Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

hi abhishek

usually in FMCG companies they have multiple brands for multiple products and even multiple brands in one segment/category. examples are companies like Unilever and P&G (now we can call it Procter & Gillette ;-)).

in a FMCG environment a Brand Manager is the sole person responsilbe for the brand's performance. He is ensuring that his brand is winning inthe market even it the company has another brand in the same category. he is not concerned about the other brand but in a larger picture good performance by both brands in the same category is good for the company. example is Surf Excel and Wheel, both in the washing poder category and each brand manager strives to get his/her brand to get the highest share of everything, consumer minds, market share, growth etc.

while is service industry usually its the company's name is the brand. and the products are actually some services combined together and given a name. the Product Manager is here also tries to get his product the most of the market and others. But what happens is in case of communication the company brand comes in front of the product name. example is DHL Fashion First. DHL is the company brand name while Fashion First the product name of a certain service.

there is a very thin line differentiating brand manager from product manager which in some cases is very vague. IMHO, the thin differentiating line is the responsibility of the brand communication, which is increasingly getting blurred.

hope that helps.

cheers!!

Many people think of different things for what a brand manager and product manager are. And there is much overlap in these positions (and in two other similar positions - marketing manager and product marketing manager) - enough overlap that I've heard them used synonymously.

In all cases, they are in charge of trying to optimize a set of products or services. How they often vary:

Brand Manager - almost always B2C (rarely, if ever, B2B). Often concerned about the brand of the company, along with the brand of the products. Usually less technical/product focused, and more focused on promotions.

Product Manager - in charge of a set of products. Sometimes can be 'inbound' focused, which means more involved with product development issues than marketing.

Product Marketing Manager - in a company where Product Managers are 'inbound' focused, then this position often exists as the 'outbound' match to run product launches, marketing, promotions, etc.

Marketing Manager - similar to brand manager, but perhaps a little less brand focused. This would be a more common title for that type of person in a B2B company.