Paid Media Director, Global at Belmond in London, England, GB

As a Paid Media Director, Global, you will oversee the full media-buy strategy for the Belmond group to drive awareness, engagement and conversion, working closely with VP Marketing. The role will support Inbound marketing (product marketing) and Outbound marketing (focus on new audience/markets). This role needs to be highly organised, a strong communicator and collaborator, a strategic thinker, and able to juggle multiple workstreams and stakeholders at one time.

The role will be responsible for effective execution of said media strategy, managing central and local budgets to deliver top-performing campaigns and always-on media, working closely with Paid Media Manager, Global and agencies of record. Channels of responsibility include print media, OOH, paid search, display advertising, local search, metasearch, paid social advertising and partner programmes, though there is scope to add more channels into the media mix over time.

Tracking, measurement and analysis of campaigns will be a crucial component of the role, with clear reporting and ways of keeping local teams up to date with how their media spend is performing. These learnings will optimise strategy and performance moving forward.

The role is also responsible for raising the level of understanding of paid media throughout the business, working closely with Paid Media Manger, Global and Divisional, Cluster Leads and Marketing Managers.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategy:

· Act as strategic leader for all media strategy across all channels: Print/PPC/Meta/Display/Local Search/Paid social/OOH, working closely with VP Marketing, Paid Media Manager, Global and appointed agency to ensure a balance of brand awareness vs revenue-driving activity for every property (and in turn drive awareness of the Belmond brand)

· Work closely with agencies of record to create a full-year media plan to support across all hero, cultural and commercial campaigns, working closely with the Senior Brand Campaign Manager, Global, to align on objectives and strategy

· Support full funnel media activity across all channels, ensuring the right balance of awareness, engagement and conversion. Optimise existing always-on media approach, ensuring assets are best-in-class

· Build a property-first media approach with cluster leads, ensuring paid media strategy will effectively target the right audiences (inbound marketing)

· Support Outbound/source city strategy by layering in new source cities into media target audiences

· Develop an effective SOS model to support risk properties, working hand in hand with cluster leads, revenue team and Senior Brand Campaign Manager, Global

· Deepen understanding of existing and future audiences, working closely with the Digital Innovation team to further develop tangible personas that can be used for Media targeting

· Work closely with CRM and Web teams to ensure data and learnings are constantly taken into consideration when forming media strategy and delivery

· With agencies of record, select appropriate media partners that will best deliver on objectives – constantly evaluate performance vs benchmarks and ROI

· Spearhead ‘test and learn’ strategy with new media channels, assets and partners  (eg, creators, affiliates)

· Regularly evaluate new opportunities, vendors and processes to support each managed program and function – be at the forefront of innovation, working closely with LVMH Media to explore new opportunities  

· Establish strong relationships and collaborations with Global publishers and Media groups across the world 

· Communicate Paid Media strategy to the field, ensuring ongoing dialogue and relationship with Marketing Heads (inbound and outbound) to ensure that local strategies support their business needs 

Campaign execution and budget management:

· Oversee campaign delivery across all workstreams, working closely with Senior Brand Campaign Manager, Global and Paid Media Manager, Global, ensuring campaigns are delivered on time to support 360 plans

· Activate SOS campaigns effectively, providing key insights back to the business

· Carefully manage central and property budgets, ensuring annual budgets are spent in line with forecast and recharging to property teams is managed in a timely manner.

· Working closely with VP Marketing, Creative team and Senior Brand Campaign Manager, Global, ensure that all media assets are best in class and fit-for-format

· Push creative innovation and play with new partners, formats

· Direct the PPC agency on the management of keyword lists and ads for Belmond’s businesses in both Google AdWords and Bing AdCenter within annual budget limitations.

· Ensure PPC agency continually optimises accounts by employing relevant techniques such as managing negative keyword lists, match type manipulation, testing of ad copy, bid management, etc., to achieve targeted metrics.

· Ensure agency employs and actively manages all relevant and available ad enhancements, including location extensions, call outs, sitelinks, etc.

· Test landing pages in conjunction with the web team

· Work with the web team to ensure a holistic approach is applied to SEO/PPC.

· Develop and optimise accounts for new products as needed.

· Own agency briefing with Paid Media Manager, Global, taking into account all paid channels

· Working closely with Paid Media Manager, Global and local teams, ensure that Listings are kept up to date through the Yext platform and optimised with new functionality as and when it is released

· Work with revenue management to ensure third-party sites are displaying the best images and copy for the Belmond brand and products

· Manage any advertising partnerships with third parties (Expedia, etc)

· Serve as the main contact for TripAdvisor, ensuring listings are kept up to date with offers and announcements

Tracking, measurement and reporting:

· Set clear Media KPI goals in line with the LVMH measurement framework, with clear benchmarks

· Responsible for building channel-specific studies (eg, Brand Lift studies)

· Coordinate across various areas of the department to successfully deploy various tracking codes and mechanisms on the sites.

· Develop a deeper understanding of how data can inform campaign strategy

· Work with the web team and LMVH tracking lab to ensure reporting on the new site is set up correctly

· Analyse EOC reports and feed insights and learnings back to Global and Local teams

· Assess the impact of campaigns on our always- on performance

· Regularly interrogate and analyse the always-on approach

· Look to overhaul internal reporting so we have a clearer idea of attribution

· Ensure media reporting tools are in sync with internal Power BI tools

· Implement a clear media dashboard and rollout an education programme globally so local teams are aware of media spend & full funnel performance for their properties

· Work with cluster leads to interpret performance data and optimise local strategies accordingly

· Run quarterly update calls with Divisional Heads, Cluster Leads and Marketing Managers to keep everyone up to date with key insights/performance and upcoming projects

· Contribute to the monthly business report for VP Marketing

· Regularly evaluate new opportunities and processes when it comes to measurement, leaning on LVMH methodologies / learning programs

Team education/training:

· Maximise LVMH Media team training opportunities – for global and local teams. Share insights, guidelines and notes from live sessions to further educate the business

· Attend LVMH training sessions to understand best practices within the group

· Working closely with Cluster Leads, raise the level of digital understanding within marketing teams and with GMs – through education on the dashboard and training sessions.

· Develop the Paid Media team to be strategic, strong on delivery and best-in-class.

· Keep on top of the campaigns our direct competitors are activating

· Keep up to date with what other brands are doing in the media space

· Share examples of innovation and inspire teams to think beyond standard campaign process/formats

What We Offer

At Belmond, we pride ourselves on fostering a culture built on kindness, active listening, and genuine connections with our colleagues and guests.

We strive to create an environment where our employees can thrive both personally and professionally. With a commitment to your ongoing development, you’ll have the opportunity to learn and grow alongside some of the most talented individuals in the industry. Join us and be part of creating unforgettable moments for our guests, communities and each other.

This is your moment. Apply today!

About Us

Belmond was born from a passion for connecting discerning travellers with the world’s most remarkable properties, locations and journeys. From hotels and trains to river cruises and safari lodges, Belmond’s Slow Luxury invites guests to discover a new pace of travel as they savour time, engage with local culture, and connect with nature and people around them through incomparable experiences and unforgettable stories. With a legacy spanning over 45 years, since the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani in Venice in 1976, Belmond has grown into a global collection of 43 properties spread across 24 countries and territories. Exceptional destinations connected by legendary journeys are the very soul of Belmond, where the path that brings you to a place is as important as the destination itself. A pioneer of slow travel, Belmond has been operating the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express since 1982. Belmond later expanded to include pristine beach resorts, such as Maroma on the Riviera Maya, historic hideaways such as Villa San Michele in the Florentine foothills, urbane icons, such as Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, and gateways to UNESCO world heritage sites, such as Hotel das Cataratas in Brazil’s Iguassu National Park. As proud custodians of storied properties, Belmond is committed to building on the past to create a new legacy: the heritage of the future. Working with communities and local talents, together with the world’s most respected chefs, designers and artists, Belmond continues its purpose of perpetuating the legendary art of travel. Since 2019, Belmond has been part of the world’s leading luxury group, LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton).