Brand Manager Career Guide and Counseling

Question: What are the daily duties of a Brand Manager? How does it differ from a Product Manager or Marketing Manager? I am currently a marketing manager trying to figure out the next step in my career. I have had a lot of experience in marketing communications type activities: creating collateral, press releases, managing trade shows, and promotions. I am wondering what experience I may lack on the quantitative side: managing P&L, managing product lifecycle, product mix, etc. If I am more interested in the creative side of marketing, should I stay in MarCom? Or do Brand Managers deal with both? Is there less growth potential in MarCom - job ads make it seem like an entry level profession making only around $35K.

Answer: I am also a marketing student and from what I have gathered a brand manager is pretty similar to a product manager. They are in charge of essentially all marketing aspects of a specific product. The marketing manager seems to have broader job responsibilities such as management of marketing specialists and research analysts to accomplish general marketing objectives set by upper management like the Vice President of Marketing. It seems that product managers are generally required to have MBA degrees. Does your school have an alumni program? If so it can probably hook you up with willing professionals in your field who can answer your questions and provide you guidance in your career. I would suggest to follow your passion! You will excell if you pursue what you are really interested in and it will be much easier to break the bank!

Question: How can I achieve the targets given to me by my brand manager at work? I am new to doing a job and this is the first time. I am working as a Savings Promotion Executive and my Brand Manager gave me a target to achieve with deadlines. It sounds so impossible because people don't save money much these days. My target is to find 3 million for the company through persuading people to save in our company in particular savings accounts. Can you please give me some advice on that, regarding the ways I can do that? How to promote the particualr Savings Account as it gives a 15% of interest annually. Thank you.

Answer: First, set your priorities - write them down if necessary, and HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF!! You were hired to this position because you're boss thought you were the best person for the job. Which mean that you are! :) :) :) ...and don't you forget it! :) Secondly, find out who your target market is: Who is your customer, where do they live, what do they do and how do they spend their disposable income? Once you've established who you're selling to, you need to think of common objections that a person might come up with as to why they wouldn't open a savings account with you, and think of ways to counter that without lying. A little exaggerating of the product is expected. - find out what your competition is offering. Is theirs a 'limited time offer' and you're is your fabulous regular rate that they can get anytime? Besides, 15% is huge!! BofA only offers .02% on a standard savings and many credit unions offer 4 -5% Ask you manager and co-workers for common selling points so you know what has already been tried to sell this product. be ready to delegate if needed, and trust and rely on your co-workers. Your boss may have given this project to you, but he/she should also be an inspiration and/or sounding board for ideas. Take a deep breath, congrats on the new job, and good luck on this project!!!!!!

Question: What are basic job functions of brand manager in pharma company? How does a pharmaceutical brand planning done?

Answer: Definition: Person who has marketing responsibilities to develop and execute marketing programs that increase brand identity and awareness for a specific product. At the most basic level, a brand manager is responsible for a product's overall image. They typically control most of the major aspects of the marketing for a product or product line. Different companies view this position differently especially in terms of reporting responsibilities. In some, this is the most senior position on the marketing side, in others it is much less senior. In smaller companies, this is part of a marketing director's job. In some companies their are lower tier brand managers who report to a senior brand manager. For a good example of this, search a site with marketing jobs and query 'Brand Manager'. As you see the job descriptions, they are not that different from what you would expect to see for a marketing director in general, simply a focus has been placed on the brand aspect of the job. A typical set of requirement include: Product line management Category management Brand and Category strategies Sales and Marketing strategies Budget management Research and Development Develop and Implement marketing plans Some companies view the job of the CEO as the ultimate 'Brand Manager'. Long story short, regardless of how a company is organized around it, the job of the brand manager is to have the proverbial 40,000 foot view of how a brand is being marketed from start to finish and top to bottom and to make sure it adheres to established brand standards and that each effort builds or reinforces brand equity. For a really good book to get your head around brand management, I would recommend Brand Simple (Web: www.brandsimple.com/).

Question: What offers better pay & prospects - head of consumer insights or a brand manager? Should I take up a specialised role as head of consumer research/insights or a general brand management role overseeing all the marketing comms? Both offer good scope but what's a better decision in the long run? Many thanks!

Answer: "Consumer Insight" would require a marketing genius in order to have a secure future. Consumers are difficult to track and impossible to predict. Any company-wide decrease in sales would result in the holder of this position being fired. Brand manager seems the natural route to long-term career-advancement. But if you have supreme confidence, select the Consumer Insight position..

Question: As a brand manager what criteria you would consider in the evalution of brand name selection? I need to quote it in the assignment so please send me with an examples

Answer: 1. Memorable 2. Makes sense to consumers 3. Easy to pronounce 4. Easy to spell 5. Fits product or service 6. Concise - not too short, not too long 7. Unique

Question: What does a Brand Specialist do? Is it the same as or similar to a Brand Manager? Just curious about the difference in responsibilities.

Answer: HI, normally the brand specialist does research into competition and the market trends and understands the market for the brand www.teigncounselling.com Roy

Question: i want to become a brand manager, a brand expert, how do i start? i am currently a marketer for a company, but in future i am lookinng into branding and advertisment. i want to know what i need to do to succeed

Answer: If you want to get with a major consumer company like Proctor & Gamble, you will need a Bachelors Degree and probably an MBA. But there are many product management jobs in lesser known small and mid-sized companies who care more about the quality of the person than their college degrees. If you can, get exposure to what a product manager does by observing those in your company - get to know them if you can. Also, consider products that aren't traditional consumer packaged goods - things like sporting goods, hardware, and industrial products. The competition for jobs is less and in my opinion the marketing challenges can be more interesting.

Question: I'm a Brand Marketing Manager from the Philippines. What are my chances of getting a similar job in the US? My experience in Brand Marketing has mostly been in the food industry but, i'm also keen on entering other industries such as telecom, fashion and beauty.

Answer: Sure, it's possible. However, it may be tough at first because you have no local US work experience. You make it sound like you are high up in management and would like to know if there are ways to stay in top management once in the US. You must be willing to start low on the totem pole. Believe it or not, some who were practicing doctors (MDs) in the Philippines are finding out that they qualify for no more than hospital nurses in the US. Good luck!

Question: What are steps taken by brand manager for launching new product?

Answer: he should target 3 things: 1.AWARENESS about the product 2.hisTARGET GROUP to be clarified and communicated. 3.LAUNCHING with a BANG(LOCAL hero to be called in in that)

Question: What is the name and contact details of the current Brand Manager for SevenUp?

Answer: Not publicly listed, however his boss is Randall Gier. See link below...

Question: What is the duty of a Brand manager.? How useful will he/she be in a blue chip company that has just one product especially if he is to work in external affairs function. What are the issues that will arise daily.

Answer: The Brand Manager is responsible for product "Image". Issues with market and marketing data and managing public & corporate perception's will be the daily thought's. Good marketing skill's that use innovative ways to capture the public is an art. If the product tastes and looks like poo a good Brand Manager can sell it! But a better Brand Manager will put some sugar and vitamins in the recipe, repackage the product and raise the price!

Question: What's a more lucrative career, an associate at an Investment Bank or Brand Manager for a major corporation?

Answer: brand manager, but good luck landing one of the top jobs with P&G, Disney, Coke, etc, which is where the good money is...

Question: How much does a Brand Manager & an Ass. Brand Manager earns in Procter & Gamble yearly? And/or in any other big corporation... It was Assistant but this thing thought I wrote the bottom word A S S....

Answer: Well into six figures, each line is a little different.

Question: who is the brand manager for Breath Right? company was recently purchased by Glaxo Smith Klein, who is in charge of advertising for Breath Right ?

Answer: Smith & Hutchinson based in New Jersey

Question: Avg. salary for an Associate Marketing/Product/Brand Manager in Consumer Products, New York tri-state area? I am looking to work in Consumer Packaged Goods or Consumer Products with a large company (Fortune 500-1000). I have 3 years of experience within Marketing, 2 years of it within Consumer Products and have an Ivy League degree but no MBA. I was a Marketing Coordinator for one year and soon become a Marketing Supervisor and Product Manager - all within small to mid-sized companies. I am guessing that my experience thus far translates to an Associate Product or Brand Manager in a Fortune 500-1000 and am ballparking the base salary at $55-60K. Would like to get confirmation and any advice about what I can expect. I have heard a Brand Management career typically offers good work/life balance - though of course each individual company's culture will be the biggest impact from that perspective. Would really appreciate any specific input and pointers on various companies' culture and structure. Thanks!

Answer: I have been a brand manager of consumer products and think that in NY the base salary of 55-60K is a good start with your experience. I find that the balance of a brand manager is good as you have a staff of people working on a project and long hours are not needed.

Question: Leaving internship with brand new manager? I am currently at an internship that was extended through the summer into August. I graduated from college this spring and have since accepted a permanent job offer and I would start in a few weeks. The problem is that my original manager (the person who hired me when I started in December) left about a month ago and my group has been consolidated. The interns have recently been assigned to a manager who I have literally never spoken to. She doesn't seem to care about what I do, never sat down with me or asked me anything and has meetings all the time with the permanent staff from our group. Since this newest manager has never spoken a word to me, how do I let her know that I'm leaving? I'd prefer to quietly wrap up my loose ends and leave with same-day notice. Is an email appropriate? Is two weeks necessary?

Answer: I think that you can give notice in writing and not have to do it face-to-face with the new manager. I'd suggest an email or a letter, either one well-written and thanking the person for the opportunity to work for the company and telling her that you've learned so many valuable things in your time at the company. I would imagine you're thinking, "This person didn't teach me anything! What is this daft answerer suggesting?" Well, I'm suggesting that you think of your letter as going to the company and not just to the manager who seems to have had too much to do in coming into her new job to take time to connect with all of her personnel. That manager may come and go out of that job--they usually do--but any impression you make on her or leave with anyone in the internship company should be as positive as you can make it. At some point you will want to switch jobs again and leaving a good impression of yourself with everyone you can is just good sense. And that brings us to that idea of leafving with same day notice. No, I don't think that's a very professional way of doing it and you may have to do the difficult thing and give proper notice. Many companies will want you to leave as soon as you do give notice, so be prepared to leave the same day. Maybe you'll luck out and it will all work out just as you'd like it to--I hope so, anyway. Good luck to you. Congratulations on the new job!