Brand Manager
Hassani Trading Company
Total years of experience :18 years, 9 Months
Brand Manager - Kellogg's
• Develop annual Sales Plan/A&P budget. Roll-out (BTL) activities monitoring Category ROI (GSV/NSV).
• Facilitate Sales Meetings to walk-thru short/long term Brand KPIs & Demand Review meeting for efficient Stk Mgt.
• Review Performance: Daily - Channel/Customer to mitigate risk. Monthly - EPOS & AC Nielsen.
• Maintained 50% market share (88% Family & 50% Choc) - a criteria to acquire equal/higher Share of Shelf.
• Liaise with external agencies for trade activations (POSM, Promoters, Category Branding, Mascots, etc).
• Strive to identify avenues for incremental sales/share of shelf and present analytical business case to optimize it.
• Marked Category Leadership in stores: Carrefour ‘Our Selection’, Union Coop ‘Cereal Cafe’, Cross-Merchandising.
• Consistently watch out on Competition, Parallel trade to proactively secure our market & mitigate from risk.
• Distribution tracking, NPD launch, Pricing, Debit Note claims are raised as and when required.
• Brands Handled: Kellogg’s Cereals & Nando’s Peri-Peri Sauce.
• Business Analysis, Regional Sales, Digital Marketing, Value Analysis, Shelf Space Mgt., Brand Insights, Campaign, Retailing, ROI, Web Analytics, Process Modelling, Operational Excellence, Reporting, Presentation.
• Analyze retailing process, brand insights and opportunities to optimize store profitability with efficient capital management across (8) South Atlantic States of America - GA, FL, NC, SC, VA, WV, MD and DE.
• Study retail traffic, shopper insights, target regional customer groups and propose marketing & digital marketing strategies for productive sales conversions. Implement Product Road Map to secure GP Margin.
• Evaluate End-To-End operation from Purchase to Pay (P2P) and Order to Cash (O2C) to enhance efficiency.
• Web Analytics: Analyze online shopping behavior, checkout conversion, campaign impact, search, session replay and alerts using IBM Tealeaf 8.2 CX and report analytical findings by Email and MS-SharePoint.
• Facilitate meeting with GM, Category Managers, Section Supervisors and Merchandisers to walk through findings.
• Acquire brand trend and market census using AC-Nielsen and Kantar Retail market survey tools..
• Consultative Sales Strategy, Distribution, POP Excellence, Merchandising Standards, Channel Development, Key A/C Profitability, ROI, Display Activity, Principal Mgt., Promotion Calendar, Mall Events, Capex Plan, Manpower Productivity, Go to Market Strategy, Trade Spends, Credit Note, P&L, Sales and Merchandising Training.
• Drove the Sales responsibilities of the division heading a team of 3 Branch Managers, 2 Sales Supervisors, 2 Territory Executives, 10 Key Account Executive, 14 Merchandisers (Optima) and 30 Van Sales Executives with a highest level of enthusiasm and team spirit. Ensure to appreciate the team for their efforts at all instances.
• Built a 1st Degree Relationship with buyers for mutual business benefit and opportunities. Facilitate timely meetings to review sales performance and ROY plan. Negotiate to secure Home Shelf, Off-Shelf display, Flyer Activity, Branding, Trade Deals, Operational Excellence, Matrix, Payment Terms, Collection, NPD launch, etc.
• Performance Metrics: Achieved a divisional gr of 26% vs. LY with an exceptional gr of 74% of core brand vs. 32% of Category growth. Achieved a Weighted Distribution of to 94% on Core SKUs across Hyper, Super, A & B Class markets in Oman. Increased Customer Service Level of Top 5 Key Accounts to 95% consistent average, month over month. Increased Forecast Accuracy rate to a scale of 96% in M1 and 90% on M3 Volume Forecast plan. Received accolades on Minimizing stock Write-offs to a remarkable achievement of 0.32% of net sales.
• Aggressively executed NPD listing drive to achieve a distribution targets in 30 days from stock arrival.
• Identify and execute ‘Best in Class’ Merchandising Standards to maximize sales potential (in-category & checkout).
• Re-structured logistics Delivery Schedule to optimize retail merchandising productivity & eliminate stock-out.
• Enhanced LT Van Coverage Optimizing Journey Plan Adherence to 120/Van separating bulk deliveries directly. Converted 100+ groceries from Credit to Cash accounts. Reviewed daily Van Sales Performance against Route Plan, Coverage, Sales Calls, Productivity and Collection outstanding (not exceeding 30 days of credit).
• Developed top 20 LT-Van outlets to B-Class to strengthen Key A/c index and increase Van Grocery coverage.
• Converted customer with payment terms from 45 days credit to 30 days; as one of the SMART objective.
• Validated all trade spends for the month and coordinate with the Finance Team to raise Debit Notes claims.
• Structured team incentive schemes to achieve exceptional sales target, display drive and growth challenges.
• Business Intelligence, Brand Management, Channel Plan, Campaign, Display Activity, ROI, Trade Spends, Report, POS Marketing, Product Launch, Pricing, Trade Listing, Key A/C, Planogram and Consultative Sales Support.
• Steer the Trade Marketing responsibilities of Al Seer Group in Oman with a team of 4 trade marketing analysts.
• Analyze and recommend strategies blending 4P’s of Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
• Maintained Group Budgets, R1/R2/R3 Qtr. Revised Forecast to track sales and other Group Ad-Hoc Reports.
• Negotiated Quotes with printers and ad agencies for POS materials, branding chillers and vehicles. Liaise with event mgt. team for events in Schools, Malls & Public areas with Ministry of Commerce and Municipality approval.
• Engage 20% of time on market visits seeking opportunities to implement and improvise POP (Point of Purchase) standards, Merchandising Excellence, FIFO, Recommended RSP, Planogram, POSM usage, Shelf Share, Checkout, Prepaid Benefits, Display Activity, ROI, Customer Service Level standard and competitor activities.
• Meet retailers to discuss Sales Performance, Promotions, NPD Launch, Product positioning, canvas plan, activities, flyer participation, cross merchandising, branding, sampling and other business opportunities.
• Trained promoters on brand insights and activity mechanics when deployed for in-store product demo.
• Facilitated in-house workshops for Sales & Merchandising team on POP, FABs, Planogram and Activity Plan.
• Collect Retail Flyers to proof record promo execution, competitor price and notify brand owners with action plan.
• Project Eagle Eyes (E2): Lead a survey project, delegating 14 zonal teams to geographically cover Oman by visiting stores, saving Geo Codes and store details using Garmin GPS Nuvi40 device. Merged and validated data from all devices and uploaded coordinates from spreadsheet to Google maps to have a holistic view of the Retail Universe Statistics with details of store, classification, coverage and contact. The outcome challenged AC Nielsen data.
• Trade Marketing, Customer Marketing, Technical Sales Support, Business Analysis, Data Analytics, Stock & Sales Reports, Presentation, Sales Booklets, Distribution Tracking, Trade Listings, Display Contracts.
• Proficient in data mining, analyzing and interpreting complex data to structured Snapshot and Dashboard reports.
• Provided a holistic view with a Six Sigma approach to support business and brand growth over category through data analysis, predictive measures, timely execution, reporting and effective communication with relevant stakeholders recommending actions to meet Point Of Purchase objectives: \[Availability-Visibility-Price\].
• Worked closely with brand owner, category manager and in-house functional teams across sales, supply chain, finance, accounts, logistics and branch managers to implement and drive corporate roadmap to success.
• Constructed annual budget plan with expected sales growth, spend budget, manpower, capex; supported with building blocks-Market Gaps, SWOT, DPP, NPD launch, price increase to justify organic and in-organic growth.
• Engaged in developing analytical reports and presentations on sales performance by SKU, brand, category, promo, channel, location, sales employee against spend, rebate, returns, damage and write-off to optimize productivity and facilitate meetings with dashboard presentations including tables and graphs to discuss ROY plan.
• Analyze Stocks in-market, on-hand, on-transit, ETA and forecast quantities for PO. Facilitate distribution drive to secure budgeted stock value/days, optimize warehouse space and increase capital management efficiency.
• Manage ATL/BTL activities, A&P spend budget, trade spend, accrual management and raise timely debit notes.
• BTL: Plan and execute annual, seasonal, regional promotions and liquidations in line with profit margin.
• Elicit Listing Letter & Display Contracts with execution deadlines & follow-up on off-shelf display activities.
• Liaise with the logistics team on co-packing requirements (re-packing instructions, sticker, barcode, Qty., etc.) and follow-up with logistics out-bound team on deployment of POS materials with outlet display confirmation sheet.
• Co-ordinate with supply chain team on warehouse stock transfer, weekly ageing stock analysis & rolling forecast.
• Analyze market trends from AC-Nielsen audit report and retail scan data. Refer CIA for market demographics.
• Expert in SAP-BEx Suite, Query designing, BI-Business Intelligence, BO-Business Objects, BW-Warehousing, Data Extraction, Advanced MS-Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook.
• Business Analysis, CRM, Documentation, Conceptual Sales IT Service and Business Development.
• Supermarket - POS, Inventory, Order Cycle, GP Margin, Rebate, Credit Note, Service Level, Ageing & Returns.
• Hotel Group - Online Reservation, Travel Agency, Corporate Account and Membership Access System.
• Fenner India Ltd - Billing, Order and Inventory management system for licensed franchisee dealers.
• Facilitated meetings with the Client stake holders to discuss their Vision, Mission, Scope and Cost of the project.
• Conducted Gap Analysis, AS IS-TO BE Conditions, Data Mapping, application and hardware feasibility study.
• Elicited BRD, FRS, Non-Functional Requirements, and UX/UI wireframe, Data & HLD Activity Diagram, BPMN-Business Process Modelling Notation, Prototype and SRS document to address technical requirements.
• Facilitated meetings with the development team and walked-through requirements to eliminate Scope Creep.
• Developed business use cases scenarios, test cases and tracked with requirement traceability matrix (RTM).
• Executed MS-BI SQL Queries to access customer records from SQL database to validate end to end performance.
• Conducted UAT (demo) meeting with the client stake holders for feedback and released for deployment.
• Business Analysis, Market Research, Tele-Marketing, Customer Development, Retention Strategies, Social Networking, Sales Tools, Presentations, Product Catalogue and Testimonials.
• Performed 80-20 analysis, consumer behavior trend, active & in-active customer record, order cycle, stock replenishment analysis, SKU-Customer-Sector wise sales, Employee sales contribution and growth analysis.
• Evaluate average sales, sales estimate, stock-on-hand, transit Qty. and forecast quantities for next purchase order.
• Handled customer accounts including annual rate contracts, customized rate contracts, credit and cash customers.
• Identified and introduced complete product range to existing customers to bridge distribution gaps in market.
• Conducted quarterly sales team meeting to discuss achievement vs. budget, deficits and way forward plan.
• Engaged in Market Research activities to identify customer technological developments, new applications, market demand, service level standards and upgrade our product application to stay ahead of competition at all times.
• Tele-Marketing: Make Cold Calls Generate Lead Execution Follow-up SALE (followed with R&D).
• Conduct customer retention program offering loyalty schemes with price discounts and free services.
• Drafted business correspondence: Request for Information, Proposal & Quotation (RFI-RFP-RFQ).
• Facilitated meetings with OEM associates to include and recommend our specialty maintenance products.
• Developed product manual, marketing-bulletin, testimonial for stereotype application and customized sales tools.
• Use tenders, magazine, corporate meetings and social contacts to create avenues for new business opportunities.
• Customer Portfolio: Ford, Hyundai, Toyota, MRF, ITC, West Coast Paper Mill, TNPL, i-Paper, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Aditya Birla Group, GAIL Natural Gas, HAL, Indian Oil, HP, BP, Reliance, KA Power Corp, Nuclear Power Corp, etc.
• Office Administration, Process Co-ordination, Distribution Mgt., Contract Mgt., Customer service & IT.
• Monitored Air, Sea, Land and Road operations and office administration reporting to the Business Head.
• Implemented technical advancements by computerizing operations on MS-Excel to update in-bound, out-bound batch, customer record, Consignment no. & details, dispatch advice, routing & station code, customs clearance record, cash account, receivable, payable, voucher, receipts and ledger account.
• Checked and maintained financial records on a daily basis: credit accounts, cash register and bank deposits.
• Regulated compliance to ensure customer concerns and complaints are resolved within 48 hours.
• Engage on business trips for new business acquisitions and have increased clientele by 25%.
• Designed the company information booklet and circulated 10, 000 copies to prospective clients & branch offices.
• Involved in training new recruits on admin work and computer system application.
• Conducted market research on competitor pricing & services and rollout special offers to customers.