Marketing
Marketing encompasses a broad set of activities aimed at identifying and satisfying customer needs and preferences. It is the job of a marketing team to understand consumer behaviours and market trends to develop strategies that drive sales and brand awareness for a company. Key marketing activities can support more strategic, longer-term work (e.g. conducting market analysis, new product development or pricing strategies) or more tactical, shorter-term work (e.g. developing a promotional campaign or event). Generalist marketers collaborate closely with other marketing and communications professionals – such as those listed below– to implement their strategies.
Generalist marketing graduate jobs, where you work across multiple marketing activities, can be found in organisations that have their own marketing teams. Or they can be found in a generalist marketing agency.
Example generalist roles
- Marketing Assistant/Officer: assists the team with all marketing related administration and support.
- Marketing Manager/Director: leads marketing teams, develops marketing strategies, and manages marketing campaigns. Drives marketing efforts for specific products or services, including market research, positioning, and promotion.
Branding
Brand building focuses on developing and executing the key elements of a brand (including the brand vision, values, positioning, visual identity, brand guidelines and brand campaigns) with the aim of increasing the brand awareness, recognition, reputation, and equity. Research, insight and analytics (see more below) is essential to informing brand strategy by providing an understanding of the market, the target audience, competitors and how the brand is performing.
In-house branding roles focus on the management of a brand or multiple brands (in companies that own a portfolio of brands), agency roles tend to focus more on brand strategy and helping clients to develop and execute their brand strategies.
Example roles
- Brand Manager/Assistant Brand Manager: manages/supports the development of the brand of an organisation or product overseeing all key brand elements and associated activities (from insight to design), often working with specialists to achieve the desired outcomes.
- Product Manager: manages a product across its whole lifecycle from idea to launch and ongoing development – understanding the needs of users, the dynamics of marketplace in which it will enter, the production process and developing marketing campaigns.
- Brand Consultant: agency-side or freelance role that involves supporting clients with their brand strategy, making recommendations linked to key activities such as consumer or market insight, brand positioning or brand identity.
Research, insight and analytics
Research, insight and analytics provide the foundation of informed decision-making across commercial, social and political domains. Insight into the likes of stakeholder opinions and needs, competitor landscapes and market dynamics can provide essential intelligence that can make the difference between success and failure of an idea, product, service, campaign or organisation. Qualitative and/or quantitative techniques are used to generate insights drawing on applied social, behavioural and data sciences, statistical principles and theory.
Roles can be in-house, where there is involvement in multiple insight programmes within an organisation, or agency side where roles are likely to specialise in a particular type of research and sector(s) depending on the agency.
Example roles
- Market Research Analyst/ Research or Insight Executive: collects and analyses data to understand market trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscapes. Likely to specialise in either qualitative or quantitative research.
- Insight Consultant: agency or freelance role that involves supporting clients by conducting research (qualitative and/or quantitative), analysing data and making recommendations that will feed into marketing, branding or advertising strategies or campaigns.
- Insight Manager/ Head of Insight: in-house role that manages/oversees the generation and application of insight relating to a specific organisation or brand with the aim of ensuring all business decisions are informed by a robust understanding of customers/stakeholders, market dynamics or cultural contexts.
- User Experience (UX) Researcher: conducts research (via methods such as interviews, usability testing and A/B testing) to understand user needs, behaviours and preferences to help optimise digital products or services.
The Market Research Society (MRS) have a useful tool for exploring careers in this field.
Communications
Communications professionals focus on conveying information, building awareness and relationships, and maintaining a positive public image for an organisation, brand or individual. Effective communication is essential for conveying messages both internally to employees and externally to customers, stakeholders, and the public. Communication activities include advertising, creating content for websites and social media, designing and circulating external and internal newsletters, planning events and engaging with the public through various communication channels.
Roles within communications are incredibly varied in their focus and requirements for subject-matter knowledge (whether that be science, politics or consumer goods) but all require excellent written and verbal communications skills.
Generalist communications roles
- Communications Assistant/Manager: manage/support the planning and execution of internal (via newsletters, events etc) and external (via campaigns, press releases etc) communications. Likely to involve liaising with internal marketing and PR teams and/or external agencies
- Head of Corporate Communications: responsible for developing and driving the overarching communications strategy for an organisation, including internal and external communications, ensuring that every message sent out supports the strategic vision. Activities such as speechwriting, media responses and investor briefings are also likely to be a part of this role.
Marketing communications roles
- Digital Marketing Specialist: focuses on online marketing channels, including SEO, SEM, social media, and email marketing. May also include content creation.
- Content or Copy Writer/Editor: develops and executes internal and external communication strategies for the organization. Creates written content for various communication channels, including websites, newsletters, and social media.
- Social Media Assistant/Officer/Manager: manages the organization's social media presence, develops content, and engages with the online community.
Advertising
Working in advertising involves the process of developing strategies through to producing a creative idea via one or multiple medias (including TV, radio, print, digital media, or outdoor advertising). The main goal is to capture the attention of a target audience and persuade them to take a specific action, such as making a purchase. Roles in advertising either lean more towards the strategic/business side (e.g. planning campaigns, managing client relationships, buying media space) or creative side (creating campaigns via copy, design, filming etc). Advertising roles are usually found within advertising agencies rather than in-house.
Example roles
- Account Executive/Manager: Responsible for managing client relationships, understanding their needs, and ensuring that advertising campaigns meet their objectives.
- Creative Director/Art Director: Involved in the creative process, developing advertising concepts, and crafting compelling ad content.
- Data Analyst/Strategist: Analyses data to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns and provides insights for optimization.
- Media Planner/Buyer: Focuses on selecting the right media channels and negotiating ad placements to reach the target audience effectively.
Public Relations (PR) and Public Affairs
Public Relations professionals focus on managing an organisation's reputation and building positive relationships with the public, media, and other stakeholders. PR is often concerned with maintaining a positive public image and handling crises effectively. PR activities include drafting press releases, organising publicity events and conferences, managing media inquiries, conducting reputation management, and developing crisis communication plans.
Example roles
- Public Relations Assistant/Manager/Director: manages the reputation of an organisation by crafting and distributing press releases, organising events, and handling media relations.
- Crisis Communications Specialist: manages and mitigates communication during crisis situations to protect the organisation's reputation.
- Event Planner/Coordinator: organises and manages PR events, press conferences, and product launches.
- Media Relations Specialist: focuses on building and maintaining relationships with media outlets and securing positive media coverage.