Know-How Exchange : Branding

First and last, be a very strong marketer.

By all means claim branding as an expertise, but remember it never exists in isolation, and what most clients really want is SALES!

The first thing you have to do is earn your credential by managing a well-known brand, so you can point to your hands-on experience. Nobody is going to believe a branding expert who has never managed a major brand.

And to manage a major brand, you'll have to be a marketing generalist and a great team leader ... because brand management is all about coordinating the efforts of a whole range of marketing specialists, product developers, sales professionals, packaging designers, media buyers, advertising agencies, etc. -- all to create the image you want for your brand in the target consumers' minds.