What are the daily duties of a Brand Manager? How does it differ from a Product Manager or Marketing Manager?
Asked by stanzi
I am currently a marketing manager trying to figure out the next step in my career. I have had a lot of experience in marketing communications type activities: creating collateral, press releases, managing trade shows, and promotions. I am wondering what experience I may lack on the quantitative side: managing P&L, managing product lifecycle, product mix, etc. If I am more interested in the creative side of marketing, should I stay in MarCom? Or do Brand Managers deal with both? Is there less growth potential in MarCom - job ads make it seem like an entry level profession making only around $35K.

Best Answer:
I am also a marketing student and from what I have gathered a brand manager is pretty similar to a product manager. They are in charge of essentially all marketing aspects of a specific product. The marketing manager seems to have broader job responsibilities such as management of marketing specialists and research analysts to accomplish general marketing objectives set by upper management like the Vice President of Marketing. It seems that product managers are generally required to have MBA degrees. Does your school have an alumni program? If so it can probably hook you up with willing professionals in your field who can answer your questions and provide you guidance in your career. I would suggest to follow your passion! You will excell if you pursue what you are really interested in and it will be much easier to break the bank!

It sounds like you are at the fork in the road of your career. Have you ever thought of starting your own business? You can then decide what you will do and when you will do it. Contact me if this interests you at all: debtbegone@rock.com
Answered by No Debt