Overview
Marketing managers and brand managers own the strategy, positioning, and growth of products and brands. Indian FMCG (Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Nestle, Britannia, Marico, Dabur), consumer tech (Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Swiggy), D2C brands (Mamaearth, boAt, Sugar Cosmetics, Boat), and global capability centres of multinational consumer companies all run large brand and marketing teams. The role spans positioning, advertising, promotions, channel marketing, and increasingly digital and performance marketing integration.
Day-to-day responsibilities
Develop brand strategy and annual marketing plans; brief and review creative agencies on campaigns; manage P&L for assigned brand or product line; analyse consumer research and Nielsen / Kantar data; coordinate with sales, supply chain, and product teams on launches; manage media budgets across TV, digital, and OOH; track brand health metrics (awareness, consideration, NPS); lead innovation pipelines for new product development.
Skills required
- Brand strategy and positioning
- Consumer research and insight generation
- Media planning and ROI analysis
- P&L management
- Creative briefing and agency management
- Nielsen / Kantar / IMRB data interpretation
- Digital marketing fundamentals
- Stakeholder management across functions
Education path
MBA / PGDM from a top-tier business school (IIMs, ISB, FMS, JBIMS, MDI, XLRI, NMIMS, SPJIMR) is the standard pathway. Pre-MBA work experience in sales, advertising, or marketing analytics is heavily weighted. Specialised MBAs (MBA Marketing, MBA Brand Management) at MICA, NMIMS, and SIBM also feed brand-management pipelines.
Career progression
- 1Assistant Brand Manager / Marketing Executive (0-3 yrs)
- 2Brand Manager (3-6 yrs)
- 3Senior Brand Manager (6-10 yrs)
- 4Marketing Director / Category Head (10-15 yrs)
- 5CMO (15+ yrs)
Top employers in India
Useful certifications
- MBA Marketing
- Google Ads and Analytics Certifications
- Meta Blueprint
- HubSpot Inbound Marketing
- Kellogg Brand Management Executive Programme