Brand Experience Manager

Our client is a leading appointed importer and distributor of various world leading alcohol brands. They are looking to a Brand & Experience Manager is the creative engine behind everything we stand for in market. This is a role for a bold, original thinker who can turn brands into experiences connecting consumers through activations, events, tastings, modern trade visibility, digital storytelling and ideas nobody has tried yet. The role partners closely with the Sales Manager(s) and the broader sales team to translate brand strategy into sell-through on the ground.

CORE FUNCTIONS:

Brand Building — Own Brands

• Develop and own the brand strategy, positioning, identity guidelines and annual marketing calendar
• Translate brand strategy into compelling consumer-facing campaigns across ATL, BTL and digital.
• Manage NPD launches end-to-end from concept and packaging through to in-market execution.
• Safeguard brand equity, tone of voice and visual consistency across every touchpoint.
• Build, brief and manage creative agencies, designers, photographers and content partners.

Third-Party Brand Partnership

• Act as the brand custodian for distributed partners ensuring local execution honours global brand standards.
• Negotiate and unlock co-funded marketing budgets, A&P support and POSM allocations from principals.
• Plan and report on campaign performance to principals, building company reputation as a best-in-class distributor partner.

Trade Marketing & Activations

• Design and execute trade marketing programmes across General Trade, Key Accounts and HoReCa channels.
• Plan and deploy modern trade visibility — gondolas, end-caps, secondary placements, shelf strips, wobblers, danglers and bespoke fixtures.
• Build consumer activations at point-of-sale: tastings, sampling, on-pack promotions, loyalty hooks and shopper marketing mechanics.
• Develop trade incentive programmes, sales team toolkits and in-store training materials in partnership with the Sales Manager(s).
• Oversee branding, merchandising and POSM production, distribution and ROI tracking.

Events & Experiential

• Conceive, plan and execute brand events — tastings, launches, sponsorships, pop-ups, festivals and HoReCa experiences.
• Build experiential platforms that turn the company brands into talked-about moments — distillery tours, brewery experiences, bartender programmes, brand homes.
• Lead sponsorship strategy and brand partnerships (lifestyle, music, sport, food) that put the brands in front of the right audiences.
• Manage event budgets, vendors, talent, permits and post-event reporting.

Digital, Social & Content

• Own the digital and social media presence for all brands — strategy, content calendar, community management and paid media.
• Produce a steady stream of original content (photo, video, reels, behind-the-scenes, founder stories, cocktail and food pairings).
• Manage influencer, KOL and ambassador programmes — from sourcing to briefing to performance measurement.
• Use data and listening tools to track sentiment, engagement and campaign performance, and feed insights back into planning.

Insights, Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Bring fresh, original ideas to the table — the role is explicitly hired to think differently and challenge category conventions.
• Monitor consumer trends, competitor activity, cultural moments and category shifts; turn them into actionable opportunities.
• Run post-campaign reviews; measure ROI on every activity; build a culture of test, learn and scale.

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach and develop the marketing team and any embedded trade development representatives or brand ambassadors.
• Manage external resources — agencies, activation partners, freelancers — ensuring quality, on-time delivery and value for money.
• Foster a creative, high-energy, results-oriented culture within the team.

Planning, Budgeting & Reporting

• Develop the annual marketing budget and own its disciplined execution by brand and by activity.
• Submit monthly activity reports, campaign performance dashboards and trade marketing updates
• Work hand-in-glove with Finance and Supply Chain to align marketing plans with stock availability and value chain implications.
• Any other task as assigned from time to time.

Qualifications & Experience

• A bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business or a related field.
• 3–5 years’ experience in brand, trade or experiential marketing — ideally in FMCG, alcohol, beverages, lifestyle or hospitality.
• A genuinely creative thinker — someone who brings ideas, not just executes them.
• Strong portfolio of campaigns, activations, events or content they have personally led.
• Hands-on digital and social media fluency: content creation, community management, paid social, influencer marketing.
• Excellent project management — able to juggle multiple brands, channels and deadlines without dropping the ball.
• Strong commercial instincts; comfortable with budgets, ROI conversations and sales partnership.
• Confident communicator and presenter; able to influence agencies, principals, trade partners and internal stakeholders.
• Self-starter with high energy, a bias for action and a sense of fun.
• Computer proficiency (Office suite); working knowledge of design, editing or social tools (Canva, Adobe, CapCut, Meta Business Suite etc.) is a strong advantage.
• Comfortable spending time in trade, at events and on the ground — this is not a desk job.