Associate Director, Public Relations & Media
Spencer Gifts

Job Info

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Overview

Come work with us at Spencer's & Spirit Halloween, where you'll be working with the best and brightest colleagues as you help us deliver the most fun experience and product possible to our guests. We're fast-paced and take our work seriously, but we always have a good laugh at the end of the day. Walk through our stores or the halls of our corporate office and you'll see firsthand that we're laidback and irreverent. We're firm believers in being true to YOU, so tattoos and piercings are as common as watercooler convos. Whether it's critiquing our new exclusive costumes or quality testing newly implemented software technology, our teams understand the importance of working collaboratively to challenge status quo and achieve our goals. We keep pushing ourselves to go above and beyond and are looking for top talent to become a part of our team!

Responsibilities

Responsible for promoting Spirit/Spencer's to media organizations, general press and media. Strategizes the most effective way to maximize positive media exposure (and thus aid consumer awareness and opinion) of Spirit/Spencer's products. Responsible for the development and execution of product publicity strategies to support sales, marketing and promotional opportunities for the Spirit/Spencer's brand and support corporate reputation enhancement through brand and product story-telling. Effectively communicates the Spirit/Spencer's product strategy in an appealing, consistent, and professional manner.

Primary Job Duties:

• Be the thought leader, and drive all PR opportunities from the ground up, including agency relationships, strategy, brainstorming, and media placements.
• Plans clear communication narratives and strategies for key business objectives/new product reveals / launches, facilitating collaboration with eCom, Social Media and Marketing teams to ensure cohesive planning and message development.
• Use and continue to develop strong writing skills that embody each brand voice with a strategic purpose of driving business objectives including but not limited to PR Releases, Media Updates/Responses, Media Guides, Look-books, Field Communications.
• Create and maintain essential guidelines for each brand voice and behavior with examples to leverage in response to media, crisis, and communication strategies.
• Develops and executes media programming, leveraging existing and new Marketing assets, campaigns and programs including events to support product launch and briefing.
• Develops and produces non-traditional programs, videos, etc. to support the product publicity strategies for sales, marketing and promotional opportunities for the Spirit/Spencer's brands.
• Build relationships with and engage top-tier media, personalities, editors, and relevant key journalists on corporate, charitable, and brand opportunities for Spencer's and Spirit.
• Deliver high-level and diverse media placements with the ability to see industry trends and craft insights into effective media relations strategies.
• Develop and foster collaborative relationships with cross-functional business partners to stay informed of new initiatives and projects to enable optimal content creation.
• Participates in ongoing brainstorming, story development, media outreach and program hosting for existing products, including the placement of stories in key print, broadcast, online and social media outlets.
• Implements annual product communications strategy for all brands, including cross-functional opportunities.
• Develop PR strategy that includes reporter and influencer research, pitch development and outreach, media preparation management for executive interviews, and reporting analytics related to media trends and coverage.
• Manage incoming media requests and answers efficiently with effective brand voice standards.

Additional Responsibilities :

• Develop comprehensive media reporting that showcases areas of strength and opportunities every quarter.
• Contributes to content development and influencer outreach.
• Perform creative program development and media hosting during product launches.
• Manage workload in a fast-paced and sometimes ambiguous environment.
• Create and manage a multi-faceted external communications plan that aligns with corporate objectives. Have a firm command of our PR agency and its deliverables and execute accordingly across multiple channels and business cycles.

Qualifications

Desired Skills & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in marketing from four-year College or University, Journalism, English, Communications, Marketing or Public Relations degree preferred.
• Eight to ten years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Retail experience or related industry is preferred.
• Robust and creative writing skills are a must along with efficient editing and proofreading skills.
• Ability to explain product development/quality in an interesting way to enable journalists to understand and relate this in their articles.
• Ability to work long hours in conjunction with press events, and when journalists are on deadline to file their stories.
• Ability to effectively represent Spirit/Spencer's in front of national broadcast and print media, and be able to do so under pressure.
• Strong project management skills, prioritizing, managing clear processes, communicating across departments and meeting deadlines.
• Strong sense of urgency, drive and passion to take ownership of all projects.
• Superb leadership skills with the ability to influence via indirect authority.
• Multi-tasker who works effectively and flexibly in a rapidly changing, fast paced environment.

This job has expired.