Marketing. November 2005. Career Structure
Look at most industries and you will usually
find a well-defined career structure, from trainee or apprentice,
right the way up to senior management. If you want to be a chartered
accountant, for example, you study for a degree (second-class
or better), then embark on a 3-year training programme with an
accountancy firm, combining formal training courses and exams
with auditing and preparing company accounts. Once qualified,
you stay with the practice in the hope of becoming a manager and
eventually a partner, or move into industry and work your way
up to finance manager, director, and maybe even MD one day.
But marketing seems to have somehow escaped such a rigid career
path. People come into marketing from all sorts of backgrounds,
including sales and more creative disciplines, and often progress
through individual flair and success on the job, without recourse
to external qualifications.
"I think marketing gets away with not having such a defined
career structure because it is perceived as a hugely glamorous
area to work in, so people are still attracted to it, whether
they get a formal career structure or not" says Andy Rous,
director of marketing at recruitment firm, EMR.
And Bruce Levi, a director at recruitment firm Stopgap, says comparisons
between marketing and other professions are not always relevant.
"Companies have career paths but functions often do not"
says Levi. "It's different if you're a lawyer or an accountant
or a doctor, where you have a legal responsibility, or you are
regulated. In those circumstances, it is normal to have a career
path, gates to pass through, qualifications to obtain, so that
people buying your services have some degree of trust and accreditation
that you can provide those services. But in business, that's not
how it works."
So to what extent is a career in marketing mapped out, does it
matter if it isn't, and if you accept that it isn't, what could
be done to improve the situation?
Christine Cryne, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of
Marketing (CIM), accepts that often, in the marketing field, it's
left to the individual to map out their own career plan.
"There is no natural marketing career structure in many organisations"
says Cryne. "Imagination, ideas and creativity are highly-prized
in marketing, and because of this, there is an unreasonable rationale
that says that you have to keep changing the people in order to
come up with new ideas. The only way to combat this is for marketers
to keep up to speed, network, go on courses and join their trade
body. There are over 800 pieces of EU legislation in the pipeline
that are relevant to marketers, so for that reason alone, they
have to keep abreast of things."
Kevin Dunbar, regional director at marketing recruitment firm
Hays Marketing, agrees with this assessment, and with the idea
that the individual must take control of their own destiny. He
cites, as an example, Martin George, who become the youngest ever
board director of a UK plc, when he was appointed commercial director
for BA at the age of 32.
"He got there by working in as many different areas of BA
as possible to acquire all the skillsets he needed" says
Dunbar. "He drove the process, and this is what marketers
who want to get on have to do. They should go into it with a gameplan,
but there are very few candidates who actually do. They sit and
do their job year in, year out, and then realise they are not
progressing."
A key part of this gameplan, Dunbar argues, should be professional
qualifications.
"There has been a big change in the past five years"
he says. "The CIM Diploma is now prized in the public sector
and professional services. It's important in smaller companies
too, where there is not a large marketing function, and so you
need someone with a grasp of marketing. The CIM Diploma demonstrates
that you have this. It shows that you can think strategically."
Professional qualifications are indeed an important part of what
CIM offers but as Cryne points out, there is more.
"We are putting together courses and White Papers on all
aspects of marketing, from how to manage marketing people, through
to the legal aspects" she says. "And we're setting new
standards through our involvement with the MSSSB (Marketing &
Sales Standard Setting Body) and the CIM Professional Marketing
Standards competency framework. The whole raison d'etre of a body
like CIM is for marketing to be taken seriously and to be worth
a place at the top table. Marketers have to take a more professional
approach, or they will just be seen as T-shirt producers, and
training and professional qualifications have a big part to play
in bringing about this change."
Broadening horizons
Anton Dominic, academic director at the London School of Marketing,
where CIM qualifications are taught, believes that CIM is moving
in the right direction, with initiatives such as the Professional
Postgraduate Diploma, introduced last year. In addition to marketing,
this includes modules on other aspects of business, such as finance.
Dominic believes this broadening of the marketer's horizons is
essential. He says:
"When you ask the students taking the Postgraduate Diploma
how marketing is perceived elsewhere in the organisations they
work for, they often come back with a negative answer, saying
that marketers are seen as arrogant and lacking accountability.
I think the reason for this perception is that marketers don't
seem to widen their skills beyond marketing. They like to see
themselves as creative people, who don't need to get involved
in other aspects of the business. I think the CIM Postgraduate
Diploma is trying to address this, and it is a positive step,
but change won't happen overnight."
As a fresh-faced graduate in the mid 1980's Rob Gray, now managing
partner of integrated communications agency, Purity, was on the
receiving end of some very good, very structured training, at
the hands of Kimberly-Clark, where he spent 18 months on the company's
graduate training programme.
"It was a very good programme, and typical of what a lot
of the big corporates at the time were offering" says Gray.
"I did time in marketing, but I also spent time in other
departments like field sales, distribution and factory planning."
This time, says Gray, ultimately made him a better marketer.
"It helps you to know what is possible" he says. "If
you understand the complexities of the production process, for
example, understand that the production man wants to make the
same product day in day out because that is most efficient, while
the marketing man wants it in red, pink and blue in six pack sizes,
it helps you get on within the organisation."
In Gray's view, however, programmes like the one he went through
all those years ago have, to some extent, been a victim of their
own success.
"A lot of companies don't run these programmes any more,
partly for reasons of cost, and partly because they realised that
if you had been well trained by Kimberly-Clark, it meant you could
get a very good job anywhere else" he says.
But others see things differently. Jonathan Wiles, regional director
at marketing recruitment firm Michael Page Marketing, says there
is more structure to the marketing profession than people sometimes
imagine. He says:
"I think marketing as an industry is fairly structured. Most
of the marketers I meet have been through a relatively logical
and thorough career progression, and the more established marketing
arenas, like FMCG, consumer goods and financial services, tend
to have structured career paths where you start as a junior marketer
or graduate and move through the ranks to senior management."
Wiles concedes, however, that the idea of marketing people gaining
broader, non-marketing experience, is a relatively new phenomenon.
"The environment is changing and I do see candidates moving
into broader commercial roles to give them depth and skills in
other areas" he says. "If you look at the consumer space,
I have seen a few people move from classical brands into broader
roles such as category management, account management, or into
broader operational roles such as logistic supply chain. There
is value in that because as marketing becomes more accountable,
so marketers need to have an appreciation of some of the broader
commercial aspects of the business."
Whoever you talk to about marketing career structures, however,
the discussion inevitably comes back round to professional qualifications.
The days when marketers could get to the top on the back of a
brilliant idea conceived over a long lunch are, it seems, limited.
These days, an in-depth knowledge of Excel, and a qualification
or two, are what counts.
"Professional qualifications and training are key" says
CIM's Christine Cryne. "Better qualified marketers are known
to be more successful than those without qualifications. If marketing
wants to be taken seriously in the boardroom, it has to take this
on board."
<JOBS BOX>
A marketing career path
CIM, in association with recruitment consultants Stopgap, has
created The Marketing Workplace, a guide to marketing job descriptions,
both agency- and client-side. From this, and the CIM Croner Rewards
Group Survey 2005-06, we have put together this guide to a typical
marketing career path.
Marketing executive
Salary range: £28,000 - £33,000
The job: An entry-level position, providing day-to-day support
to the marketing managers.
The person: Ideally, a graduate in marketing.
Responsibilities: Liase between the marketing team and other parties,
such as sales, product/brand management, research and finance.
Liase with external agencies and ensure the smooth running of
the production process. Prepare and issue paperwork required to
monitor the progress of work.
Skills needed: Analytical, administrative and organisational skills,
attention to detail, with initiative and enthusiasm. Able to work
under pressure and to tight deadlines.
Suggested CIM qualifications: CIM Professional Certificate or
Diploma in Marketing.
Product/brand manager
Salary range: £30,000 - £37,000
The job: To develop and implement the marketing activity plan
of each product or service offering.
The person: Someone with 3+ years experience in product management.
Responsibilities: Understand business objectives and the strategies
to meet then. Ensure the brand achieves key set performance indicators.
Analyse consumer data to determine suitable product offerings
and their positioning.
Skills needed: Analytical, innovative, creative. A good communicator,
with first-class interpersonal skills and good influencing skills.
Suggested CIM qualifications: CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma
in Marketing (DipM).
Marketing manager
Salary range: £45,000 - £57,000
The job: responsible for the strategic direction of all marketing
activity on specific products and services.
The person: Someone with 5- 7 years experience in marketing or
product management.
Responsibilities: Reporting to the marketing director or controller,
must ensure that a product or service matches the brand positioning.
Identify target markets and work with the research teams exploring
consumer insights. Plan communications strategy and liaise with
all members of the campaign team to ensure effective and efficient
delivery. Analyse the results of all marketing activity and present
findings and recommendations to senior management and product
management.
Skills needed: Ability to think strategically and deliver project
goals. Ability to work well in multi-disciplined, cross-functional
teams. Good interpersonal skills, and the ability to build close-knit
relationships with outside agencies. Strong leadership and influencing
skills.
Suggested CIM qualifications: CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma
in Marketing (DipM). Chartered Marketer.
Marketing director.
Salary range: £60,000 - £90,000
The job: operates at the highest level, and is responsible for
formulating and directing the company's marketing strategy.
The person: Someone with a proven track record in a senior marketing
role.
Responsibilities: Works closely with key stakeholders, such as
sales and business development, to determine business objectives
and the strategy for delivery. Establish a clear brand proposition.
Develop the brand offering to exceed consumer expectations and
work with all relevant parties to ensure that it does. Provide
leadership to both internal marketing resources and external agencies
in order to achieve an effective communications strategy. Monitor
returns on investment across all business units. Contribute to
the overall strategy, performance and profitability of the company.
Skills needed: Strong leadership and influencing skills. Ability
to inspire others and build effective teams. A strategic thinker
and excellent communicator.
Suggested CIM qualifications: CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma
in Marketing (DipM). Chartered Marketer.