| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Marketing |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Senior Brand Manager |
| Direct reports | Brand Executive |
| Experience | 3 to 6 years in brand management, trade marketing or FMCG sales |
Brand Manager job description template
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Job title: Brand Manager
Department: Marketing
Reports to: Senior Brand Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Brand Manager runs the plan for one brand or a set of SKUs, turning the annual brand strategy into campaigns, packs, promotions and launches that reach the shelf on time. The role is common in FMCG, food, personal care, consumer durables and OTC healthcare companies. A brand manager works with sales, supply chain, finance and agencies every day, tracks offtake and share month by month, and is expected to know the brand's numbers better than anyone else in the company.
Key responsibilities
- Prepare the brand's monthly and quarterly activity plan from the annual brand plan, with dates, budgets and an owner for each activity.
- Brief creative and media agencies on campaigns, and review scripts, key visuals and media schedules before they go to the senior brand manager.
- Manage packaging artwork changes with design, regulatory, quality and procurement teams, checking every mandatory declaration before print.
- Track monthly offtake, secondary sales, distribution and retail audit share for the brand, region by region.
- Plan consumer promotions such as bonus packs, price-offs and sampling, and brief the sales team on scheme mechanics and timelines.
- Coordinate launch readiness with supply chain, including forecasts, stock builds and dispatch plans for new SKUs.
- Run concept and product tests with the insights team, and summarize what the results mean for the brand.
- Watch competitor launches, price changes and promotions in the market, and raise alerts with a suggested response.
- Check spend against the brand budget every month, and clear agency and vendor bills only after verifying the deliverables.
- Visit markets and retail outlets regularly to see shelf presence, pricing and promotion execution first hand.
Requirements
- MBA or PGDM in Marketing
- Graduate degree in any discipline, with science graduates common in food and personal care
- Knowledge of labelling rules for packaged goods is an advantage
- 3 to 6 years in brand management, trade marketing or FMCG sales
KRAs and KPIs for a Brand Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Brand sales | Brand secondary sales at or above the monthly plan in the brand's priority regions |
| Market share | Brand value share in the retail audit held or improved every quarter |
| Activity execution | At least 90 percent of planned campaigns and promotions executed on schedule |
| Artwork accuracy | Zero packaging reprints caused by errors in artwork or mandatory declarations |
| Budget control | Brand spend within the approved budget and reconciled with finance every month |
| Launch readiness | New SKUs stocked at the planned distributors on the launch date |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Retail audit reports, SAP or similar ERP, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, Artwork approval workflow tool.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Senior Brand Manager, Trade Marketing Manager, Marketing Manager
Interview questions for a Brand Manager
- How would you read a month in which secondary sales rose but retail offtake fell?
- Walk me through the last packaging change you managed. Who signed off what?
- How do you choose between a price-off and a bonus pack for a slow-moving SKU?
- Tell me about a campaign brief you wrote. What single message did it carry?
- The sales team says a scheme is not reaching retailers. How do you check?
- Which competitor move in your category did you spot early, and what did you do about it?
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What does a brand manager do?
A brand manager runs the plan for a brand or a group of SKUs. They brief agencies on campaigns, manage packaging changes, plan promotions with sales, coordinate launches with supply chain and track offtake and market share every month. They are the person who knows the brand's numbers and problems best.
What qualifications are needed to become a brand manager?
Most companies hire brand managers from MBA or PGDM marketing programs, often after a year or two as a brand executive or in sales. Strong Excel and data skills, a feel for consumers and the ability to coordinate many departments matter as much as the degree.
Who does a brand manager report to?
A brand manager usually reports to a senior brand manager or a category head. In smaller companies without that layer, the brand manager reports to the marketing manager or head of marketing and works directly with the sales head on schemes and launches.