Brand Management Careers

Brand Management Careers
Workshop to provoke you to think differently so you can reach your full potential in your Marketing career. How to succeed in your career in brand management
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Manage your Marketing Career Workshop to help your career in Brand Management Topics we cover: • Assessment: Skills, behaviors, experiences. • How your core strength impacts your future career choices. • Checklist for what it takes to be successful at each of the four levels: Assistant Brand Manager, Brand Manager, Director and VP/CMO. • Building your personal brand, around a Big Idea, a plan and a story.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Visit beloved-brands.com Over 5 million views from Marketers getting smarter Want to get smarter about Marketing?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Advice from a former Marketing Executive
Brand Careers Agenda 1 2 3 4 Build your career around your natural strength as a Marketer Assessment: skills, behaviors and experiences Where is your career now and where do you want to go next? By job level. Building your personal brand, around an idea and a plan
1 What type of marketer are you? Are you best at managing products, marketing execution, strategic thinking or leadership of people? You have to pick one. Build your career around your natural strength as a Marketer
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. While every Brand Leader claims to be a generalist, everyone should have a lead strength: 1. Do you like running the business and managing products? 2. Do you like marketing execution and being creative, either generating ideas or executing creativity? 3. Are you a strategic thinker, enjoying the planning side of the business? 4. Are you a leader of leaders, with a passion for leading people? If you had to force yourself to choose one, which one would you pick?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What is your personal core strength as a Brand Leader? Marketing Execution Running the Business Strategic Thinking Leader of People Highly Competitive Medium Low Focus on what you are best at. Let go what matters the least. We give 4 chips, forcing one at the high, two at the middle to support the strength, and let go of one at the low.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What is your core strength? Running the business and managing brands • You’re naturally a business leader, who enjoys the thrill of hitting the numbers–financial or share goals. In Myers Briggs, you might be an ENTJ/INTJ (introvert/extrovert, intuition, thinking, judgment) the “field general” who brings the intuitive logic and quick judgment to make decisions quickly to capitalize on business opportunity. • You like product innovation side more than advertising. You are fundamentally sound in the core elements of running a business— forecasting, analytics, finance, distribution—working each functional areas to the benefit of the products. You may have gaps in creativity or people leadership, but you’re comfortable giving freedom to your agencies or team to handle the creative execution. • My recommendation is to stay within Product Management as long as you can. If you find roadblocks in your current industry, go into new verticals before you venture into new career choices. Consider running businesses on behalf of Private Equity firms or venture into Entrepreneurship where you take your core strength of running a business. Career Options • Product Management • Shift across industries • Lead Private Equity Turnarounds • Lead Acquisitions • Entrepreneurship
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What is your core strength? Marketing Execution • You are the type of Brand Leader who is highly creative and connects more to ideas and insights than strict facts and tight business decisions. You believe facts can guide you but never decide for you. You are high on perception, allowing ambiguous ideas to breathe before closing down on them. You respect the creative process and creative people. You are intuitive in deciding what is a good or bad idea. You may have gaps in the areas of organizational leadership or strategy development that hurts you from becoming a senior leader. • Staying in the Marketing area, you may end up limited in moving beyond an executional role. You may be frustrated in roles that would limit your creativity. Moving into a Director level role could set you up for failure. Look to grab a subject matter expert type role in an internal advertising, media, innovation role or merchandising. • Going forward beyond Marketing, consider switching to the Agency side or Consult on a subject-matter expertise (Innovation, Marketing Communication or Public Relations) to build on your strengths. Career Options • Executional Agency • Subject Matter Specialist • Ideation Brainstorm Facilitation • Business Development
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What is your core strength? Strategic Thinking • You enjoy the planning more than the execution. You might fall into the INTP, where you’re still using logic and intuition, stronger at the thinking that helps frame the key issues and strategies than making the business decisions. The introvert side would also suggest that your energy comes from what’s going on in your brain, than externally. An honest assessment would suggest that managing and directing the work of others is likely not be a strength. • If you stay within the marketing industry, you would be very strong in a Global Brand role, General Management or even a Strategic Planning role. You need to either partner with someone who is strong at Marketing Execution or build a strong team of business leaders beneath you. • Going outside, you would enjoy Consulting and thought leadership which could turn into either an academic or professional development type roles. Continue building your thought leadership to carve out a specific perspective or reputation where you can monetize. Career Options • Global Marketing • Consulting/Coaching • Thought Leadership • Adjunct Professor • Business Development • Writing/Speaker Series
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What is your core strength? Leader of People • You find natural strength in leading other. You are skilled in getting the most from someone’s potential. You are good at conflict resolution, providing feedback, inspiring/motivation and career management of others. You are a natural extrovert and get your energy from seeing others on your team succeed. As you move up, you should surround yourself with people who counter your gaps–whether that is on strategy or Marketing Execution. • If you find yourself better at Management than Marketing, and you should pursue a General Management role where you become a leader of leaders. You would benefit from a cross functional shift into sales or operations to gain various perspectives of the business enable you to take on a general management role in the future. • After you hit your peak within the corporate world, consider careers such as Executive Coaching where the focus remains on guiding people. Career Options • General Management • Stay within Brand Management • Cross functional roles • Partner in Entrepreneurship • Personal Executive Coach
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. The intersection of your talent, where you love it, where you can make a decent salary and where the market needs it. Finding yourself a purpose driven career Market needs it Earn a decent living Talented at it You love it MissionPassion JobProfession Your Purpose
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Honest reflection to match up what you love with what your good at, avoiding what you hate or lack talent. Where is your sweet spot where your talent meets passion? Finance Writing long reports Project Management Sales Management/Presentations Creative Solutions Conceptual Mind Strategic Planning Leadership Coaching Public Speaking Heavy Advertising Experience Accounting Forecasting IT/software/technology Administrative Legal Negotiations Details Copywriting Event Planning Production Executional Details Product Innovation LoveDislike Lack of talent Talented
2 Based on your skills, experience and behaviors, where are your strengths and your gaps and what is your game plan for closing those gaps? Do a full assessment of your skills, behaviors and experiences
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Expected behaviors at any level in Marketing • Hit deadlines: Never look out of control or sloppy. Marketers have enough to do, that things will just stockpile on each other. In Marketing, there are no extensions, just missed opportunities. • Know your business: Don’t get caught off-guard. Make sure you are asking the questions and carrying forward the knowledge. • Be open communication: No surprises. Keep everyone aware of what’s going on. Present upwards with an action plan of what to do with it. • Listen and decide: It is crucial that we seek to understand and equally important that we give direction or push towards the end path. • We must get better: When we don’t know something, speak in an “asking way”, but when we know, speak in a “telling way”. • We control our destiny: We run the brands, they do not run us. Be slightly ahead of the game, not chasing your work to completion. Proactively look for opportunity in the market, and work quickly to take advantage. • Regular feedback for growth: Always seek out and accept feedback, good or bad, as a lesson for you. Not a personal attack or setback.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Manage your Marketing people in terms of skills, behaviors and experiences. • Analyze performance • Think Strategically • Define the brand • Create Brand Plans • Inspire creative execution Skills Behaviors Experiences • Accountable for results • People leadership • Broad influence • Authentic style • Runs business like an owner • Write Brand Plans • Manage a team • Launch a new brand • Launch new advertising • Lead across organization
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Define the Brand Think Strategically Big Idea At Beloved Brands, we use a branding approach Vision Analysis Key Issues Strategies Execution • Advertising • In-Store • Innovation • Consumers • Category • Channels • Competitors • Brand Values, Goals • Experience Brand Plan Create Brand Plans Inspire creative execution Analyze performance Sm art Creative Ideas
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Digs deep into data, draws comparisons and builds a story toward the business conclusion 2. Able to lead a best-in-class 360-degree deep-dive business review for the brand 3. Understands all sources of brand data—share, brand funnel, consumption, financials 4. Writes analytical performance reports that outlines the strategic implications 5. Thinks strategically, by asking the right interruptive questions before reaching for solutions 6. 360-degree strategic thinking: core strength, consumers, competitors, situation, engagement 7. Able to lead a well-thought strategic discussion across the organization 8. Makes smart strategic decisions based on vision, focus, opportunity, early win and leverage 9. Defines ideal consumer target, framed with need states, insights and enemies 10.Consumer centric approach to turn brand features into functional and emotional benefits 11. Finds winning brand positioning space that is own-able and motivates consumers 12.Develops a big idea for brand that can lead every consumer touchpoint 13.Leads all elements of a smart brand plan; vision, purpose, goals, issues, strategies, tactics. 14.Turns strategic thinking into smart strategic objective statements for the brand plan 15.Strong in presenting brand plans to senior management and across organization 16.Develops smart execution plans that delivers against the brand strategies 17.Writes strategic, focused and thorough creative briefs to inspire great work from experts 18.Can lead all marketing projects on brand communication, innovation, selling or experience 19.Able to inspire greatness from teams of experts at agencies or throughout organization 20.Makes smart marketing execution decisions that tightens bond with consumers Define the Brand Think Strategically Create Brand Plans Inspire creative execution Analyze performance The 20 skills your marketing team must have to win Skills assessment tool to evaluate your Marketing team
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Marketing Skill Element 1 2 3 4 5 Comments 1. Able to analyze and draw conclusions 2. Leads a deep-dive business review 3. Understands all data sources 4. Writes analytical reports 5. Uses strategic questions for thinking 6. 360-degree strategic thinking 7. Leads strategic discussions 8. Makes smart strategic decisions 9. Defines target consumer 10. Turn features into consumer benefits 11. Finds winning brand Positioning statement 12. Generates the Big Idea for brand 13. Leads all elements of Brand Plan 14. Writes smart strategic objective statements 15. Effective plans presentation to management 16. Aligned marketing execution plans 17. Writes focused and inspired creative briefs 18. Leads all marketing execution projects 19. Inspire greatness from experts 20. Smart strategic decisions on execution Skills assessment tool to evaluate your Marketing team Assessment scoring for your team 90%: Exceptional team delivering for the brand 80%: Strong Team, but may have one major gap area 70%: Performance gaps holding team and brand back 60%: Team not trained to deliver on your expectations Below 60%: Team is holding the brand performance back Scoring for each element 5: Exceptional 4: Very strong 3: Solid 2: Below expectation 1: Unable to perform
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Holds everyone accountable to the goals of their tasks 2. Makes it happen, get things done, don’t let details/timeline slip 3. Stays on strategy, eliminates ideas that are not focused against vision/strategy. 4. Works the system behind the brand, from sales to finance to operations to HR 5. Manages core team: focus, communication, solutions, results, let others shine. 6. Interested in their people’s development and career development 7. Coaches, teaches, guides the team for higher performance. 8. Provides honest assessments to their people and upwards. 9. Active listener, seeks opinions, makes decisions, owns strategy. 10.Controls brand strategy, yet flexible to new ideas on the execution. 11.Carries influence throughout organization. 12.Thinks of others beyond themselves, empathy to pressures/challenges others are facing. 13.Aware of their impact on others within and beyond their team. 14.Exhibits leadership under pressure: results, ambiguity, change, deadlines. 15.Consistency in leadership in how they show up. 16.Flexibility in leadership: admits mistakes, challenges self, adjusts to new ways. 17.Acts like a ‘Brand CEO’ accountable to the long range health and profits of the business. 18.Makes smart decisions that adds to the health of brand, not their career or personal wealth. 19.Makes the right choices, good for the company, consumers, customers, market, society. 20.Lives and breathes the culture of those who work behind the scenes of the brand. The 20 behaviors your marketing team must have to win Accountable for results People Leadership Broad Influence Authentic Style Runs business like an owner Behavior assessment tool to evaluate your Marketing team
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Entry Level Manager Level Leadership Level Experiences that Marketers must go through Write a Brand Plan Manage a Brnad Team Launch a new brand Lead brand turnaround Lead new advertising Lead cross functionally Write a brand recommendation Managed or mentored an intern Developed concepts and testing Deep analysis on struggling brand Led smaller program or promo materials Working with key stakeholders Write a deep dive brand review Write a section of the brand plan Fire a Marketer Managed a direct report Managed multiple reports Pool out of new innovation Brand re-alignment to strategy Provided feedback on advertising Broad influence across organization Launched new product under established brand Led brand recovery plan Led pullout of advertising campaign Worked on cross functional team Wrote performance reviews Promoted a Marketer Coached through development plan
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What you need to manage a Marketing Team • High standards: Hold the team to consistently high standards of work in analytics, strategic thinking, planning and execution in the market (advertising, innovation, purchase moment and brand experience) • People leadership: Provide a team vision, consistently motivate others, be genuinely and actively interested in helping your team manage their careers. • Lead the process: Organize, challenge and manage the processes so your team can focus on thinking, planning and executing. Guide the team to get things done on time. on budget and on forecast. • Coaching: Teach, guide and direct your team members for higher performance. Actively motivate and recognize success by providing positive commentary to team players, one on one and in public. • Training and development: Provide on-going skills development to make the team better. Smarter teams produce better work that leads to stronger results. • Consistent communication: Both written and spoken, big and small. Easily approachable. Makes time to wander. • Actively listens to team: Asks the big strategic questions that challenge them for their best, not the small tactical details that does their job for them. • Leadership during times of pressure: Stays consistent in style during pressures of pushing for results, dealing with ambiguity, times of change and hitting deadlines.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Brand Leadership in Marketing • Be visionary: Craft a team vision to help align, motivate the team, guides the direction of the brand and gatekeeper to all things strategic • Be engaging: Take the time to engage in deeper strategic thinking to ensure it’s not just about execution. Challenge team to stay on strategy, yet be open and provide motivation for highly creative solutions. • Influence beyond your team: Be the leader that proactively builds relationships with the Sales Team, Agencies, R&D, Finance, HR, Global. • Be Focused: Hold the team to a focus of one vision, three strategies, three tactics each strategy, one target, one main message, one main objective each project. • Follow Your Instincts: Listen to your inner thoughts: Take smart chances. Too many leaders fail because “they went along with it”. Challenge everyone until your instincts are satisfied. • Be Authentic: Let your team know you, your values, your passions and your purpose. Equally, get to know your team on a personal level to ensure you are matching up to their motivations, goals and desires.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Great marketers #1: Have a way to get what they need. #2: What they need is the right thing to do. Great marketers get both. OK marketers fail on 1 or 2.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Where does the “Idiot Curve” show up in your job? • With every new job, at every level, the IDIOT CURVE shows up in the first 90 days. The premise is that you tend to get (and feel) dumber, before you get smarter again. • With too much information, pressure to perform early and uncertainty, your brain gets too logical, you over-think and throw out your INSTINCTS. Day 1 Day 90 You tend to get (and feel) dumber, before you get smarter again. Know that the IDIOT CURVE is a normal part of every job. Be patient. Take your time. Ask questions. Reach for your instincts
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Marketing Career Path Where you should focus your attention 0 25 50 75 100 Assistant Brand Manager Marketing Director VP/CMO Execution Strategy Managing Leadership
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Strategic thinkers see “what if” questions before seeing solutions, mapping out a range of decision trees that intersect and connect by imagining how events will play out in the future. They take time to reflect and plan before acting, helping you move in a focused efficient fashion. They think slowly, logically, always needing options, but if you go too slow, you will miss the opportunity window. Intuitive thinkers see answers before even knowing the right questions, using emotional instincts and gut feel impulses. Any delays will frustrate them, believing that doing something is better than nothing at all. This “make it happen” attitude gets things done, but if you go too fast, your great actions risk solving the wrong problem. The smartest Brand Leaders know when to be a strategic thinker and when to be an intuitive thinker. Always find the right balance by thinking slowly with strategy and thinking quickly with your intuition. Think Intuitive
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. When Marketers come to a decision point that requires focus, they try to justify a way to do both. The best brand leaders force themselves to focus by using the word “or” more than they use the word “and” Don’t tell yourself that you are good at making decisions if you come to a decision point and you always choose BOTH. Strategic thinkers never DIVIDE and conquer. They make choices to FOCUS and conquer.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. At every point of your career, you should be asking these 5 questions: 1. Within your current company, how high up do you think you can realistically go 2. Should you stay in the same industry or look at new verticals? 3. Should you stay in pure Brand Management or venture into a subject-matter expert type roles? 4. How long do you want to keep working? 5. Do you stay an employee or do you take this moment to leap out on your own?
3 Where is your career now and where do you want to go next? 1. Assistant Brand Manager 2. Brand Manager 3. Marketing Director 4. VP/CMO.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Assistant Brand Manager   How to be successful at the Assistant Brand Manager level 5 key areas you should focus on
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • A great ABM is able to tell stories, where others just see data. Be pro-active • A great ABM can get what they want. • A great ABM takes action and moves before being asked. • A great ABM puts their strategic thoughts forward. • A great ABM is accountable in the ownership of their work. Make it happen Contribute strategically Be accountable How to unleash success at the ABM level Before an ABM is promoted, your manager usually need to see all five, and needs to see you start to act like a Brand Manager. Analytical story telling1 2 3 4 5
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Analytical story telling A great ABM is able to tell stories, where others just see data. • There is tons of data all over—share results, tracking, test scores, etc. One of the most critical skill an ABM can work on is developing stories with the data. It’s one thing to have the data point, but another to have thought it through and know what it means, and what action you will take on this data. Look for patterns or data breaks, ask questions, start putting together stories and challenge the stories. • Use stories backed up by data to sell your recommendations. Never give a data point without a story or action. You risk letting someone else take your data and run with it or tell a story different from yours. How to be successful at the ABM level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 2. Be Pro-Active A great ABM takes action and moves before being asked. • Most of the projects for ABMs are already set by your manager. When you are new, it’s comfortable to wait for your projects. But don’t get in the habit of waiting for someone to create your project list. • But a great ABM starts to push ideas into the system and create their own project list. Some of the best ideas come with a fresh set of eyes and we need a continual influx of new ideas. • We also start to see the ABM making good decisions, on their own, and communicating to their boss. Not asking permission but telling what they want to do and look for the head nod. Know what’s in your scope and align with your manager. How to be successful at the ABM level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 3. Make It Happen A great ABM can get what they want. • Instead of just functionally managing the steps of the project, great ABM’s “make it happen”: faster, bigger and better. • Faster means you understand what are the important milestones that need to be hit. Manage the bottle necks: the task that have the longest completion time, that impact the entire project. Sometimes you need to push with an inflexible but motivating fist to get it done. • Bigger means you want to do more than is required. You find that magic to make it even have a bigger impact. Creative solutions or motivating others to do more. • Better means you have to take the same people and get them to give their best ideas or their best effort or their best work. Guaranteed you will meet many points of resistance. Every project will. Solving these and still getting the most you can, is what separates the great ABMs from the rest. How to be successful at the ABM level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 4. Contribute Strategically A great ABM puts their strategic thoughts forward. • You need to be a strategic thinker—asking the right questions to ensure you are focused on the right area, where you can gain a positional power that leads to higher growth and profit for your brand. • Ensure you are staying strategic and not just falling in love with some execution not aligned to your brand’s strategy. It’s so easy to be lost in your own “cool” projects. At the ABM level, showing that you can keep things aligned to the strategic is just as important as being strategic. • Speak up and represent your strategic thinking. Standing up for your thoughts shows that you are in the game, that you are thinking, and that you believe in your strategic thoughts. Silent ABMs never last. How to be successful at the ABM level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 5. Accountability A great ABM is accountable in the ownership of their work. • Accountability is the stepping stone to ownership. And the ownership of the brand is a sign you can be a Brand Manager. We need to see that before giving you your own brand. • Great ABMs motivate but don’t delegate. If you have to step in, then jump in. You cannot let things slip or miss. You have to stay on top of the timelines and lead those on your project teams. You have to be action oriented, and solution focused. You can never allow your team to get stuck. • Be the hub of communication to all team members, and to key stakeholders, including upwards to your manager. How to be successful at the ABM level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. The 10 reasons that an ABM fails 1. Can't do the analytical story telling. 2. Struggle to deal with the ambiguity of marketing. 3. Slow at moving projects through. 4. Selfishly think about themselves. 5. Don't work well through others. 6. Miss answers by not being flexible. 7. Fall for tactical programs that are off strategy. 8. Hold back from making contributions to the team strategy. 9. Settle for "OK" rather than pushing for "great". 10. Poor communicators, with manager, senior management or partners.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Listen to the subject matter experts you are supposed to lead. In your first year in marketing, you will learn more from those subject matter experts than you will from your manager. We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Brand Manager   How to be successful at the Brand Manager level 5 key areas you should focus on
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • A great BM takes ownership of the brand. Strategic Direction • A great BM spends the effort to make their ABM as good as can be. • A great BM provides a vision & strategies to match up to. • A great BM gets what they need. • A great BM Can Handle Pressure: ambiguity, results, relationship, time pressure. Managing Others Working the system Dealing with pressure The best ABMs do not always make the best Brand Managers. It’s time to start over and challenge yourself on ownership. Ownership1 2 3 4 5 How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Ownership A great Brand Manager takes ownership of the brand. • Many Brand Managers struggle with the transition from being the helper to being the owner. As you move into the job, you have to get away the idea of having someone hand you a project list. Not only do you have to make the project list, you have to come up with the strategies from which the projects fall out of. • A great Brand Manager talks in ideas in a telling sense, rather then an asking sense. It’s great to be asking questions as feelers, but realize that most people are going to be looking to you for decisions. They’ll be recommending you’ll be deciding. • When managing upwards be careful of asking questions—try to stick to solutions. You just gave up your ownership. Your director wants you to tell them what to do, and debate from there. How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 2. Strategic direction A great Brand Manager provides a vision and strategies to lead everyone who works on the brand • Bring a vision to the brand. Push yourself to a well-articulated 5-10 year brand vision great. But a vision can be as simple as a rallying cry for the team. But you have to let everyone know where you want to go. • The strategy that matches up to the vision becomes the road map for how to get there. As the brand owner, you become the steward of the vision and strategy. Everything that is off strategy has to be rejected. • Communication of strategy is a key skill. Learn to think in terms of strategic pillars, with 3 different areas to help achieve your overall strategy. Having pillars constantly grounds you strategically, and is an easy way for communicating with the various functions. Each function may only have 1 strategic pillar but seeing how it all fits in is motivating. How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 3. Managing others A great Brand Manager spends the effort to make their ABM as good as can be. • Most Brand Managers struggle with their first five direct reports. The key is to keep self evaluating and looking for ways to improve with each report. • Most Brand Managers struggle to shift from “do-er” to “coach. They think they can do it faster, so they may as well do it. They just become the “super ABM”. • Many Brand Managers fail to share the spot light, so it becomes hard to showcase the ABM. But the work of your ABM reflects 100% of how good of a manager you are. • ABMs need feedback to get better—both the good and bad. I see to many Brand Managers not giving enough feedback. And so many afraid of “going negative” so the ABM is left in the dark or left thinking they are doing a good job. • Great Brand Managers take the time to teach up front, give the ABM some room to try it out and then give hands-on feedback in real time. Use weekly meetings to give both positive feedback and address gaps. • Brand Mangers should do QUARTERLY sit down performance reviews with their ABMs, who have the capacity to learn faster than annual reviews allows for. How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 4. Working the system A great Brand Manager gets what they want and need. • The organization is filled with groups, layers, external agencies, with everyone carrying a different set of goals and motivations. You can see how the organization works and appreciating what are are the motivations of various key stakeholders. You then use that knowledge to begin to work the system. • You are starting to see key subject matter experts giving you their best. You understand their personal motivations and find a way to tap into those motivations as a way to to ask people for their best. It might be an odd step, but from my experience a really motivating step. Very few people ask for “your best”. How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 5. Dealing with pressure A great Brand Manager can handle pressure: ambiguity, results, relationship time. • Ambiguity is one of the hardest pressures. As a leader, patience and composure help you sort through the issues. The consequences of not remaining composed are a scared team and choosing quick decisions with bad results. • If the results don’t come in, it can be frustrating. Reach for your logic as you re-group. Force yourself to course correct, rather then continuing to repeat and repeat and repeat. Challenge team to “this is when we are needed” • Relationships. Be pro-active in making the first move to build a relationship. Try to figure out what motivates and what annoys the person. Understand and reach for common ground, which most times is not that far away. • Time Pressure. It’s similar to the ambiguity. Be organized, disciplined and work the system so it doesn’t get in your way. Be calm, so you continue to make the right decisions. Use time to your advantage. How to be successful at the Brand Manager level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. The 10 reasons that a Brand Manager fails 1. Struggle to make decisions 2. Not analytical enough 3. Can't get along 4. Not good with ambiguity 5. Too slow and stiff 6. Bad people manager 7. Poor communicators, with manager, senior management or partners 8. Never follow their instincts 9. Can't think strategically or write strategically 10. They don't run the brand, they let the brand run them.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. The best Brand Managers figure out how to work the system, by getting buy-in as to what they want and then go make it happen.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Marketing Director  How to unleash success in the role 5 key areas you should focus on
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • A great director holds their team to a consistently high standard of work Be consistent • A great director is consistent in People Leadership and Management. • A great director is consistency and predictable in their thinking & decision making • A great director consistently shows up to the sales team. • A great director can consistently deliver the results. Be a consistent people leader Consistently show up the sales team Consistently deliver results The biggest challenge for directors is stop being a Brand Manager. The biggest challenge for Directors is to show up consistently. Set a consistent standard1 2 3 4 5 How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. Set a consistently high standard • Hold your team to a consistently high standard of work: Rather than being the leader by example, I'd rather see you establish a high standard and hold everyone and yourself to that standard. • Shift your style to a more process orientation so you can organize the team to stay focused, hit deadlines, keep things moving and produce consistent output. Consistent quality of brand plans, execution and interactions with everyone. • It’s about how to balance the freedom you give with the standard you demand. Delegate so you motivate your stars, but never abdicate ownership of how your overall team shows up. How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 2. Be the consistent voice on the team • A great Marketing Director becomes the consistent voice of reason to any potential influencers, acting on behalf of the brand team. • The director becomes the usual point person that the VP, sales team, agency, each turn to offering their thoughts on the brands. Yet the Director has to allow their BM to own the brand. • As the team’s voice of reason, a great marketing director must continue to ground all potential influencers in the brand plan with the strategy choices, consistently communicate the brand's direction and back up any tactical choices being made by the team. How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 3. Consistent people leader • Newly appointed directors have to stop acting like a "Senior Senior Brand Manager" and let your team breathe and grow. We know you can write a brand plan, roll out a promotion super fast and make decisions on creative. But can you inspire your team to do the same? • It becomes the director's role to manage and cultivate the talent. Most Brand Managers have high ambitions--constantly wanting praise, but equally seeking out advice for how to get better. Be passionate about people's careers--anything less they'll see it as merely a duty you are fulfilling. • A great Marketing Director should be meeting quarterly with each team member one on one to take them through a quarterly performance review. Waiting for year-end is just not enough. How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 4. Consistently shows up to the sales team • Marketing Directors become the go to marketing person for the sales team to approach. Great sales people challenge marketers to make sure their account wins. I've seen many sales teams destroy the Marketing Director because they don't listen, and they stubbornly put forward their plan without sales input. • Be the director that consistently reaches out and listens. They'll be in shock, and stand behind your business. If sales people feel they've been heard, they are more apt to follow the directors vision and direction. • A great Marketing Director should informally meet with all key senior sales leaders on a quarterly basis, to get to know them and listen to their problems. This informal forum allows problems to bubble up of problems and be heard, before they become a problem. How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 5. Consistently delivers the results • A great marketing director makes the numbers. They have a knack for finding growth where others can’t. And yet when they don’t, they are the first to own the miss and put forward a recovery plan before being asked. • Great Directors have an entrepreneurial spirit of ownership, create goals that “scare you a little but excite you a lot”. They reach out for help across the organization, making those goals public and keep the results perfectly transparent. And everyone will follow you. How to unleash success at the Marketing Director level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Marketing Directors have to be consistent in setting high standards, thinking strategically, managing people and delivering results.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Vice President/CMO How to unleash success in the role 5 key areas you should focus on
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • A great VP understands better people make better work and deliver better results. Bring a vision to the role • A great VP isn’t the super-duper Brand Manager. It’s about them, not you. • A great VP creates a team vision that everyone can follow to go to the next level. • A great VP makes it comfortable enough to approach and share good and bad. • A great VP runs the P&L and marketing processes so your people can execute. Put the spotlight on your team Be a consistent approachable leader Run the process and the team The best VPs realize they don’t really do anything by themselves but everything is done through the greatness of their people. People come first1 2 3 4 5 How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. VP’s have to deliver • Quintessentially, rule #1 is you have to make the numbers. As the VP, your main role is to create demand for your brands. What’s expected of you is to gain share and drive sales growth to help drive profit for the company? • The results come from making the right strategic choices, executing at a level beyond the competitors and motivating your team to do great work. But how you do it, and the balances you place in key areas are choices you need to make. • Making the numbers gives you more freedom on how you wish to run things. Without the numbers, the rest might not matter. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 1. People come first • Focus on the People and the Results will come: The formula is simple: the smarter your people, the better the work they produce and in turn the stronger the results will be. You should have a regular review of the talent with your directors. I'd encourage you to ensure there’s a systemic way to get feedback to everyone on the team, preferably on a quarterly basis. • Invest in training and development. Marketing Training is not just on the job, but also in the classroom to challenge their thinking and give them added skills to be better in their jobs. • Marketing fundamentals matter. The classic fundamentals are falling, whether it is strategic thinking, writing a brand plan, writing a creative brief or judging great advertising. People are NOT getting the same development they did in prior generations. Investing in training, not only makes them better, but it is also motivating for them to know that you are investing in them. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 2. Be the visionary • You are the Mayor of Marketing: Bring a vision to the role. Look at what needs fixing on your team, and create your own vision statements that relevant to your situation. • Bring a human side to the role. Get up, walk around and engage with everyone on your team. It will make someone's day. Your role is to motivate and encourage them to do great work. • Influence behind the scenes to help clear roadblocks. Know when you need to back them up, whether it’s an internal struggle, selling the work into your boss or with a conflict with an agency. • Do they love it? When they put their great work up for approval, and it’s fundamentally sound, approve it. Don’t do the constant spin of pushing for better, because then you look indecisive. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 3. Put the spotlight on your people • Let them own it and let them Shine: It has to be about them, not you. • Don’t be the super-duper Brand Manger. It’s not easy to balance giving them to freedom to lead you and yet knowing when to step in and make a decision. By making all the decisions, you bring yourself down a level or two and you take over their job. • Instead of telling, you need to start asking. Ask good questions to challenge or push your team into a certain direction without them knowing you’re pushing them is more enlightening than coming up with statements of direction. • Challenge your team and recognize the great work. It might be my own thing, but I never said “thank you” because I never thought they were doing it for me. Instead I said “you should be proud” because I knew they were doing it for themselves. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 4. Be a consistent, approachable authentic Leader People have to know how to act around you. You have to set up an avenue where they are comfortable enough to approach you, and be able to communicate the good and bad. • A scary leader discourages people from sharing bad results, leaving you in the dark. Open dialogue keeps you more knowledgeable. • If you push your ideas too far, you could be pushing ideas from a generation too late. Get them to challenge you. • Inconsistent behavior by a leader does not “keep them on their toes”. It inhibits creativity and creates tension. Be consistent in how you think, how you act in meetings and how you approve. • Leadership assumes “follower-ship”. Creating a good atmosphere on the team will make people want to go the extra mile for you. • Knowledge makes you a great leader, and it starts with listening. You’ll be surprised how honest they’ll be, how much they’ll tell you. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 5. Run the process and system • While your people run the brands and the execution, you should run the P&L and essentially run all the marketing processes. You have to run the P&L and make investment choices. Bring an ROI and ROE (Return on Investment and Effort) mind set to those decisions. These choices will be one of the essentials to making the numbers and gaining more freedom in how you do the job. • In terms of process, it’s always been my belief that great processes in place— brand planning, advertising, creative briefs—is not restrictive but rather provides the right freedom to your people. Get your people to drive all their creative energy into great work that gets in the marketplace, not trying to figure out what slide looks really cool in the brand plan presentation. How to unleash success at the VP/CMO level
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. The VP role can be a rather lonely job. • I remember when I first took the job as VP, I found it surprisingly a bit lonely. Everyone in marketing tries to be “on” whenever you are around. And you don’t always experience the “real” side of the people on your team. That’s ok. Just be ready for it. • The distance from your new peers (the head of sales, HR, operations or finance) is far greater than you’re used to. And it might feel daunting at first. Your peers expect you to run marketing and let them run their own functional area. And the specific problems you face, they might not appreciate or even understand the subtleties of the role. • Your boss also gives you a lot of rope (good and bad) and there’s usually less coaching than you might be used to. It’s important for you to have a good mentor or even an executive coach to give you someone to talk with that understands what you’re going through.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. CMO’s need smarter people to produce better work and drive stronger results. Never do it alone. The CMO’s who puts more into people development gets more loyalty and better business results.
4 We look at the needs of employees and then build the rational and emotional benefits to find you a unique position. Then build a big idea and create a personal brand plan. Building your personal brand, around an idea and a plan
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. What Employers want What your Peer group does best What are you great at Winning zone: Your clear difference matters to employers Losing zone: Your peers are better than you Risky zone: Equally meet employer needs. You win through proven experience or your ideals/values are a fit. Dumb zone: Competitive battle where no one cares Find what makes you unique You have to be better or different or you won’t get the job.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Employer insights What do employers want? Your key features What does your brand do? Rational benefits What do consumers get? Emotional benefits How does that make them feel? Define employer needs Define target, need states, enemies and insights. Rational benefits Match your experience up against needs of hiring manager, and in their voice answer “so, what do I get?”. Use a Consumer Benefits Ladder to ensure you talk in what the employer gets from you Product features What is your key strength, your experience, your skills your leadership style? What past experience fits roles? 1 3 2 Emotional benefits Look at rational benefit, asking, in the hiring manager’s voice “so how does that make me feel?” 4
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. I like to share knowledge I make others optimistic I like to be in control I make others comfortable I like to be to be myself I am easily liked I want to feel free I like being noticed Leader How does your authentic emotional leadership zone drive your future career going beyond Brand Management? Use this to steer you to where you should be in your career or how you want to emotionally position yourself as a potential leader, either on resumes or interviews. Strategy Consulting Adjunct Professor  Training & Development Turnarounds  General Management Private Equity Mgmt. Consultant People Leader Subject Expert Client Service Personal Coaching Operations Entrepreneur Work for yourself Innovation Brainstorm Public Speaking Teaching Facilitation Personal Coaching People Leader Turnaround Leader Facilitation Sales Mgmt. General Mgmt.
How to answer “so tell me about yourself” in 7 seconds. What is your 7-second brand?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Here is our simple model for how to build your 7-second personal brand pitch. 7 second brand How you define yourself, what primary benefit you provide what secondary benefit you provide the expected result
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • I have a tremendous passion for everything Marketing. Experience in food, CPG, healthcare, moving up from Assistant Brand Manager up to VP Marketing. As a brand leader with vast experience in CPG marketingStrong at Advertising, Innovation and brand planning. Proven track record of 20 years of driving growth while moving up to VP marketing. 7 second brand • I have worked on turnarounds, always put on the most challenging assignments. I find growth where others couldn’t. Known as turnaround expert, having led turnaround plans, led global launch, created marketing program from scratch: positioning, advertising, package design, in-store program. 1. How you define yourself 2. What primary benefit you provide your employer/customer? 4. What is the expected result you deliver? 3. What secondary benefit you provide your employer/customer? • Led team into and through merger between J&J and Pfizer, with no departures. I create motivated brand teams. Created a training program for the team on the fundamentals of marketing with a 100-page book. Hands on coach, who gives honest feedback and uses teaching moments to make the team better. • Sales results always come first for me. Always proud in deliver great work to drive results. Led marketing team at J&J share gains on 9 of 12 brands, sales growth on all 12. Developed new brand vision that guided the brand to double digit annual growth for a decade. Start by brainstorming ideas for each section. Then narrow down the list to what is most important ELEMENT for each section. The 4 questions to build your 7-second brand pitch
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. As a brand leader, I find growth where others couldn’t, I create motivated brand team that delivers great work to drive results. 7 second brand The 4 questions to build your 7-second brand pitch As a brand leader, I find growth where others couldn’t and I create motivated brand teams that deliver great work to drive results. how you define yourself primary benefit you provide secondary benefit you provide expected result
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. As a brand leader, I find growth where others couldn’t, I create motivated brand team that delivers great work to drive results. Led global launch of Listerine Pocketpaks with Canada as lead market. Created marketing program from scratch: positioning, advertising, package design, in-store program. Known as turnaround expert, having led turnaround plans on Zyrtec, Nicoderm & Purell. History of success in finding high performance advertising that drives growth. Led marketing team at J&J share gains on 9 of 12 brands, sales growth on all 12. Proven track record of 20 years of driving growth while moving up to VP marketing. Hands on coach, who gives honest feedback and uses teaching moments to make the team better. Led team into and through merger between J&J and Pfizer, with no departures of key team members. Reputation for making my team better, with a motivating & challenging style that gets the best from people. Created a training program for the team on the fundamentals of marketing with a 100 page book Developed new Listerine brand vision that guided the brand to double digit annual growth for a decade. Expanding your 7-second pitch to create your 30-minute brand pitch30 minute brand Take 8-10 of your best career stories and build out your 30 minute brand pitch
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. 7 second brand Here’s how your next personal brand pitch should go As a brand leader, I find growth where others couldn’t and I create motivated brand teams that deliver great work to drive results. Ideal for your next job interview or sales pitch Tell me about yourself Tell me a time when you… Led global launch of Listerine Pocketpaks as lead market. Created marketing program from scratch. Known as turnaround expert, having led turnaround plans on Zyrtec, Nicoderm & Purell. History of success in finding high performance advertising that drives growth. Led marketing team at J&J share gains on 9 of 12 brands, sales growth on all 12. Proven track record of 20 years of driving growth while moving up to VP marketing. Hands on coach, who gives honest feedback and uses teaching moments to make the team better. Led team into and through merger between J&J and Pfizer, with no departures of key team members. Reputation for making my team better, with a motivating & challenging style that gets the best from people. Created a training program for the team on the fundamentals of marketing with a 100 page book 30 minute brand I hope I have shown you the many ways that as a brand leader, I find growth where others couldn’t and I create motivated brand teams that deliver great work to drive results. Anything to add… Developed new Listerine brand vision that guided the brand to double digit annual growth for a decade. 7 second brand
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Build a Brand Plan that focuses your efforts in the market place
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Purpose Mapping out your own Personal Brand Plan Vision Values Goals What do you want your brand to be in the next 5-10 years? Think of the next 5-10 years. Where do you want to be? What would you like to accomplish? Think of big goals, far beyond the year at hand. While you may be focused on the current year, bigger thinking and helps frame why you’re doing what you are doing. Why do you do what you do? Why do you get up in the morning? Why did you choose this profession? Why did you get into this business or career? I find you have to keep asking this question because every time you ask it again, it becomes even richer and deeper. The first few answers are usually just on the surface and no one will connect with that. Go deeper. What do you believe in? These are quotes that help project your opinion into your Personal Brand. At a senior level, usually the connection is made with people who share the same values. You need to find your values so you can project them to the market. Do you have a theory or belief that you want to blow out and have everything link to. What do you need to achieve? Linked to your vision for the next 5-10 years, do you have a financial goal, lifestyle, industry, role, location, job level, risk profile, retirement age, bucket list of things you want to accomplish?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Strategy Key Issues Tactics Mapping out your own Personal Brand Plan What is getting the way from achieving your vision/goals? Assessing your situation will help identify potential gaps in your career, potential type-casting of your experience, what is your family situation and any factor in the way of where do you want to go next? How can we get there? The how part of your career transition starts how you position yourself in the market, your networking options (headhunter, past employers/peers, associations) and the focused choices you see for your next role (e.g. GM or VP marketing). Like a Brand, make these hard choices before going to the market, so you go in with a focus. What do we need to do to execute the strategy? • Resume • Networking list • Linked In • Social media, • Project work. • Build a routine to look for a job
Worksheet Summary for writing of a Personal Brand Plan At Beloved Brands, believe we want to get brand leaders to think different believing that the thinking that got them here, might not be enough to get them to where they want to go next. Beloved Brands wants to be the voice of the modern brand leader, challenging every everyone to push themselves to make great work that connects with consumers and reach their full potential. • Consumer first • Think Different • Passion matters Continue 10% sales growth for 2015., Add 5 new client in 2015, Grow business in Europe and Asia by 2015. Launch 1 new e-book per year in 2017 and video boot camp for 2018. Lead key clients with Brand Coaching Grow our Executive Coaching program Building the Training Programs Leverage new technologies • New verticals • Geographic Expansion • Build in CPG • Advertising Coaching • 1 on 1 tools for VPs • Entrepreneurial program • Career Coaching • Launch two e-books • Create new video series • Skype coaching • How do we continue building the brand coaching business in North America? • How do we build one-on-one executive coaching business? • How do we reach new marketing teams for learning and development opportunities? • How do leverage new tools (e-books, video, Skype) to broaden reach? Using Beloved Brands as an Example • Corporate Training • Boot Camp Training • Retreats • Key Note speaker Purpose Strategy Vision Values Goals Key Issues Tactics • Results driven • Leave client to ready to execute We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter.
Promise Brand Story Innovation Purchase Moment Experience Big Idea Positioning Advertising and Communication Product Development Selling and Retail Organization and Culture Consumer Brand We make brands stronger and brand leaders smarter Align everything around your Big Idea We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Brand Leaders We will unleash the full potential or your brand and your team of brand leaders. Find your right answer and leave you with a big idea, plan, concept and creative brief. We are always bringing new ways of looking at brand problems to help find the growth We offer unique tools & formats to trigger new thinking that unlocks the business problem Focus on brand leaders who are feeling stuck and can’t find the path to growth.
Promise: We will unleash the full potential or your brand and team of brand leaders. Experience: Find your right answer and leave you with a big idea, plan, concept and creative brief. Story: We are always bringing new ways of looking at brand problems to help find the growth Innovation: We offer unique tools & formats to trigger new thinking that unlocks the business problem Strategy: Focus brand leaders who are feeling stuck and can’t find the path to growth. Purpose: At Beloved Brands, believe we want to get brand leaders to think different believing that the thinking that got them here, might not be enough to get them to where they want to go next. Brand Vision: Beloved Brands wants to be the voice of the modern brand leader, challenging every everyone to push themselves to make great work that connects with consumers and reach their full potential. Personal Brand Road Map Values: Consumer first, think different, passion matters, results driven, leave client ready to execute Goals: Continue 10% sales growth, add 5 new client, grow business in Europe and Asia, launch 1 new e-book The Big Idea: We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter Lead key clients with Brand Coaching Grow our Executive Coaching program Partner of choice for Training Programs Leverage new technologies Strategies: Tactics: • New verticals • Geographic Expansion • Build in CPG • Advertising Coaching • 1 on 1 tools for VPs • Entrepreneurial program • Career Coaching • Launch two e-books • Create new video series • Skype coaching • Corporate Training • Boot Camp Training • Retreats • Key Note speaker We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. • How do you tell your experience in a way that makes you seem like you fit with your target? Remember how you put yourself in their shoes to project what you do, now keep doing that as you tell your story. • If you can create a “reputation” what do you think it would be, and how does that tie into your story. You can’t really dispute someone’s projected reputation, it becomes part of the story you might tell about yourself. Frame your experience as a ‘reputation’ implies even more powerful for a senior leader.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Get key influencers to provide you with a recommendation of support of you. Make sure they are real, and even push them to match up the story you wish to tell. Use the views of others to help tell your story
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Map out your Values/Views and projecting those into the marketplace to find a match “The most Beloved Brands are either different, better or cheaper. Or else, not around for very long.” “A Beloved Brand uses the love that consumers have for the brand to replicate the positional power of a Monopoly: higher growth and profits.” “If you don’t love the work you do, how do you expect your consumer to love your brand?” Leaders have opinions: Lead with your view to connect • Having 3 views mapped out makes you more powerful in the interview process. Layer these views/values into your resume. • Project them into the market through social media—blog, twitter, Linked In. You can join up to 50 groups in Linked In where you can comment, be noticed and connect with people who share the same views or values.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Every executive should have a well-crafted Bio for themselves, that outlines your big idea for you as a Brand, tells the story of who you are, what you believe in, where you came from and how you can help whoever is reading this bio. Take everything into a personal bio for yourself
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Take your experience to a Resume Building the resume starts with your brand idea, layers in the experience to fit that idea, and keeps everything simple, results oriented and clean. Only put in information that the reader wants to hear, not what you want to say. There may be projects you are proud of that no one else cares about.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Use a timeline to add flavor to your resume
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Create a laminated ‘Brand Placemat’ to showcase your personal brand front back
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Social Networking means on line and in Person • Using social media will make you seem more modern as a Brand Leader. Pick the social media options that best tell your story. Stay focused because social media can exhaust you. Do you have a blog? You have to at least write weekly. What is your lead social media vehicle and support option? Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or even emailing. • Watch how you use twitter? Keep your twitter feed at least 90% business to stay consistently focused. And only 10% fun: avoid 38 Football tweets on a Sunday. Avoid any of the political discussions. The world is too divided. • Network has to be very personal and authentic way. Most people are bad at networking, bad at staying in touch. It’s OK that you’re bad at it, and it’s OK that you’re using networking to search for a job. Get past the hesitation or guilt and just do it. This creates a huge opportunity for you to do it better than everyone else. If you can be the one that links friends, that gives you more power. How to Tell Your Story?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Make It Personal and Real • Be the social connector in your group that links people together. Add personal touches, whether that means coffee, personalized notes or coffees. With the digital world we live in, we still have needs for serotonin. A 15-minute catch up does wonders for people. A personalized note just feels good. • What’s your communication package look like? Think of it like a leave behind: what story would you leave behind. Yes, the resume is obvious, but what else would you leave behind. Create one. • If you’re looking to get into marketing, do up a brand plan for a charity and leave it behind at an interview. Do up your business card, a brochure. Vista print is so cheap these days. Moo.com offers even more innovative options. How to Tell Your Story?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Once you frame what your personal brand is all about, you might notice that you start to show up differently even in the simplest of conversations. You now have to live up to your big idea
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Passion matters: If you don’t love what you do, how do you expect your consumers to love your brand?
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Brand Management Training Program We help Brand Leaders reach their full potential
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. You should invest in training your people. Better people pays off when you see smarter brand strategies, amazing marketing execution and stronger brand results.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. We will build a Brand Training Program to unleash the full potential of your Marketing team. Strategic Thinking Brand Positioning Brand Plans Creative Briefs Brand Analytics and the Business Review Marketing Execution Creating a Beloved Brand Consumer Centricity Managing your Marketing Career 1 2 6 4 5 3 7 8 9 Menu of training programs
Strategic Thinking is an essential foundation for Brand Leaders, so they ask big questions that challenge and focus their decisions. • We teach Brand Leaders how to think strategically, to ask the right questions before reaching for solutions, mapping out a range of decision trees that intersect and connect by imagining how events will play out. • We take Brand Leaders through the 8 elements of good strategy: vision, opportunity, focus, speed, early win, leverage and gateway. We introduce a forced choice to help Marketers make focused decisions. • We teach the value of asking good questions, using five interruptive questions to help frame your brand’s strategy. This helps to look at the brand’s core strength, consumer involvement, competitive position, the brand’s connectivity with the consumers and the internal situation the brand faces. • We show how to build strategic statements to set up a smart strategic brand plan. Training Workshop 1 Strategic Thinking
Training Workshop 2 Brand Positioning A winning brand positioning statement sets up the brand’s external communication and internally with employees who deliver that promise. • We show how to write a classic Brand Positioning statement with four key elements: target market, competitive set, main benefit and reason to believe (RTBs). • We introduce the Consumer Benefit ladder, that starts with the consumer target, with insights and enemies. We layer in the brand features. Then, get in the consumers shoes and ask “what do i get” to find the functional benefits and ask “how does this make me feel” to find the emotional benefits. • We introduce a unique tool that provide the top 50 potential functional and top 40 emotional benefits to help Marketers stretch their minds yet narrow in on those that are most motivating and own-able for the brand. • We then show how to build an Organizing Big Idea that leads every aspect of your brand, including promise, story, innovation, purchase moment and experience.
A good Brand Plan helps make decisions to deploy the resources and provides a road map for everyone who works on the brand • We demonstrate how to write each component of the Brand Plan, looking at brand vision, purpose, values, goals, key Issues, strategies and tactics. We provide definitions and examples to inspire Marketers on how to write each component. We provide a full mock brand plan, with a framework for you to use on your own brand. • We offer a workshop that allows Marketers to try out the concept on their own brand with hands on coaching with feedback to challenge them. At each step, we provide the ideal format presentation to management. We offer unique formats for a Plan on a Page and long-range Strategic Road Maps. • We show how to build Marketing Execution plans as part of the overall brand plan, looking at a Brand Communications Plan, Innovation Plan, In-store plan and Experiential plan. This gives the strategic direction to everyone in the organization. Training Workshop 3 Brand Plans
Training Workshop 4 Creative Briefs The Creative Brief frames the strategy and positioning so your Agency can creatively express the brand promise through communication. • Marketing Execution must impact the brand’s consumers in a way that puts your brand in a stronger business position. The Creative Brief is the bridge between the brand strategy and the execution. • Through our Brand Positioning workshop, you will have all the homework on the brand needed to set up the transformation into a succinct 1-page Creative Brief that will focus, inspire and challenge a creative team to make great work. • The hands-on Creative Brief workshop explores best in class methods for writing the brief’s objective, target market, consumer insights, main message stimulus and the desired consumer response. • Brand Leaders walk away from the session with a ready-to-execute Creative Brief.
Training Workshop 5 Brand Analytics We show how to build a deep-dive business review on the brand, looking at the category, consumers, competitors, channels and brand. • We start with the smart analytical principles that will challenge your thinking and help you gain more support by telling analytical stories through data. • We teach you the steps to complete a deep-dive Business Review that will help assess the health and wealth of the brand, looking at the category, consumer, competitors, channels and brand. We show key formulas you need to know for financial analysis. • We teach how to turn your analysis into a presentation for management, showing the ideal presentation slide format. We provide a full mock business review, with a framework and examples of every type of analysis, for you to use on your own brand. • We show you how to turn your analytical thinking into making projections by extrapolating data into the future.
Training Workshop 6 Marketing Execution We show Brand Leaders how to judge and decide on execution options that break through to consumers and motivates them to take action. • We provide Brand Leaders with tools and techniques for judging communication concepts from your agencies, as well as processes for making decisions and providing effective feedback. We talk about the crucial role of the brand leader in getting amazing marketing execution for your brand. • We teach how to make marketing decisions with the ABC’S, so you can choose great ads and reject bad ads looking at tools such as Attention (A), Branding (B), Communication (C) and Stickiness (S) • We teach how to provide copy direction that inspires and challenges the agency to deliver great execution. We also talk about how to be a better client so you can motivate and inspire your agency.
Training Workshop 7 Generating Brand Love Why does Brand Love Matter? We believe the more loved a brand is by your consumers, the more powerful and profitable that brand will be. • We challenge Brand Leaders to find brand love through the by creating a Big Idea to rally around, strategically focusing all their resources and instilling passion in the work to exceed the consumer’s expectations: 1. Build an organizing Big Idea that connects consumers at every touchpoint, tightening the bond, reflecting the inner Brand Soul and desired external reputation. 2. Need strategic focus in deploying the brand’s limited resources to breakthrough points, moving consumers along the brand love curve to enable your brand vision. 3. Put all your passion into the execution creates breakthrough ideas that surprise and exceed consumer expectations, becoming a favorite brand of the consumers.
Training Workshop 8 Consumer Connectivity Marketers have to find the most motivated consumer who wants to buy what you do. You have to matter the most to those who care the most. • We challenge you to listen to your consumers, get in their shoes to understand their mindset and speak in their voice as you represent them to your brand. Instead of asking which consumers you want, ask which consumers want you. • We build a consumer profile that looks at segmentation, need states, pain points, consumer insights and desired consumer response. We outline the difference between “selling” and “marketing” target. To ensure Marketers focus on those consumers who provide the full impact of your effort. • We go into depth on the 360 degree gathering of consumer insights. We teach that insights should start with “I” to get you into the consumer’s shoes and then use quotes to ensure you are using their voice.
Training Workshop 9 Marketing Careers Workshop for Brand Leaders to help explore your strengths in marketing and how that can shape what you do next. • We lay out the skills, experiences and behaviors that you should be trying to build upon. We go through the four levels of the Marketing Career, looking at Assistant Brand Manager, Brand Manager, Marketing Director and the VP level. • We go through the 4 potential career streams, building around your personal strength: strategy, people leadership, creativity or business management. • We provide a full evaluation and line those up to creating your personal brand. We go through each level of the marketing function. • We show how to build your own personal Brand, so that you can reach your full potential.
Brand Boot Camp We have created two separate 3-day training programs for brand leaders. Strategy Boot Camp Training sessions include strategic thinking, brand analytics, writing brand plans and brand positioning statements Execution Boot Camp Training sessions include brand positioning & concepts, writing creative briefs, judging marketing execution and media planning
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. We lead a 360 assessment of your business, looking at the marketplace, consumers, channels, competitors and the brand. We help you define your brand, with a simple, unique, inspiring, motivating and own-able Brand Positioning Statement. We will create a Big Idea that will transform your brand’s soul into a winning brand reputation. We help you build a strategic Brand Plan that everyone who works on the brand can follow We coach on Marketing execution, helping to tighten the bond with your consumers and drive brand growth We will build a Brand Management training program, to unleash the full potential of your Marketing team. 1 2 3 4 5 6 TM
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Gyongyver Menesi-Bondar Head of Marketing Strategy Shell Asia Pacific “Beloved Brands has helped us to accelerate our journey towards building emotional connection with our customers. The journey of transformation from a traditional tactical driven marketing approach to a Brand and Experience Driven marketing approach is enormous and requires changes at all levels of the organization. Graham has been instrumental to enable the change, building long lasting marketing competencies of our teams. He spent time with our diverse Asia teams he has been one of us, understanding our business, our challenges, and able to quickly connect with relevant examples and stories.” Our clients speak out on our behalf Zhelyaz Koliovski Marketing Director Vinprom Pashtera, Bulgaria “The most efficient investment was having Graham’s train my team. He managed to translate the “heavy marketing” slang into down- to-earth brand management frameworks that are practical and easy for everyone to understand. Beloved brands covers it all including analytics, key issues, strategy and brand activation. Every word will make you a better brand leader.”
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Feyi Olubodun VP Planning, Grey Advertising, Nigeria “Beloved Brands’ knowledge base is vast and practical. They helped me upgrade my strategy team significantly, from strategic thinking to creative briefs to overall brand management.” Lana Jensen Marketing Manager 3M Canada “Graham provided expert advice and reliable suggestions during coaching sessions to build brand performance with my team. His knowledgable experience was extremely valuable.” Our clients speak out on our behalf Doug Rozon Director of Marketing Henkel Sun Products “Beloved Brands created and delivered a custom training program to meet the developmental requirements of a diverse team of Marketers. Graham puts the training in context of their own businesses, resulting in real-time application of the training modules. His philosophies push strategic thinking and get people to see the “what if” questions before jumping to solutions. Graham challenges you to think different making each Marketer better.”
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Canada Ghana Nigeria Barbados United Arab Emirates China Germany Thailand USA Philippines SingaporeIndonesia Bulgaria Malaysia Oman Australia New Zealand Pakistan The markets we have served
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Graham spent 20 years in Brand Management leading some of the world’s most beloved brands at Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, General Mills and Coke, rising up to VP Marketing. In his career, he has won numerous Advertising and Innovation awards. Graham played a major role in helping Pfizer win Marketing Magazine’s “Marketer of the Year” award. Graham started Beloved Brands believing he could make brands stronger and brand leaders smarter. Graham will challenge you and your team to think differently and strategically. He leads workshops that will help define your Brand Positioning Statement, create a Big Idea for your brand, and write Brand Plans to motivate and focus everyone that works on the brand. He will build Brand Management training programs that will help unleash the full potential of your team, so your team can produce exceptionally smart work that drives stronger brand results. The Beloved Brands robust client roster has included the NFL Players Association, Reebok, Acura, Shell, Jack Link’s, 3M, Melitta, Capital One and Pfizer. Graham Robertson at Beloved Brands One of the voices of today’s Brand Leaders.
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Graham Robertson at Beloved Brands Significant career experience in Brand Management Education • MBA, Ivey School of Business, Western University, 1994 • Bachelor of Commerce, Carleton University, 1989 Work History • President, 2009- Present • VP Marketing, 2005-08 • Group Brand Director, 1999-2005 • Senior Brand Manager, 1997-99 • Associate Brand Manager, 1994-96 • Coca-Cola, Summer Marketing Intern, 1993 • Marketing Training Program, 1989-92
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. We are guided by our beliefs At Beloved Brands, we promise to make your brand stronger and your brand leaders smarter. We believe big ideas, focus and passion matter, because the more loved a brand is by consumers, the more powerful and profitable that brand will be. We will challenge you to think different, because the thinking that got here may not get you to the next level. Our Credo • Driving more Brand Love will lead to more power and profit for your brand. • Smarter Brand Leaders will lead to smarter decisions and stronger brands. • Consumer have changed dramatically, impacting what it takes for brands to win. You need to change with them.
Investing in your people pays off with smarter strategies, amazing execution and stronger brand results We will unleash the full potential of your people so you will see a direct impact on your brand’s growth trajectory. We will train your team on the fundamentals of brand management • Address gap on brand analytics and strategic thinking, to ensure you end up with smarter Brand Plans and Creative Briefs. • Improve judgment and decision-making to ensure your Marketing execution pays back. • We can see first hand the impact that training has on your team’s skills, motivations and behaviors. • Our workshop style training provides an immediate impact on their day-to-day jobs.
Beloved Brands Graham Robertson The voice of today’s Brand Leader The playbook for how to be a smart, disciplined and passionate Brand Leader in today’s cluttered world. New book coming soon Beloved Brands The playbook for finding brand love in today’s cluttered world. Graham Robertson The voice of today’s Brand Leader We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Define the Brand Think Strategically Big Idea The branding approach that gets you to think, define, plan, inspire and analyze. Vision Analysis Key Issues Strategies Execution • Advertising • In-Store • Innovation • Consumers • Category • Channels • Competitors • Brand Values, Goals • Experience Brand Plan Create Brand Plans Inspire creative execution Analyze performance Sm art Creative Ideas
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Do you want to get smarter about Marketing? Visit beloved-brands.com Over 5 million views from Marketers getting smarter
We make brands stronger. We make brand leaders smarter. Ask us to design a training program for your team. We would love the opportunity to help you unleash the full potential of your team of brand leaders. Graham Robertson • 416 885 3911 • graham@beloved-brands.com

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