Senior Associate Director, Comms Planning

About WPP Media

WPP is the creative transformation company. We use the power of creativity to build better futures for our people, planet, clients and communities. For more information, visit wpp.com.

WPP Media is WPP’s global media collective. In a world where media is everywhere and in everything, we bring the best platform, people, and partners together to create limitless opportunities for growth. For more information, visit wppmedia.com

About EssenceMediacom: A Leading WPP Media Brand

EssenceMediacom is a new breed of media agency. Grounded in analytics & insights and powered by data & technology, we believe in the power of media and creative to drive breakthroughs for the world’s best brands. We help clients understand the modern marketing paradox and discover the breakthroughs brands need to win with their consumers. We are designed for the new communications economy — built on data & technology, built for people & algorithms, built around diverse schools of thought, built to test & learn at scale, and, crucially, built to evolve.

Role Summary and Impact

This is a fantastic opportunity to work as a Senior Associate Director on a brand that is truly making an impact on the world we live in and the fight against Cancer. This leading charity, Cancer Research UK, is highly acclaimed in the industry and the #1 in trust and perception amongst charities in the UK. Something they are super proud of as a client and their passion for the business.  

We are seen as core partners and get involved in their marketing and fundraising awaydays where we get to hear from the scientists at the forefront of critical work.  

The £25M media spend is split relatively evenly between Brand and Performance, with both playing an important role in pushing donations to fund the critical scientific breakthroughs. This is also reflected in new communications strategies and the creative assets being pushed from the end of the year as they look to the future. 

The client is split into marketing planning and marketing delivery serving general giving, events, stores and trading, and whilst they are looking for strong ROI and low CPA there is a great appetite for both new and different thinking in order to recruit that extra £1 of revenue 

No two days will be the same, and this client will reward you with a breadth of experience. You will be supported by a brilliantly strong team who always strive to deliver best in class and forward-thinking media planning. Experience across brand and performance planning is essential, and the successful candidate will need to form a close collaboration with the Digital and Strategy teams to provide a whole-brained perspective to the account, strategies and work.  

We are looking for a passionate and enthusiastic Senior Associate Director to work with us on CRUK. This role will play an integral part on the account, leading the delivery of innovative campaigns across all media channels. The successful candidate will work across the entire campaign lifecycle – planning, activation and measurement – utilising and strengthening their strategic planning and account management skills. 

Skills and Experience

At WPP Media, we believe in the power of our culture and our people. It’s what elevates us to deliver exceptional experiences for both our clients and each other. In this role it will be critical to embrace WPP & WPP Media’s shared core values:

• Be Extraordinary by Leading Collectively to Inspire transformational Creativity.
• Create an Open environment by Balancing People and Client Experiences by Cultivating Trust.
• Lead Optimistically by Championing Growth and Development to Mobilize the Enterprise.
• Shape and elevate campaign responses to be clear, creative and compelling  
• Elevate insight to be compelling and memorable via storytelling.
• Ensure that all the channel plans and tactics match the overall strategy. Oversee timely client booking approval.
• Lead the overall testing roadmap and formulate hypotheses for experiments  
• Work alongside the specialists to lead the overall data, tech and analytics strategy  
• Lead client forecasting & annual planning.  Deliver customer journey optimisation opportunities across digital, performance and commerce.
• Lead overall client satisfaction. Proactively take new thinking to clients. Manage difficult conversations and creative agency alignment.
• Lead meetings end to end and field client Q&As
• Identify opportunities for income via EM/GroupM products & services. Support investment with commerciality.
• Lead by example. Champion a growth mindset, GroupM toolset and EM skillset. 

Life at WPP Media & Benefits

Our passion for shaping the next era of media includes investing in our employees to help them do their best work, and we’re just as committed to employee growth as we are to responsible media investment. WPP Media employees can tap into the global WPP Media & WPP networks to pursue their passions, grow their networks, and learn at the cutting edge of marketing and advertising. We have a variety of employee resource groups and host frequent in-office events showcasing team wins, sharing thought leadership, and celebrating holidays and milestone events. Our benefits include competitive medical, group retirement plans, vision, and dental insurance, significant paid time off, preferential partner discounts, and employee mental health awareness days.  

WPP Media is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

We believe the best work happens when we're together, fostering creativity, collaboration, and connection. That's why we’ve adopted a hybrid approach, with teams in the office around four days a week. If you require accommodations or flexibility, please discuss this with the hiring team during the interview process.

Please note this is a UK based role and requires individuals to have the right to work in this location

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While we appreciate all applications received, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. 

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