Lead the profitable and sustainable growth of Savanna by setting a clear brand vision, translating strategy into integrated commercial action and mobilising teams, agencies and cross-functional partners behind shared outcomes. The Marketing Manager is accountable for strengthening Savanna's leadership in South Africa, building the brand for long-term global relevance and leading the innovation and renovation agenda across product, pack, experience and new growth spaces.
- A clearly aligned brand ambition, growth strategy and annual operating plan.
- A high-performing team with clear accountability, strong capability and an inclusive, winning culture.
- An integrated agency ecosystem producing distinctive, effective and commercially relevant work.
- Cross-functional teams aligned to priorities, decisions, timing and execution standards.
- Sustained brand, volume, value, penetration and profitability growth.
- A consumer-led innovation pipeline that delivers incremental growth and strengthens brand relevance.
- Own the Savanna brand vision, positioning, purpose, distinctive assets and multi-year growth strategy, ensuring consistency while evolving the brand for future growth.
- Translate consumer, category, culture, customer and competitor insight into clear strategic choices, growth priorities and measurable brand plans.
- Drive brand health, penetration, market share, volume, value and profitability through focused portfolio, communication, channel and commercial choices.
- Monitor performance and external shifts, identify opportunities or risks early, and lead decisive course correction where required.
- Act as the senior brand authority for Savanna, creating clarity on what the brand will do, what it will not do and where resources will be concentrated.
- Lead, coach and develop the Savanna brand team, with clear goals, decision rights and performance expectations.
- Build a high-trust, high-accountability culture that encourages courageous thinking, constructive challenge, pace, ownership and consumer obsession.
- Create an effective team operating rhythm covering strategy, priorities, project governance, performance reviews, learning and development.
- Build succession depth and capability across brand strategy, commercial acumen, innovation, communications, digital, consumer insight and execution.
- Role-model inclusive leadership, honest conversations, active feedback, recognition and continuous learning.
- Lead through influence across Sales, Trade Marketing, Group Key Accounts, Finance, Revenue Management, Insights, Innovation, Supply Chain, Operations, Procurement, Legal, Corporate Affairs and global or regional teams.
- Create one aligned Savanna agenda across functions, converting the brand strategy into shared priorities, workstreams, milestones and commercial outcomes.
- Clarify ownership and decision rights, resolve trade-offs, remove barriers and escalate material risks to protect delivery.
- Build strong relationships across the matrix and use evidence, commercial logic and brand conviction to secure alignment and resources.
- Ensure decisions are made at the right level and that cross-functional teams remain focused on the few initiatives that will have the greatest growth impact.
- Lead the integrated agency village across creative, media, digital, social, PR, influencer, design, research, sponsorship, experiential and below-the-line partners.
- Set a single, inspiring strategic brief and create clear standards for quality, distinctiveness, effectiveness, integration, timing and budget stewardship.
- Establish strong governance across briefing, scope, roles, deliverables, approvals, performance reviews and learning.
- Challenge agencies to deliver culturally relevant, locally resonant and globally scalable ideas that strengthen Savanna's distinctive voice.
- Build productive senior agency relationships while holding partners accountable for strategic and commercial impact.
- Keep the consumer at the centre of decision-making, using segmentation, demand spaces, brand health tracking and bespoke qualitative and quantitative research.
- Combine formal data with insight from consumers, customers, trade partners, the salesforce and cultural observation.
- Identify emerging cultural tensions, occasions and behaviours that Savanna can credibly lead or shape.
- Map the consumer journey and remove friction across awareness, consideration, purchase, experience, advocacy and repeat.
- Lead the development of integrated through-the-line communication across television, radio, out-of-home, digital, social, PR, creators, sponsorships, events, experiences and commerce.
- Protect and evolve Savanna's distinctive tone, humour, visual identity and creative platform across every consumer and customer touchpoint.
- Ensure creative work is strategically sharp, locally relevant, responsible, channel-fit and designed to deliver measurable brand and business outcomes.
- Lead sponsorship, ambassador, influencer and content partnerships, including strategic fit, negotiation, governance and performance evaluation.
- Use zero-based budgeting principles and performance learning to improve the quality and return of communication investment.
- Partner with Sales, Trade Marketing, Group Key Accounts and channel teams to translate brand strategy into integrated commercial plans by channel, customer and occasion.
- Align consumer activity, trade programmes, promotional choices, availability, visibility, assortment and execution standards.
- Develop a clear store-back and outlet execution playbook across on-trade, off-trade, fragmented trade and e-commerce.
- Track regional, channel, customer and store-level performance and lead action to close execution or performance gaps.
- Ensure the brand agenda supports customer growth through high-velocity packs, relevant occasions and compelling value creation.
- Own the brand income statement and make choices that maximise sustainable revenue, margin and return on investment without compromising long-term brand equity.
- Manage A&P;, operating expenditure and capital requirements with disciplined prioritisation, forecasting and control.
- Identify margin-enhancing opportunities across cost of goods, mix, pack-price architecture, revenue management, promotional effectiveness and portfolio choices.
- Evaluate the incremental impact and return of major initiatives, stop or reshape low-value activity and reallocate resources to the strongest growth opportunities.
- Partner with Finance and Revenue Management to maintain a commercially robust growth plan and transparent performance outlook.
- Own the Savanna innovation ambition and pipeline, balancing core brand renovation, adjacent growth and breakthrough opportunities.
- Use consumer insight, category foresight, occasions, unmet needs and competitive analysis to define opportunity spaces within and beyond the bottle.
- Lead cross-functional innovation squads across Insights, Product Development, Packaging, Supply, Operations, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Revenue Management, Sales and Trade Marketing.
- Guide projects from opportunity definition and concept development through validation, business case, stage-gate decisions, launch and post-launch learning.
- Ensure innovation is distinctive to Savanna, incrementally grows the portfolio, is operationally feasible and has a clear route to scale.
- Lead renovations, pack upgrades and phase-in/phase-out planning with disciplined implementation and minimal write-offs.
- Maintain a balanced pipeline across near-term delivery, medium-term platforms and longer-term growth bets.
- Ensure all brand activity meets legal, regulatory, responsible marketing, procurement and corporate governance requirements.
- Protect Savanna's reputation through strong issue anticipation, stakeholder alignment, approval discipline and appropriate response planning.
- Maintain clear project governance, decision records, risk visibility and leadership communication across major initiatives.
