Associate Manager, Product Marketing

Company Description

Since 1940, Dairy Queen® has been one of the world’s best known and loved brands. Based in Minneapolis, MN, International Dairy Queen Inc., (IDQ), is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation. As a leading franchisor, there are more than 7,000 independently owned and operated restaurants in the U.S., Canada and more than 20 countries around the world. IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) which is led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire.

Here at IDQ, we create extraordinary Fan experiences every day and we do this through our commitment to hiring and retaining only the best in class talent. We firmly believe that our employees are the catalyst to the success of the company where their initiative, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurial spirit are recognized and rewarded. We're looking for motivated, passionate and dedicated individuals with an inherent need and ambition to go after bigger challenges.

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity available for an Associate Manager, Product Marketing located at our corporate headquarters in Bloomington, MN.  This individual contributor role works under supervision of senior marking staff, brings product growth strategy to life through menu development and execution including the product offering, pricing and promotional recommendations leading to continued sales growth and customer satisfaction. Under the guidance of their director, manages multiple products, product lines or strategic pillars. Assists in leading and effectively communicating to cross-functional product teams. Keeps projects moving forward. Schedules creative reviews before and after photo shoots. Executes marketing plans, tests and launch activities. Manages and oversees relevant product launches and coordinates launch activities.  Contributes to the development of short and long-term strategic planning for designated aspects of a product category(ies) including product positioning, product roadmaps, etc. With input and coaching from their director, synthesizes information from various sources to create persuasive presentations that move projects forward and drive results.

Key accountabilities include:

Product Test Implementation and Rollout/Launch:

• Under the guidance and oversight of their director, manages multiple products, product lines or strategic pillars (for example, food value or Better Chicken Leadership).
• With guidance from their director, assists in leading and effectively communicating to cross-functional product teams, gaining alignment and using project management skills, including timeline development and timeline management tracking for all product related projects. Keeps projects moving forward, knowing when to elevate decisions to higher management. Utilizes pipeline meetings to keep the broader cross-functional team informed of project status and changes in a timely and accurate manner.  Ensures that affected cross-functional teams (e.g. Operations) are involved and informed at the right time.
• Schedules creative reviews before and after photo shoots with Brand and Creative Services teams
• Executes marketing plans, tests and launch activities. Manages and oversees relevant product launches and coordinates launch activities in conjunction with cross-functional teammates, including oversight of the assigned items featured in the monthly Product Launch Kit.
• Manages in-market tests from store recruiting through to evaluation. If successful, creates, leads and executes plan for system-wide rollout.
• Ensures the timely completion of required internal briefing documents, including project initiation forms for Research & Development department, weekly status reports, and creative assignment forms (POP and advertising).
• Provides timely and accurate communication to Field Marketing team as related to product tests and launches, utilizing pipeline meetings, conference call and various meetings (Ops Leadership, FAC, etc.)
• Creates and maintains a weekly tracking list of product pipelines issues, decisions and next steps.

Brand Strategy and Plan Development

• Assists in the development of short and long-term strategic planning for designated aspects of a product category. Provides meaningful input into the determination of how we would bring a product to market through the internal stage gate process. Typical product planning and research timelines range from 6 months to 2 years.
• Product Positioning: Provides input on how to position a product to market, taking into account how the product will “fit” into consumers’ lives, what makes it consumer-worthy, why the product is better and different. This product positioning is critical to inform the creative marketing team for their later development of strong Creative pieces, such as adve