Director of Product Marketing

Director of Product Marketing

Location: NYC, Houston, Connecticut

“We must be alarmingly enterprising and startlingly original. We must be honest and fearless. And we must spark a revolution.”  William Randolph Hearst, 1887

Hearst has quietly become one of the most profitable and diversified media and information companies in the U.S., with more than 360 businesses. In addition to its interests in magazines (300+ publications), and television (A&E, ESPN, 31 TV stations), Hearst owns and operates a premier portfolio of 85+ local digital and print news/media brands reaching over 60M consumers each month. Managed within the HNP (Hearst Newspapers) division, these brands include Hearst Bay Area - SF Chronicle | SFGATE.com, Houston Chronicle Media Group | CHRON.com, Hearst Connecticut Media Group | ctpost.com, Hearst Media San Antonio Group | SA Express-News |mySA.com, Albany Times Union | timeunion.com, Texas / Midwest Community assets and many more.

HNP has achieved record profit growth and built a reputation for delivering award-winning news content and innovative digital advertising solutions to businesses of all sizes.  Our world-class sales organization, local to each of our market-leading news/media outlets, has been integral to this success, and we are seeking an experienced Director of Product Marketing to fuel our continued growth for many years to come. 

Reporting to the SVP of Marketing Operations & Advertising Strategy, this analytical and passionate marketer will play a key role in conducting advertising product market research, strategic planning/prioritization, and launching new digital advertising products.  Responsibilities will include maintaining the HNP Ad Product Roadmap, developing project plans with key milestones for deliverables, crafting messaging and positioning for new digital ad products/features and creating sales enablement assets (i.e., sales presentations, packaging, training, case studies).

As a the product marketing lead for the HNP division, this role presents a unique opportunity to directly manage a highly strategic function and have a direct impact on sales growth. Key elements to success in this role include building a strong partnership with sales and product owners, cross-departmental collaboration, project management, intellectual curiosity for local advertising and media trends, exceptional positioning development skills, and a highly motivated self-starter mindset.

Responsibilities

• Lead New Advertising Product Rollouts
  • Operationalize and own the product launch function: plan, create and lead the cross-functional launch of new advertising product releases, and execute the marketing elements of the rollout.
  • Play the lead role in scheduling and updating our Ad Product Roadmap in collaboration with product owners across several digital advertising disciplines – Interactive Content Experiences, Native Advertising, High-Impact Ad Units, 3rd Party Digital Marketing Services (i.e., Social Media Marketing, Content Syndication, Local Commerce Search Engine Optimization, Video Advertising).
  • Facilitate discussions with key stakeholders on needed solutions and define opportunities/priorities.
  • Develop a post-launch process to track and assess new products based on advertiser and sales feedback, product effectiveness, revenue target achievement, ease of advertiser onboarding, and quality of fulfillment.
  • Build highly productive partnerships with key stakeholders across the organization – product management, sales management, sales training, sales operations, marketing operations, finance, customer experience, etc.
• Gather and Translate Internal and External Market Intelligence:
  • Lead and synthesize market research (i.e., national and local media spending trends) and competitive intelligence gathering to inform product strategy, product positioning, differentiation, and sales training. 
  • Define the market opportunity for new products and crystalize the needs/wants/pain points of our target advertiser personas (i.e., business size, industry, location)
  • Develop and manage KPIs for measurable goals and milestones based on internal and external benchmarking data.
• Develop Differentiated Messaging and Sales Tools:
  • Utilize internal and external research to develop sales and marketing collateral that highlights Hearst’s unique value proposition and measurable impact for advertisers.
  • Work in lockstep with sales leadership, global training, and product experts to identify opportunities to level up our go-to-market execution.
  • Create market-ready sales packages and pricing models, in collaboration with sales and product management, supported by industry research, c