Director Marketing EMEA

Marchon Eyewear is a global industry leader, designing, manufacturing and distributing high-end eyewear and sunglasses. To meet the ambitious business objectives of Marchon EMEA, the commercial organization has recently adopted a new way of working. As part of this process, an exciting new role has emerged: Director Marketing EMEA.

ABOUT MARCHON

Founded in 1983, Marchon’s objective is to continually drive the eyewear industry forward, creating glasses and sunglasses at the forefront of fashion and technological innovation. In addition to its own in house brands, the company also co-creates and distributes eyewear for licensed brands such as Calvin Klein, Nike, Lacoste, Chloé, Longchamp, Karl Lagerfeld, and Victoria Beckham. Time and again, they deliver fashion-forward designs that blend technical innovation with eye-catching style. Marchon has over 86,000 salespoints in over 100 countries, with over 19 million frames sold annually.

 “Our new partnership with Marchon will allow us to scale our presence in the eyewear retail market and capitalize on Marchon’s technical innovation, expertise in product development and global distribution network. Marchon is an industry leader, working with such dynamic, iconic brands, so we are delighted to announce this partnership with them.” Paolo Riva, CEO at Victoria Beckham Ltd.

Although Marchon was acquired by the U.S. eyecare benefits provider Vision Service Plan in 2008, it still has its own entrepreneurial, high-energy, can-do culture. With a pan-European presence which has already lasted nearly 30 years and ambitious plans to continue to expand within Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Marchon EMEA is headquartered in Amsterdam.

Michael van Es, Managing Director EMEA, has initiated a new way of working within the commercial department in order to establish closer cooperation between the local teams and the Global Brand department, ultimately facilitating faster growth of the business. Marchon’s marketing strategy is defined by a matrix with local market expertise and retail partners on the one hand and the global licensed brands on the other. The healthy tension between all stakeholders gives rise to a new role: Director Marketing EMEA.

ABOUT THE VACANCY: DIRECTOR MARKETING EMEA

The Director Marketing EMEA is the linking pin connecting the local Marketing and Sales teams and the Global Brand Management and Trade Marketing teams. This pivotal role enables the Director to be the strategic sparring partner to the Managing Director for EMEA. And last but not least, this person is also the inspirational leader of the EMEA Country Marketing Managers, Regional Brand Managers for global priority US brands and the Regional PR Manager.

“There are no secrets to success. It’s the result of understanding what needs to be done and doing it. If you have a strategic mindset and you’re able to build teams and marketing capabilities, you’ll come a long way.” – Michael van Es, Managing Director EMEA

STRATEGIC

The Director Marketing sets the direction for the regional commercial marketing strategy to increase new business and retain current clients and enables the execution thereof. This includes defining the short and long-term goals, target markets, competitive positioning, brand priorities, marketing, and e-commerce strategies and supporting programs.

HANDS-ON

Marchon is a results-driven and hands-on organization, meaning the Director is also responsible for the successful implementation of regional events. Together with the team, the Director will research and analyze consumer and market data to identify key issues and opportunities. To increase sales, the Director will work with Country Managing Directors, Commercial Directors, and Country Marketing Managers to integrate activities into strong external programs. The Director will also create cross-country programs to deploy best practices across the regions and merge global brand strategies with regional plans.

This role includes frequent travel (30%) between Amsterdam, Treviso, and other European locations as well as occasionally to the US.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

EXPERIENCE

• Academic degree in Marketing, Business or related field
• At least 10 years in international marketing and trade marketing
• Experience with the complexities of marketing luxury brand-licensed brands
• Proven market results from new products, campaigns or advertising strategies
• People management

SKILLS

• Strong capabilities to multi-process
• Analytical
• Results-driven
• Hands-on problem solving
• High emotional intelligence, able to function in a multicultural environment
• Good Verbal and written communication

Marchon works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
Contact Janko Klaeijsen at janko@topofminds.com for more information.