VP, Media Innovation

Open position in all True Media office locations, including Kansas City, MO, Columbia, MO, St. Louis, MO, and Minneapolis, MN; Hybrid work schedule: 3 days in the office, 2 days working from home

Visa Sponsorship is not available for this position, now or in the future. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis without requiring employer sponsorship.

The Vice President, Cultural Strategy & Media Innovation is a senior individual contributor who serves as the agency's foremost authority on culture, audience behavior, and media innovation. This role exists primarily to fuel new business growth (approximately 80% of responsibilities) by translating real-time cultural intelligence and audience research into bold, media-first ideas that win pitches and open doors. A smaller but meaningful portion of the role (approximately 20%) supports high-profile existing client engagements at critical moments. Reporting directly to agency leadership, this position operates with a high degree of autonomy and is expected to move quickly — identifying a culturally relevant moment one day and having a client-ready concept the following day.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities (Other duties may be assigned)

• Cultural Intelligence & Real-Time Trend Monitoring. Monitor culture, media, social platforms, sports, entertainment, and current events on a continuous basis to identify timely, relevant moments that can be activated on behalf of clients or new business prospects. Operate with a quick-turn mentality — when a cultural moment emerges (e.g., an athlete's viral on-air comment, a breakout meme, an unexpected brand opportunity), rapidly assess its relevance and develop an actionable idea before the moment passes. Attend major cultural events, industry conferences (including South X Southwest and similar), and media and entertainment activations annually to stay on the leading edge of emerging trends, platforms, and consumer behaviors.
• Audience Research & Insight Development. Conduct and synthesize primary and secondary research to build nuanced audience portraits — going beyond demographics to map media habits, cultural touchpoints, platform behavior, and moments of peak receptivity. Identify non-obvious audience insights that form the strategic backbone of new business pitches and client recommendations. Develop reusable research frameworks and proprietary points of view that sharpen the agency's strategic differentiation.
• Media Innovation Ideation. Translate audience intelligence and cultural insight into big, executional media ideas — concepts that are surprising, channel-native, and grounded in research. Develop ideas that leverage non-traditional media opportunities: talent and cultural figure integrations, IP and brand partnerships, experiential media, platform-specific formats, and tentpole cultural moments. Ensure that media channel recommendations and creative concepts are directly informed by data — articulating a clear logical bridge from insight to idea.
• New Business Pitch Leadership. Serve as a primary strategic voice in new business pitches, owning the cultural, audience, and innovation narrative within agency presentations. Write compelling briefs and strategic frameworks that elevate work from executional planning to idea-driven platforms — giving creative and media teams a clear, inspiring foundation to build from. Collaborate with agency leadership and cross-functional pitch teams to shape a compelling, differentiated strategic story from brief to final presentation. Identify prospective client opportunities and develop proactive, speculative concepts that demonstrate the agency's cultural and media capabilities. Serve as a skilled cross-collaborator across agency partners within the Meet The People family — proactively engaging sister agencies and practice areas to inform and elevate holistic campaign strategies, including creative, brand positioning, experiential, and any other element of a fully integrated advertising campaign.
• High-Profile Client Engagement. Partner with account and integrated media teams to bring senior strategic perspective to select existing client relationships at pivotal moments — annual planning, competitive reviews, campaign launches, and upsell opportunities. Develop tailored cultural intelligence and audience insight reports for high-value clients seeking to deepen their connection to a specific audience or cultural moment.
• Agency Thought Leadership & Strategic Positioning. Build and represent the agency's cultural and strategic point of view externally — through speaking engagements, published content, conference presence, and industry networking. Introduce new thinking around emerging platforms, creators, content formats, and data signals — challenging briefs and pushing teams toward more differentiated, idea-led solutions. Contribute to the agency's positioning as a culturally-intelligent, insight-driven media partner capable of moving at the speed of culture.
  
  

What Success Looks Like

• New business presentations are distinctive, insight-driven, and idea-led — with a clear through-line from audience truth to media concept.
• Internal teams and agency partners consistently seek this role out as a strategic thought partner, not just a resource.
• Clients recognize and value the agency's cultural intelligence as a differentiator in the relationship.
• Cultural moments are identified and converted into actionable client concepts quickly — before the window closes.
• Campaigns and concepts originating from this role resonate in culture and contribute to measurable business impact.
  
  

Supervisory Responsibilities -

• No supervisory responsibilities. This is a senior individual contributor role.
  
  

Qualifications - To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• 10–15 years of progressive experience in media strategy, brand strategy, cultural strategy, communications planning, or a closely related discipline — ideally within an agency environment.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to or leading new business pitches with a measurable record of success.
• Experience working across integrated media channels including digital video, paid social, out-of-home, and emerging platforms.
• Skills & Technical Proficiency: Deep proficiency with audience research and cultural intelligence tools such as MRI-Simmons, GWI, Sparktoro, Mintel, or equivalent social listening and data platforms.
• Strong working knowledge of the media landscape — paid, earned, and owned — and how channels work together to reach specific audiences.
• Proficiency in presentation software (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote) with the ability to build and deliver compelling, visually engaging presentations.
• Familiarity with social media platforms and their cultural dynamics across audiences and demographics.
• Traits: Executive presence with the ability to represent the agency's cultural and strategic POV at the highest levels; identifies patterns and insights that others overlook, and thinks in ideas and narratives rather than tactics and formats; instinctive cultural fluency with a proven ability to move at the speed of relevance; quick-turn agility balanced with strategic rigor; fluent in both data and creativity — able to challenge and elevate a brief rather than simply respond to it; natural connector and cross-collaborator who builds trust across creative, media, and leadership teams; highly articulate with the ability to command a room and make complex ideas feel simple and exciting; comfortable with ambiguity and energized by building in fast-moving environments; willing and able to travel for conferences, client engagements, and cultural events.
  
  

Licenses/Certifications:

• Web analytics platform training and certification required within six months; renewed annually.
• Scrum Essentials and Agile Essentials on-demand courses required within six months.
  
  

Education

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university, with a degree or concentration in advertising, marketing, communications, or a related field preferred; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
  
  

Total Perks Package

• The chance to be a part of a growing company and the next success story
• Amazing opportunities for career development
• Recognition programs
• Employee referral bonus
• Hybrid work schedule; 3 days in the office, 2 days working from home
• Fun and collaborative work environment
• Casual dress code
• Insurance Coverage (medical, dental, vision, life, and disability)
• 401(k) retirement plan, with employer 4% match
• Work/life benefits, including mental health and wellbeing support
• Flexible Time Off Policy
• Paid holidays, including agency closing Christmas Eve-New Year's Day
• Paid leave options, including sick leave, medical leave for self and family, and parental leave
  
  

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