Purpose of the role:
The Shopper Marketing Manager is responsible for translating brand and category strategies into impactful in-market execution. This role leads go-to-market (GTM) planning, drives shopper-centric activations, and ensures strong collaboration between Consumer Marketing, Sales, and cross-functional teams to deliver business growth.
Key Responsibilities
1. Go-to-Market & Activation Excellence
- Lead end-to-end GTM execution for new product launches, including sell-in materials, in-store visibility, sampling, and product availability
- Adapt global/regional campaigns into locally relevant shopper activations
- Develop compelling activation ideas when acting as lead market for regional initiatives
- Ensure excellence in execution across all shopper touchpoints (offline & online)
2. Shopper & Category Strategy
- Manage and optimize the annual category activity calendar (NPD launches, media, promotions, sampling programs)
- Act as the local expert on shopper behavior, retail dynamics, and category trends
- Identify growth opportunities through category analysis and recommend actionable plans
- Build and maintain a comprehensive category knowledge repository
3. Shopper Marketing Programs & Customer Collaboration
- Design and implement shopper marketing programs tailored to different retail environments
- Collaborate with key customers to develop joint business plans and category growth initiatives
- Work closely with Retail Environment and Sales teams to activate category growth drivers
4. Cross-functional Collaboration
- Partner with Consumer Marketing (Hub) to align on portfolio strategy, pricing, and innovation pipeline
- Coordinate with Finance, Supply Chain, and Sales to ensure feasibility and profitability of plans
- Act as the key contact point for localization and adaptation of POSM/POP materials
5. Budget & Performance Management
- Own and manage shopper marketing budgets, ensuring efficient allocation and ROI
- Lead regular performance tracking including ROI, ROMI, and ROO analysis
- Ensure disciplined execution of monthly Commercial Business Planning (CBP) processes from a category perspective
6. Insights & Market Intelligence
- Generate actionable shopper and market insights through internal data and external agencies
- Monitor competitor activities and local market dynamics
- Support insights prioritization and decision-making with data-driven recommendations
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or related field (MBA preferred)
- 5+ years of experience in FMCG, with strong exposure to Trade Marketing / Shopper Marketing
- Candidates with experience from Management Trainee (MT) programs at multinational companies (MNCs) are highly preferred, given their structured training in cross-functional exposure, leadership development, and strong commercial acumen.
- Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills
- Solid understanding of category management and retail execution
- Proven ability in cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management
- Effective communication, negotiation, and influencing skills
- Ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment
