Temp Opportunity: Brand Planner

What We Believe

Carmichael Lynch is an integrated creative agency built on the belief that the strongest brands are brave enough to define their true purpose. Since 1962, we’ve helped clients uncover their singular brand truth and turn it into work that can’t be ignored. It’s the hard work of simple—ideas strengthened through integration, where disciplines converge and diverge seamlessly around one compelling truth to cut through clutter and drive real business impact.

Our Hiring Philosophy

Carmichael Lynch is committed to creating a diverse, safe and welcoming workplace with opportunity for all. We strive for inclusion, equity and diversity in both our words and actions. BIPOC, women, marginalized communities, LGBTQIA+, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. To learn more, please visit: https://www.carmichaellynch.com/about/

What’s In It for You*

• Professional Development (performance reviews 2x annually, training opportunities related to your field of development, one-on-ones with managers, etc.)
• We offer competitive, equitable salaries (reviewed annually to ensure equity and competitiveness)
• A strong, vibrant, continually-evolving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion belief (in thought and action), encompassing our agency and our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Recognizing the voices that need to be heard.
• Competitive, company and employee sponsored benefits, including: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, PTO (vacation/sick time) allowance, maternity leave, parental leave, paid company holidays, Family Building Benefit (adoption, surrogacy benefit), and much more.

*Please note that these benefits only apply to full time roles

*Please note: This is a temporary (3 month) assignment.

Role:

The brand planner is responsible for partnering closely with the planning director and internal teams to help shape strategy on client accounts. This individual should understand their client's business context, their competitive position, and their consumer target audience(s), executing research, creating trend reports, and writing inspiring creative briefs.

Areas of Focus:

Inform & Create Brand Strategies

• Comfort with tools such as brand architecture, consumer segmentation, etc. Ability to begin identifying which tools are needed at different points in the strategy development process.
• Develops inspiring creative briefs based on a deep knowledge of the client’s business, competitive landscape, cultural environment and target consumer. 
• Inspires integrated teams with kickoff presentations that bring the brand, the consumer and the strategy into sharp relief, crystallizing what we are doing and why. 
• Provides ongoing inspiration to integrated teams throughout the creative development process.
• Develops strong, collaborative partnerships with integrated internal teams including creative, account management, media, PR, social and analytics, to ensure cohesive cross-channel strategy from start to finish.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of client businesses and begins to proactively identify opportunities. 

Research: 

• Leads development and execution of all primary and secondary research projects, everything from setting objectives, to developing the questions that need to be answered, to partnering with research providers, to developing and presenting the final client deliverable. 
• Creates target audience profiles in Simmons/MRI tools, bringing the audiences to life in interesting ways for multiple stakeholders. 
• Understands and can help shape client research efforts, including segmentation studies, A&U studies and ad testing. 
• Power user of secondary resources like Mintel, Kantar MONITOR and WARC.
• Develop relationships with research suppliers and vendors, staying up-to-date on the best research methodologies to use for various needs.

Leadership: 

• Shapes and reframes approaches to each project with the integrated team.

Qualifications/Traits:

Education:

• A bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on psychology, sociology, anthropology, advertising, or related field or strong relevant experience.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• A minimum of 3+ years of brand planning or related experience at an advertising agency or on the client side. 
• Proven ability to work with creative teams.
• Proven ability to execute quantitative and qualitative research projects.
• Experience working with Simmons/MRI and syndicated research partners.
• Ability to coach junior planners on projects.
• Ability to develop a positive and collaborative relationship with clients.
• Ability to proactively drive work forward while collaborating with key partners throughout.
• Strong writing, reasoning and presenting skills.
• Experience working on direct to consumer brands in the consumer packaged goods space preferred.

Competencies:

• Curiosity and desire to understand culture and what drives human behavior.
• Passion for the creative process and developing break-through work.
• Proactive, accountable, resourceful, and results-driven.
• Motivated to seek new opportunities and to take initiative.