Purpose & Overall relevance for the Organization: 

Support to ensure excellent implementation of own retail specific marketing plans mainly Visual Merchandising, and activation and instore communication for commercial and membership moments for own retail doors. Supervise the Visual Merchandising playbook and guideline for own retail and develop visual merchandizing projects.

Key Responsibilities:

• Implement retail specific marketing activations, mainly commercial and membership, per the brand design and consumer experience standards, in alignment with the global strategy and the local Brand Activation team for own retail doors.
• Develop and implement store opening related work (Layout creation, SKU calculation, fixture/parts planning and ordering, Instore communication tools production) for both VM and Activation.
• Share consumer and channel relevant input for country/cluster specific needs to the Global Brand Activation team.
• Partner with the membership team to plan and implement membership activities within the own retail landscape.
• Develop and execute seasonal implementation plan of the Global Brand Activation strategy into the seasonal DTC plan with creating and executing the initiatives in line with brand guidelines.
• Ensure the alignment of Brand Calendar with global counterpart.
• Make sure positive ROI on both planning and execution phase for retail activation initiatives across all key Retail stores and be accountable for it
• Control budget with understanding forecast and monitoring record
• Establish a high-performance culture and drive employee engagement, leading by example.

Visual Merchandising (VM)

• Implement VM/ISC plan in alignment with Global retail activation team and global VM/ISC guidelines.
• Ensure store complies with Global standards and guidelines to provide a leading shopping experience to all consumers.
• Deliver comprehensive VM plans for Retail Doors in close collaboration with the Retail team and country/cluster Assortment Planning.
• Develop by door and concept specific visual merchandising directives and drive consistency in execution across the entire Market.
• Support to coordinate all VM services during project implementation.
• Drive, measure and report on retail space productivity and make recommendations to management for continuous improvement in managed spaces.
• Provide input in seasonal brand marketing calendar and reflect into the layout plan.
• Ensure all retail space management solutions are partnered with the best point-of-sale with regular updates.
• Provides stores with comprehensible campaign execution VM directive.

Training

• Train respective Channel team and Retail VM Coaches on Global Visual Merchandising standards and guidelines, including mannequin stylings, folding techniques, steaming and merchandise presentation standards as well as the use of how products should be placed in-store based on brand consumer journey.

Reporting

• Keep up-to-date on competitor analysis as well as current and upcoming fashion trends across the store location area. Communicate information to Senior Manager
• Identify and communicate store needs and best practices to Senior Manager
• Other duties as requested by Senior Manager

KPI’s:

• Retail Net Sales
• Return on marketing investment
• Retail specific KPI such as traffic, conversion, average selling price based on initiatives
• Membership acquisition and engagement based on initiatives

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Experience / knowledge in Visual Merchandising and In-store Marketing
• Advanced abilities in the fields of employee engagement and performance management at every level through effective motivation, coaching, training, and development of personnel in the team
• Proven project management experience
• Good IT skills (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Illustrator).

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications:

• University degree in Business or equivalent professional experience, ideally in Sales and/or Marketing
• At least 3-4 years’ experience in respective Visual Merchandising and In-store marketing fields
• Proven track record as leader
• Fluent in Japanese, business level English
• Passion for sports and fashion

Key Relationships:

• Japan Brand Activation team
• Category Business Unit
• Own Retail team (Retail Sales / Merchandising / Consumer Experience)
• External partners including agencies
• Global Brand Activation
• Country Membership Team
• Finance and Legal