Creative Director jobs in Lexington, KY

Job Description:

Director of Marketing, Brand and Creative

Galls® proudly serves America's first responders, essential workers, and military professionals with a relentless focus on customer service. With a national footprint of more than 160 locations, industry-leading e-commerce properties, and over 1,200 associates, Galls is the largest retailer specializing in military, postal, and public safety uniforms, clothing, gear, and equipment. Millions of law enforcement, military, firefighting, emergency medical, federal, postal, public transportation, corrections, security professionals, and other essential workers trust the Galls family of companies each year with how they appear every day in public and to their customers.

SUMMARY:

To support the next phase of accelerated growth for Galls, we are looking for an experienced brand marketing and creative leader with a solid understanding of how elevated brand and creativity directly impact the growth of a business using both B2B and B2C go-to-market strategies. A deep expertise in building foundational blocks for elevating brand awareness, improving brand perception in the marketplace, and creating preference among the audience to buy from our brands is required to succeed in this role. Experience leading and executing several brand campaigns across the country at the same time is a must-have requirement.

Reporting to the SVP of Marketing and eCommerce, this leadership role is accountable for delivering increased foot traffic in Galls retail stores and elevated eCommerce performance through more extensive brand awareness. This role also oversees the brand architecture (house of brands) of the Galls family of companies, develops and executes brand marketing campaigns, and leads creative teams and deliverables across the company, including the B2B business. This role's critical KPI is measured through demonstrated and continuous improvement in the Galls brand reputation index.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

Brand Architecture

This leader is accountable for developing, enhancing, and protecting Galls' brand through defining and deploying our corporate brand strategy and related strategic positioning initiatives. The leader will deliver a seamless and consistent brand experience for all internal or external stakeholders at the corporate level and drive alignment across all our operating brands.

• Develop and define the overall brand strategy and architecture to align with growth expectations, expansion of the customer base as well as Galls' talent acquisition strategies
• Expand and fully develop Galls' brand architecture to ensure clarity for the Galls brand as well as distinctions for each of its operating brands by translating brand vision into brand stories
• Ensure everything that reaches and impacts customers and other stakeholders—across all B2C (SMB), and B2B channels reflect the equity and essence of the Galls brand.
• Elevate Galls' brand positioning to ensure the business remains sufficiently differentiated from other retail players in the space.

Brand Marketing

• Lead brand marketing planning process, create and execute a compelling series of brand and thought leadership campaigns across PR, media, radio, social media, website, and other relevant marketing channels
• Develop, own, and maintain as well as firmly position buying personas across all operating brands and ensure the messaging at the ground level expresses the essence of our brands
• Create processes as required to ensure that all internal colleagues have the access and information needed to develop appropriate brand experiences
• Measure the effectiveness of the brand campaign by developing and refining Galls' brand reputation index and communicate the progress at all levels of the organization
• Lead the process of telling success stories of the marketing and eCommerce department across the organization
• Upgrade our digital presence, including positioning and rearchitecting our website to tell Galls' compelling story to the customers, media, employees, and investors

Creative Services

This leader establishes the visual identity and emotion of Galls' brands, so they stand out in the crowded marketplace. You will have a strong point-of-view that draws attention while remaining distinctly on-brand and on-message. You make brand stories come to life. In this role, you will orchestrate all the creative arts with our team — design, graphics, video, copy, and more — to create a compelling overall composition. The role will require you to be a player-coach who loves to be involved with the creation and execution of the creativity expressed by Gall's overall brand and the uniqueness of its operating brands.

• Drive the creative execution of Galls priorities by guiding the visual identity and relating the graphic and motion designs with the brand architecture and refreshed positioning
• Manage an in-house creative team that includes graphic design, motion design, photography,and videography
• Contribute ideas and guidance for copy in advertisements, high-volume web pages, and other high-profile marketing assets that describe Galls and its operating brands' story
• Conduct creative sessions with a broader team to identify breakthrough creative concepts
• Partner with marketing leadership peers to understand business needs, prioritize work, and identify new capabilities required of the creative team
• Partner with product and UX leadership to maintain design consistency across the entire company
• Embrace feedback throughout the creative and production process and iterate quickly
• Oversee creative outputs to ensure the brand is optimally represented, including promotional materials, graphics, photography, and other creative assets
• Leads the creative/production team and leads by example to promote collaboration with other internal teams in the application and execution of our brand

Leadership and Collaboration

A relentless focus on delivering measurable brand impact is required in this role. You are expected to establish a collaborative leadership presence across the organization to allow for rapid execution against an aggressive target.

• Be a visible brand marketing leader inside and outside Galls
• Must be able to establish rapport with collaborative leadership style across as well as at all levels in the organization
• Effectively lead a small team of brand and creative professionals and agencies to deliver against the business targets on time and under budget
• Assist SVP of Marketing and eCommerce in preparing for the executive leadership and board meetings to showcase the performance of the business
• Under the guidance of the SVP of Marketing and eCommerce, deliver outstanding performance across all brand marketing expectations monthly, quarterly, and annually

• 10 years of experience in branding, marketing, or communications with a focus on brand strategy
• Track record of delivering elevated brand awareness through widely visible brand campaigns across multiple audiences
• Proven experience building, getting buy-in, and executing brand marketing plans
• Must have led teams of 5 members and managed several marketing agencies at once
• Must have a strong track record of successful partnerships to deliver coordinated experience both outside as well as inside the companies
• Strong past collaboration with internal communication and HR for employer branding is highly desired
• Self-starter with the ability to operate in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and still meet deadlines
• A highly developed level of creative skills, critical thinking skills, and resourcefulness
• Strong motivation, communication, organizational and interpersonal skills
• Bachelor's degree required; MBA strongly preferred

WHAT WE OFFER:

• FULL BENEFIT PACKAGE INCLUDING MEDICAL/DENTAL/VISION COVERAGE
• LIFE AND DISABILITY INSURANCE
• VACATION AND PERSONAL TIME
• PAID HOLIDAYS
• 401K PLAN
• TUITION REIMBURSEMENT
• EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT

WHAT TO SEND OUR WAY:

• Your resume, highlighting your education, experience, and skills
• Why you want to be a part of the Galls family

Galls is an Equal Opportunity Employer of people from all walks of life, including persons with disabilities and veterans. Galls is passionately committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do. We invite you to join our team, grow with us and contribute by bringing your authentic, best self to work.