No matter how successful your products, it's always a challenge to stand out from competitors in your market. Unfortunately, having the highest quality product available isn't always enough to capture buyers' attention - you need a compelling brand image. That's where brand managers come in: defining and promoting a company's personality, both on the shelf and in the community.
Whether you're hiring a brand manager or looking for a job as one yourself, here's everything you need to know about the position.
- Brand Manager Definition
- Brand Manager Job Description
- Brand Manager Salary
- Brand Manager Education Level, Experience, and Qualifications
- Brand Manager Job Listings
Brand Manager Definition
The role of a Brand Manager is to develop a brand strategy for a company. Brand managers oversee a wide array of business functions including branding, communication channels, product development, online and offline promotions, and market research. They often conduct market research for a company. This involves surveying and polling demographics, determining demand for products, and other relevant field research. Brand managers typically manage a team that supports their efforts and report to higher level marketing staff of an organization.
Brand Manager Job Description
Every company organizes its marketing department differently, meaning a brand manager's responsibilities may vary from business to business. That being said, here's a sample job description you can use to guide your hiring practices, or prepare for a job interview.
Job Summary:
Brand managers are responsible for understanding what makes our target audience tick, and for developing marketing campaigns that position our brand according to those motivators. These marketing campaigns will not only drive customer engagement, but will further define our brand's reputation and image in relation to the market.
Job Responsibilities:
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Conduct consumer and market research
- Identify how our brand is currently positioned in the market
- Design a research-based brand strategy
- Develop and execute marketing campaigns aimed at communicating our brand message
- Communicate our brand personality internally and align company around foundational ideas
- Lead marketing team members through campaigns
- Measure and report on success of marketing campaigns
- Anticipate consumer trends and keep brand up to date
Brand Manager Salary
Depending on the company, industry, and years of experience, brand managers typically earn between $60,000 and $80,000 a year.
According to Indeed, the average salary for a brand manager in the United States is about $75,258.
Brand Manager Education Level, Skills, and Experience
Most brand managers must have obtained at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant major and a few years of marketing experience prior to being hired. Some companies may require a post-graduate qualification or MBA. Strong leadership skills and excellent communication skills are also required to manage and work with a branding team.
When hiring a brand manager, companies typically look for the following qualities and skills:
Creativity
Branding is an instrumental way to distinguish your company from your competitors. This requires insightful thinking as well as an aptitude for creative, out of the box thinking. A good brand manager will offer innovative strategies and ideas to help your company stand out.
Trend Savviness
Brand managers must stay on top of industry trends in marketing and consumer psychology. They should be able to demonstrate their interest for the latest industry news and information.
Focus and Responsibility
It is not just enough to have good ideas. Brand managers need to be able to execute them. Since they will work with a variety of organizational functions to achieve their goals, they must be able to stay focused and be ready to take on multiple responsibilities.
Brand Manager Job Listings
For an up-to-date list of brand manager jobs, use these links for real-time searches from Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, and LinkedIn.
