Account Director - Fashion

Who We Are: PURPLE is a global lifestyle communications agency with offices in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, London, Hong Kong & Singapore. For more than two decades, PURPLE has been the leader in culturally connected, results driven brand communications. With the original founding team still leading the business, we bring together our cross-generational and diverse personal networks globally to connect people and brands, build strategy and drive commercial success. Our in-house talent pride themselves on their international networks, working collaboratively across luxury and creative industries to deliver game-changing earned media campaigns that are always bespoke, non-traditional and often provocative. Understanding the world of luxury and the ever evolving possibilities to lead in the space, we offer connected services across Communications, Events, Social Media, Partnerships, and VIP & Talent. PURPLE doesn’t follow the cultural zeitgeist, we create it. Who You Are: PURPLE is looking for an experienced Account Director for its Fashion division to join the agency. The Account Director will play an essential role in supporting the assigned senior management in the development and execution of: generating maximum brand exposure through creative product placement, profile features and launches. The Account Director must have a genuine passion for developing brands, using true initiative in order to achieve exceptional results. Impeccable client liaison skills and an established network of key contacts (brands and press) are essential. Account Director’s responsibilities would include increasing awareness for all brands assigned to them. In this role the Account Director will promote the different clients in all activities, campaigns, special projects, shows, presentations and events to the media and to develop and maintain relationships with key journalists and media within your assigned and designated market, acting as an ambassador for Purple. Key Responsibilities Has the ability to provide counsel to clients as opposed to taking direction from clients; Is able to have tough conversations with clients with their best interests in mind Is able to lead client calls / in-person meetings and think on one’s feet Is able to take client business objectives and develop a linear and cohesive communication strategy that reflect those business objectives As core account team lead, is able to pull in and collaborate with speciality resources across the agency (both in NYC, London and LA) to ensure the client is getting access to the agency’s network-wide expertise Is able to lead client programs and campaigns – from planning to execution – in an organised and timely manner, within the specified budget Understands the difference between a communication strategy and a media strategy Shows accountability in terms of meeting client benchmarks and delivering strong media coverage; Delivers on this through team leadership and guidance Own all media relations and continue to develop and maintain key relationships Is able to provide strategic and tactical support to Divisional Director Working with our in-house events team to manage launch events for media and influencers Line managing their team to ensure they meet targets and have a development plan Exhibits strong new business skills both from a planning and proposal perspective and during in-person pitch opportunities; Brings in new business opportunities through networking Overseeing the management of all product-related media requests – from email inquiry through prospective media coverage – through sample product distribution and tracking and follow up Taking inventory of and being responsible for client product inventory General media monitoring across clients and all competitors Consistently producing high quality internal and external communications content Oversight and compilation of weekly client agendas Proactively pitch story ideas to achieve maximum editorial placement across your brands Manage and motivate junior members of the team to ensure day to day operations run smoothly and PR results are delivered; while supporting them in their growth to the next level. Equally support VPs and senior members of the team to ensure maximum support across all levels. Have a clear understanding of paid, owned and earned media strategies, and develop relationships with top editors to support this activity Have strong connections with leading and emerging editorial talents in the US Managing the Account Managers/Account Executive to help reach personal and team targets Work cross-functionally with the VIP & Influencer teams across accounts, ensuring a cohesive brand strategy is implemented Skills and Experience Proven experience operating in a senior position within the fashion industry Proven commercial experience with working in a fast-paced environment Management experience is highly desirable Proven track record of creating a positive impact on business through implementation of a PR strategy Discreet, professional and well spoken, with excellent communication skills Extremely well-organised, methodical and efficient, with a good dose of common sense and initiative Pro-active and able to show initiative/ideas to constantly promote the Purple offering Creative and strategic thinker Strong established fashion press contacts International press contacts are also desirable Strong experience of event management, including local and international Fashion Weeks Strong presentation & superb writing skills Able to identify communication opportunities across multiple media platforms Strong MS Word skills; including PowerPoint and Excel Working knowledge of traditional industry platforms including Launchmetrics, DMR