Off-Trade Executive

Company Description

Mermaid ~ Isle of Wight Distillery is the island’s first distillery, rooted in the natural landscape of this distinctive coastal location. Founded by Xavier and Conrad, the distillery is driven by a small, dedicated team who craft spirits inspired by the island’s character and surroundings. The team focuses on doing things differently, prioritizing sustainability by minimizing waste and using ethically sourced ingredients. Whenever possible, locally sourced botanicals and materials are used to produce smooth, complex spirits with a strong sense of place. Prospective team members can expect to join a values-led, quality-focused business with a close connection to the Isle of Wight community.

Role Purpose

The Customer Marketing Executive/Manager will play a key role in driving brand visibility, rate of sale and commercial success across Mermaid's off-trade, wholesale and pure play customers, as well as leading our gifting proposition. Sitting within the Mermaid marketing team and embedded closely with the sales team, this role will translate brand and channel strategy into customer-specific activation plans that drive shopper conversion and long-term brand equity.

The candidate will be commercially minded, hands-on and customer-focused, with a strong understanding of how to bring brands to life in retail and online environments. They will support the marketing team with light-touch IOWD marketing and social activity, and will balance day-to-day execution with the ability to spot category opportunities that unlock growth.

Key Responsibilities

1. Channel Strategy

• Support the development of the off-trade channel strategy with off-trade sales having aligned with the marketing team on the brand’s strategic direction to deliver growth objectives.
• Identify key off-trade customers for trade marketing investment; accounts with the greatest brand fit and growth potential.

2. Off-Trade Customer Activation Management (Grocery and Premium Retail)

• Support the development and execution of customer activation plans in grocery and premium retail accounts.
• Manage the rollout of POS materials, and in-store and digital activation in line with brand guidelines.
• Partner with the sales team to support customer meetings, JBPs and key commercial moments.
• Ensure all activation is commercially viable, brand-appropriate and delivers measurable ROI.

3. Pure Play Activation Management

• Support the development and execution of activation plans across pure play (online-only) customers.
• Manage the briefing and delivery of digital assets, content and marketing mechanics tailored to each pure play customer.
• Partner with the sales team to optimise product content, search visibility and on-site experience.
• Track pure play performance and share insights and recommendations to drive growth.

4. Wholesale Activation Management

• Support the development and execution of activation plans across wholesale customers.
• Manage the rollout of trade-facing communications, POS and selling tools to support the wholesale sales team.
• Help develop training and education materials to drive advocacy through the wholesale route to market.
• Track wholesale activation performance and share learnings to refine future plans.

5. Category Management

• Support the development of category stories and selling materials for use in customer meetings and JBPs.
• Work with category and shopper insights to translate data into actionable customer recommendations.
• Monitor category, competitor and shopper trends, sharing actionable insights with marketing and sales.
• Help embed a category-led approach across customer engagement and activation planning.

6. Gifting Management

• Own the day-to-day management of the Mermaid gifting range across customers and channels.
• Support the development of new gifting propositions in partnership with the marketing and sales teams.
• Manage gifting toolkits, POS and customer-facing materials, ensuring alignment to brand visual identity.
• Track gifting performance by customer and SKU, sharing learnings to refine future plans.

7. Budgeting, Tracking and Reporting

• Support the management of customer marketing budgets across gifting, off-trade, pure play and wholesale.
• Track investment by customer and activity, ensuring all spend is aligned to agreed KPIs.
• Provide regular post-activation reports to internal stakeholders and customers, capturing learnings and ROI.
• Share best practice across the marketing and sales teams to continuously improve activation effectiveness.

8. IOWD Marketing Support (Low Level) - Social Support

• Provide light-touch marketing support for the wider Isle of Wight Distillery (IOWD) house brand.
• Support social media activity for IOWD, including content scheduling, community management and reporting as required.
• Help ensure IOWD social activity is on brand, on tone and aligned with wider marketing priorities.

Candidate Profile

• Minimum of 1-2 years' experience (3-5 for manager level) in customer marketing, shopper marketing, trade marketing or activation (spirits, drinks or FMCG preferred).
• Understanding of UK off-trade, wholesale and pure play environments; awareness of category management principles.
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance customer needs and brand priorities.
• Excellent project management and organisational skills, with a hands-on, can-do approach.
• Confident communicator able to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Comfortable working across multiple workstreams in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment.
• Awareness of social media best practice and willingness to provide light-touch support across IOWD social channels.
• Passion for premium drinks brands and an eagerness to grow within a brand-led business.
• Full UK driving licence required; comfortable with regular national travel to customers, events and meetings.

#J-18808-Ljbffr