Comms Planning Manager – 3rd Party Cruise

The Comms Planning Manager is responsible for delivering and evolving the defined TUI 3rd party cruise marketing strategy. Owning and nurturing the day-to-day relationships with key cruise partners. Working predominately across offline media channels it will lead and implement marketing communications to drive cruise line sales via TUI shops.

What you will be doing

• Managing creative and media agencies. Writing briefs, developing media and creative plans and securing approval for all cruise partner marketing campaigns to support key selling periods including new season launches, turn of year and Cruise Month.
• Responsible for the cruise marketing budget including supplier marketing contributions and provide on-going tracking of budget and phasing of spend, working with the Finance Business Partner and Snr Partnerships Marketing Manager.
• Champion 3rd party cruise product within the business and secure share of voice amongst a crowded and competitive product landscape. Proactively seek out opportunities to increase presence in TUI’s marketing communications and distribution channels. Work with the Snr Partnerships Marketing Manager and Distribution & Sales to improve 3rd party cruise customer experience throughout the TUI customer journey.
• Represent TUI marketing at internal and external sales meetings to ensure commercial priorities are at the forefront of strategy, planning and media briefs.
• Own the retail cruise event marketing, ensuring events are pre-promoted where possible and performance is measured across our estate of over 600 TUI travel shops. Collaborate with the Retail Marketing team to ensure customer facing cruise communications within TUI shops are impactful and meet all objectives, with creative impact and cut through.
• Act as the main point of contact for all marketing queries with the cruise suppliers and represent Cruise Partnership Marketing at relevant internal meetings. Involves some travel and overnight stays.
• Nurture relationships with TUI Cruises, Commercial, Retail Operations and 3rd Party cruise line contacts to gain sign off of all marketing proposals to ensure integrated planning and collaboration.
• Ensure all Cruise deals marketing is aligned to TUI 3rd party cruise marketing and we achieve through-the-line marketing communications.
• Ensure cruise partner customer insight is utilised for campaign planning. Work with TUI CRM team to drive and deliver the TUI 3rd party cruise direct mail programme, proactively monitoring activity to ensure data accuracy and performance.
• Evaluate all marketing activity and spend. Use analysis to identify new opportunities and ensure findings are communicated to internal and external stakeholders in a clear and useful way.
• Responsible for all 3rd party cruise creative adhering to TUI and cruise partner brand guidelines, correct pricing and legals. Work with external advertising agency and/or in-house team and own brief. Nurture relationship with all external agencies.
• Responsible for all cruise partnership marketing internal comms briefings via email and Click Retail.
• Lead, coach and develop direct report through one to ones and performance reviews.
• Proactively maintain a full understanding of the cruise and wider travel competitor landscape. Keep up to date of cruise supplier brand activity, including their objectives and current campaigns.
• Ensure marketing invoices are processed efficiently and a robust process is in place so that funds are reimbursed to TUI UK within the required timelines.

What we are looking for

• Graduate calibre with marketing planning and management experience.
• Exceptional people skills with a passion for stakeholder relationship management.
• Ability to lead and execute integrated media and creative campaigns.
• Ability to analyse data and produce post campaign results.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills.
• External agency management experience.
• External agency management experience and highly skilled at negotiating rates.
• Flexible, able and happy to work in a fast paced role, managing multiple projects at the same time.
• Great eye for detail with creative flair and confidence to critique own work and others.
• Happy to travel in the UK and overseas sometimes outside of working hours and at weekends.
• PC literate – Excel, Word, PowerPoint.

Working within TUI group

Be Yourself… Be Unique!  TUI’s more than a brand, it’s who we are.  Trusted – Unique – Inspiring.

We’re the leading tourism business with diverse customers and over 67,000 employees. Together, we embrace different continents and cultures.  We believe travel broadens the mind. Just like our customers, we’re on a journey, of development towards a more digital, connected and integrated future. But we haven’t arrived there yet.  We believe that differences drive innovation and we’re encouraging an environment where diverse talent thrives. Inclusion is fundamental to everything that we achieve and it’s our unique colleagues that will shape the future of travel.

The TUI Group includes our unique hotel portfolio, our cruise ships, our own aircraft, tour operators, travel agencies. TUI is the UK’s largest tour operator with key brands including TUI, First Choice, Marella Cruises and Crystal Ski Holidays. Our airline is the country's third largest with 62 aircraft operating to over 88 destinations in 30 countries. We have a team of more than 10,000 employees serving over 5.5 million customers each year. 

Join us now and you can look forward to a competitive salary, pension scheme and further benefits such as generous holiday discounts, excellent rates with foreign exchange and discounts with retailers.

How to apply

Apply online, we just need a few details from you and your CV.