Sample Job Description

S o, what’s the job?
The Brand Equity and Marketing Director will be the advocate to the outside world for Jellyvision’s corporate brand and its product brands by ensuring that we (the company, our products and our teams) are being represented and handled appropriately. Internally, this means interacting with our Creatives and Business Development teams and, externally, working with our partners’ marketing folks. Additional responsibilities include handling/managing PR opportunities and managing trademarks.

What do we mean by “partners”?
Jellyvision licenses its products and its brands to publishers who are responsible for marketing and distribution. The company views these licensing arrangements as partnerships where both parties seek to build a long-term successful brand that can be extended across categories (e.g., from CD-ROM and Internet to console, board games, television shows, and other merchandise).

• Creating a brand equity strategy for the company.
• Being the company liaison to our partners’ marketing people and the outside world:
• Using the brand equity strategy as an anchor in dealing with our partners’ marketing departments and the outside world.
• Balancing Jellyvision Creatives’ demands, instincts and ideas with the marketing ideas, constraints and realities of our partners. More specifically, this means defending Jellyvision’s interests in the way our partners develop and execute marketing plans for our products.
• Determining which marketing and promotion deals are best for Jellyvision as a whole and for its brands, both from a creative and financial perspective.
• Ensuring that there is consistency in the way Jellyvision is portrayed by all of our partners and by ourselves and that the portrayal is true to what we want it to be.
• Staying on top of marketing and promotional issues in our products’ distribution channels (currently they include retail, on-line and schools) so informed decisions on various initiatives can be made.
• Communicating information on partner initiatives related to our brands to the company (via e-mail, bulletin boards, samples, etc.) in a manner that allows the creative staff to feel connected to the promotion of the products they have created.
• Working closely with our Business Development team to ensure that the spirit and letter of the partnership agreements are being adhered to (we currently negotiate some marketing and promotional details into the contracts we have with partners).
• Managing Jellyvision trademarks:
• Establishing and implementing a strategy for handling trademarks. This includes: working with outside counsel on filing, deciding what to file for and in what areas, protecting our mark and ensuring that our marks are being used appropriately.
• Handling Public Relations:
• Overhauling, updating and maintaining the Jellyvision Press Information Kit and web site.
• Working with partners to ensure that Jellyvision is being appropriately incorporated and represented in all press initiatives.
• Ensuring that Jellyvision and its Creative team get appropriate credit for their work.
• If appropriate, spearheading Jellyvision’s own PR efforts (e.g., having Jellyvision represented at relevant industry events, securing speaking engagements/interviews for Jellyvision personnel, etc.)
• Handling/coordinating all in-bound press inquiries.
• Coordinating PR messages to ensure a consistent message.
• When appropriate, evangelizing our approach to interactivity to help build awareness and generate interest in Jellyvision in general.
• Managing Jellyvision’s corporate identity which includes spearheading the establishment of the design and presentation parameters of our corporate logo.

• A minimum of 5 years experience in a marketing–related role.
• Proven client management experience.
• Brand management experience.
• Agency experience a plus.
• Retail channel management experience a big plus.
• Proven experience in collaborating with a variety of positions.
• Superb written and oral communications skills.
• Successful experience working with creative teams (particularly in balancing creative integrity with business/financial realities).

• Direct.
• Detail-oriented.
• Flexible (since the job description will evolve as projects change and the company grows).
• Able to work autonomously (we are not looking to micro-manage; we are looking for someone to bring expertise in this area and who can understand Jellyvision, its brands, its goals and establish and implement the right course of action).
• Able to collaborate, gather input and make decisions.
• Able to act decisively and quickly when necessary.
• Able to say “no.”
• Good judgment about where to compromise.
• Creative problem solver (we are not looking for someone who solves a problem or accepts a solution/approach because that is the way it is always done…we created one of the best selling software products because creatively we weren’t deterred by “it isn’t/can’t be done that way” and we expect the same approach from our business team).
• Long-term oriented.
• Team Player.
• Has fun at work.

Who will this person be working with?
The Brand Equity and Marketing Director will be a member of the Business team and will report to the President. Of course, this person will also be working closely with Creatives and other members of our Creative Support (a.k.a. the Business Team) including business development and finance.

Who are we? Just in case you were wondering…
Jellyvision is a Chicago-based creative shop that invents original interactive experiences for CD-ROM, the Internet and other interactive platforms. From our wildly popular trivia game You Don’t Know Jack® (all-you-can-eat free samples at www.youdontknowjack.com) to our educational software That’s A Fact Jack®, we pride ourselves on creating programs that are clever, thoughtful and original. This commitment is exhibited by Jellyvision’s biggest asset: our ever-expanding creative and technical staff. Together, we intend to shape interactive experiences now and in the swiftly approaching new millennium.

Since our early days as LearnTelevision, we’ve come a long way from our first product, the award-winning film “The Mind’s Treasure Chest”. We’ve already combined interactive design with high production values to create active learning experiences for school children and irreverent party games for adult users, but Jellyvision is constantly moving into new territory. We have two new entertainment brands and a service/transactional product in development and scheduled for release 2000, and there’s more on the way. Working at Jellyvision is more than a salary and desk, it’s a chance to shape the company’s future, to be fulfilled as an individual, and to help determine how people will interact with technology for years to come.

Given the long road ahead of us, we are committed to making Jellyvision a great place to work. This doesn’t just mean the usual benefits, like disability, life and health insurance or a 401K, although Jellyvision does provide all these things. It means little things like easy access to public transportation, free parking, a fully stocked kitchen, a relaxed office atmosphere and even a great party now and then, courtesy of the Jellyvision Social Committee. It also means bigger things, like offering employees the opportunity to participate in Jellyvision’s financial growth.

Still want to know more? Visit our company website at www.jellyvision.com.

Interested?
Send, fax or e-mail a resume along with a well-organized cover letter outlining three strengths, which would make you an ideal candidate for this position. Forget what you’ve heard about companies never reading cover letters-we do and we weigh them heavily! As a matter of fact, we won’t consider a resume without a cover letter.

Jellyvision, Inc.
Attn: Recruiting- BED
848 W. Eastman, Suite 104
Chicago, IL 60622-2536
Fax: 312/266-0088
E-mail: recruiting@jellyvision.com

Also:

• If you haven’t played any of our games before, check out You Don’t Know Jack® for free at www.bezerk.com.