What's up brand builders Stephen Houraghan here BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this
video you're going to learn how to become a brand manager so you can gather the know-how
skills and experience that you need to manage a brand from inception to success
now if you're new to the channel and you want to build brands that go beyond the visuals and
the logo using strategy psychology and creative thinking and you're in the right place hit that
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the term brand manager is pretty synonymous with big business and big brands when you hear the term
brand manager you tend to think of the likes of apple or Airbnb or brands that have unlimited
resources but if you subscribe to the idea that every business is a brand then the reality is
that every business needs a brand manager so what is a brand manager and what do they do well i
previously created a video on what brand managers do if you want to check that out I'll leave a link
in the description below but ultimately the brand manager is probably the broadest role in the whole
spectrum of branding and marketing because they are responsible for absolutely everything within
the brand the book stops with the brand manager so they are responsible for everything from design to
UX to messaging and copywriting advertising everything that the brand does everything
that the brand communicates falls within the wheelhouse of the brand manager so if something
goes wrong with the brand it's the responsibility of the brand manager likewise if something goes
right with the brand it's on the brand manager for that as well so it's an all-encompassing role
and it spans many disciplines so what skills does a brand manager need well I mentioned earlier that
the brand manager is responsible for absolutely everything but that doesn't mean that the brand
manager needs to execute absolutely everything the brand manager doesn't necessarily need to be
designing visual assets or developing the UX of the website but they do need some very specific
skill sets and I'm going to run through a few of those right now first up is advanced communication
now I can't stress enough how important advanced communication is for the brand manager everything
that the brand manager does is about a high level of communication they need to go out and express
the brand to the market so advanced communication from the perspective of the customer is an
absolute must that external communication but it's not just about the external communication it's
also about the internal communication depending on the size of the business the brand manager might
have a lot of people underneath them helping to manage the brand helping to develop that brand
and their communication needs to be spot on to make sure that they're guiding each and every
department in the right direction brand managers also need to be outside the box thinkers so they
need to be able to analyze the market and make critical decisions about where to take the brand
successful brand managers don't get to where they are because their followers they get where they
are because they're outside the box thinkers so they need to be able to understand the objectives
that lie in front of them the challenges that stand in their way and to think outside the box to
get the brand from a to b and that encompasses everything from concept to design to marketing
communication and campaigns brand managers should also have a savvy knack for market analysis so
being able to not just understand what's going on the market from the data both qualitative
and quantitative but be able to read between the lines and gather insights and be able to determine
what's going on in the market what's happening in the market and what trends are underfoot
what trends are simmering beneath the market and what that could lead to in the future so they can
make those critical decisions for the brand and adaptability and flexibility now markets are not
static they're forever moving and what a customer wants today isn't necessarily what they're going
to want tomorrow markets are changing not just got to do with technology but also the behaviors
of consumers as well and if a brand manager is too rigid if they're too stuck in their ways
or they are too opinionated and invested in their own ideas then that's going to cause problems for
them down the line because they are not the market they don't necessarily know what's going to happen
within the market they need to have that element of adaptability and flexibility
to be able to listen to what the customer is saying listen to what the customer is telling them
and then to pivot the brand to be able to give the customer more of what they want so now you have an
idea of the skill sets and requirements for a brand manager let's take a look at what steps
you can take to become a brand manager step number one acquire the relevant skills now there are many
roads today that lead into brand management but traditionally there really was only one route
and that was an mba and marketing experience in marketing and then to climb the ladder up
to that brand management position but today as I said there are many roads that lead into that
management position that brand management position anything from design to copywriting to social
media management and marketing the more effort you put into acquiring the skills that you need for
your discipline and also the understanding and relation to what you do versus everything else
within the brand the better place you will be to understand your role within the brand step number
two acquire the relevant experience so academics are great it's really important that you have
the know-how and you have that understanding and you have those academics behind you but
know how an academics will only get you so far and there comes a time when you have to start
putting that knowledge into action you have to start applying that knowledge and gathering that
experience now traditionally what you would do is you would go into an agency or an in-house
role as a junior and try and work your way up and that's still a really viable option to get into an
agency where they deal with brands every single day let it be known where your interests lie and
you know what direction you want to head same with an in-house role get in there and show
your passion for what you want to do and where you want to go but you can also look to smaller
businesses as well go in and help small business owners with their brand and how they operate
or look for a mentor who builds brands who can bring you into their world and allow you to apply
your understanding and your know-how to building brands every single day and step number three
acquire the thirst for success so when you have that foundational experience when you have that
foundational know-how you're really only at the starting block at this point and from here it
is really all about determination and work ethic how hard are you prepared to work to really get in
to know your industry and know your discipline as well as possible to develop that insatiable
curiosity to put in the long hours to really take the time to understand everything about
your discipline from neuroscience to consumer behavior if you don't have that high level
of curiosity if you don't have that desire to succeed then you're never really going to push the
boundaries of what you can do in your industry but if you are able to develop that if you are able to
develop that thirst for success and the thirst for knowledge and that real ambition to go as far as
you can possibly go within your industry then you have every chance of making it as a brand manager
climbing that ladder from where you started to where you want to go and making a success
of your branding career now climb climbing the heights of successful brand management is not a
walk in the park which is why there's such a short supply of effective brand managers but because of
that the rewards are there as well and if you're able to take the time to develop your knowledge
your expertise your know-how and that thirst for knowledge that ambition to succeed and really put
the work in then the rewards are there for you too remember the book stops with the
brand manager and it's the brand manager's decisions that will make or break a brand
now that I've painted a pretty picture of the brand manager's job and you're still interested
in becoming a brand manager and you want to dive deeper into exactly what they do then this video
will help you out until next time brand like a master and I'll see you in the next video