is to inspire the world to play. They aim to achieve this by creating extraordinary interactive entertainment experiences for everyone, pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Their vision is to be the world's leading interactive entertainment company, connecting millions of players through immersive and engaging experiences.

EA is a global leader in interactive entertainment, developing and delivering games, content, and online services for internet-connected consoles, mobile devices, and personal computers. With a portfolio of globally recognised brands like FIFA, Madden NFL, Apex Legends, The Sims, and Battlefield, EA connects millions of players worldwide.

EA foster a culture of creativity, innovation, and passion, empowering our teams to deliver unforgettable gaming experiences. Join us in inspiring the world to play!

EA takes a player-centric approach to marketing, advertising, and media, prioritizing building communities and engaging directly with their players. They leverage data and analytics to understand player behaviour and preferences, tailoring their campaigns for maximum impact. Here's a breakdown of their key principles:

• Player-First Mentality: EA focuses on understanding their players' motivations, preferences, and playing habits. This informs their marketing strategies and ensures they deliver relevant and engaging content.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: EA utilises data and analytics to measure campaign effectiveness, optimise spending, and personalise player experiences. This allows them to target specific player segments with tailored messaging.
• Community Building: EA actively fosters online communities around their games, encouraging player interaction and feedback. They leverage social media, forums, and in-game events to build relationships and generate excitement.
• Multi-Channel Approach: EA utilises a diverse range of media channels, including digital advertising, social media, influencer marketing, esports, and public relations, to reach their target audiences.
• Innovation and Creativity: EA constantly explores new and innovative ways to engage players, experimenting with emerging technologies and platforms. They strive to create memorable and impactful marketing campaigns that resonate with their audience.
• Franchise Focus: EA leverages the strength of their established franchises (e.g., FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims) to build long-term engagement and loyalty. They invest in live services and content updates to keep players invested in their favourite games.
• Global Reach, Local Relevance: While EA operates on a global scale, they recognise the importance of tailoring their marketing efforts to specific regions and cultures. They adapt their messaging and campaigns to resonate with local audiences.

How Mindshare Support EAs Vision

• Elevate: Take the impact of media investment on EA's business to the next level

• Evidence: Deploy data science and analytics to understand & prove our increasing impact
• Evangelise: Surface this impact and the opportunities it presents to all layers of EA's business

EA is truly a unique client partner, their blend of entertainment and tech, of art and science challenges us to continually develop new solutions and new media ideas, from harnessing best in class technology, to leading with sophisticated data-driven planning and measurement tools.

The mutual trust we have built in each other's capabilities is what has enabled us to develop an operating model that leads the world in data-driven media planning, deployment, and measurement.

Reporting Structure

The role will report directly into the Global Client Lead, and you will work closely with your EA team across disciplines and access talent and capabilities within Mindshare, GroupM and WPP

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, self-starter, a proactive orchestrator with a passion for gaming or sports. They will guide the FC and EMEA Pod to deliver exceptional value by championing a compelling vision, fueling growth through innovative planning, and ensuring financial and operational excellence. A commitment to continuous improvement, solutions-oriented thinking, and maximising impact is essential.

Significant media planning experience is required, gaming and entertainment industry experience plus. This individual must understand client needs, dissect briefs, challenge constructively, and develop impactful solutions collaboratively with strategy, audience, and digital leads. They will seamlessly integrate media and creative workstreams through close collaboration with creative agencies and client teams. Strong understanding of digital and offline channels, along with a strong grasp of brand building, performance marketing, and measurement (leveraging the measurement team).

They will have exceptional communication and presentation skills and can confidently present to senior clients and adeptly manage multiple stakeholders.

Role Responsibilities

• Strategic Orchestration & Leadership:
• Orchestrates the daily operations of the FC and EMEA Pod.
• Expertly manages EA's needs and drives seamless delivery across all workstreams.
• Cultivates a high-performing team fuelled by deep EMEA market insights relevant to the gaming landscape.
• Manages and drives FC and EMEA to ensure client objectives are met.
• Coaches and mentors, the team to drive a high-performance working culture.
• Manages team resources to ensure SLAs are delivered.

• Vision & Client Leadership:
• Collaborates closely with the Client Lead to champion and execute vision
• Provides crucial support to the Client Lead in all facets of client leadership.
• Proactively addresses challenges and ensures exceptional performance for EA.

• Growth & Innovation:
• Works in lockstep with strategy, digital planning, audience, measurement team to drive the development of innovative, data-driven media strategies; considering the nuances of the gaming market in EMEA (and other regions for FC titles)
• Drives competitive advantage for EA by ensuring teams develop innovative media plans that align with campaign strategies.
• Provides thought leadership in "Where EA might go next" to build healthy communities in collaboration with the team

• Planning, Collaboration, Ways of Working
• With team ensure effective management of strategy, planning and reporting deliverables aligned with SLAs
• Leads monthly and quarterly planning meetings.
• Collaborates with Client Leadership team who lead and ensure consistency of planning best practice in markets

• Continuous Improvement & Client Partnership:
• Drives continuous improvement by championing global, regional, and local process optimisations relevant to EA's needs.
• Fosters strong agency partner relationships
• Serves as a trusted advisor to EA.
• Represents EMEA and FC recommendations and addresses their specific needs within the gaming market.

• Communications Planning Expertise:
• Demonstrated expertise in developing and executing comprehensive communications plans.
• These plans should span both digital (e.g., social media, programmatic, search, online video) and offline (e.g., TV, print, out-of-home) channels; the ideal candidate will possess a strong understanding of how these channels can be integrated.
• This integration should aim to achieve maximum impact for a client like EA within the gaming and entertainment industry.

• Financial Excellence:
• Oversees financial management of the account.
• Produces trustworthy financial forecasting supported by the Finance and Commercial Leads
• This oversight ensures efficient resource allocation and profitability for the EA account.
• This includes budgeting, forecasting, and cost optimisation strategies.

• Measurement & Performance:
• Strong focus and understanding of measurement approaches (working in lockstep with measurement team)
• Collaborates with the Business Intelligence team to develop measurement frameworks that ensure optimal campaign results and yield strategic learnings and actionable insights.
• A data-driven approach to evaluating campaign effectiveness is essential.

Who Are You

• Strategic Thinker:
• A forward-thinker who can develop and articulate compelling visions aligned with EA's business goals.

• Proactive & Solutions-Oriented:
• A problem-solver who anticipates challenges and proactively develops effective solutions.

• Leadership & Collaboration:
• Fosters collaboration, manages stakeholders effectively, and drives results through teamwork.

• Client-Focused:
• Dedicated and understands client needs, builds strong relationships, and consistently delivers

• Commercially Astute:
• A financially savvy decision-maker who understands budgeting, forecasting, and profitability drivers.

• Communication & Presentation:
• A confident communicator who articulates complex ideas clearly and presents effectively to senior stakeholders.

• Gaming & Entertainment Savvy:
• A passionate individual with a deep understanding of the gaming and entertainment industry and its trends.

• Planning:
• An experienced media planner who can develop integrated campaigns across all channels with teams

• Data-Driven:
• An analytical thinker who uses data to inform decisions, measure performance, and optimise campaigns.