Brand Activation Lead - YouTube

With a history that dates back over 80 years, Starcom is a global communications planning and media leader. We are an agency still grounded in our founding principle that people are at the centre of all we do. Each day, we apply this belief to harness the transformative power of data and technology to inspire and move people and business forward. With more than 7,000 employees in over 100 offices around the world, we are the flagship Publicis Media agency that uses our ‘Power of One’ business model, with teams that span multiple disciplines across clients such as Aldi, P&G, P&O Ferries, Primark, Samsung, Stellantis, and Visa.

We place a huge focus on our People and have driven flagship D&I and L&D programmes within Publicis Media; our goal is to help every individual reach their fullest potential and we encourage everyone to make “Brave Plays” in how they approach their work and their own career development. As a result, we have an exceptionally energised and committed talent base, all of us proud of our welcoming and supportive culture, as evidenced by our recognition as one of Campaign’s Best Places to Work for three years in a row (2021, 2022 and 2023) and most excitingly, Media Week's Agency of the Year 2023!

Our client is one of the most prestigious brands in the world, and one of the most prestigious clients within Publicis. They are a genuinely unique business in terms of their structure and goals, meaning that most of the common objectives of an agency client – sales, revenue, margin – are infrequent considerations. Instead, they seek to ensure that the dominant position they hold within their market, the almost ubiquitous aspiration to ownership and their unique synonymity with excellence are sustained, not just for the sales quarter or the financial year, but for the very long term. This presents a unique challenge for media strategy, and that challenge is at the heart of this role.

YouTube has become a central platform in our client’s overall communications strategy – representing, in many ways, the home of their content outside their owned platforms. The successful candidate will be the strategic and operational leader on YouTube, shaping and realising the strategic role of YouTube for the client, while managing a dedicated paid media activation team that works to flawlessly deliver a large volume of YouTube campaigns every year aligned with the client’s high-profile sporting and cultural sponsorships and associations (Tennis, Golf, Cinema etc.).

Though delivering paid media is core to our scope, the strategic importance of YouTube and the client’s holistic approach to communications means that the successful candidate will need a strong understanding of the entire ecosystem around YouTube, from content to media, creator engagement to monetisation, community building to TV strategy. Further, broader expertise across digital and beyond into traditional media channels will be valuable to adequately contextualise and shape the role of YouTube within communications strategy.

• Lead, manage and motivate the central YouTube team and align with the broader agency and client team
• Lead on YouTube strategy, aligning with the Social Lead and broader team to frame YouTube strategy within the overall comms strategy
• Develop strong relationships with all key clients
• Ensure all client deliverables are delivered on time and in line with the exacting standards of the client
• Ensure ongoing account management is delivered precisely and efficiently, while ad hoc analysis and deliverable requests can be accommodated within tight timescales
• Develop and maintain a strong understanding of the YouTube strategies of competitor and reference brands and proactively identify insights
• Act as the key expert on YouTube platform evolution, including products, features, formats and behavioural shifts to identify opportunities for client strategy evolution
• Identify and capitalise upon opportunities to continue to grow the client engagement

• Extensive experience in digital strategy and planning, with involved in YouTube and exceptionally strong experience in delivering brand campaigns and paid, owned, shared and earned YouTube strategies
• Proven track record of successfully managing and motivating media buying teams
• Proven track record of successfully managing client relationships
• Proven track record of delivering impactful media strategies for luxury brands, brands with large budgets and/or brands with complex strategic requirements
• Exceptionally strong presentation and storytelling skills
• Clear understanding of the holistic landscape of YouTube and good expertise on digital media more broadly

Starcom has fantastic benefits on offer to all of our employees. In addition to the classics, Pension, Life Assurance, Private Medical and Income Protection Plans we also offer:

• WORK YOUR WORLD opportunity to work anywhere in the world, where there is a Publicis office, for up to 6 weeks a year.
• REFLECTION DAYS - Two additional days of paid leave to step away from your usual day-to-day work and create time to focus on your well-being and self-care.
• HELP@HAND BENEFITS 24/7 helpline to support you on a personal and professional level. Access to remote GPs, mental health support and CBT. Wellbeing content and lifestyle coaching.
• FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES We provide 26 weeks of full pay for the following family milestones: Maternity, Adoption, Surrogacy and Shared Parental Leave.
• FLEXIBLE WORKING, BANK HOLIDAY SWAP & BIRTHDAY DAY OFF You are entitled to an additional day off for your birthday, from your first day of employment.
• GREAT LOCAL DISCOUNTS This includes membership discounts with Soho Friends, local restaurants and retailers in Westfield White City and Television Centre.

Full details of our benefits will be shared when you join us! Publicis Groupe operates a hybrid working pattern with full time employees being office-based three days during the working week. We are supportive of all candidates and are committed to providing a fair assessment process. If you have any circumstances (such as neurodiversity, physical or mental impairments or a medical condition) that may affect your assessment, please inform your Talent Acquisition Partner. We will discuss possible adjustments to ensure fairness. Rest assured, disclosing this information will not impact your treatment in our process. Please make sure you check out the Publicis Career Page which showcases our Inclusive Benefits and our EAG’s (Employee Action Groups).