Sr. Strategist (Manager, Brand Management)

The team you will be a part of:

The Brand Management team promotes and maintains the brand image at local, national, or international levels. Coordinates marketing strategies, including packaging, pricing, expense budgets, advertising and promotion of the brand. Develops associated advertising campaigns for the brand.

This role in summary:

Whirlpool Corporation is seeking a Sr. Strategist for its in-house, award-winning creative agency and studio, WoW Studios. Our growing team of passionate and collaborative humans is focused on best-in-class advertising, storytelling, and consumer experience for all of Whirlpool’s brands including KitchenAid, Whirlpool, JennAir, Maytag, and Amana. We’re committed to increasing and elevating Whirlpool’s output of campaigns, content, design, experiences, and digital innovation across all consumer touchpoints (in-store, film, social, digital, experiential, etc).

WoW Studios is located in the historic Reid Murdoch Buildingat the edge of Chicago’s Riverwalk and at Whirlpool’s Global Headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI.

In this highly visible, business-critical role you will lead creative strategy for Maytag and Amana brands and report directly to the Head of Strategy at WoW Studios. You will be responsible for illuminating sharp insights and inspiring teams with strong creative briefs and deep understanding of the cultural zeitgeist. You will have a point of view on socio cultural topics, the internet, and branding.

Your responsibilities will include:

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and lead the creative strategy for integrated campaigns, ensuring alignment with overall brand and business objectives. 
• Provide strategic insights and guidance to inform creative concepts, content development, and campaign execution. 
• Conduct primary and secondary research and analyze industry trends to identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation.

Brand Stewardship

• Ensure brand consistency and integrity across all creative outputs. 
• Advocate for the brand's voice, tone, and visual identity in all communications and creative materials. 
• Continuously seek opportunities to elevate and evolve the brand's creative expression.

Creative Brief Development

• Lead teams in the development of comprehensive briefs that outline a project’s goals and objectives with an inspiring point of view.

Creative Excellence

• Collaborate with creative teams to brainstorm, develop, and execute innovative concepts and ideas. 
• Oversee the creative process from concept to execution, ensuring consistency and quality across all deliverables. 
• Review and provide feedback on creative work, ensuring it meets strategic goals and brand standards.

Organizational Support

• Be a trusted advisor to the cross-functional team helping to identify and execute top priority initiatives. 
• Work closely with marketing, product, and content teams to ensure cohesive and integrated campaign execution. 
• Partner with analytics and insights teams to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of creative campaigns, using data to inform future strategies.

Minimum requirements:

• ~5+ years of experience in in a creative strategy, marketing strategy, consumer science, or related roles, preferably within an in-house agency or creative agency environment 
• Proven track record of leveraging consumer insights to inform marketing strategies, influence creative execution, and drive business results 
• Experience in product launch go-to-market product strategy 
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, statistical analysis, and data visualization 
• Strong leadership, communication, and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization

Preferred skills and experiences:

• Bachelor’s degree (Marketing, Advertising, Business Administration, Marketing Research, Behavioral Psychology, Social Sciences, or related) 
• Ability to quickly foster strong relationships with internal stakeholders, senior leaders, and external partners to drive collaborative efforts. 
• Qualitative research expertise applying innovative qualitative research techniques 
• Ability to discern customer insight and “human truth” from large data sets 
• Passion and empathy for the customer’s perspective 
• Exceptional writing and communication skills 
• Champion creative storytelling that moves people to action 
• Experience with culturally-relevant, highly engaging brand campaigns
• A person with experience on performance-based brands would thrive in this role