Marketing As A Career

By Author: Peter Devis
Total Articles: 3
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A career in Marketing is an exciting one. It constantly throws up new situations and you meet people across all strata of society. And, at the end of the day, it boils down to how well you understand and empathize with people.
The general perception is that marketing is a “creative profession”. If truth be told, like all other professions, marketing is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Marketing is the profession which tries to develop products and services to suit consumer needs – and do it better than the competition. All careers in marketing flow from this activity.
Careers in marketing
To develop products and services to suit consumer needs, you first need to know what these needs are. This is the job of the Market Researcher, who constantly collects feedback from consumers in order to track trends. This information is collected from surveys and social media and needs both quantitative analysis, thus necessitating comfort levels with numbers and qualitative analysis, necessitating a good understanding of sociology and psychology.

The information obtained needs to be designed into a product ...
... or service. This is the job of the Brand Manager or Product Manager. There are two tasks to be performed here. The first is designing a product or service; the second is a clear communication of this to the consumers. For this task, the Brand Manager works closely with the team handling Integrated Marketing Communications (erstwhile Advertising using print, television and radio). Over the last decade, the Net has emerged as a powerful medium offering various points of touch with the customer. The Advertising Agency continues to handle communication, but has a higher degree of specialization. The Client Servicing or Account Management team interfaces with the Brand Manager to design the communication. The Media Planners decide the best media to be used for communicating this message. The Media Buyers negotiate rates with the media. The Event Management Team designs and executes events, which could range from the organization of the Miss India contest to a cultural festival in an IIT. The Social Media team harnesses the potential of the Net and that includes Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Ideal qualities
Understanding the consumers’ need and translating it into a product or service is just half the job done. This now needs to reach the consumer – and that is equally, if not more, challenging. This is the job of the Sales team. The technical qualification needed will depend on the nature of the product. For technical products such as IT Hardware or Financial Services, a high level of relevant technical competence is required. Most successful Marketing professionals have started their career in Sales – that’s where one gets the feel of the real marketplace.

In consumer goods, the consumer comes to buy from an outlet – which is known as the Retail outlet. Till about 7 years ago, retail outlets were usually small family-run enterprises, known as “Mom and Pop Stores”. Today, the emergence of larger players offering “standardized” stores in multiple formats has ensured an emerging career in Retail. Careers in Retail are also getting specialized. The Merchandiser in the Retail Industry has a role similar to that of the Brand or Product Manager described above. The Category Manager in the Retail Industry has a role similar to that of the Sales team described earlier while the Visual Merchandiser handles the in store communication.

The relationship with the customer needs to extend beyond the purchase. Hence, retaining a customer is an integral part of Marketing. Rapid strides in Information Technology have made communication with consumers easier. Retaining customers and trying to ensure loyalty is handled by Customer Relationship Managers (CRM).

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