Marketing (1 Viewer)

[The_Apprentice]

Oh okay.

How is the workload?
And also, what sort of assessments and things do you have?
Like written responses, short answers?

eh, there is usually an individual assignment, some group work (which usually involves presentations), tutorial participation and sometimes a mid-semester and/or final exam.

The exams can be a mixture of M/C, short answer and long response.
Individual and group assignments are usually 1500-3000 reports or essays.

The workload is a bit less than other commerce majors, imo.

 

[michael1990]

your manager in what profession? marketing isn't that simple. A lot of people who haven't taken marketing, or don't work in brand management/marketing management make that assumption

the basics will give you an overview, but it goes a lot deeper than that. I should know, as I have actually worked in 'real' marketing positions (i.e. not telesales).

He is a Manager at Greater Union. And also a Marketing Manager for Greater Union. So i suppose he would know a little about it. He says its very simple. But then again, it could be simple for some but hard for others.

 

[michael1990]

The workload for marketing is decent. You'll usually have one big group assignment, a presentation and an essay due each semester, plus tutorial participation and an exam.

As for assessments, I've already answered that question above. It's not high school: things aren't limited to written responses/short answers anymore

Oh okay.

So what exactly do you do in the presentation?
Would that be where you are given a product or have to design one and put forward how you're going to market that product or service i should say?

 

[michael1990]

eh, there is usually an individual assignment, some group work (which usually involves presentations), tutorial participation and sometimes a mid-semester and/or final exam.

The exams can be a mixture of M/C, short answer and long response.
Individual and group assignments are usually 1500-3000 reports or essays.

The workload is a bit less than other commerce majors, imo.

Oh okay.
So is it classed as the easiest?

With Individual assignments. Does that mean the Professor will give each and every person something different to do?

 

[stazi]

He is a Manager at Greater Union. And also a Marketing Manager for Greater Union. So i suppose he would know a little about it. He says its very simple. But then again, it could be simple for some but hard for others.

....lol? you mean he's a manager of a greater union franchise. that equates to being a manager of mcdonald's.

i am guessing he calls himself a marketing manager to sound better, whereas he wouldn't be doing the things that an actual marketing manager does (such as growing the brand nationally). A marketing manager wouldn't have the time to manage an individual branch.

What's simple about (for example, a typical day at work as a brand manager):

• Get to work
• Check shipment data for each of your individual products to various countries. Analyse it and see if targets are being met.
• Look at weekly sales analysis: identify sales problems with each distributor and product
• Try to come up with strategies for new products
• Analyse quantitative and qualitative data to find out if your brand has the right equity mix
• Visit your advertising agency to plan a new advertising campaign
• Track advertising performance: see if the communications mix should be modified

The list would go on. There is nothing really simple about it, as everything changes on a daily basis.

 

[The_Apprentice]

Oh okay.
So is it classed as the easiest?

With Individual assignments. Does that mean the Professor will give each and every person something different to do?

Its different for everyone. I find mktg easy before I'm not a maths (finance/accounting) person. I find essays pretty easy to write etc.
If you have no language skills you will find mktg challenging.

re: Individual assignments. No, the lecturer will set the same question for all students and its usually pretty broad and allows you to put some independent thought/analysis into it. Sometimes you may have a choice of a few different questions.

 

[stazi]

Oh okay.

So what exactly do you do in the presentation?
Would that be where you are given a product or have to design one and put forward how you're going to market that product or service i should say?

.... you do realise that at uni you don't just do one subject and get awarded a major? You need to do eight. Obviously the presentation won't be the same for each subject. There also won't be a presentation for all subjects. Even the content of the presentation and the format will change every year.

Examples of past presentations:
1) Come up with a Honda Jazz line extension (i.e. a new Honda Jazz variety). Analyse Honda's political, competitive, consumer, etc., environments.
2) Audit two brands in the same sector
3) Come up with an ad campaign for Freedom Furniture

 

[yer8899]

so is it incredibly hard to get a job straight out of uni?
is there anyway of increasing your chances of getting a job (eg. entering a marketing competition)?
is it good pay?

 

[michael1990]

....lol? you mean he's a manager of a greater union franchise. that equates to being a manager of mcdonald's.

i am guessing he calls himself a marketing manager to sound better, whereas he wouldn't be doing the things that an actual marketing manager does (such as growing the brand nationally). A marketing manager wouldn't have the time to manage an individual branch.

What's simple about (for example, a typical day at work as a brand manager):

• Get to work
• Check shipment data for each of your individual products to various countries. Analyse it and see if targets are being met.
• Look at weekly sales analysis: identify sales problems with each distributor and product
• Try to come up with strategies for new products
• Analyse quantitative and qualitative data to find out if your brand has the right equity mix
• Visit your advertising agency to plan a new advertising campaign
• Track advertising performance: see if the communications mix should be modified

The list would go on. There is nothing really simple about it, as everything changes on a daily basis.

He does do some of this.
But thats what mostly our NSW/Regional Marketing Managers do.

I disagree with the Maccas and Greater Union Managers LOL.
They earn quite a lot of money for what they do.

 

[stazi]

Oh okay.
So is it classed as the easiest?

With Individual assignments. Does that mean the Professor will give each and every person something different to do?

It's one of the easiest to do 'ok' in, but it's also quite hard to do very well in. The average mark will still be the same as in other majors (65), but it'll be easier to get that mark, as most people seem to slack off.

Individual assignments mean assignments that you don't do as a group. It would be illogical for the professor to give each and every person a different assignment. How would he compare the quality?

 

[michael1990]

Thanks Everybody for your help.

It has made things a little more clearer.

 

[Chris.]

He is a Manager at Greater Union. And also a Marketing Manager for Greater Union. So i suppose he would know a little about it. He says its very simple. But then again, it could be simple for some but hard for others.

LOL. Do you mean he is the manager for the marketing department of greater union or just a manager for some cinema lol.

hey stas im looking for summer vacation work for marketing this year. who do you reckon i should apply for?
ive only got 6 months of work experience at maccas lol, and i quit that because i moved houses. i have a WAM of 60, needs to be at least pushed up to 65 by the end of this sem.

 

[stazi]

so is it incredibly hard to get a job straight out of uni?
is there anyway of increasing your chances of getting a job (eg. entering a marketing competition)?
is it good pay?

1) Yes, think about it this way. How many marketing managers would each company have? Not many. How many grad jobs in marketing are there? Also not many. For example, Procter & Gamble (my company) has about 1,000 people apply for each individual position to become a brand manager after you graduate.
2) Yes:

• Get work experience in diverse fields whilst at uni
• Do extra-curricular activities (e.g. society involvement)
• Enter marketing competitions
• Talk to employers at events

3) Marketers will get paid less than employees in some other positions, but then again, they also work shorter hours, and have a more 'fun' time at work. Typically, the larger companies will have higher salaries (e.g. Procter & Gamble where I work)

Perks can also be quite nice (e.g. international travel, free products, tickets to events).

Increasingly, marketers are rising to general management and CEO positions, so you can be earning quite a lot in the future.

 

[blakegman]

Marketing is kind of cool except when you get suck with useless twats in your group assignments. Prob will end up majoring in it though, not many other choices.

 

[stazi]

He does do some of this.
But thats what mostly our NSW/Regional Marketing Managers do.

I disagree with the Maccas and Greater Union Managers LOL.
They earn quite a lot of money for what they do.

Is he at the national HQ or is he only at your branch?

I doubt he'd be responsible for setting the direction of the brand. I'm guessing he manages you guys: makes sure you guys have restocked the fridge, makes sure your customers are satisfied, etc. If he does front-line management, again, he wouldn't have time to do any of the other stuff. The stuff he would be doing is the same that regular franchise managers do: again, like Maccas/Video Ezy managers.

Maccas managers get a decent amount of dosh, too, btw, if i'm not mistaken

 

[stazi]

LOL. Do you mean he is the manager for the marketing department of greater union or just a manager for some cinema lol.

hey stas im looking for summer vacation work for marketing this year. who do you reckon i should apply for?
ive only got 6 months of work experience at maccas lol, and i quit that because i moved houses. i have a WAM of 60, needs to be at least pushed up to 65 by the end of this sem.

so you're in your second-last year of uni? there's not many internships available, tbh. You could apply for P&G, Unilever (if they reintroduce their program), Shell, National, Commbank

 

[yer8899]

1) Yes, think about it this way. How many marketing managers would each company have? Not many. How many grad jobs in marketing are there? Also not many. For example, Procter & Gamble (my company) has about 1,000 people apply for each individual position to become a brand manager after you graduate.
2) Yes:

• Get work experience in diverse fields whilst at uni
• Do extra-curricular activities (e.g. society involvement)
• Enter marketing competitions
• Talk to employers at events

3) Marketers will get paid less than employees in some other positions, but then again, they also work shorter hours, and have a more 'fun' time at work. Typically, the larger companies will have higher salaries (e.g. Procter & Gamble where I work)

Perks can also be quite nice (e.g. international travel, free products, tickets to events).

Increasingly, marketers are rising to general management and CEO positions, so you can be earning quite a lot in the future.

so did you find it easy to find a job because you did these:

• Get work experience in diverse fields whilst at uni
• Do extra-curricular activities (e.g. society involvement)
• Enter marketing competitions
• Talk to employers at events

or did you go job hunting for months?

is your job very performance based?
is your job very stressful?
do you need to take work home with you?

 

[Chris.]

so you're in your second-last year of uni? there's not many internships available, tbh. You could apply for P&G, Unilever (if they reintroduce their program), Shell, National, Commbank

yeh im in my 2nd last year of uni.
hey i got one fail on my transcript, am i really disadvantaged or totally fukd?

 

[stazi]

so did you find it easy to find a job because you did these:

• Get work experience in diverse fields whilst at uni
• Do extra-curricular activities (e.g. society involvement)
• Enter marketing competitions
• Talk to employers at events

or did you go job hunting for months?

is your job very performance based?
is your job very stressful?
do you need to take work home with you?

Yes, I did do all those things.

Well, right now I'm actually on 'break' from my job, as I'm transitioning between my internship and grad work. I worked for P&G over the summer, and will be returning permanently after I graduate this year. I have worked in a lot of other marketing positions, though.

Most jobs are performance based, nowadays. As an assistant brand manager, I will get pay rises based on:
a) The percentage market share gains my brands made
b) The growth of the company in the region I work in
c) My overall performance compared to other employees

The job can be stressful, as it's quite challenging, but it's not a bad kind of stress. With trader jobs, for instance, the stress comes from your stock underperforming. You then go home depressed when your market is at a downturn. If they're at a downturn, you can't do anything to change this, as you're at the mercy of all the other traders.

As a marketer, if your brands underperform you have the power to change this: in fact, that's what makes you a better marketer. So, the stress is different. I guess the stress is also minimised because you generally do a lot of fun stuff at work. It is certainly an enjoyable profession to be in.

Well, you do take your work home with you one day a week at my company, as they have a policy to work from home on a weekday Weekend work isn't really necessary, either. For a few weeks a year, you may have to do more at home, though, and would be working crazy hours (akin to people working at Maq Bank), when you have to come up with marketing plans for the next year.

 

[stazi]

yeh im in my 2nd last year of uni.
hey i got one fail on my transcript, am i really disadvantaged or totally fukd?

yeah, you're disadvantaged, but if you've got good interview skills, you're not totally fucked. another intern i was working with at P&G had a couple of fails on his transcript