Sr Director Brand Strategy & Advertising

Overview:
Please note this is a Hybrid role in office (Lebanon, TN)
At Cracker Barrel, our mission is Pleasing People. This is evident from the moment you walk through our doors, with the first smile that greets you, from the items in our retail store to the food on the table, we welcome you home!
This individual is responsible for shaping and executing the strategic vision for our brand's advertising campaigns, overseeing the development of the overall marketing calendar, and driving initiatives to enhance the brand's image, market presence and business results. Build brand loyalty, increase sales, drive traffic, and foster consumer engagement. Embrace the essence of our brand's heritage and focus on positioning it as both timeless and relevant in the evolving market landscape.

Responsibility:

- Develop and execute a 16-month marketing calendar to beat year ago sales. Understand how different layers such as menu offerings (core/limited time offers), retail, off-premise and loyalty weave together in a unified effort to drive sales and traffic.

- Collaborate with culinary and consumer insights teams to lead the development of a comprehensive quarterly marketing messaging strategy and associated content development.

- Provide strategic perspective for future brand growth and development of new business layers and initiatives.

- Lead cross functional teams on the development of new product, services and/or promotional ideas that not only foster brand relevance and differentiation but also drive substantial traffic.

- Lead relationship with the brand's creative agency of record, guiding the development of advertising creative from insightful briefs through to implementation across various channels.

- Ensure maximum impact of advertising and content by working closely with the media team to understand audience dynamics, channel preferences, and past creative performance.

- Stay abreast of competitive marketing programs, making informed recommendations to support and elevate Cracker Barrel's market position.

- Prepare compelling materials for internal and external presentations, articulating the success and impact of campaigns and other marketing initiatives.

- Foster strong cross-functional relationships with key departments, including culinary, operations, finance, consumer insights, media, internal content studio, and PR.

Qualifications:
Experience and Education

- Bachelor's degree in related field and 10-12+ years experience in a fast-paced consumer-oriented marketing environment with demonstrated success of building strong brands, MBA a plus, strong preference for restaurant marketing experience

- Experience in all facets of modern marketing / brand management (both traditionally and, importantly, digitally, and mobile) with an emphasis on through-the-line communication, including sales forecasting, advertising, sales promotion, product development, pricing, market research, brand reputation and CSR.
Knowledge and Skills

- Detail oriented.

- Ability to manage multiple projects under tight deadlines

- Excellent project management skills

- Firm understanding of the business and P&L

- Strong organizational and people skills

- Ability to set appropriate priorities and use time effectively

- Drive for results with demonstrated analytical, creative and problem-solving skills

- The ability to set the strategy but not afraid to get hands dirty to make sure plans are executed properly.

- Ability to work closely with and lead functional peers on the Senior Leadership Team

- Built, budgeted, and executed both long-term strategic and short-term operational marketing plans that have resulted in above average business growth and performance.

- A track record of setting business / brand vision and strategy and bringing this to life through all elements of the marketing mix.

- Experience of growing / re-positioning a brand

- Experience leading creative projects and deep understanding of how to inspire creative teams

- Experience creating and delivering presentations and communicating marketing plans to internal teams.

- Familiarity with CRM & loyalty programs a plus