Marketing is considered a highly specialized and complex discipline. The proliferation of global brands and arrival of digital social media means that marketing has become ever more significant and complex.

Two marketing specialists working for similar sized companies in the same sector can have completely different roles. If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a branding manager, a marketing communications specialist or a consumer insights specialist, here are our own insights into these specialist marketing functions.

Consumer insights 

A consumer insights specialist aims to help the organisation understand the behaviour and habits of existing and new consumers.  If a company wants to launch a new brand or product it needs to know what the target market wants. A consumer insights role will help a company discover what will appeal to consumers and how to capitalise on that knowledge.

Consumer insights involves delving deeper than surface research into more detailed analysis that can help an organisation understand their consumers better: buying behaviours, purchasing trends, habits, patterns as well as key influencing factors. Major companies in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector have developed their own consumer insights team to target specific sectors of the market.

Branding

A branding specialist can either work across specific products or at a corporate level, creating an overarching brand values for a company. 

Brand managers are the “gate keepers” of a brand portfolio under their care. Their job is to grow, nurture and sustain the brands that they manage. They help ensure that the brand is consistently communicated, however the consumer encounters the product or company. 

Traditionally, branding was established mainly through advertising and consumer experience, and usually over a long period of time. Now, through the use of social media and viral campaigns, a brand can be quickly differentiated from its competitors within a short time span. Brand managers must possess strong analytical capability and marketing knowledge in formulating powerful brand messages and strategies.

A branding specialist can either work across specific products or at a corporate level, creating an overarching brand values for a company. 

Corporate communications

Corporate communications has become a specialist discipline over the last decade. It stems mainly from an increasing need to communicate the organisation’s vision, plans and new updates on a regular basis not only to the public and its consumers, but also to its employees and other stakeholders. 

A corporate communications specialist may devise the corporate narrative (getting input and buy in from senior managers), ensure that senior executives are able to communicate a consistent message to the media and stakeholders, and work alongside external agencies or an internal team to devise press and media campaigns to spread the message and raise awareness of the organisation. There may also be a crisis management aspect of the role as companies realise the value of responding well to a difficult situation. 

For more information on the sales and marketing recruitment market, please contact:

Zara Qureshi, Principal
zara.qureshi@robertwalters.com
+971 (0) 4 818 0100