Advocacy Manager

The Advocacy Manager for Asia will be expected to:

1. Be the face of the company's Prestige Brand Portfolio. Exhibit expertise and detailed knowledge of our Premium/Super brands and serve as a definitive resource for trade, distributors, media, consumers, and ambassadors/salespeople for insight into the brand's history, production techniques, and spirit category trends.
2.  Being a key partner with the Japan Marketing and the Asia Advocacy Mgr to build/implement a best-in-class brand education platform and tools that are distinct and ownable for the company
3. Leverage market insights to establish memorable and long-term connections to the brands and win the hearts and minds of customers and consumers.
4. Own the Japan Advocacy budget and influence advocacy spend across Japan nationwide.
5. Be the lead for planning and activating all local/Japan oriented Advocacy activities; i.e. Asia Top 50 Restaurants in Japan, Sponsorship and Activation, Trade Shows & Cocktail events such as Old Fashioned Week.
6. Lead the Bar Swopping or Guest Shift program across Japan.
7. Develop the strategy and structure for the Japan Ambassador team, clearly defining the roles, responsibilities, behaviors, Key cities focus, and KPIs to support brand/business objectives and inspire continuous development among team members.
8.   As the team leader, provide direction, identify career paths, areas of development and rigorously review with Ambassadors (3 direct reports) spread across the company's portfolio for Japan.
9. Lead management of Japan advocacy activation in Japan’s most influential cities, leveraging local learnings and insights to refine long-term program strategy.
10. Work closely with the marketing team to align the consumer advocacy experience closely with the brand and enrich the experience through activation (Right events, Right tools, Right visibility)
11. Support the company's sales teams in achieving their commercial objectives and help develop/strengthen our sales, distributor, and agency teams' understanding of the prestige brands and categories.
12. Compile all best success, insights and feedback regarding emerging trends, buzz-worthy cocktails, and lifestyle drivers from markets, synthesizing knowledge across ambassadors to strengthen the company marketing activations and communications as well as share with the “Asia Advocacy Mgr”.
13. Connect with IMC to integrate our approach onto this digital platform for our online education program and play an integral role in the business and brand planning cycle with the company's marketing teams and external agency stakeholders.

1. High School/GED/Secondary School;
2. Professional individual with at least ten years experience in a related field with a strong hospitality and/or marketing background,
3. Deep and technical knowledge of the spirits world.
4. Native Japanese Fluency and Business English Fluency
5. Experience working with luxury brands and their clientele
6. Strong relationship-building skills with market expertise
7. Keen interest and passion in the On-Trade and cocktail culture
8. Willingness to work in a complex environment with many stakeholders