Names, terms, designs, symbols, and other important features represent a piece of a brand.
Brands are an important part of every business because they allow consumers to differentiate companies and identify what products they want to purchase. In some cases, consumers care more about the brand than the actual products they purchase! Brands have value behind them, but it takes time and a correct strategy to follow.
That is why food companies hire professionals whose sole job is to create brand value for their line of products. Brand managers play an important role in creating and maintaining brand awareness among consumers.
Brand managers build brand loyalty
Brand managers are responsible for creating, maintaining and ensuring that a brand is recognizable and encourages customers to purchase its products. To do this, they develop annual and long-range strategic plans for new and existing products. These professionals conduct market research to keep up with customer trends and predict future trends. It is common for them to work with the Research and Development team and create products which could add value to a brand. Furthermore, brand managers follow and execute branding plans, ensuring that activities are within budget allocations.
Brand managers develop brand strategies
Overall, the job of a brand manager is to manage the image of a brand. Careful planning and well-executed plans ensure that brands are sustainable and gain value over time. Brand managers create strategies to strengthen logos, taglines, product specifications and ensure that all are in line with a brand image. These plans can stretch over months and years at a time.
For example, a brand manager may develop a marketing campaign for premium cupcakes tied to the idea of people indulging themselves after working hard all week. Once they have established the general concept of the brand, they arrange meetings with different cross-organizational groups to share their plans for the brand.
Brand managers have business-related degrees
It is common for a brand manager to have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or a related field of study. It is typical for a brand manager to start in a more junior position, such as an assistant brand manager in another type of industry until they move over to the food industry. Students looking for a head start in this career could obtain a master’s in business or business administration, as this can be more attractive to employers however this is not necessary.
Brand managers execute marketing plans
Not only do brand managers develop plans, but they are also the ones who execute them. In order to make sure that a brand is successful, managers decide what drives the biggest return.
Brand success is usually measured over long periods of time, as a brand’s image is not built in a day. Brand managers track the success of a brand by counting the amount of likes, clicks and search queries as they rise and fall. However, there are many other ways to track a brand’s success. Finally, these professionals ensure that plans in progress adhere to company budgets. If something is too costly for the results given, they may make changes to the plan.
Brand managers must perform research
Brand managers spend a lot of their time conducting market research and analysis. The purpose of their research is to identify market opportunities and issues to develop strategies, innovation, and multi-
brand scale promotions. Brand managers use a diverse variety of sources when looking for brand opportunities which include watching the performance of other companies and trade/consumer events.
Brand managers help with product development
Sometimes during their research, a brand manager may come across a new trend which falls nicely in the brand image of a company. To capitalize on this, brand managers work closely with product development teams. Working with them at every step, brand managers create timelines and budgets for new products and set up any research required, securing proper execution.
For example, a brand manager at a dairy company may find a market need for single-serve cottage cheese. They consult the product development team and ask them to create a new product with this idea in mind.
Brand managers understand their customers
A successful brand manager must understand their customers. Using analyzed customer behaviour data, brand managers determine what kind of products customers are interested in. Some examples of sources that brand managers obtain customer behaviour data include subscription data, social media sites and product usage reports.
Instant data acquisition allows brand managers to determine critical moments when customers research, consider and purchase a product. This leads to a better understanding of customers, and, eventually, the ability to build brand loyalty.
Brand managers are creative, analytical and have good presentation skills
As with any occupation, there are certain sets of skills which will aid you better than others. For a brand manager, these skills include:
- Analytical analysis – Because there is no set metric to measure the value of a brand, brand managers need to have the ability to identify and scrutinize brand equity. Having an analytical mind allows them to improve and streamline complex work processes.
- Creativity – Brands that stay relevant typically do something new. Brand managers must be creative, but also know how to focus their teams on an overarching strategy. When they create a new brand asset, they clearly state their expectations but also leave room to think creatively.
- Presentation skills – Brand managers rarely work alone. Whenever they create a new concept, they have to obtain the buy-in and approval of other departments. These professionals need to have the ability to present information clearly, effectively and persuasively
