Multicultural Director

Zenith is a full-service media agency with capabilities and expertise across all channels and disciplines. Zenith is part of Publicis Media, the #1 media buying network in the Americas and #2 globally.  As “The ROI Agency,” Zenith’s expertise lies in driving real, tangible business outcomes, not just media metrics, that will have a measurable effect on our clients’ business. Every investment we make has an ROI mindset—not just for our clients, but for our agency at large. We’re focused on driving the maximum value for our people, our capabilities and our media investments for some of the world’s leading brands. 

About Zenith’s Cultural Convergence Practice

Zenith’s Cultural Convergence practice consists of subject matter experts in the areas of Inclusive Marketing, Multicultural Marketing, and DEI Marketing. The Cultural Convergence practice reflects the various needs that clients have when it comes to reaching diverse consumers and creating inclusive media & marketing initiatives that drive business. Our goal is to lead with human insights that fuel results, inspire creative partnerships & platforms that are representative of the intersectional diversity of our world & consumer, while also positively impacting communities.

Role Overview:
Zenith is looking for a driven and passionate individual to fill the Director, Multicultural Strategy role to help deliver more meaningful, culture-driven, and business-centric marketing and media strategies for a major financial services client. This Director role will collaborate with the broader agency team, helping to bring more tactical-level expertise and insights forward in the development of strategies, media plans, partner consideration sets, planning stewardship, and reporting/analytics. The Director will be expected to leverage their culture-first experience, knowledge, and skills to push fresh thinking while balancing client, agency, and team needs with dedicated support in the way of senior level top-down guidance and direct reports.

Role Objectives

• Leads the development of Inclusive, Multicultural, and DEI communications strategies that activate consumer insights, drive innovation for clients, and provides structure for brand channel presence/priorities.
• Distills client briefs and translates them into a culturally relevant & insights-led media strategy and activation brief with clear media objectives. Works collaboratively with broader Strategy team to analyze client business situation to identify key opportunities to reach and connect with diverse consumers.
• Build audience profiles and insights that illustrate diverse consumer behavioral and psychographic motivations. Go beyond demographics and top-level findings to deliver insightful illustration on consumer habits, preferences, and channel behaviors that are rooted in culture.
• Supports development of and identifies key roles for diverse consumers, diverse-reaching and diverse-owned media partners, and targeting tactics. Helps to define how media should deliver on a holistic strategy while accounting for diverse audience nuances and barriers.
• Has a stakeholder role in product and process innovation, including briefs, workshops, channel planning work sessions, and other team collaborations to enhance how we use communications to help our clients’ business when it comes to diverse consumers and the diverse-reaching & diverse-owned media ecosystem.
• Partners with Investment and Data/Analytics teams, ensuring that the diverse consumer strategies are actioned in the marketplace and accounted for appropriately within measurement frameworks and learning agendas. Works closely with broader team to ensure that strategy is followed-through to execution.
• Assists in the development of client-facing holistic presentations & recommendations. Takes ownership of bespoke culturally-led POVs, recommendations, and requests, with the support of the broader team.
• Establish and develop client relationships by understanding client business needs and applying expertise to create tangible solutions, with a drive for curiosity and passion for innovation in creating culturally centric activations that drive client business.
• Collaborates with partner agencies to integrate messaging and creative campaigns into overall media/communications plans from a diverse consumer standpoint.
• Develops strategic intelligence via keeping abreast of diverse audiences, industry developments, macro and consumer trends, technology, and cultural movements. Acts as a resource to the broader team, expected to share insights and learning, serving as an SME within the team for all things culture.

Key Qualifications:

• Above all else, this candidate must embody the values of the Cultural Convergence practice. Candidates must showcase passion, expertise, and commitment to pushing a client’s work towards greater sophistication in connecting with diverse consumers and establishing cultural relevance. We are all about culture in this practice and value your unique perspective to drive positive results and impact with communities.
• This candidate is not easily discouraged, nor are they risk-adverse. They will bravely see each team or client interaction as an opportunity to identity a problem and bring forth a culture-first solution. They love creating the ‘never been done” and strive to stay ahead of the cultural curve, identifying opportunities for the client’s brand to build first-to-market, groundbreaking, and award-winning work.   
• They are a self-starter and not easily intimidated. We are highly collaborative at Zenith – so don’t hold it back if you disagree or have an idea to deliver success for our clients.
• They will be a “culture-first” resource to others in the resolution of complex problems/issues – and know how to unpack a client question to understand what they are really trying to solve for.
• This candidate will have direct, ongoing support from both the account leads on the business, as well as the EVP, Cultural Convergence across Zenith, to help set them up for success.

Minimum Qualifications:

• B.A. or B.S. in Advertising, Marketing, humanities, liberal arts, or related fields
• 8+ years of media planning experience with concentration in culture-first Strategy & Planning across
  • Hispanic/Latino, African American/Black, Asian-American/Pacific-Islander, LGBTQ+
  • Agency experience highly preferred
  • 5+ years of experience in a management capacity
• Adept at injecting ideas, innovation, and leading industry developments into planning assignments
• Thinks clearly and diplomatically when participating in a discussion to field complex or sensitive questions from clients/internal groups
• Demonstrates an ability to be curious and passionate about our client’s business
• Strong media partner relationships and marketplace understanding across diverse-owned and diverse-targeted partners
• Proven experience and success in presenting plans to senior-level clients and influencing top level client decisions related to media strategy and implementation
• Detail-oriented and proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment

Software Knowledge: Microsoft Suite, Nielsen Suite, Kantar, IMS, Flowchart Software, R/F and Optimization Software, Social Tracking tools, comScore, Prisma, MBOX, MRI/GfK, GWI.  Must understand its capabilities and applications to translate data into actionable culture-first insights.

This is a hybrid position working 3 days per week in our temporary Birmingham, MI location. This position will move to our permanent location in downtown Detroit when the office opens, with the same 3 days per week hybrid schedule.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.