What Does a Brand Manager Do?

Marketing Career Focus: Brand Management

The Career Focus posts will cover a specific track or specialty track within the MS in Marketing degree program that can lead to the acquisition of many, if not all, the skills needed to successfully enter the career under discussion.

According to Mediabistro.com:

A brand manager is responsible for the overall image of a product or person. Key elements of the job are researching the marketplace to determine where the product or client fits in (i.e., analyzing competitive positioning, products, brands and spending); developing marketing and advertising strategies and managing those budgets; helping create designs and layouts for print and digital advertising concepts signage and collateral; overseeing promotional activities; analyzing pricing and sales; and (re)evaluating how the brand can appear to a wider consumer base.

Average years of experience and salary average

(Note: students requiring visa sponsorship tend to receive less money. There are not many sponsorship opportunities in brand management for international students.)

Brand managers can work on the advertising/marketing agency side or for a corporation, managing one of the portfolio brands. Agency brand managers with three years of experience tend to have salaries on the lower side, $40,000 to $65,000. For a corporate brand manager with three years of experience, salaries range from $85,000 to $125,000.

If “brand manager” is used in a search on Indeed.com or Glassdoor.com, then some 1,436 open positions in the USA are returned. “Brand management” yields far fewer: only 74 open positions.

Brand manager job description

(from the Hershey Company posting for “Brand Manager”)

The Brand Manager position is an exciting and unique opportunity to join the marketing team of a fast-growing snack bar brand in Boulder. This position is responsible for leading brand marketing activities and managing multiple marketing programs. You’ll be the expert on key marketing initiatives, lead cross-functional teams and be a valued member of a small team where you get to work across all components of brand marketing.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate superior project management skills in all facets of the marketing mix in order to help support ONE’s significant sales growth goals. They will also bring passion and a can-do attitude to our marketing team and will report directly to the Head of Marketing.

Key Responsibilities:

Accountable for managing a variety of marketing initiatives that drive brand awareness, trial and distribution.
Assist in the development of annual, long- and short-term marketing strategy and plans.
Be the brand lead across all other marketing functions — both in brand strategy, promotion and creative. Provide brand review for all marketing content and ensure it is in line with overall brand positioning and voice.
Collaborate and support the sales team to provide best-in-class retailer specific merchandising and shopper marketing materials as needed for new and existing distribution growth opportunities.
Coordinate and lead cross-functional teams (Operations, Sales, Finance) to ensure successful and on-time execution of marketing initiatives.
Provide leadership across all new product launches for commercialization in a cross-functional manner.
Oversee coordination of external agency partners on the development, design and production of creative assets.
Manage the marketing budget, through accurate tracking and forecasting of marketing spend.
Actively gather, analyze and present brand, competitor and health and wellness food category insights, trends and data.
Lead and manage Assistant Brand Manager.
Assist Head of Marketing as the Brand Liaison to parent, Hershey Company.
Responsible for creating and supporting a positive, professional, team-oriented, harassment-free work environment by understanding and complying with the Company’s policies, by demonstrating the Company’s values, and being a role model for the Company Brand.

Other Skills:

A self-starter with a can-do attitude and extremely strong attention to detail
Self-motivated with a strong desire to make an impact
Ability to work in conditions which include multiple priorities, extended work schedules and specific time constraints
Exemplary writing, listening, communication and presentation skills
Financial acuity
Able to maintain confidential and proprietary information and material
Proficient in Microsoft Office

Education and/or Experience:

BS/BA Degree (Business/Marketing preferred)
3-5 years of experience in marketing (consumer packaged goods marketing preferred)
Experience with both traditional and innovative communications and marketing techniques, including customer-specific/shopper marketing programs
Knowledge of project management principles; discipline of planning, organizing, securing and managing resources to achieve specific goals
S/he will have a collaborative approach with great customer service, both, internal and external, such as interfacing with cross-functional teams and external partners.

Job Summary:

Responsibilities

Support key accounts, working directly with the client and internal teams to plan, execute, and measure branding and communications programs
Ensure the delivery of ongoing marketing and advertising assets and provide timely updates
Use client service skills to build strong relationships and deliver all program elements with excellence
Demonstrate a thorough understanding of and passion for the client’s business
Participate in brand strategy discussions and work with creative and media teams to be sure that strategic objectives are met
Manage day-to-day logistics of client programs, including timelines and budgets
Maintain reports (i.e. creative briefs, media briefs, client agendas, conference reports, etc.)
Bring strategic thinking to each client’s business so as to provide added-value and help stimulate growth opportunities

Requirements

Three to seven years of advertising agency experience

Experience managing projects from inception to production: TV, radio, print, and digital; bonus points for experience in supervising website projects
Proven leadership experience
Strategic thinker – big and small picture
Outstanding presentation, communication, and writing skills
Able to work under pressure with strict guidelines and within a fast-paced environment
Professional and adept, with a fun spirit and a can-do/will-do attitude
Able to work efficiently and closely with team members across all departments as well as with clients
Have a love for creativity that is both award-winning and is successful for the client
Experience on helping with new business efforts is a plus
Bachelor’s degree in advertising, strategic communications, or marketing-related field preferred

Brand manager job description

(from Amazon, Private Brands posting for “Senior Brand Manager”)

Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Marketing, Advertising or related field
6+ years of relevant experience including brand management, CPG, advertising, or marketing in a retail e-commerce environment
Track record of being able to define and successfully deliver integrated marketing programs with superior ROI—from marketing plan development through creative review, deployment and measurement
Ability to influence multiple stakeholders and lead cross-functional projects across category or other departments
Aptitude for being organized with flexibility and for delivering results in a fast-paced environment
Demonstrated experience using hard data and metrics to measure performance and make adjustments accordingly
Outstanding written and verbal communication skills

Private Brands is a fast-growing business that is rapidly expanding our brand offering to delight our customers. Our team is looking for a results-oriented, dynamic, and savvy brand marketer to lead our acquisition efforts to deliver exceptional growth for our brands. This position will deliver sales growth acceleration via advertising strategies and onsite CX improvements. Responsibilities span merchandising, content creation, and on-site shopping experience.

This role requires an individual to have a passion for brands, be comfortable with ambiguity, have strong attention to detail, enjoy delivering results and be motivated by a fast-paced start-up environment.

They will know how to build brands and leverage multi-channel marketing strategies to drive brand growth. Being able to bring both an eye for quality content that generates the best CX and critical thinking to drive efficiencies in marketing processes will also help this leader be successful. They should be comfortable with both marketing science and art, and be sharp enough to know how to use one to inform the other.

The leader’s primary responsibilities include:

Contributing to business unit’s growth aspirations through online and instore activation programs
Defining and implementing multi-channel, multi-brand marketing programs across onsite and offsite channels
Measuring advertising performance and implementing campaign optimizations to maximize ROI
Producing best-in-class content to support advertising, onsite marketing, and content for new product launches

MBA desired
5+ years of experience in online marketing or brand development
Experience in establishing content quality standards and production
Editorial and/or content management experience

Top skills mentioned by at least 10 major companies with this job title posting	Courses of special relevance. See the course syllabus for relevant skills, as not all skills are taught in every course.
Able to represent the voice of the customer Deep understanding of marketing fundamentals	MKT 6310 Consumer Behavior MKT 6342 Marketing Customer Insights Development MKT 6301 Marketing Management
Take brand ownership Monitor market trends and research consumer markets	MKT 6330 Brand Management MKT 6309 Marketing Research MKT 6335 Advertising Research
Strategy development skills	MKT 6350 Competitive Marketing Strategy
Strong analytical skills	OPRE 6301 Statistics and Data Analysis

Brand Manager salaries by company in the United States

Brand Management Salaries From Indeed.com

Brand Management Salaries From Glassdoor.com

Popular Books on Brand Management

Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People, by Marc Gobé (New York: Allworth Press, 2010)
How Cool Brands Stay Hot: Branding to Generations Y and Z, by Joeri Van Den Bergh and Mattias Behrer (London: Kogan Page, 2016)
Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant, by David A. Aaker (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011
Brand Leadership: The Next Level of the Brand Revolution, by David A. Aaker and Erich Joachimsthaler
(New York: Free Press, 2000)
Sticky Branding: 12.5 Principles to Stand Out, Attract Customers, and Grow an Incredible Brand, by Jeremy Miller (Toronto, Canada: Dundurn, 2015)
What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest, by Denise Lee Yohn (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014)
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, by Al Ries and Laura Ries (New York: HarperBusiness, 2002)

Associations and Meetups:

The Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM). This is the world’s largest professional association of product managers, brand managers and other related fields.
Dallas Brand Marketers + Agency Professionals Meetup

Certifications:

There is no major industry-wide accepted certification.

The AIPMM has a brand manager certification program for members.

Newsletters and Blogs:

Conferences:

ANA Brand Activation Marketing Conference, April 22-24, 2020, Suspended
The Financial Brand Forum, April 27-29, 2020, Postponed
ContentTECH Summit, August 10-20, 2020, Virtual Event

Indeed.com is a good job search site because at a glance it shows average salaries, years of experience for many mid-level positions, the number of available jobs and their locations. I looked at 10 to 15 job descriptions from major companies and the skills most frequently mentioned at such employers as AT&T, Citibank, Colgate-Palmolive, The Richards Group, YUM! Brands, and others. However, there is NO substitute for your doing your own searches and analyses.

What Does a Brand Manager Do?