Senior Specialist: Brand Sponsorships

Senior Specialist: Brand Sponsorships

Purpose of the Job Develop and execute sponsorship strategies that align with brand and business objectives, securing valuable rights, and activating them across multiple channels to drive awareness, engagement and brand love for Cell C. Manage partner relationships, agencies and budgets to ensure impactful, compliant and cost-effective delivery of sponsorships. Measure and report performance against KPI, such as ROMI, media value, and customer impact to demonstrate business value.

Main Responsibilities

• Strategic Sponsorship Planning

• Develop and implement the annual sponsorship strategy, guidelines and related leverage plans aligned with overall brand, marketing and commercial objectives across all properties, to deliver effective sponsorship campaigns

• Define measurable objectives, i.e. brand awareness, consideration, engagement, customer acquisition / retention for each property in the portfolio

• Identify sponsorship opportunities align with with passion points of targeted segments and audiences, e.g., sports, culture, lifestyle etc.

• Evaluate and keep record of all sponsorship opportunities presented to Cell C in accordance with the strategic framework

• Develop and implement a sponsorship measurement system that relates sponsorship activities and their impact on business objectives back to pre-determined KPI’s

• Drive experiential activations that create memorable consumer connections and measurable engageme

• Sponsorship Management

• Champion sponsorships as a core brand asset that builds emotional connection and loyalty

• Manage the relationships with rights owners, potential sponsors and sponsorship industry stakeholders

• Manage the relationship with the agency partners, i.e. sponsorship, creative and media agencies and manage their deliverables

• Manage the sponsorship rights per sponsorship property to ensure effective leverage of rights afforded to Cell C

• Manage sponsorship leveraging activities to positively impact brand image and support the functions across regions

• Implement sponsorship measurement systems that monitor and capture all relevant sponsorship project information on a relevant database or filing system ensuring that the project data is always up-to-date and accurate for ongoing sponsorship monitoring and reporting

• Develop and present post-campaign analysis reports for management, identifying key learnings

• Manage internal departments that provide services to the approved sponsorship leverage plans, to ensure timeous delivery against deadlines and to maximize the sponsorship leverage effect

• Administration and Reporting

• Compile and manage an annual sponsorship activity calendar to be updated and shared with internal stakeholders weekly

• Obtain information from the segment managers on their requirements to stimulate sponsorship activity in a particular segment over a particular period of time

• Identify and establish new and innovative ways of implementing sponsorship activities

• Seek out research to identify any new trends that are happening both locally and globally to ensure that sponsorship activities are always topical, relevant and exciting

• Report annually to the Executive on the competitor sponsorship landscape and the brand’s sponsorship leveraging results, against the pre-determined KPI’s per sponsorship property

• Ensure all contracts are accurately prepared, compliant, approved and executed within the required timelines, with appropriate governance, record-keeping and ongoing contract management in line with organisational policies and regulatory requirements

• Governance and Budget Management

• End to end management of the sponsorship budget, adhering to financial policies and guidelines

• Participate in the budgetary forecast planning of sponsorship spend (rights and leveraging)

• Ensure compliance with contracts, legal requirements, and brand governance

• Drive efficiencies in agency and paymaster fees, ensuring cost-effective sponsorship delivery

• Perform any related duties as requested by Management

Special requirements relevant to this role:

• The role requires the incumbent to occasionally work on weekends
• Travel around the country and internationally as the job requires

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing / Brand / Communications / Arts or Sports Management

Experience

• 5 - 8 years relevant marketing experience with:

• Minimum 4 years relevant experience in sponsorship management at management level, collaborating across teams and functions

• Project Management experience

• Cell C is an equal opportunities employer, committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees are treated fairly and with respect, regardless of race, gender, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.