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A career in marketing offers both diversity and challenge. Because companies interpret the role differently typical marketing positions do not exist and job titles vary. Some companies use only one person to look after their marketing needs while others employ a whole department or engage an agency to do their marketing for them.
The work of a marketer
What makes a good marketer
How to become a marketer
Case History
Do's and Don't's
The Work of a Marketer
Marketers undertake a wide variety of tasks, which include the following stages:Market Research
Identifies potential customers and provides information on customer preferences. This information is used in planning the marketing strategy.
Product Development
In this stage the marketer advises the design and production departments of customer needs. He discusses changes that need to be made to existing products and decides on what new ones need to be introduced. This involves the marketer attending meetings, giving presentations and producing reports based on market research findings.
Promotion
Involves organising and implementing promotional activities. In doing this marketer may be required to work with publicity officers, packaging designers and advertising agencies.
Pricing
Involves the marketer working out a realistic price structure. Marketing managers co-ordinate production and promotion with sales and distribution.
Sales and Distribution
In this stage the marketer must ensure that demand for a product or service can be met. He/she must also analyse sales figure to find out how effective a sales campaign has been and to help plan future production.
Export Marketing
This is often dealt with by a separate department. It involves adapting the marketing stages to local demand. Communication, cultural differences and foreign consumer legislation are areas that present additional challenge to export marketers. They may find that they have to work by themselves in arranging transport and storage, in dealing with documentation, customs, local taxes and legal problems. In addition a considerable amount of travel may be necessary.
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What Makes a Good Marketer
According to Catherine Kilbride, Director of Education in the Marketing Institute of Ireland, "to be a successful marketer one needs to be hardworking, creative and flexible." The nature of the work requires the marketer to have ideas of his/her own as well as a willingness to seek and respond to the ideas of others.Marketers should be able to talk and write clearly and persuasively to people at all levels both inside and outside the company. Good listening skills and an ability to see the other person's point of view are also essential qualities.
"As marketing is an umbrella co-ordinating function in firms, qualities of leadership such as the ability to motivate and organise others, set targets, encourage co-operation and accept responsibility are absolutely paramount," says Daragh Turley, Lecturer in Consumer Behaviour in DCU Business School.
Good numeric skills are essential for the marketer. He/she is constantly required to use figures in analysing sales and research data as well as in planning and pricing.
It is highly important that a marketer is a good team member because the nature of the work demands an enormous amount of liaison and co-operation.
Self discipline, imagination, enthusiasm, attention to detail and sound judgement are necessary to plan, organise and see projects through to completion.
As there are always deadlines to be met the marketer needs to be able to cope with a fast pace of work and to stay calm under pressure. Because marketing is essentially about change, the marketer needs tact and dynamism to initiate change.
Fluency in one or more foreign languages is a distinct asset to the marketer.
Eileen Fitzpatrick, Careers and Appointments Officer in DIT, would advise all prospective marketers to have a full driving license in advance of seeking employment.
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How to Become a Marketer
There are a number of routes to a career in marketing. The following are the most common:- After the Leaving Certificate a student can pursue a fulltime course that leads to a qualification in marketing (certificate, diploma or degree) and then obtain employment in the field.
- First work in sales, business or in another area and then take a course run by the Marketing Institute on a part-time or distance-learning basis.
- A relatively small number of students who graduate in disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Statistics or Business Studies are recruited directly from third level colleges by large firms (e.g. Proctor and Gamble) who conduct their own in-house marketing training.
- A growing number of students are taking a primary or possibly a post-graduate degree in areas such as Humanities, Sciences, Business, Engineering or Computer Science and then adding a qualification in Marketing to their portfolio of qualifications before obtaining a post in marketing.
Case History
Ronan Killeen MII Grad. works at present as an assistant manager in the commercial assets finance section of the Bank of Scotland. He did his Leaving Certificate in St. Benildus' College, Kilmacud in 1993 and in 1993/94 followed his first choice on his CAO form - a B.Comm. in DIT Rathmines. As the year went on he found that the course content did not suit him because it was heavily weighted with Accountancy and Economics both of which he found too theoretical.In 1994 he embarked on a four year fulltime Marketing degree in Senior College, Dun Laoghaire and graduated from there in1998 with his degree in Marketing - (MII Grad.) Marketing Institute of Ireland Graduate. His decision to choose Marketing was based on his general interest in business and his particular interest in the application of the principles of business practice. His decision was also influenced by the fact that Marketing gives one an overview of business and does not tie one down to a particular area. His awareness that he had good interpersonal and communication skills, which are essential for a marketer, also contributed to his decision.
He chose the Marketing Institute of Ireland degree course in Senior College, Dun Laoghaire because he liked the course content and because it had been recommended to him by friends who had already graduated from the course.
His career path to date involved spending three summers, as a student, in branch banking in NIB Donnybrook. After graduating in June 1998, he joined Coca Cola for the summer, as a member of a consumer demand team. He worked as a member of a team of fifteen doing promotions, generating brand awareness and doing some merchandising. He then applied for the position of Business Manager with Coca Cola and after a short time in this position the Bank of Scotland (then Equity Bank) offered him a job as a Junior Sales Executive in the Commercial Assets Section. He was later promoted to Senior Asset Finance Executive and is now an Assistant Manager in the Asset Finance Section.
The Ups of the Career
- opens doors to other areas of business
- provides endless variety in terms day to day tasks
- gives one a comprehensive overview of business
- allows scope for creativity
- builds confidence and aids personal development
- develops focussed thinking
- difficult to get on the first rung of the career ladder
- may have to get field experience before a company will get one to go in to design strategy
- long hours
- entertainment
- necessity to prove oneself all the time
Ronan plans to stay in banking for the foreseeable future. After that the world is his oyster!
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Do's and Don't's
Do marketing- if you are interested in business
- if you have the ability to set yourself goals and objectives
- if you don't want a desk-bound job
- if you are prepared to take on a course that involves a great deal of reading and writing up of reports and case studies
- if you want a qualification that gives you abroad base
- if you want a qualification that allows you to travel
- if you are not flexible
- if you are not prepared to work long hours
- if you don't enjoy working as a member of a team
- if you wear your heart on your sleeve - that is, if you don't have cuteness and an ability to put a spin on a story!
