Procter & Gamble is the first company to introduce such a profession as a brand manager into the list of specialties. The duties of this specialist became popular back in the 30s of the last century, because this world company had a huge number of different brands, and it was necessary to ensure that they all did not compete with each other, developing individually in each area.
What does he do?
The logical conclusions based on studies of the current market, as well as our own intuition, are exactly what a professional brand manager relies on in his work. The duties of this specialist include the formulation of tasks for advertisers in the format of a creative brief, which is a kind of press release arranged exclusively for specialists. In the process of this event is determined:
- Brand strategy.
- Market situation.
- A portrait of a potential buyer, as well as those thoughts and feelings to which his advertisement should push.
Also, in the process of such a brief, the type of desired advertising, which can be a certain city holiday, a television movie or, for example, a full-fledged educational program in various school institutions, is also determined.
How is the work done?
Briefs begin to be sent to various advertising agencies, which will subsequently submit their proposals to the company, and then the brand manager will comment on them. The responsibilities of specialists in this field also include a thorough discussion with the authorities of the advertising campaign strategy and the selection of the most optimal contractor. It is worth noting that the cost of an advertising campaign in the overwhelming majority of cases can also initially be included in the brief.
Product Support - Long-Term Business Success
After the product appears on the market, it is the brand manager that will have to provide its system support. His responsibilities include the design of full-fledged advertising, holding all kinds of promotions such as free distribution of samples or mailing, and much more. Another task of this specialist is also to maintain an assortment that is optimal in quality and price, and then monitor the behavior of competing companies in the market, in which professionals are also active. Among other things, it ensures that its employees do not give brand issues five minutes a day, but just as much time as is required to conduct business as efficiently as possible.
The brand is the face of the company
In the current market, a brand is a quality mark of any company; therefore, it is practically impossible to find large organizations in which a professional brand manager would not work. The official duties of this specialist are aimed not only at making the brand recognizable, but also at making it associated with extremely high quality, as well as the most positive emotions.
Buyers often choose those brands that are known to them, and therefore sales are increasing. It is for this reason that the statement that the brand allows you to make money from the air, as this is a direct conversion of the company's reputation into real income, is quite justified. No matter how much they say that the iPhone is worse than some Chinese smartphones, the cost of these phones is much higher and they are swept off the shelves with incredible speed.After all, fans of this brand acquire not only high quality, they, in addition, also receive a lifestyle that includes a respectable image, image, a positive impression on people around them and, of course, a demonstration of their own income.
How to do it successfully?
Not everyone understands that successful brand promotion includes a huge number of nuances that a brand manager must consider. The job responsibilities of this specialist include a thorough budget planning, as well as the presence of creative abilities on the part of advertisers, but in the end it can be said that success is determined precisely by the personality of the brand manager and how developed his creative potential is. It is this person who is the leader of the team, and if he is not charismatic, then he will never succeed in forming a truly successful brand.
How to become a brand manager?
If you are interested in the functional responsibilities of a brand manager, then first of all you should receive the appropriate education. It is worth noting that it is not at all necessary to have an economic education, a profile specialty, including technical education or, for example, the profession of a food technologist, if it is a brand in this area, is also quite suitable.
The second important characteristic of a professional brand manager is extreme communicativeness, since working in this position provides for continuous communication with a large number of people. A brand manager is a person who combines creative and analytical abilities. He knows how to bargain with advertising agencies at the same time to provide company discounts and at the same time remain “his” in the field of creative personalities.
In addition, it is extremely important to have an extremely high degree of responsibility, because you should not forget that specialists in this field in most cases work with long-term projects, the development of which is designed for several years. This specialist has a unique internal discipline and at the same time respects dead lines. According to many leading experts, correct speech, a high level of culture, appropriate education, a sense of need and motivation of consumers are all extremely important qualities for those people who are interested in the profession of brand manager. Responsibilities, requirements - all this is the basis on which the technology of the work of such specialists is built, because no marketing research can ever get the final answer, what will be correct and what will be misunderstood by consumers.
Who is becoming successful?
The job description of the brand manager provides for a lot of different nuances, and in this area success is achieved mainly by cheerful and energetic individuals who can direct the work of a large number of people to achieve a common goal. Such a specialist should thoroughly understand the features of production, as well as understand the advantages and disadvantages of the assortment he has. He must have developed intuition, because he must always foresee in advance what will be in demand in the market in the near future, and at the same time, adequately assess production opportunities. Typical brand manager job responsibilities may include a lot of points, but the ideal job is when an idea is proposed, for the implementation of which it does not require any large financial investment, but which will unmistakably become one of the most popular in the current market.
How old can you be in this specialty?
As practice shows, the average age of brand managers is approximately 28-36 years, as young professionals rarely begin to work in such positions.Indeed, it is one thing to simply declare that in the near future the brand will become one of the leading ones in the current market, but in reality this may be absolutely unattainable. A person should optimally evaluate his strength, carefully analyzing the capabilities of the company and, of course, the brand itself.
In this profession, you can often meet experienced people who, for example, have managed to successfully work in the field of marketing or marketing, even if not in the most important positions. Who is a brand manager in modern realities? Often, such people are former sales representatives or people who worked as marketing assistants, showed the ability to understand why one product was sold more efficiently than another, and therefore offered some practical solutions. That is, it can be an initiative specialist who takes his initiative solely on the case and to achieve some effective goals.
Is there any prospect?
Sample job responsibilities brand management. today it’s rarely interested in those people who are trying to break into this position, because many professional specialists understand that there is a definite goal that needs to be achieved.
Growth prospects in this case are very different. For example, a specialist of this kind can actively promote any new brands or can actively expand the range of products that are currently available. Over time, he can be invited to some new project or at the current workplace to be promoted to the head of the marketing department, while increasing his salary. In any case, if a person has risen to the career ladder of a specialist in this field, he is guaranteed extremely intense work, which, undoubtedly, will ultimately be able to bring him good results.
