Trade Marketing Manager

Job Title: Trade Marketing Activation Manager
Department: Trade Marketing (SPAC ) Sales Promotion and Activation
Location: Mumbai

About the role
Trade Marketing Activation Manager will own SPAC (Sales, Promotion & Activation) planning and execution for (lighting, pumps, appliances, wires & cables) . You will convert product & business priorities into high-impact BTL/retail/activations and special projects that accelerate NPD adoption, premium SKU uptake, and channel sell-through. The role requires strong operational rigour (POSM/FSU/CTU rollouts), vendor & budget management, cross-functional coordination and the ability to scale activations PAN-India.

Key responsibilities

Strategy & Planning

• Develop annual, quarterly and campaign-level SPAC / activation calendars tied to product launches, seasonality, GTM priorities and sales targets.
• Define 360 activation blueprints (retail, BTL, influencer, Meets, exhibitions, experiential) for NPDs, premium SKUs and growth PLs.
• Own activation budgets, ROI tracking; prepare Budget vs Utilization dashboards and drive timely course correction.

SPAC & Special Projects Management

• Lead end-to-end SPAC activities and special projects (flagship events like CP Meets, Product launches, festival activations, exhibition participation).
• Design & scale innovation-led POSM/FSUs/CTUsfrom concept, prototyping, vendor onboarding to PAN-India rollout.
• Manage event production, vendor SLAs, onground execution and settlement.

Campaign Execution & Retail Rollout

• Execute on-ground activations: dealer/CP meets, retailer meets, plumber/mechanic meets, in-store demos, roadshows, society activations and modern trade FSU installs.
• Deliver post-launch market storming for NPDs to ensure fast sell-in & sell-through.
• Execute modern trade & high-footfall activations (e.g., Croma FSU installs, demo-driven CTUs).

POSM, Production & Vendor Management

• Lead POSM/creative brief-to-print: catalogues, counter top/demo units, display panels, clip-ons, utility POSM and premium collateral.
• Implement multi-stage quality checks and vendor performance management to ensure zero-defect rollouts and consistent on-ground finish.
• Maintain PO tracking framework, escalate overdue payments and manage vendor invoicing & settlements in coordination with commercial.

Channel & Influencer Engagement

• Plan and execute CP / Retailer / Plumber meets and influencer kits (utility POSM to influencers, plumber tool kits, demo kits) to drive recommendation & conversion.
• Build trade incentive schemes, spot-booking offers & R&R programs for channel motivation.

Creative & Collateral Leadership

• Own creative brief, RDP design sign-off, and agency coordination for scheme circulars, product catalogues and launch creatives.
• Translate product & scheme inputs into execution-ready artwork, ensure zero-defect approvals for print.

Measurement, MIS & Optimization

• Define activation KPIs (visibility score, footfall, leads, conversion, cost per engagement, activation ROI) and maintain dashboards for management review.
• Provide weekly/monthly MIS and post-campaign insights to Sales and Leadership.

Exhibitions & External Events

• Manage company participation in industry expos and trade fairs end-to-end — pre-event planning, booth design, collateral, demos, lead capture and follow-up.
• Deliver measurable enquiry-to-opportunity outcomes from exhibitions.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Sales, Product, R&D, Regional Teams to align activations with commercial objectives, demo-kit requirements and after-sales processes.
• Prepare and share post-campaign reports and learnings for Product and Sales teams.

People & Process

• Mentor or coordinate with agency / field execution teams and regional coordinators for flawless on-ground implementation.
• Document processes, create visual repositories of executed assets and maintain audit-ready records.

Key Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree mandatory; MBA/PGDM in Marketing preferred.
• Experience: 7–12 years in SPAC / BTL / trade marketing / brand activation. Prior consumer durables, appliances or electricals experience strongly preferred.

Skills & Attributes:

• Strong project management & stakeholder coordination skills.
• Proven experience in POSM/FSU/CTU/product demo unit development and PAN-India rollouts.
• Vendor negotiation, production quality control and PO tracking expertise.
• Experience running CP / retailer / plumber meets and influencer/trade engagement programs.
• Data-driven mindset: MIS creation, budget vs utilisation control and ROI measurement.
• Excellent communication (English + regional language), comfortable with travel (40–60%).
• Creative problem-solver with hands-on execution capability and a bias for operational detail.

What success looks like (examples of expected impact)

• Rapid NPD adoption: Plan and execute post-launch storming to secure early sell-in and visibility.
• Large-scale display rollouts: Deliver thousands of FSU/CTU/Display units across categories
• Channel activation scale & business outcomes: Execute multi-city CP/Retailer/Plumber meets that translate into significant order booking (example benchmarks include multi-crore order bookings from CP programs).
• Innovation in execution: Improve retail compliance by redesigning distribution processes (e.g., factory-level insertion of capacitor stickers), and design foldable display solutions to improve installability and dealer acceptance.
• End-to-end event ownership: Lead flagship sales conferences and exhibitions from vendor onboarding to final settlement and ROI assessment.

What we offer

• Ownership of pan-India SPAC activations for legacy and growth brands.
• Opportunity to lead high-visibility NPD launches, special projects and large-scale activation programs.
• Fast-paced role with direct impact on revenue and channel metrics.
• Competitive CTC + variable pay linked to activation KPIs.