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One of the coolest ecommerce jobs around!

HARRY’S COMMENTS: In their search for a new Director of Omnichannel Marketing, we are working with an 8-figure, north San Diego-based, designer and marketer of adult and family party games. As marketing jobs go, this is a REALLY cool gig that will you to WORK FROM HOME most of the time.

Yessiree, Bob!

This role is PARTIAL REMOTE — so in the event that you don’t already live in metro SD, you’ll only be asked to visit the office once or twice a month. So if you’re freezing your tail off in, say, Denver, you’ll get to thaw out for a bit in sunny SoCal. How’s that for awesome?

If you are in Southern California, you will join the rest of the group 1-2 times a week in the office.

About the Company

Founded by two brothers and their dad, the firm makes games that are more about having fun than winning or losing. And because no one (aside from my wife) likes to read rules, the company’s highly intuitive games usually take roughly ten seconds to learn — getting you and your friends off your phones and into the here and now.

Since its Kickstarter launch in 2015, the company’s first game has consistently been a top seller for the 18+ crowd, with well over 2 million copies sold. Now, the company has expanded its catalog and is the leading creator of one-of-a-kind social games.

The company’s games are available at national chains like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Urban Outfitters, and Barnes & Noble (to name a few), and the brand has been featured in media outlets like Buzzfeed, Bloomberg, TheChive, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan and Bro Bible.

About the Market

According to Grandview Research, the global playing cards and board games market topped USD 12 billion in 2018 and was expected to expand at an 8.7% CAGR through 2023. Other sources peg the CAGR at closer to 4.5%. Either way, that’s more than the US inflation rate, but much less than the client has today.

The increasing importance of building team spirit through traditional tabletop games is a key factor driving growth, as is a preference among millennials for old-school games at social gatherings (my client’s sweet spot).

As you might imagine, Covid fueled a re-emergence of card games as entertainment, as manufacturers developed fun and easy games to attract new players and increase the community aspects of card gaming. Post-Covid, an increase in board game cafes is expected to positively influence future demand.

Moreover, the rising influence of social media, especially on millennials, is expected to drive the demand for tabletop games such as playing cards and board games.

About the Role

Initially, my client sought a Director of Marketing, given the “full-funnel” nature of the role. And they were right: We DO need a mature brand marketer who understands ALL of the elements of brand value (functional, emotional, life-changing, and social impact).

Yet while it’s essential that this hire have the ability to maintain a Don Draper-level sense of the brand, we’ll need you to bring an analytically-biased approach to bringing the brand to life across every customer touch point.

Hence the term “Omnichannel.”

As the firm’s new Director of Omnichannel Marketing, you’ll be responsible for driving revenue growth by leading the firm’s …

• advertising strategies (online and offline),
• social media initiatives,
• influencer relationships, and
• branding efforts

… to support both new product launches and evergreen franchise products. You will accomplish this with a small but growing team as well as using freelance support.

Reporting to the firm’s Chief Operating Officer, you’ll have one direct report and add 1-2 new hires in fairly short order. This role is not a turnaround: The company had a great Marketing Director who’s moving on for personal reasons. No harm, no foul. You’ll pick up where she left off.

This search has been ongoing for a bit. It’s not unusual for a client to attempt to “roll their own” before turning to an outside recruiter. But here we are.

The team has interviewed a number of optimization marketers — but frankly, there’s more to this job than ginning up bright, shiny clicks on TikTok and Insta.

Which, don’t get me wrong: TikTok / Insta are very important to success in this position. But we’re looking for a proven ecom brand marketer with a SAFA mentality towards marketing, allowing customers to …

• START ANYWHERE, and
• FINISH ANYWHERE

Today, the firm’s primary channels are 1/ Amazon, 2/ mass retail, and 3/ DTC ecom (in that order). So, if a customer sees the product in Target and decides to buy on Amazon: FINE! If they see it on Amazon and choose to buy via DTC ecom: GREAT! If they see it in a Walmart store and buy it on Walmart.com: WHATEVER!

Your job is to sell to the customer THE WAY THEY BUY. Meaning, you’ll have to be an expert in TWO things: Your CUSTOMERS and your CHANNELS.

To win in this role, you MUST have a proven track record of leadership in TWO out of these three channels: DTC … Amazon … and mass retail (stores). We’re looking for an analytically-biased, process-driven omnichannel BUSINESS BUILDER who understands the tradeoffs between price and margin; CAC and LTV.

Right now, the firm does not have much first-party data. You’ll need to work with that. Likewise, the company doesn’t have much happening in the way of email. Crank it up.

You will start as a Director. But this position could be a springboard for a CMO role if you’re good. You are the only thing standing in your way. You will have tons of freedom and minimal oversight unless you request more. My kinda gig.

You won’t believe how much we know about this search …

I spent a ton of time on the phone with the client teasing out exactly what you’ll need to KNOW and DO to hit the ground running in this role. Some of the things I can share with highly qualified candidates include …

1. The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
2. The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little brush fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. Every ecommerce job has these — and this one’s no different.
3. What your average day/week will look like in this role. There’s what you read in the standard ecommerce job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
4. The leading and lagging KPIs that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you’ll keep score.
5. The major projects you’ll need to complete by Day 100 to be considered a home-run in this position. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can plug-and-play and drive REAL value in this ecommerce job.

I have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. My industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT me, Harry Joiner, at (404) 281-2025 for this info. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.

View Harry Joiner’s profile

RESPONSIBILITIES

Marketing + Strategy (45%):

• Develop and implement new marketing programs/strategies to support new product launches as well as evergreen franchise titles.
• Create an annual budget for all marketing efforts, and track expenses to budget. Provide ongoing performance updates against goals and budgets no less than monthly.
• Lead advertising efforts across multiple channels, optimizing campaigns for reach, impact, ROAS, and like metrics.
• Support selling efforts at Amazon and Mass Channel (i.e. Target, Walmart, etc) with effective marketing strategies.
• Build and lead a high-performing marketing team.
• Give feedback on business plans, sales projections and company goals.
• Restructure and maintain the company website.
• Ensure marketing efforts align with our company’s vision, mission, and core values.

Paid Marketing (25%):

• Create, track, and optimize social media ad campaigns to drive sales on TikTok and Meta platforms.
• Create, track, and optimize all Amazon ads.
• Coordinate with sales team on all retail promotions, including Black Friday, TPC promotions, etc.
• Cultivate a network of influencers aligned with our audience, negotiate terms, and establish contractual relationships as needed. Develop influencer initiatives to promote our games across various social platforms, driving online sales and securing retail placements.

Organic Marketing (25%):

• Create and update all Amazon product pages.
• Oversee schedule & content for regular postings.
• Create copy for Amazon and website product pages.
• Write fun, on-brand copy for social media channels.
• Manage our team of TikTok freelancers.
• Develop content strategy with team and ensure content is up to standard.
• Develop and deploy LinkedIn strategy for trade-level marketing and recruitment efforts.
• Create email drip campaigns.

Product Strategy (5%):

• Contribute as a member of the publishing committee to decide what titles the company should publish.
• Give feedback on new ideas and products in development through all stages from concept to cover design to content review.

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum qualifications:

• College Graduate
• 5+ years of marketing experience
• Skilled in Meta + TikTok Ads Manager
• Experienced creating social content for organic + paid
• Experience supporting sales in Mass Channel accounts
• Comfortable running Amazon ad campaigns to support sales
• Strong communication, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills
• A consistent learner who stays updated on industry best practices

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience working in a young and dynamic growth business, actively contributing in multiple facets across the entire marketing department and collaborating effectively with other business segments
• Experience marketing a product that is sold DTC and mass retail channels
• Marketing-related certifications are a bonus
• Comfortable writing fun, witty, and funny short copy for website and social in brand voice
• Have an in-depth knowledge of new media and the current trends on all platforms

Applications for this ecommerce job are being coordinated by Harry Joiner. To apply, CLICK HERE. Candidates, please be sure to email Harry for additional information that will differentiate you in your candidacy. Due to the intensely competitive nature of this search, thorough preparation for these interviews with this proprietary material is strongly recommended.