Understanding a brand inside and out, matching marketing efforts to brand strategy, and keeping an eye on new trends and competitors – just another day in the life of a brand manager.
What Does a Brand Manager Do?
With a thorough understanding of products, services, and future developments, brand managers ensure that companies resonate with their audiences. This position is the mastermind behind the thoughts and reactions people have when they hear a brand’s name.
Brand manager responsibilities fall into three main areas:
Branding: Brand managers have the skills to create, plan, and implement brand strategies. If a strategy already exists, they will analyze the current plan, highlight areas of weakness, and rework it for better results. They focus on creating enduring brand messages that drive sales, increase brand loyalty, and improve market share. To do so, brand managers familiarize themselves with all aspects of their companies and form close relationships with stakeholders to ensure all goals are met. Once they develop their strategies, brand managers are responsible for presenting them to marketing managers and promoting them internally so everyone is on board.
Matching: With a brand strategy in place, brand managers are responsible for matching marketing initiatives and deliverables to the strategy. They also secure suppliers, products, and external services that most appropriately align with the strategy. Brand managers play a role in buying, sourcing, and manufacturing to make sure all business decisions are consistent with the brand’s image. Along the way, they make sure all of these efforts meet budget requirements.
Measuring: Brand managers are constantly measuring the performance of their strategies. This includes customer attitude toward the company, brand differentiation, price sensitivity, marketplace momentum, quality, value and accessibility perceptions, distribution, market share, sales, and profitability. These metrics allow brand managers to align the strategy based on competitive standing and forecasted trends.
Are you searching for your next brand manager position? Check out the Profiles Career Portal for all open opportunities.
What Skills Should a Brand Marketing Manager Have?
Essentials
The ideal brand manager candidate will have at least two or three years of experience. Most companies prefer candidates who have hands-on commercial experience, especially in a similar industry.
With the right education and experience, brand managers should have a solid working knowledge of the following:
- Customer relationship management.
- Audience segmentation and targeting.
- Industry trends and challenges.
- Latest technologies in design and production.
- Budget management.
Soft Skills
Strong written and verbal communication: These skills are necessary to create and present strategies, as well as effectively relay brand messages.
Impeccable research skills: Strong research and analytical skills allow brand managers to effectively measure strategy success and identify industry trends and challenges.
Innovative thinking: Creativity and innovation are key to developing and constantly improving brand strategies.
Interview Questions for Brand Marketing Manager Jobs
Here are a few questions to kickoff your brand manager interview:
- Today is your first day at Brand X. What are the top 10 questions you would ask to learn about the brand?
- If you were to target a new segment of customers for our brand, what would it be and how would you do it?
- How do you know when a branding strategy isn’t working?
- Can you explain a time when you overcame budget constraints?
Profiles Brand Manager Recruitment
If you’re looking to add a savvy brand manager to your team or fill the position, Profiles brand marketing recruiters can help connect companies with the industry’s top marketing talent.
