WHO IS A BRAND MANAGER

A brand represents the identity of a company, reflects its values, and communicates its promises to customers. Maintaining brand integrity is essential, and this is the focus of a brand manager’s work. This specialist is responsible for monitoring marketing activities that impact the image of a business or specific product. They coordinate the efforts of various departments to create the right image of the company in the eyes of the target audience.

Article Content

• What does a brand manager do?
• Types of brand managers
• Functions, skills, and abilities of a brand manager
• How much does a brand manager earn?
• How to become a brand manager?
• How to get to know a brand for promotion?
• Conclusions

What does a brand manager do?

Typically, a brand manager is a mid-level or senior professional, as this position requires at least three years of experience in marketing. The specialist’s range of tasks includes mentoring junior marketers and all specialists involved in packaging and advertising a product or service. This ensures adherence to key branding principles. Thus, brand managers act as leaders and ambassadors of the company’s brand.

Brand managers are responsible for overseeing any aspect of marketing that is tied to a company’s brand and ensure that all branding decisions ultimately lead to increased sales. To achieve such alignment, brand managers typically work with multiple areas of marketing, such as research, content, social media, and design”. “What Does a Brand Manager Do? 2023 Guide”,—Coursera

Let’s take a closer look at the main areas of activity for a brand manager.

1. Creativity, including the development of a brand book, design of store displays, or social media pages. The specialist sets the tone for the visual aspect, for example, through competitor analysis and preparation of basic references.
2. Analytics. Statistics are needed to justify all decisions regarding the company’s concept. Very often, the collection of such data and evaluation of various metrics are carried out by brand managers. In particular, they assess popularity, competitiveness, reputation, market share, impressions, views, reach, CTR, ROI of each campaign, emotional attributes, and the success of advertising campaigns.
3. Strategy. Determining changes in the target audience’s profile or focusing on new segments, creating a plan of further actions in case of changes in external circumstances, planning the launch of products or services, rebranding, and changing the concept in unforeseen situations—all this is also the responsibility of the brand manager, even if there are separate departments to perform these tasks.

If we are talking about an international brand, the brand manager must control adherence to its overall goals and ensure adaptation to specific business development conditions. Sometimes this concerns differences in assortment and prices. The product must closely meet the needs of consumers living in the country of promotion or a specific region.

By the way, the brand’s concept is clearly defined on the official website, specifically on the “About Us” page:

What matters to our customers matters to McDonald’s, so our vision for the future is based on five core values: Community, Inclusion, Family, Service, and Integrity. Living by these values is the foundation of the next great era of McDonald’s. We strive to improve the lives of our people, our industry, and the planet by putting our customers and employees first, delivering quality food, reducing waste impact, and expanding employment opportunities worldwide.

The brand constantly emphasizes the importance of these values in its activities, notably standing out due to fast service and the availability of a children’s menu with regularly updated toy series. Often, specialists and customers are involved in charitable actions, and all this collectively significantly influences consumers’ attitudes toward the brand.

Types of Brand Managers

The primary task of a brand manager is to increase brand awareness. They coordinate decisions regarding all aspects of promotion and are accountable for their work results to the business owner or company director.

The approach to brand development depends on the nature of the business. Accordingly, there are three types of brand management.

• Corporate—the specialist handles the company as a whole. To build the organization’s image, a brand manager may focus on enhancing content that reflects the company’s values, mission, and website design.
• Product—focuses on promoting a specific product. Brand managers need to conduct market research to determine how their product fits into the desired industry and how to target the audience with the product’s unique features.
• Service-oriented—develops ad campaigns that highlight customer success stories and communicate how a specific service addresses clients’ core issues.

In any case, the ultimate goal of a brand manager is not so much to increase profits as to boost customer loyalty and expand reach. A marketer or advertising specialist focuses on a specific campaign and aims for conversion rate or return on investment. In contrast, the person responsible for the brand works with a long-term perspective, aiming to “win over” the audience with a well-formed company image rather than focusing on immediate results.

Functions, Abilities, and Skills of a Brand Manager

A brand manager has multiple functions that may vary depending on the company’s development stage and business goals. They inspire the team, conduct brainstorming sessions, and interact with clients, so a strong set of soft skills is essential for this role.

A good brand manager should be well-versed in visual trends (“have a good eye”). This requires a genuine enthusiasm for their role in the company, turning the search for creative ideas into a hobby. Familiarity with design trends and proficiency in tools like Canva, Photoshop, or Illustrator is helpful. Although a brand manager doesn’t create all marketing materials independently, they often create detailed briefs, which may take the form of mockups or presentations. To develop a visual sense, it’s important to track references and find inspiration on specialized platforms like joelapompe.net.

Among popular tools used in brand management are Sprinklr, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Brand24 for social media monitoring; Meltwater, Cision, Muckrack for media relations; Tableau, Datawrapper, Google Charts for data visualization; and CRM systems for customer relationship management. SurveyMonkey and Make My Persona are useful for market research.

The requirements for a brand manager vary by country, company size, and business specifics. However, there are a few universal characteristics that employers and recruiters prioritize.

• A bachelor’s degree in marketing or a related field.
• Expertise in areas such as market research and brand strategy.
• At least three years of professional experience in marketing.
• Case studies demonstrating client results.
• Additional but valuable advantages include an MBA with a relevant specialization and brand management or marketing certifications.

Most brand manager job postings include “participation in brand development planning and budgeting” under the “Responsibilities” section. Thus, strategic marketing skills alone are not enough—an in-depth understanding of pricing principles and market economic analysis is essential.

How much does a brand manager earn?

We reviewed job listings on indeed.com and, by selecting California, found over 180 offers with salaries starting at $100,000 per year, or $8,000 per month. Some companies offer twice that amount or an hourly rate of up to $75 per hour, which, with a 40-hour workweek, totals $3,000 per week.

For example, a Brand Manager at Prismatik must collaborate with product or line developers, perform as a technical consultant, develop strategies, train staff, and more. A bachelor’s degree and over five years of experience in the specific field are required.

Demand for marketing managers overall is rising, which promises a bright future for brand managers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers is projected to grow by 10 percent from 2021 to 2031″. “What Is a Brand Manager? How to Become One, Salary”,—Skills, Matthew Urwin

Securing this position opens new career growth opportunities. A brand manager can eventually move up to positions like Chief Marketing Officer or CEO of the company or a branch. The communication and strategic skills you gain and refine as a brand manager can help you advance to the highest roles.

How to Become a Brand Manager?

To become a brand manager, it’s enough to take high-quality specialized courses and gain several years of experience as a marketer. Regardless of your current stage, if you want to work in branding, keep up with trends and develop your creativity. Save advertising references, subscribe to relevant blogs, and follow marketing influencers.

Key skills can be acquired in specialized courses.

Regarding experience, it’s worth starting with a position as a marketer, SMM specialist, content creator, account manager, or traffic manager, where you’ll have the opportunity to participate in brand promotion in various business niches and build your own portfolio.

Some companies require brand manager candidates to hold an international MBA certificate. NGA-SCE offers an MBA course—Marketing Management.

How to Get to Know a Brand for Promotion?

To work effectively on brand development, you need an in-depth understanding of the product and all internal company processes. While creating a landing page or setting up Google Adwords ads may only require filling out a brief, developing a brand promotion strategy requires “immersing” yourself in the business through several stages.

1. Conversation with the business owner. Learn about the initial goals, mission, values of the company, the starting point, and the desired target within brand promotion.
2. Team communication. Hold discussions with key specialists, asking about previously used branding methods and the strengths and weaknesses of past strategies.
3. Target audience analysis. A thorough understanding of the target audience profile is crucial for a brand manager, as they will be responsible for communication with the consumer, their satisfaction with the product and service, and establishing a relevant tone of voice.
4. Monitoring marketing materials and internal documents. Gather everything that reflects the company’s development journey since its foundation.
5. Reviewing external sources. Reviews, forum discussions, social media comments, and other online and media mentions about the brand offer a different perspective and reveal the company’s vulnerabilities.

The choice of methods for implementing a brand strategy depends on the specific situation and often involves rebranding and reputation enhancement rather than building a product or brand image from scratch. During the introduction to the company, the brand manager must determine the starting point for shaping the company’s image.

For example, a poorly executed strategy may necessitate a brand relaunch due to reputational impact from scandals, failures, or false information spread by competitors.

There is a difference in working with international versus local brands. The latter is shaped by the needs of the local audience, and factors like pricing, promotions, or product range may be influenced by geographical and social factors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusions

A brand manager is a multifunctional specialist who shapes the company’s image in the minds of consumers. This is a kind of image-maker for the product or entire brand, participating in digital marketing, content creation and distribution, packaging design, and communication with manufacturers, partners, team members, and clients.

The more precise the message crafted by the specialist, the stronger and more sustainable the company’s position in the market. The goal of promoting any brand is to build trustful and lasting relationships with the target audience, which can be achieved through the brand manager’s creativity, analytics, and strategy.