Alton, Dylan - Marketing Director

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[edit] Job Title (Dylan Alton)

Marketing Director

[edit] General Overview

The person with this job assumes most of the responsibility for the planning, development and implementation of marketing strategies in an organization. [1] They do this by overseeing and delegating work amongst the Marketing Department within an organization in order to ensure that the goals of the marketing plan are met. [1] [2] People who hold this position are essentially the brain of the Marketing Department. This position requires a person who is capable of being a leader and promoting efficiency and creativity out of his or her employees. This person would be required to interact with heads of other departments and would represent the Marketing Department as a whole in meetings and so forth. [1]

[edit] Job Duties and Responsibilities

• This person is responsible for establishing a communication and evaluation system among the colleagues in the Marketing Department so that work can be monitored, critiqued and edited in a timely fashion. [2]

• They must organize and direct fairly regular meetings (usually weekly), so that progress can be evaluated and strategies can be implemented or changed. [2] [1] [3]

• They can provide input to other people in upper management about establishing pricing policies based on information they have collected about current markets. [2]

• They are responsible for monitoring and analyzing market trends. [3]

• They must study their competitors and their marketing strategies and adjust their own accordingly. [3]

[edit] Typical Workday

This is be a full-time career and most people in the position would experience a full 9-hour workday, usually between the windows of 8AM – 6PM (Likely 8-5 or 9-6).[3] However, with this being such a demanding job with tight deadlines, marketing directors may be required to work overtime shifts on a fairly regular basis or even take their work home with them. Some positions may even require someone in this position to do some travelling, especially if the organization is an international one. [1] [3] Most marketing directors would work in an office setting. Day-to-day activities would likely including delegating and managing work amongst employees and as previously mentioned preparing for weekly meetings. It would also include tasks such as analyzing market trends, studying competitor’s products, trying to find ways to improve existing products and profitability, identifying target markets, presenting findings to senior managers and typical management duties such as managing and supporting their team members. [3] Which of these specific duties that would be done on any given work day would vary depending on importance and various deadlines on certain projects.

[edit] Educational Requirements and Other Qualifications

A bachelor’s degree in marketing, journalism, public relations, or social sciences is typically what is required for this position in regards to education.[1] A graduate degree in a related field is also preferred. Some employers may even require a master’s degree. [4] It is also optimal to take a program that has a placement or Co-op incorporated into it. Many universities across Ontario as well of the rest of Canada offer marketing strains of their Business programs. Some employers make seek those with a minimum of 5 years experience in marketing, communications or public relations with demonstrated success, preferably in the not-for-profit or association sector. [1] Those who also have minored or at least in one form or another extensively studied or worked in Sales may be a good fit for this position.[5] Membership in the International Association of Business Communicators is also preferred (IABC) It is also important to have adaptability as the field is constantly changing.[1]

[edit] Related Skills, Interests and Abilities

There are few skills and characteristics that would make for an optimal marketing director:


• After outlining all the meetings and interactions with colleagues someone in this position would have, it is very important that someone in this position has exceptional communication skills. [1] [3] [4]

• As the head of the department, they would be required to have fairly strong leadership skills. [3] [4]

• Also as the head of the Marketing Department someone in this position will be responsible for not only successes but also the failures and might be under a fair amount of pressure to make sure things are done before deadlines and that they are done well.

• It is also crucial to be creative and find new ways to beat their competition and create new ideas in the industry. [1] [3]

• As technology is changing as quickly as these different markets do it is important that someone in this position be computer literate in word processing programs, data base management and the internet. [1] [4]

• Someone in this position is also expected to manage multiple projects at once so having the ability to multi task fairly well is a key asset to have. [1] [4]

• It is very unlikely to work for a company that has an unlimited amount of resources to use, so having strong budgeting skills can also be a very important asset to possess. [3] [4]

• In terms of interests, I would assume that they would have to be interested in markets and interested in trying to understand how and why they change or fluctuate.

[edit] Relevance of Psychology Undergraduate Degree

• Using my own undergraduate degree as a reference, I think there are a few specific courses that could really benefit a Marketing Director. Probably one of the most relevant ones would be classes on Social Psychology. These could help Marketing Directors understand how their colleagues would interact with each other, but more importantly they could understand shifts or changes in society. This would greatly benefit this line of work because of its heavy dependence on fluctuating markets and understanding how to please different demographics.

• Another relevant strain of classes could be those on the topic of conflicts. As the leader of an entire department, the marketing director would be more than likely to have to step in and mediate disputes among his/her co-workers.

• Knowledge of human behaviour as well as biases could really benefit Marketing Directors as if they have extensive about the demographics that they are adhering to, they could tailor their products to better appeal to the public and in turn generate greater sales.

[edit] Salary Potential

The potential starting salary of someone in this position working in Canada is about $61,000 a year.[6] In the United Kingdom, Market Directors make close to a similar amount at entry level positions ($55, 000). [3] The highest anyone is paid in this position is about $107,000 a year and these Marketing Directors have typically been in the field for over 20 years. [6] The average salary of people working as a Marketing Director in Canada is about $90,00 a year. [6] This salary tends to fluctuate based on a person’s level of experience in this position. Some Marketing Directors make commission on their sales and can end up netting anywhere up to an extra $15,000 a year. [6] For more information about how much Marketing Directors make in various cities across Canada click here

[edit] Job Outlook

As previously mentioned this job is in a fairly steady demand as the market is constantly changing in this field. According to the US Bureau of Labor studies the field will likely grow by about 13% by 2022. [4] As long as companies keep making a product that is delivered to a consumer, it is almost guaranteed that they will need to try and figure out a certain way to market it. Also, as new technology as well as social media are becoming more prevalent, Marketing Directors are having to come up with new and innovative ways to market their product. With this influx of the use of technology and social media, companies may be enticed to hire younger applicants who are more familiar with this technology than senior colleagues in the marketing department.

[edit] To Know More

Visit Service Canada to get a more in-depth review of this specific job and even more statistics regarding pay and the demographics of people who work as Marketing Directors in Canada.

[edit] Notes and References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Joyaux, S. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.simonejoyaux.com/downloads/JobDescriptionMCD.pdf
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Marketing Director. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.pmpconnect.com/marketing_director_description.htm
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Creativepool (Job Description: Marketing Manager.). (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://creativepool.com/articles/jobdescriptions/marketing-manager-job-description
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Marketing Manager: Career Info & Requirements (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://study.com/articles/Marketing_Manager_Career_Information_and_Requirements_for_Becoming_a_Marketing_Manager.html
  5. Sales, Marketing and Advertising Managers. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/0611.shtml
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Job=Marketing_Director/Salary
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