2. THE ROLE OF A PRODUCT MANAGER Product Manager? Brand Manager? Product Marketing Manager? Life Cycle Manager? Sales Support? Product Definition? Pricing? Promotion? Channels?
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4. Areas of Job Involvement Support Market Research Product Development Market Testing Product Information Co-ordinator Marketing planning Product Development Product Improvement Pricing / Discounts Sales Support Presentations Sales / Profit Targets Product Quality Customer Satisfaction Technical Support Forecasting Providing Reports Product Champion Setting Objectives Strategy Development Marketing Planning Product Development Product Improvement Investment Decisions Pricing Policy Promotional Planning Distribution Decisions Monitoring / Control Departmental Liaison Providing Reports Attending Meetings Mini-MD
5. Authority V’s Responsibility Authority Responsibility Vertical Dimension Horizontal Dimension Decision Making Control Autonomy Power
7. Product Management Interfaces Technical Functions Product Manager Corporate / General Management Operational Management Outside Agencies Customer / Channels Own Manager / Department Administration External Bodies Sales
8. Understanding customers, the marketplace and its opportunities Deciding on target markets Promotion selling Product policy Pricing Place Customer satisfaction audits Market monitoring and research Developing The Marketing Mix Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
14. Managing Marketing Projects Clarifying the Brief and Setting Project Objectives The problem Key issues Key success factors The objectives
15. Collect Information Research Markets Customers Stakeholders Organisation Prior Initiatives Industry Experts Current Performance Systems and Processes
20. Writing and Controlling the Project Plan Identification of critical activities Timing of critical activities Setting Performance Measures Budget setting Contingency Planning
21. Identification of Critical Activities Short term Medium term Long term Identify Key Stages Identify Key Linkages Prioritise and sequence
22. Action Plan Goals Time to Budget Start Finish Critical Complete £ Date Date Activities Key Roles / Responsibilities Critical items / events which could disrupt plan
26. Contingency Planning Everything that can be conceived of as possible can be prepared for. Contingency plans should be in place and updated regularly. Do not be caught unprepared.
28. First we must clearly specify our objectives via co-ordinated efforts. Second, the action plan must focus on resources and opportunities not available through individual divisional approaches. what can we accomplish more effectively together, rather than separately? I’m busy, and not a big believer in teamwork for its own sake; so I think its important that synergy possibilities be spelled out and not assumed Teamwork
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33. Negotiating Skills Negotiation is an interactive process in which parties trade and barter positions, ideas and interpretations, rework these positions, ideas and interpretations until agreement is reached. The challenge is to find a way of accommodating the various parties present and emerging with some kind of agreement about the best way of proceeding and moving the process forward.
34. Setting the scene Opening negotiations Agreeing Confirming Following up Negotiation Negotiation Exploration Creative solutions Framing the deal Bidding Bargaining
35. Contracting Contracts A legally binding agreement between two or more parties that specifies: Terms and conditions Performance specification Product / service specifications Price Clauses
38. Different leadership styles can all be effective, although at different times and with different groups of people. The best managers are those that do not use just one style all the time, but who recognise that during some situations they will have to exercise autocratic leadership, while during other circumstances they will be most effective by leaving people to work out their own goals and methods of operation. Leadership Styles
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40. Motivation The total propensity or level of desire of an individual to behave in a certain manner at a certain time. This motivation has to be directed towards a specific goal. People tend to be more motivated in activities / relationships that offer the greatest perceived personal reward (or fewest penalties)
41. Motivation Content Theories Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Herzeberg’s “Two Factor” Motivation Theory Process Theories Handy’s Motivation Calculus Vroom’s Expectancy Theory Individuals motivated by a “package of needs” Examine ways in which certain outcomes of events become attractive to people. Individuals choose own goals
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44. Creativity Lateral thinking Seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or apparently illogical methods Generating ideas (Brainstorming) Free your mind from cluttered existing reality Thinking Give yourself time to think
48. Why The Balanced Scorecard? Most organisations operational and management control systems are built around financial measurements and targets which bear little relation to the organisations progress in achieving long-term strategic objectives.
49. Emphasis on short-term financial measures leaves a gap between the development of a strategy and its relevance to the true drivers of successful future performance: Value creation activities!
50. The Balanced Scorecard Scorecard users select measurers of progress from all four scorecard perspectives and set targets for each of them.
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54. What Drives Business Performance ? Competitive Position Market characteristics Value added Structure ROI Share Relative share Differentiation Customer coverage Relative quality Concentration Innovation Customer power Logistical complexity Growth Investment Intensity Productivity Vertical Integration Capacity Utilisation Best practice Lean organisation Participative culture Incentives / training Personnel policies
55. Relative Perceived Quality Relative Market Share Gain Relative Cost Relative Price Profit Result Some PIMS Linkages
Editor's Notes
Some organisations believe the product is so important that a specific marketing function is needed for it – product or brand management. The concept originated in FMCG companies (Procter and Gamble in fact). It then became common in industrial or business-to-business (tangible goods) marketing and is now being adopted more widely in service industries. As this illustrates one of the problems for product managers is defining their role, they have so many hats to choose from.
This list of product management tasks is common to consumer and industrial product managers, though the balance of time is spent differently. FMCG managers are more focused on communications (internal discussions, working with communications agencies) and spend less time with customers. Industrial product managers spend more time on product development and with key buyers. They also tend to manage more products.
The type of role product managers perform and the level of responsibility they have often develops through a number of stages. Initially product managers may just be seen as supporters of other functions, typically sales. Then they progress to co-ordinating functions within the company, liasing between manufacturing, R&D, sales, service and finance, for instance. Then they get a bit more recognition within the company. They are acknowledged champions for their products and are more likely to be consulted before major decisions are taken. However they still do not have direct control over resources needed to develop their products. This comes in the mini-MD phase where the product manager typically has a team of people and budgetary control over R&D and marketing communications for instance.
Depending on their exact role, product managers are responsible for developing and implementing the marketing mix for their products. They might work with other marketing professionals who specialise in specific disciplines such as marketing research, marketing communications or channel/distribution management.
