Job Title: Manager, Talent and Influencer Relations
Department: Marketing
Reports to: Director, Integrated Marketing
Collaboration: Daily collaboration across the Integrated Marketing Team; Regular collaboration with teams across the organization including Marketing Operations, Creative and Content, Communications, Basketball Operations and Game Operations.
Team Overview: Integrated Marketing is the heartbeat of the marketing department, building seamless and connected pathways to fans to drive growth and engagement. Considering the full marketing mix with a spotlight on digital and social, the integrated marketing team is responsible for developing and executing detailed marketing plans, derived from Brand Strategy with support from Marketing Operations. As fan and channel experts, Integrated Marketing understands and implements the best ways to connect with fans based on campaign objectives.
Position Summary: The Manager of Talent and Influencer Relations is responsible for leading third-party talent engagement initiatives that serve marketing programs and campaigns for the Los Angeles Lakers. The ideal candidate is an expert talent manager with proven experience effectively and credibly leveraging third party influencers, celebrities and collaborators for brand awareness, brand growth and consumer engagement. This role holds and builds positive relationships across varying industries and is an expert keeping a pulse on influencer and creator trends. As part of larger integrated marketing plans, this role promotes key initiatives such as brand campaigns, seasonal milestones and cultural moments through the development and engagement of celebrities and influencers. Efforts focus on social and digital while considering other marketing touchpoints across paid, earned and owned.
Essential Functions (Duties & Responsibilities)
Talent Planning and Engagement:
- Creates and develops talent engagement strategies, evaluation filters and programs to drive Lakers business goals across California and around the world
- Researches, plans and executes celebrity, influencer and creator initiatives as part of larger Lakers integrated marketing plans and campaigns throughout the NBA season and offseason
- Manages talent marketing integrations at the arena during Lakers games, partnering closely with the game operations department to ensure transparency and seamless execution
- Manages talent marketing integrations and for a variety of non-Game engagements including training facility visits, content creation, product seeding, community events and more
- Leads all production deliverables for talent engagement, working with creative teams and channel teams for seamless and quick-turn production, approval and deployment
- Ensures all talent engagements are on brand and valuable for the Lakers enterprise
- Ensures all talent engagement agreements are compliant, working with legal and operations teams to ensure clearances and contracts, as required
- Cultivates and maintains positive relationships with talent, agents and managers across varying industries, with a focus on sports, fashion and music and an eye toward audience growth
- Reviews and evaluates a wide range of inbound talent requests, using a consistent assessment framework to determine purpose, benefit and valuation
- Engages with the NBA domestic and international teams to evaluate and plan opportunities
- Partners closely with basketball operations to assess and fulfill player requests for talent opportunities
- Partners closely with Lakers international marketing manager and hired marketing agencies to review and recommend international talent integration opportunities
- Partners with communications team to integrate domestic and international media relations plans into talent engagement initiatives
- Partners with business intelligence team to ensure accurate reporting on talent campaign performance and insights and implements learnings for future campaigns
- Builds, maintains and advances a robust talent database for ongoing turnkey execution
Talent Trends And Research
- Maintains a strong pulse on influencer and creator trends, culture, and nuances that drive fandom and social engagement across the world
- Surveys a wide range of sports, entertainment and culture brands to follow third-party engagement, assess benefit and implement learnings
- Brings innovative ideas to the table, with a focus on brand value, seamless execution, low effort and highest yield
- Participates in a range of Lakers events and industry engagements to build relationships and drive organic engagement
- Develops and maintains a strong network of talent contacts across varying industries
- Utilizes social tools and influencer marketing platforms to research and identify talent that aligns with Lakers values and target audience
- Responsibilities subject to change based on organizational needs and management direction
Education: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, or related field; advanced and continuing education preferred.
Previous Experience
- Minimum 6 years in marketing with 3-4 years of experience in talent and influencer marketing
- Proven success launching and implementing celebrity and influencer marketing campaigns for high-profile, premium brands
- Proven success with international digital and social talent activations for a global brand
- Strong talent relations background with established contacts across industries
- Integrated marketing experience to ensure tactical elements are effective across channels
- Agency engagement or management
Technology Capabilities
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Social listening, influencer marketing tools
- Project Management Software (Jira, Trello, Wrike)
- Microsoft Office (including Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint)
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
- Ability to plan and deliver high-quality programs that support business needs
- Organizer and self-starter who can manage projects and programs end-to-end
- Collaborator who proactively gathers and shares intel and updates to ensure alignment
- Strong understanding of celebrity, influencer and creator market trends and nuances
- Ability to promote and translate premium brands and products to consumers internationally
- Strong understanding of optimized digital experiences across channels and platforms
- Expert content planning and content integration to maximize channels and production while understanding need for bespoke opportunities and continual evaluation of best practices
- Ability to brief innovative and creative social and digital assets that fit within mandatory parameters including league rules, short timelines, and limited budget
- Understanding of asset design and production requirements across digital and social platforms
- Strategic planner who can incorporate talent strategies into wider integrated marketing plans
- Mutli-tasker with ability to simultaneously manage multiple programs at varying scales with mixed deadlines
- Ability to work in a high-energy, fast-paced, dynamic environment and make instant, quality decisions
- Detail-oriented and a logical approach to problem solving
- A passion for basketball and sports business
Physical Demands: N/A
Location: El Segundo (offices M-F), downtown Los Angeles (Crypto.com arena for some Lakers home games), other occasional off-site events
Travel: Up to 10% of the time
Hours: This position requires continual attention due to the perpetual nature of the NBA season; after-hours time is mandatory; must be available to work evenings, weekends, and holidays
The pay range for this role is $85,000 to $105,000. Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience and certifications.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
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