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insider guide CAREERS IN BRAND MANAGEMENT ★ INDUSTRY TRENDS AND RANKINGS★ PROFILES OF THE LEADING COMPANIES ★ THE RECRUITING PROCESS >> The WetFeet Methodology You hold in your hands a copy of the highest-quality research available for job seekers. We’ve designed the WetFeet Insider Guides to help cut down on the time you spend doing job research by doing some of the work for you. Hopefully we can make your job search as painless as possible. Each WetFeet Insider Guide is the product of hundreds of hours of in-depth research, critical analysis, and precise writing. We survey massive amounts of publicly available information and conduct dozens of in-depth interviews of rank-and-file employees who work for the companies and industries we cover. (We keep our company contacts anonymous to encourage candor.) WetFeet writers—experts at reading between the lines—speak with company recruiting staff members to make sure you get accurate information about the recruiting process, compensation, and hiring targets. We also consult countless experts, from career coaches and networking gurus to authorities on professional etiquette and personal branding, in order to provide you insight on the latest trends affecting job seekers. Each Insider Guide undergoes extensive editorial review and fact-checking to ensure that the information and writing live up to our exacting standards. And because WetFeet retains all editorial control of our Insider Guides, you can be confident you’re reading the unvarnished truth, not corporate PR. We’re eager to hear about your experiences on the recruiting front, and we welcome your feedback (both positive and negative) about our products and services. Don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected]. >>The WetFeet Guarantee You’ve got enough on your mind with your job search in full swing. So, if you don’t like this Insider Guide, send it back within 15 days of purchase and we’ll refund your money. Contact us at 215-546-4900 or [email protected] INSIDER GUIDE Careers in Brand Management 2011 edition Careers in Brand Management WETFEET 1518 Walnut St. Suite 1800 Philadelphia, PA 19102 Phone: (215) 546-4900 Fax: (215) 546-9921 Website: www.wetfeet.com CAREERS IN BRAND MANAGEMENT 2011 Edition ISBN: 978-1-58207-926-4 PHOTOCOPYING IS PROHIBITED Copyright 2011 WetFeet. All rights reserved. This publication is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. No copying in any form is permitted. It may not be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, in part or in whole, without the express written permission of WetFeet, Inc. The publisher, author, and any other party involved in creation, production, delivery, or sale of this WetFeet Insider Guide make no warranty, express or implied, about the accuracy or reliability of the information found herein. To the degree you use this guide or other materials referenced herein, you do so at your own risk. The materials contained herein are general in nature and may not apply to particular factual or legal circumstances. Under no circumstances shall the publisher, author, or any other party involved in creation, production or delivery of this guide be liable to you or any other person for damages of any kind arising from access to, or use of, its content. All illustrations by mckibillo Careers in Brand Management CHAPTER 1 2 3 1 BRAND 5 THE INDUSTRY 33 THE COMPANIES MANAGEMENT AT A GLANCE 6 Overview 6 What Brand Managers Do 7 How It Stacks Up 8 Hiring Outlook 8 The Bottom Line 9 What Are Brands? 9 Important Considerations 16 Major Trends 22 Industry Rankings Careers in Brand Management 4 5 6 7 53 ON THE JOB 67 THE WORKPLACE 75 GETTING HIRED 83 FOR YOUR REFERENCE 54 The Career Track 68 Hours, Travel, 76 Getting in the Door and Vacation 84 Industry Lingo 54 Marketing Analyst 76 The Recruiting or Assistant 68 Culture Process 86 WetFeet Resources 56 Assistant Brand 69 Compensation 77 Interviewing Tips Manager and Benefits 88 Online Resources 79 Getting Grilled 59 Brand Manager 70 Career Path 88 Further Reading 80 Grilling Your 62 Marketing Director 71 The Inside Scoop Interviewer contents Brand Management at a Glance 1 1 Careers in Brand Management TER P HA C A GLANCE AT at A GLANCE Recruiting Overview • Leading brand management companies traditionally Opportunity Overview recruit at a select group of undergraduate and busi- • Undergrads enter as marketing assistants or analysts, ness schools. 2 positions that in many companies lead to a promo- • Recruiters look for leadership, analytics, problem TER P tion in two to three years. solving, teamwork, and creativity. HA • MBAs compete to be one of the 5 to 30 assistant • Interviews combine personal and behavioral ques- C THE INDUSTRY brand managers hired each year by leading compa- tions with mini case studies. nies. • Brand management companies value people with varied work experiences; many MBA hires come from banking and consulting. 3 • Top-tier students are giving less attention to careers TER P in investment banking, consulting, and startups in HA C THE COMPANIES recent years, while interest in brand management opportunities has skyrocketed—so expect some fierce competition for these jobs. Major Pluses 4 • Two words: leadership development. TER • Work involves detailed quantitative analysis, big- P HA picture strategy, and creativity. C ON THE JOB • Schedule allows a life outside of work (but less so as companies become increasingly understaffed). • Corporate headhunters call all the time. • Unparalleled training in marketing and general man- agement. 5 TER P Major Minuses HA C THE WORKPLACE • Traditional packaged goods companies tend to have conservative and often slow-moving cultures. • If you are assigned to work on the Cheez Whiz brand, expect to catch some serious grief from friends and family. 6 • Many corporate headquarters are located in very cold TER Midwestern cities. P • As you advance in your career, salaries don’t compete HA C GETTING HIRED with those offered by investment banks and consult- ing companies. 7 TER 2 WETFEET INSIDER GUIDE P HA C REFERENCE FOR YOUR CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 AT A GLANCE THE INDUSTRY THE COMPANIES ON THE JOB THE WORKPLACE GETTING HIRED FOR YOUR REFERENCE 33 WETFEET INSIDER GUIDE The Industry Overview .......................................6 What Brand Managers Do ............6 How It Stacks Up ..........................7 Hiring Outlook .............................8 The Bottom Line ...........................8 What Are Brands? .........................9 Important Considerations .............9 Major Trends .............................. 16 2 Industry Rankings .......................22 1 Careers in Brand Management TER P HA C A GLANCE AT OVERVIEW What BRAND › IF YOU YEARN to create real things—things people MANAGERS DO will see, touch, and eat; enjoy business analysis but › A FORMAL DEFINITION of brand management is 2 want to do something creative along with it; and are tough to pin down because the actual job description TER P looking for a lifestyle in which you’ll have a great work/ varies widely across the vast universe of consumer prod- HA life balance; brand management might be just the ucts companies. Many CPG companies have at least C THE INDUSTRY career for you. one thing in common, though: They’re part of huge It’s also a slightly more robust opportunity area conglomerates that produce many name-brand prod- than many. Brand managers have more choices now ucts. Size gives them economies of scale, and a diversity than they did five years ago because more industries of products gives them protection against down cycles. are recognizing the utility of an effective manager, and That is not to say small mom-and-pop, mail-order 3 demand has increased. The proliferation of media— pickle-and-jam companies don’t crop up every now and TER P namely social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and then and make a serious go of it. They do. However, HA C THE COMPANIES YouTube in addition to the tried-and-true media of they aren’t where the majority of the jobs are—at least brand campaigns in years past such as television and not until Unilever or Nestlé takes them over. radio—has correspondingly created new opportuni- ties, new metrics, and new branding strategies. It’s more important than ever that a product stands out, and it’s INSIDER SCOOP “Finding qualified brand managers has become 4 the brand manager who’s tasked with making it happen. more difficult for employers in the past year as TER Most brand managers work at consumer products more industries jump on the branding bandwagon.” P HA companies (also known as consumer packaged goods, C ON THE JOB or CPG)—places like Procter & Gamble and General Mills. They assume a marketing function, and are The basic analogy for brand management is that responsible for promoting and managing a brand. It’s brands are treated like businesses within the company, a multidimensional role that requires diverse talents, and brand managers are essentially small-business own- overseeing everything from package design to customer ers. The job involves: 5 satisfaction to digital marketing strategies. Other oppor- • Monitoring the competitive landscape of the cat- TER P tunities for brand managers are at agencies, which have egory in which your brand resides. HA C THE WORKPLACE increasingly taken on strategic roles formerly staffed by • Developing strategies to exploit market opportunities. the companies. These jobs can be harder to get right out • Executing those strategies with the help of a cross- of school and offer a different experience than working functional team. at a CPG company, which we’ll talk about more below. • Delivering the sales volume, market share, and profit projections for the business.

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