Marketing Director

THE COMPANY – RISE BRANDS

Established in 2013 and based out of Columbus, Ohio, Rise Brands is a highly collaborative organization with clearly defined core values. We develop edgy, immersive consumer engagements and bring them to life through unique brand experiences, such as 16-Bit Bar and Arcade, Pins Mechanical Company, and No Soliciting, a members-only speak-easy club.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Rise Brands is looking for a hands-on Marketing Director to set the direction for how our brands show up, then turn that direction into relevant campaigns and local experiences across our venue portfolio. This leader will connect the corporate office, external agency partners, creative and social teams, and venue leaders so that brand strategy is clear, work is coordinated, and each location has a meaningful place in its community.

The role balances enterprise brand building with practical field execution. The Director will own the marketing plan and operating rhythm, guide agency work, equip local teams to activate, and use results to improve what we do next.

WHAT YOU WILL LEAD

BRAND STRATEGY AND PLANNING 

• Set and maintain the marketing strategy for each brand, translating business priorities and guest insights into clear audiences, positioning, messages, campaign priorities, and channel roles.
• Build and own the annual marketing calendar, including seasonal campaigns, evergreen offers, programming, openings, product and menu launches, and market-specific opportunities.
• Recommend annual budgets and allocate spend against agreed priorities; bring clear business cases and tradeoffs to leadership for approval.

AGENCY AND CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP 

• Serve as the primary day-to-day liaison between external agency partners and the Rise Brands corporate office. Set briefs, timelines, decision owners, and review expectations; make sure agency work reflects business goals and brand direction.
• Lead planning and performance conversations with agency partners, including PR and paid media/search support as assigned. Coordinate internal inputs, approvals, assets, and follow-through so work moves on time.
• Keep executives and cross-functional partners informed on plans, decisions, risks, and results; elevate choices that require leadership direction.

COMMUNITY AND FIELD MARKETING

• Build a practical local marketing approach for every venue market, with activations and partnerships shaped by local guests, calendars, organizations, and neighborhood needs.
• Create repeatable ways for venue leaders and a cross-functional marketing committee to surface local ideas and help execute them, with clear briefs, budgets, owners, toolkits, and approval steps.
• Develop relationships with local businesses, nonprofits, tourism groups, schools, sports and entertainment organizations, creators, and community event organizers.
• Plan and support in-market activations, partnerships, events, promotions, and community programs; travel regularly to venues and attend key activations as needed.

CAMPAIGNS, CONTENT, AND BRAND STRATEGY

• Lead integrated campaigns that support walk-in traffic, event sales, programming, guest spend, awareness, and retention, in partnership with Operations and Event Sales.
• Partner with creative and social teams to deliver useful, on-brand assets for venues and corporate channels, with clear content expectations and review processes.
• Protect consistency in brand voice and guest experience while making room for local relevance. Ensure venue teams receive timely, usable instructions and materials.

MEASUREMENT AND OPERATING DISCIPLINE

• Tracks the competitive landscape, cultural and category trends, and economic conditions that affect guest behavior, then adjusts plans and spend accordingly.
• Set objectives and measurement plans before campaigns launch. Review performance across spend, reach and engagement, web activity, event leads and bookings, guest response, and sales or traffic where attribution is available.
• Maintain a clear marketing intake, prioritization, calendar, and reporting process. Share concise updates with leadership and recommend what to continue, change, or stop.
• Monitor budgets, vendor commitments, deadlines, and workload; coordinate with Finance and functional leaders to keep plans achievable.

HOW SUCCESS WILL BE MEASURED

• An approved annual strategy, calendar, and budget that connect brand priorities to business goals.
• Consistent, on-time coordination between agency partners, corporate teams, and venues, with clear owners and fewer execution gaps.
• An active local marketing rhythm across every venue market, reflected in relevant partnerships, activations, and stronger community awareness.
• Campaigns and activations with defined objectives, disciplined spending, useful post-campaign learning, and measurable contribution to traffic, event demand, engagement, or sales where trackable.
• Clear brand standards and practical support that help venue teams execute confidently.

EXPERIENCE AND STRENGTHS

• Experience leading and developing a small team, familiarity working with an external agency and vendor partners. Comfortable being both a manager and a hands-on contributor.
• Progressive marketing experience, including ownership of brand or multi-location marketing plans and campaigns; hospitality, entertainment, food and beverage, retail, or experience-based businesses are especially relevant.
• Experience managing agency relationships and bringing internal teams, vendors, and field operators together around a shared plan.
• Experience planning local or experiential marketing, community partnerships, events, and campaigns that connect brand awareness to guest action.
• Strong judgment, project management, writing, budget management, and presentation skills; able to move between strategy and details without losing sight of either.
• Comfort using campaign, digital, social, and business performance data to make decisions; able to distinguish useful indicators from outcomes that can be directly attributed.
• Ability to travel regularly to venue markets and work some evenings or weekends for important activations.

At its inception, Rise was built around creativity. It flows through everything we do – from the grandest visions to the smallest details that sometimes go unseen. At Rise, we bring people together to inspire fun in spaces built to thoroughly entertain our guests. Most importantly, our team develops brands we enjoy and take great pride in everyday.