Branding: Just Ask...

This branding question came to us from Makkie, a marketing major in Quezon City, Manila, Phillippines:

"I am writing a paper about the differences between a product manager and a brand manager's duties and responsibilities. What are the major differences between these two jobs?"

Makkie, thanks for asking. We define these roles this way...

A Brand Manager is responsble for:
brand equity preservation/building
brand identity consistency
brand marketing (most of the time)
brand market share (much of the time)
brand revenues (much of the time)
brand marketing strategy (distribution, pricing, etc.) (much of the time)
brand product range and extension (much of the time)

A Product Manager is responsible for:
product research
product design, functions and features
new product development and launch (much of the time)
product line P&L management
Sales/revenues
product profitability
product pricing
product packaging
product range

These two functions can be overlapped in consumer product firms such as P&G and Unilever. In companies for which there is one primary brand (such as GE, HP, Kodak, Xerox, etc.), product managers manage product lines, while brand management directors or VPs manage the corporate brands at high levels, mostly focusing on brand equity measurement and management and brand identity management. Those brands will span almost all, if not all, product lines.

Makkie, good luck with your paper. Let us know how we did.

Have a question related to branding? Just Ask...