What are the responsibilities and job description for the Brand Activation Manager position at NOKIA?
- Brief, direct and manage agencies, production partners, rights holders and suppliers, ensuring creative quality, operational readiness and value for investment.
- Working with the Brand Experience Lead, manage brand governance across activations, reviewing and approving concepts, visual identity, messaging, environmental branding, partner applications and customer journeys.
- Manage the branded merchandise programme and global catalogue, ensuring the range is purposeful, on-brand, high quality, sustainable where possible and commercially well managed.
- Establish and enforce governance for bespoke merchandise orders, including briefing requirements, design approval, supplier standards, brand compliance and demand management.
- Develop scalable toolkits, templates, playbooks and workflows that enable teams and agencies to deliver activations and merchandise consistently and efficiently.
- Use audience insight, stakeholder feedback, operational learning and performance data to improve future activations, sponsorships and merchandise decisions; continuously build and apply AI capabilities to enhance role efficiency and scalable delivery.
Key interfaces
- Broader Communications and Marketing teams, including Events, Content, Design and Product Marketing
- Business segments and market teams
- Procurement and Finance
- Legal, Compliance and Sustainability teams
- Event organisers, sponsorship rights holders and strategic partners
- Creative, production, merchandise and logistics agencies and suppliers
You must have:
- 7 years of experience in brand activation, experiential marketing, events, sponsorships or a related brand management discipline.
- Proven experience leading end-to-end brand activations for high-profile events, campaigns or sponsorship programmes.
- Strong understanding of brand strategy, positioning, visual identity and how experiences shape brand perception.
- Experience translating brand strategy into clear activation concepts, customer journeys and practical delivery plans.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects, budgets, timelines, suppliers and multiple stakeholders in a global environment.
- Experience briefing, directing and evaluating creative, production, event and merchandise agencies.
- Strong working knowledge of event branding, environmental graphics, content, digital touchpoints and live experience delivery.
- Experience managing sponsorship activation, including partner coordination, rights application, brand integration and activation planning.
- Experience managing branded merchandise programmes, catalogues, suppliers and bespoke order governance.
- Sound commercial judgement, with the ability to balance brand impact, operational feasibility, sustainability and value for investment.
- Strong governance mindset and confidence reviewing and approving brand applications across varied formats and channels.
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment across senior leaders, teams and external partners.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities calmly and precisely in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
- Strong written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate clear creative and strategic rationale.
- Comfort using collaboration, workflow and creative review tools; familiarity with Figma, Canva and/or Adobe Creative Suite is beneficial.
- Curiosity and confidence in applying AI and automation to improve planning, governance, asset development and operational efficiency.
It would be beneficial if you also had:
- Experience working in a B2B2C or hybrid B2B/B2C environment.
- Experience with global event portfolios, major industry moments or multi-market sponsorship activation.
- Knowledge of sustainable sourcing, merchandise production, fulfilment and inventory management.
- Multilingual capabilities and/or experience working across multiple geographies and cultures.
Nokia is a global leader in connectivity for the AI era. With expertise across fixed, mobile and transport networks, powered by the innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we're advancing connectivity to secure a brighter world.
Our recruitment process
We act inclusively and respect the uniqueness of people. Our employment decisions are made regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. We are committed to a culture of inclusion built upon our core value of respect.
If you're interested in this role but don't meet every listed requirement, we still encourage you to apply. Unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences enrich our teams, and you may be just the right candidate for this or another opportunity.
The length of the recruitment process may vary depending on the specific role's requirements. We strive to ensure a smooth and inclusive experience for all candidates. Discover more about the recruitment process at Nokia.
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