Vice President, Brand

Sales, Marketing and Communications
Full-Time Position

 

 

 

The Vice President Brand owns Cirque du Soleil's brand as a commercial asset. The role exists to ensure the brand is not a set of principles, guidelines, or presentations — but a governed, operable system that drives desirability, demand, pricing power, audience growth, and long-term enterprise value.

 

The VP Brand sets brand strategy and architecture for the masterbrand and the full show portfolio, builds the governance and creative capability required to execute it at global scale, and holds joint accountability with commercial peers for the demand outcomes the brand is supposed to produce.

 

This is a leadership role, not a stewardship role. Success is measured in market performance, not in brand health scores alone.

 

 

Reports to: Chief Marketing Officer

 

Peer leadership team:

• VP Marketing & Sales
• VP Growth & CRM
• VP Communications

Direct reports (indicative):

• Brand Strategy & Architecture Lead
• Brand Governance & Playbooks Lead
• Creative Studio Lead
• Hub Design Leads (Americas / ROW)
• Brand Operations Lead

Works in close lockstep with:

Growth / Performance Marketing · Communications & PR · Ticketing / Revenue Management · Audience Experience · Show GMs · Content / Creation leadership · Sponsorship & Partnerships

 

 

The VP Brand is accountable for closing the gap between brand strategy and commercial reality by:

• Ensuring brand strategy drives demand and revenue, not just meaning
• Making the brand operable inside real go-to-market systems
• Protecting brand discipline while increasing urgency and cultural relevance
• Connecting brand, pricing, communications, ticketing, and audience lifecycle
• Building and leading the enterprise brand function — strategy, governance, and in-house creative capability

Key responsibilities

 

1. Brand → demand → revenue (critical)

• Translate brand positioning into clear demand-generation strategy across the portfolio
• Ensure brand choices support pricing power, reduced promo dependency, and conversion uplift
• Set joint brand–commercial guardrails with VP Growth & CRM covering pricing architecture, discount governance, and how premium positioning is protected in market
• Ensure "premium" is experienced, not just claimed, across the whole Marcomms & Guest Experience system
• Own brand's role across the entire selling cycle (pre-on-sale, peak, sustain, close)
• Carry shared accountability with VP Marketing & Sales for show-level demand outcomes

This role is expected to understand and be measured against ATP, occupancy, conversion, and repeat attendance.

 

2. Portfolio strategy, architecture & show differentiation

• Own brand architecture in motion — masterbrand, show brands, formats, and franchises
• Ensure every show has a distinct cultural role, a clearly defined audience, and a differentiated narrative and visual expression
• Prevent "Cirque sameness" in messaging, campaigns, tone, and codes
• Act as final arbiter when masterbrand vs show-brand tension arises
• Advise on brand implications of new IP, formats, licensing, and portfolio investment decisions

3. Demand-led brand planning

• Lead brand input into annual and multi-year go-to-market planning
• Own the brand runway for show launches, 12–18 months pre-opening
• Ensure brand activity is anticipation-led, not reactive or promoter-driven
• Embed brand thinking into media strategy, content planning, and PR/influencer activation
• Set the brand investment case: what long-term brand building requires, and what it is expected to return

4. Cultural relevance & communications partnership

• Partner with VP Communications so the brand actively participates in culture and is visible well beyond paid media
• Shape creator collaborations, cultural moments, and partnership activation from a brand-first perspective
• Ensure brand-side standards for sponsorship and partnership fit, so commercial partnerships build rather than dilute equity
• Ensure Cirque builds urgency, not just esteem

5. Audience lifecycle & relationship strategy

• Ensure the brand is expressed consistently across first-time audiences, repeat visitors, and high-value/proximity audiences
• Work with CRM and growth teams to translate brand into retention, cross-sell, and loyalty pathways
• Build long-term emotional affinity, not just transactions
• Ensure brand meaning compounds over time rather than resetting with every show

6. Governance, discipline & decision-making

• Act as brand decision partner, not brand police
• Ensure brand stretch is intentional, trade-offs are explicit, and short-term wins do not erode long-term equity
• Own the governance model across agencies, promoters, partners, and internal teams — including standards, sign-off thresholds, and escalation paths
• Own agency roster strategy, scopes, and brand-side budget for the function

7. Creative capability & internal enablement

• Build and lead the in-house creative studio and hub-embedded design capability, balancing speed, cost, and craft against external agency use
• Operationalise the brand for Show GMs, regional teams, and marketing/comms squads through playbooks, toolkits, and asset systems
• Own internal brand education, clarity, and alignment
• Ensure teams know how to use the brand to win, not just how to comply

What success looks like (12–24 months)

• Clear differentiation between shows in market
• Reduced reliance on promotions to drive volume
• Stronger pricing confidence aligned with brand promise
• Earlier and stronger demand build-up ahead of launches
• Brand conversations happening outside Cirque channels
• Brand respected internally as a commercial tool, not an abstract ideal
• A high-performing brand function with clear roles, faster creative throughput, and lower avoidable agency spend

Profile & experience

 

Essential

• 12–15+ years in brand roles with direct commercial accountability, including experience leading and building teams at enterprise scale
• Track record operating at or near executive level, with credibility in front of an executive committee and board-facing forums
• Experience working at the intersection of brand strategy, demand generation, communications, and cultural relevance
• Proven ability to operationalise brand strategy across complex, multi-market organisations
• Strong commercial literacy: pricing, yield, funnels, and marketing metrics
• Comfortable challenging creative, commercial, and executive stakeholders — and holding the line when it matters

Strongly preferred

• Entertainment, culture, fashion, luxury, or premium experience sectors
• Multi-brand or portfolio environments, including masterbrand/sub-brand architecture decisions
• Experience running in-house creative capability alongside external agency ecosystems
• Experience working alongside ticketing/revenue, performance marketing, and data/CRM teams
• Multi-market or global remit spanning resident and touring/rotating formats

Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible and inclusive workplace. Proud ambassador of equality in employment, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is committed to eliminating discrimination based on age, skin color, origins, religion, sex, sexual orientation and any other characteristic. Neutral and inclusive writing is now preferred for all new job postings.