Brand Manager: Job profile & Role

As a brand manager, you must manage and develop the brand identity, strategy, and marketing activities of a product, service or company. Depending on the industry you work in your tasks may vary. However, in most cases, your duties will include product and advertising placement, managing the budget, and managing both marketing teams and advertising agencies. In this blog, you will find out how much a brand manager usually earns, which educational background is expected, and how to thrive as a brand manager.

Short Summary

• Brand managers oversee and manage the brands of a product, a service or a whole company.
• As a brand manager, you need profound management skills, a high level of creativity, and a proven leadership record.
• To build a successful career in brand management, you need to build relationships, embrace adaptability, and cultivate resilience.

Job description

As a brand manager, you are responsible for the products, the services, or the image of the entire company. Your duties include market research, stakeholder management, and budget management as well as creative aspects. In this role, you will develop a brand strategy, build trust between the company and its (potential) customers, and lead marketing teams as well as advertising agencies. Therefore, brand managers are sometimes referred to as brand ambassadors.

Responsibilities

• Developing and implementing a brand strategy
• Managing and maintaining a brand identity
• Planning and executing marketing campaigns
• Researching markets, including market trends and competitors’ activities
• Collaboration with internal and external stakeholders
• Analysing the brand’s performance Leading marketing teams
• Supervising advertising agencies

Different types of Brand Managers

• Product brand managers
• Corporate brand managers
• Retail brand managers
• Global brand managers

Salary

The salary you can expect to earn as a brand manager depends on various factors such as your level of experience, your educational background as well as the industry you work for, the company size, and the location. However, the average salary of a brand manager in the UK is between £40,000 and £50,000. On an entry-level, you might start with an annual salary of £30,000. Your salary will rise significantly once you have gained profound experience. In a senior position, you can expect to earn up to £70,000 or even more.

Working hours

The role of a brand manager is an office-based job. Therefore, brand managers usually work regular office hours, which means around 40 hours per week. However, you should be aware that the job of a brand manager includes attending events, conferences, and meetings outside regular office hours. Therefore, a brand manager may need to work additional hours or have flexible schedules during busy periods, especially when deadlines approach.

If you decide to work for an advertising or marketing agency, you might have to work significantly longer hours than regular office hours.

Employers

As a brand manager, you can work in various industries and for different institutions. Some common employers of brand managers include consumer goods companies. Companies that produce and market consumer goods such as food, clothing, or household products employ brand managers to build and maintain their products and companies’ image.

These days, retail companies such as Tesco and Walmart have become brands of their own. Therefore, many retail companies have their in-house brand management teams to oversee the brand marketing of their private label products and their companies as such.

Alternatively, brand managers could work for advertising and marketing agencies. These agencies help develop and execute brand strategies for their clients.

Qualifications

To start a career in brand management, you are expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree. If you strive for a senior role in brand management, you might opt for a master’s degree or another relevant qualification in addition to a bachelor’s degree.

Candidates are expected to have proven skills in statistical analysis as well as proficiency with CRM software and experience in the use of various social media platforms as marketing channels. 

Profound business skills are essential for a brand manager. Depending on the industry you would like to work for, you might as well need special skills in this field.

Skills

The role of a brand manager is rather versatile. Brand management includes an extensive set of techniques and strategies to increase the perceived value of a brand. Therefore, brand managers need a diverse set of skills.

Visionary Thinking

As a brand manager, it is your responsibility to understand the mission and the value of a specific brand. To create and maintain a brand strategy, that increases the market share and maximises the revenue of the product or service range or the company, brand managers need the ability to think visionary.

Visionary thinking refers to the ability to imagine and conceptualize ideas, possibilities, and solutions that are innovative, forward-thinking, and often unconventional. It involves looking beyond the present circumstances and envisioning a future that is different from the current reality. This skill enables you to develop innovative strategies and therefore help the brand, you are responsible for, to thrive.

Communication Skills

Brand managers interact with internal and external stakeholders as well. It is also their responsibility to design and supervise content for digital media, press releases, and print. Therefore, excellent verbal and written communication skills are crucial for brand managers.

Communication skills encompass several key elements, such as clarity, active listening, non-verbal communication, and conflict resolution.

Leadership Skills

Brand managers collaborate with marketing managers, supervise advertising agencies, and more often than not lead their brand management teams. Therefore, brand managers are expected to possess proven leadership skills.

Leadership skills refer to a set of abilities and qualities that enable individuals to effectively guide, inspire, and influence others towards achieving common goals. Leadership skills are not limited to those in formal leadership positions but can be developed and utilized by anyone in various personal and professional contexts.

Career Path

To start a career as a brand manager, you need both a relevant degree and some years of experience, predominantly in marketing. You might draw into account that the specific career path and progression can vary significantly depending on the industry, company size, and your aspirations.

Educational Background

Although it is not mandatory, most employers expect candidates to hold a university degree. To start a career in brand management, you will need a bachelor’s degree in business management, marketing or a related field. Some employers might even expect you to possess a master’s degree or an additional qualification in advertising, project management or digital marketing.

Entry Level

Most employers expect candidates to possess at least two years of relevant working experience. Therefore, you need to gain experience in junior marketing job or junior management jobs to qualify for an entry role in brand management.

If you want to start a career in brand management as soon as possible after gaining your university degree, you might apply for an internship in the field of marketing or management during university vacation. Alternatively, you could work part-time while you are still at university.

Continuous Learning

Successful brand managers need to commit to continuous learning, as marketing trends are moving fast. Therefore, brand managers have to attend trade shows, conferences, and events regularly. In addition, it is crucial to stay informed on and learn new CRM Tools.

Networking with other brand managers, marketing managers, and other experts from the industry you work for is also part of the process of continuous learning that should not be underestimated.   

A Day in the Life of a Controller

There is no fixed schedule that a brand manager’s day at work will follow. This role combines both management duties and creative tasks. You will spend quite a significant part of your day in meetings on some days. On other days, you will primarily spend your time in your office doing research and developing brand strategies.

However, there are some core responsibilities that brand managers will face on most days.

Developing of Strategies

A successful brand strategy helps to define the identity of the product, the service, or even the entire company. Developing the right brand strategy is a key factor for the success of the company. Therefore, the development of brand strategies and implementing the brand campaigns is on the daily agenda of a brand manager.

The development of strategies involves a systematic approach to aligning the brand’s goals with market opportunities and consumer needs. Here are some steps to develop effective strategies:

• Defining brand objects
• Defining of target audience
• Developing a unique value proposition
• Developing a comprehensive marketing mix

Communicating with Stakeholders

A typical day of a brand manager will more often than not include cross-functional collaboration. In this role, you will work closely with various teams such as marketing, sales, product development, and internal or external creative services. Meetings are held to discuss progress, brainstorm ideas, and ensure everyone is working towards the same goals.

In addition, brand managers are likely to have their brand management team that consists of marketing executives and a creative team of writers, editors, graphic designers, and web developers. Leading this team is another core responsibility of a brand manager.

Researching and Monitoring

The starting point for every brand strategy and brand campaign is market research. Market research is crucial to gain insights into consumer behaviour, preferences, and trends. Therefore, brand managers analyse data from surveys, focus groups, social media listing tools, and other sources.

To ensure a successful outcome of a brand campaign, brand managers perform continuous monitoring. This includes analysing key performance indicators such as sales data, website traffic, social media engagement metrics, and customer feedback.

Tips for Thriving as a Brand Manager

Thriving as a brand manager typically involves several stages of growth and progression, comprising both hard skills and soft skills. Here you find tips on how to nurture your career in brand management:

• Building Relationships
• Cultivating Creativity
• Embracing Adaptability

Building Relationships

Brand managers work closely with various teams, and external advertising agencies, and they rely on a closely-knit network. Therefore, the ability to build and maintain relationships is essential. Building relationships includes the following aspects and skills:

• Attending as many opportunities to network as possible
• Listening actively and showing appreciation
• Being reliable and maintaining regular communication

Cultivating Creativity

It is your responsibility as a brand manager to develop strategies and create content. Therefore, cultivating creativity is essential for brand managers to develop innovative strategies and solutions. Here are some strategies to foster and nurture creativity:

• Embrace a growth mindset
• Seeking inspiration from outside sources
• Foster curiosity and allow for risk-taking
• Set aside time for creativity

Embracing Adapatbility

Marketing trends tend to change fast. Therefore, every brand manager must be flexible and able to react quickly to new circumstances. As a brand manager, it is your goal to be ahead of competitive brands and companies. Once again, a growth mind-set is required to be able to embrace adaptability. In addition, you should stay informed, be open to feedback, and practise flexibility. This can be done by keeping an open mind and finding alternative solutions to given tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions