Marketing Manager (Customer Experience, Taste)

Job Summary

As the Customer Experience Manager, you will own the experience provided to our customers by activating the IFF brand and solutions to deliver value and differentiation across various touchpoints of the customer journey. You will drive strategic plans, collaborate with key teams, and lead market research initiatives to support business growth and customer satisfaction.

Job Title: Customer Experience Marketing Manager (CxM)

Location: IFF South Africa, Isando

Scope: Taste / Flavours Division

Overview: As the Customer Experience Manager, you will own the experience provided to our customers by activating the IFF brand and solutions to deliver value and differentiation across various touchpoints of the customer journey. You will drive strategic plans, collaborate with key teams, and lead market research initiatives to support business growth and customer satisfaction.

Key Responsibilities:

Customer Centricity:

• Drive and contribute to the strategic plan with the commercial team.
• Collaborate with the commercial team to develop key account plans.
• Prepare focused key customer business case presentations.
• Provide insights into market solutions to establish business potential and drive profitability for customers.
• Conduct market research to determine customers needs, preferences, and final consumers needs.
• Manage consumer and multi-country customer research projects to support strategic focus.
• Build a local and international research network (internal & external).
• Organize and participate in local/regional fairs/events.

Marketing and Consumer Insights:

• Understand marketplace trends and support IFF Sales Strategy and Market Must Win Battles.
• Interact daily with Sales and R&D departments.
• Lead strategic trends/research that translates into real-time business opportunities to support the pipeline.
• Follow international trends and make local recommendations on new concepts or opportunities.
• Collaborate with EMEA Category Marketing teams.
• Develop IFF qualitative research expertise by monitoring new methodologies and experimenting with approaches relevant to research objectives.
• Track new product launches and key products on the market, identifying gaps for possible innovation.
• Monitor country economic and social indicators with the commercial team.
• Recommend potential new business leads and new concepts/product ideas to sustain business growth (GAP analysis).

Trend Analysis:

• Identify main trends driving growth in food and beverage categories (focus on Dairy, Beverage, Culinary) using tools like Mintel, Euromonitor, and secondary reports.
• Develop and deliver compelling customer content to grow, retain, and defend business.

Concept Development:

• Support customers in their new product development journey by utilizing category trends and consumer insights to ideate and suggest relevant food and beverage concepts.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with sales and technical teams to develop concepts and present compelling storylines to customers.

Strategic Alignment:

• Link market and consumer dynamics with IFFs portfolio strengths to identify business opportunities.

Client Presentations:

• Prepare and present comprehensive presentations showcasing trends, consumer insights, and proposing innovative product concepts.

Market Mapping and Gap Analysis:

• Analyze the market to identify new product launches and emerging trends.

Execution of Marketing Activities:

• Coordinate and collaborate with sales, innovation, and business units to drive industry initiatives and activities.

Education & Required Skillset

• Bachelors degree in Business Administration/Sciences, with 5+ years of successful marketing experience in a flavor related industry (desired)
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and problem solving skills with the ability to lead and coordinate activities with internal support team and customers. Inspires others by acting as a leading example.
• Confident, dynamic and enthusiastic professional with ability to generate trust by delivering on commitments
• Possess the ability to lead multi-cultural teams.

We are a global leader in taste, scent, and nutrition, offering our customers a broader range of natural solutions and accelerating our growth strategy. At IFF, we believe that your uniqueness unleashes our potential. We value the diverse mosaic of the ethnicity, national origin, race, age, sex, or veteran status. We strive for an inclusive workplace that allows each of our colleagues to bring their authentic self to work regardless of their religion, gender identity & expression, sexual orientation, or disability.

Visit IFF.com/careers/workplace-diversity-and-inclusion to learn more