VP, Brand Content and Expression

Company Overview

Sleep Number is a sleep wellness technology leader. For nearly four decades, we have placed sleep at the center of wellbeing, improving over 15 million lives with our Sleep Number smart beds. We are guided by our purpose – to improve the health and wellbeing of society through higher quality sleep. This is exemplified through our 4,000+ mission-driven team members who passionately innovate to drive value creation through our vertically integrated business model, owning the process from start to finish, including selling in our over 650 stores nationwide.

Our team members are encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, sharing their unique perspectives, backgrounds and skills with Sleep Number every day. Whether you are entering, returning or experienced in the workforce, we have a place for you. We hope you join us in creating the future through higher quality sleep

Position Purpose

As VP, Brand Content and Expression, you will be responsible for driving the creative vision, brand expression (copy, visual, and content strategy) at Sleep Number.  You will lead a team of talented creatives, writers, designers, and partner resources to develop compelling stories, copy and content that resonates with our target consumers and current customers and strengthens our brand presence and communicates our competitive superiority. This role requires a combination of strategic thinking, creative innovation, business acumen and effective leadership to deliver outstanding company performance and results.

Primary Responsibilities

• Develop Creative Strategy: Define the overarching creative vision, copy and content strategy aligned with the organization's goals and objectives. Stay  on the leading edge of industry trends, competitor positioning, consumer insights, and emerging technologies to inform strategic decisions and pivots.
• Copy and Content Strategy and Creation: Oversee the development of high-quality, engaging content across various platforms and mediums, including digital, print, video, social media, and more to clearly convey our differentiated benefits and drive value to the business and the audiences they serve. Ensure copy and content is consistently on-brand, relevant, and resonates with the consumer audience segments being targeted.  Ensure copy and content execution provide clarity on the superiority of the product, in changing competitive market conditions.  Create roadmap of development efforts to ensure aging assets are addressed timely, ensure production is delivered on time and on budget.
• Campaign Development: Conceptualize and execute integrated marketing campaigns that leverage compelling storytelling and creative elements to drive engagement, awareness, and conversions all in alignment with the planning calendar, brand voice, ensuring consistent messaging/tone and visual/art direction.
• Brand Leadership and Management: Create/refine and actively uphold brand standards via the brand style guide across all content and creative assets. Ensure consistency in messaging, tone, and visual identity to strengthen brand equity and recognition across the enterprise.
• Team Leadership: Lead, mentor, and inspire a team of creatives, writers, designers, and content strategists along with partner resources. Foster a collaborative and innovative work environment that encourages creativity, agility, growth, and excellence.
• Agency Management: Establish vision and strategy for agency’s effort, manage agencies’ performance, timeliness and spend against objectives to ensure outsized outcomes. This is in partnership with internal planning team leadership.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate closely with marketing, product innovation, sales, and other teams to align creative and content initiatives with broader business objectives. Seek opportunities for synergy and integration across departments.
• Performance Analysis: Monitor and analyze the performance of creative campaigns and content initiatives. Use data-driven insights to optimize strategies, improve engagement metrics, and drive continuous improvement.
• Budget Management: Manage budget allocations for creative projects, ensuring efficient use of resources while delivering high-quality results within deadlines.
• Stakeholder Communication: Effectively communicate creative concepts, strategies, and project updates to key stakeholders, including senior management, clients, and external partners.
• Stay on the leading edge with industry best practices, emerging technologies, and cultural trends. Continuously seek opportunities to innovate and push the boundaries of creativity.  Set and maintain the course for evolving current and establishing new capabilities and the parallel resource strategy (insource/outsource).

Key Performance Indicators

• Leading brand health measure – Sleep innovation, Sleep Health, Sleep Research and Science, ad awareness, consideration, quality, trust and value
• Quality traffic and Sales, new customer acquisition
• Growth in brand advocacy measured by repeat and referral business
• Breakthru creative engagement, brand linkage, search volume triggered from content/creative
• More efficient Cost of Customer Acquisition
• Improved efficiency and effectiveness of media

Position Requirements

• Bachelor or Master’s in design or related field equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Minimum of 15+ years of creative experience in creative direction, art direction and design; focused on luxury consumer brands.

• Success as a visionary and innovative creative executive with a global mindset around luxury consumer behavior.

• Author of a dynamic and successful portfolio of proven projects that demonstrate creative abilities and elevation of a brand’s total experience – demonstrated exceptional knowledge of digital design and social platforms, experiential design, typography, branding and print and interactive design while also having a thorough understanding of motion graphics with the consumer journey in mind.

• Proven success in leading strategy ideation, complex work streams, creative process, marketing, graphic design and brand development and management.

• On the leading edge of current trends in editorial, digital storytelling, technology, communications, home, fashion, luxury, art and other design influences.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strategic thinker with a passion for storytelling and creative innovation.
• Outstanding strategic creative leadership, partnership/collaboration abilities to establish deep confidence, trust, and rapport with internal stakeholders as well as external agencies and partners.
• Innovative storytelling with excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as strong presentation skills.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into execution and measurable results.
• Expert organizational skills, with the ability to handle multiple, overlapping, and potentially conflicting priorities.
• Strong performance management skills, including the ability to identify, recruit, assess, develop and align talent to achieve or exceed the team’s objectives.
• Proven success in effectively managing agencies.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing is more than a catchphrase - it's a movement that permeates our company and through our team members. We are dedicated to enhancing and supporting the wellbeing of our team members and their families through benefits, programs, and resources across our five wellbeing pillars of emotional, financial, career, community, and physical health, with sleep at the center.

By joining our team, in addition to offering competitive pay programs, we are proud to offer eligible team members an extensive benefits package including, but not limited to medical and pharmacy benefits, dental, life and disability insurance, a matched 401(k) Plan, paid time off, and much more.

Safety

Safety is a top priority for Sleep Number supporting customers and team members wellbeing. COVID-19 Precaution(s) are in place consistent with CDC guidelines, U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA), and state/local laws.

EEO Statement

Sleep Number is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to recruiting, hiring and promoting qualified people and prohibit discrimination based on race, color, marital status, religion, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), sexual orientation, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed servicemember status or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

It is Sleep Number’s policy to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities during the application process, consistent with applicable law. We may require supporting medical or religious documentation where applicable and permissible by law. If you are a qualified individual, you may request a reasonable accommodation at any time during the selection process, including if you are unable or otherwise limited in your ability to access open roles here.