Any Brand Managers on here?

[TUS 373]

As per the title.

I would be interested to get in touch with a brand manager...to find out, well, what exactly does a brand manager do? The more global the better!

Thanks

[pvapour]

Basically sit there confusing people with home made jargon in an attempt to cover the fact that there job is not even needed by the company.

Sorry, just the eperience of one blue chip compnay

[pvapour]

Apparently, they create brands around consumer needs by different occasions, create brand equity (brand values / personality).

Develop products and packs relevant to these need states and occasions, bench mark against competitive set and mantain defensive and inovative stratagies to grow market share.

Glad I got that off my chest

[TUS 373]

Hmmmm, that's what I thought. The problem is that anything to do with branding always sounds wishy-washy to me. I call a mechanical manual low engineered excavation tool a spade. Just need to shed more light on this fuzzy branding thing.

[Pistonfest]

Feel free to contact my cousin (Pauline) at www.brandguardians.com for some impartial advise if you fancy.

[egoboss]

TUS 373 said:

As per the title. I would be interested to get in touch with a brand manager...to find out, well, what exactly does a brand manager do? The more global the better! Thanks

hi - is not my area of focus per se, but please have a look at my web site to see if what i do is relevant.

www.egoboss.com

cheers

carl

[TUS 373]

Thanks for the replies everyone - some very useful links and information there for me to explore. The power of PH networking is fantastic. Thanks again,

Bryan

[lockhart flawse]

I run 3 canned food brands which we market around the world?

[steviebee]

A bit late coming in on this one but here goes:

In simple terms, a Brand Manager controls the perceptions that exist in the market place about a product, service and company. Specifically, they ensure that any perception that exists is a positive one.

A brand consists of 5 key elements:

1. The vision (what it is the customer "really" buys)
2. The mission (the single most significant virtue offered by the company /product/service
3. The position (where the product service or company sits in the minds of the market)
4. The identity (the elements that communicate the above three points)
5. The relationship (the management processes that make it happen)

When companies like BP get lambasted for spending £90million on re-branding, the perception is the money's gone on a new logo. In fact, the logo is a tiny part of an issue that gets to the very heart of the organisation - it's DNA if you like.

USPs are a thing of the past - the only thing that differentiates one product from another is often it's brand.

What would you rather have - an Audi A4 or a Skoda Octavia? They're both effectivley the same product - just different brands.

Next question?

[TUS 373]

Thanks for that - a most excellent and clear answer which I will take away, chew upon and commit to memory.

If only the lecturers on my MBA could have been quite so succinct about it. ( I didn't take the corporate / brand management option due to the tutor obviously not understanding what she was talking about.)

Thanks again.

[PetrolTed]

egoboss said:

hi - is not my area of focus per se, but please have a look at my web site to see if what i do is relevant. www.egoboss.com cheers carl

Carl, what on earth is all that about? Without wishing to be rude, it's a masterpiece of buzzwords over information.

[egoboss]

PetrolTed said:

egoboss said: hi - is not my area of focus per se, but please have a look at my web site to see if what i do is relevant. <a href="http://www.egoboss.com">www.egoboss.com</a> cheers carl lol, fair enough - i'll tell my clients that, ted(!). Carl, what on earth is all that about? Without wishing to be rude, it's a masterpiece of buzzwords over information.

[egoboss]

PetrolTed said:

egoboss said: hi - is not my area of focus per se, but please have a look at my web site to see if what i do is relevant. <a href="http://www.egoboss.com">www.egoboss.com</a> cheers carl what, i have chosen the wrong mentor!?! www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ronspeak.php ;-) Carl, what on earth is all that about? Without wishing to be rude, it's a masterpiece of buzzwords over information.

[steviebee]

TUS 373 said:

Thanks for that - a most excellent and clear answer which I will take away, chew upon and commit to memory. If only the lecturers on my MBA could have been quite so succinct about it. ( I didn't take the corporate / brand management option due to the tutor obviously not understanding what she was talking about.) Thanks again.

In fairness to your tutors, Branding is a difficult subject to teach (I've tried!) as a great deal of it is quite subjective and open to much interpretation.

Branding is considered by many to be one of the most significant factors in determining the profitability of a company on a sustainable basis. And it can work both ways:

Take Burberry. For years an exclusive designer fashion brand worn by the wealthy and descerning...but not that profitable. They change the brand "vision" and it becomes mass-market fashion - less exclusive but more profitable!

If you're keen to extend your learning, suggest you get in touch with The Chartered Institute of Marketing.

[TUS 373]

Thanks again Steviebee.

I take your point that it is a difficult subject because it is quite formless and subjective. The tutor I had taught Product Innovation, but was frankly hopeless. She was due to take branding for us, but I opted out because the experience of her teaching was too painful to bear again.

Know the CIM, been there, got the Diploma. Just felt it would be good to touch base with those who practice the black art practically, rather than take the academic approach. It is quite distant from what I have done in marketing in the past. All very interesting though, and your contribution seems spot on for what I am after. Thanks again.

[steviebee]

mungo said:

"brand manager" could mean anything!!!!

........so I assume you shop at Lidl, wear George jeans and own a Pacific TV with aspirations to upgrade from a Lada to a Proton?

I refer the honorable mungo to the post I gave earlier!

Brand Managers sit very high up in the management food chain and have very specific remits.

Good ones can make a product or company. Bad ones can break them - monumentaly so.

If you want to get anal about it, it is true to say that everyone in a company is a brand manager as they all communicate the brand.

Everything you do or say affects your brand.

[scruffy]

Hey! - the whole world's gone global!!

Do I win a prize?

Can I get a job with that statement? I have more shit...