A brand manager is vital to any business as they control the perception of the brand to the public eye. A brand manager is responsible for building the face of the brand and making its products stand out amidst several competitors in the market. You must carry out your research to find out how your brand is positioned against other competitors and to determine the public perception of your brand. Researching on the latest consumer trends and raves is also very helpful in creating a captivating brand identity. You must also further in developing the right advertising and promotional strategies for your brand. You are central in creating innovative business ideas on how to drive profitability and brand loyalty from customers.
Employers usually prefer an MBA in addition to an undergraduate degree in business or marketing. You are expected to be extremely creative, innovative, strategic, and detail-oriented. You must also be able to motivate your team and optimize ideas and resources. The mean annual salary for a brand manager is about $103,000 annually.
What is a Brand Manager?
What Does a Brand Manager Do
There are certain skills that many brand managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and creativity.
How To Become a Brand Manager
If you're interested in becoming a brand manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 74.5% of brand managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.7% of brand managers have master's degrees. Even though most brand managers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Brand Manager Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a brand manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as marketing manager, progress to a title such as marketing director and then eventually end up with the title regional marketing director.
Average Salary for a Brand Manager
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Brand Manager Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active brand manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where brand managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Brand Manager Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 6,536 | $94,914 |
| 2 | Texas | 2,774 | $89,655 |
| 3 | New York | 2,573 | $101,718 |
| 4 | Illinois | 1,906 | $85,236 |
| 5 | Florida | 1,743 | $78,725 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 1,488 | $96,337 |
| 7 | Washington | 1,364 | $99,264 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 1,357 | $93,491 |
| 9 | Georgia | 1,277 | $85,299 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 1,267 | $107,702 |
| 11 | Virginia | 1,155 | $91,780 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 1,137 | $86,900 |
| 13 | Ohio | 925 | $86,288 |
| 14 | Colorado | 842 | $78,095 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 802 | $93,307 |
| 16 | Arizona | 731 | $89,218 |
| 17 | Maryland | 723 | $89,397 |
| 18 | Oregon | 722 | $92,760 |
| 19 | Michigan | 713 | $100,471 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 563 | $92,074 |
| 21 | Connecticut | 550 | $107,031 |
| 22 | Utah | 523 | $84,703 |
| 23 | Tennessee | 521 | $85,909 |
| 24 | Indiana | 509 | $78,107 |
| 25 | Missouri | 482 | $84,918 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 309 | $77,498 |
| 27 | Alabama | 285 | $80,357 |
| 28 | Arkansas | 275 | $75,027 |
| 29 | Kentucky | 272 | $77,112 |
| 30 | Iowa | 252 | $75,907 |
| 31 | Kansas | 243 | $91,181 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 196 | $79,501 |
| 33 | Nevada | 192 | $95,710 |
| 34 | Nebraska | 181 | $74,275 |
| 35 | New Hampshire | 179 | $91,940 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 167 | $113,159 |
| 37 | Oklahoma | 165 | $72,246 |
| 38 | Delaware | 163 | $86,682 |
| 39 | Idaho | 148 | $85,293 |
| 40 | New Mexico | 128 | $79,719 |
| 41 | Mississippi | 124 | $77,070 |
| 42 | Maine | 122 | $84,531 |
| 43 | Montana | 118 | $83,650 |
| 44 | West Virginia | 96 | $92,193 |
| 45 | Vermont | 95 | $81,973 |
| 46 | Hawaii | 88 | $60,464 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 76 | $84,797 |
| 48 | Alaska | 65 | $82,887 |
| 49 | South Dakota | 64 | $76,810 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 50 | $84,110 |
Top Colleges for Brand Managers
1. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
2. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
4. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
5. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
6. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Private
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
8. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
9. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Brand Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.8% of brand managers listed brand management on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Brand Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Brand Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Brand Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Brand Manager Demographics
Brand Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among brand managers, 48.5% of them are women, while 51.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among brand managers is White, which makes up 71.4% of all brand managers.
- The most common foreign language among brand managers is Spanish at 47.9%.
Work Experience Programs For Brand Managers
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours
Company: Sydney School of Entrepreneurship
Cost: Free
Duration: 7-9 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 hours
Company: JPMorgan Chase
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-5 hours
Online Courses For Brand Manager That You May Like
Identify the critical information needed to develop a product and brand strategy that generates both quick-wins and long-term value. By completing this course, you will be in position to create an activity plan to bring your brand strategy to life - both externally towards consumers and internally to employees. You will be able to define the right metrics for determining success in the implementation of your product and brand strategy, considering any adjustments that may need to be made under...
MBA Marketing Strategy, Product Marketing, Product Marketing Manager, Product Management, Product Manager Marketing Plan...
Product Marketing Strategy: Marketing New Product: Product to Market: Product Promotion: Product Owner Launch MBA...
Best States For a Brand Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a brand manager. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. Brand managers make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $113,159. Whereas in New Jersey and Connecticut, they would average $107,702 and $107,031, respectively. While brand managers would only make an average of $101,718 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Rhode Island
$113,159
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$107,031
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$107,702
Avg. Salary
How Do Brand Manager Rate Their Jobs?
Top Brand Manager Employers
Most Common Employers For Brand Manager
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bayer | $106,466 | $51.19 | 55 |
| 2 | The Kraft Group | $103,960 | $49.98 | 110 |
| 3 | Colgate-Palmolive | $101,837 | $48.96 | 94 |
| 4 | Ford Motor | $101,682 | $48.89 | 36 |
| 5 | P&G | $100,870 | $48.50 | 336 |
| 6 | L'Oréal | $99,861 | $48.01 | 41 |
| 7 | Unilever | $98,316 | $47.27 | 95 |
| 8 | The Coca-Cola Company | $97,987 | $47.11 | 72 |
| 9 | Express | $95,407 | $45.87 | 47 |
| 10 | Philip Morris International | $94,749 | $45.55 | 40 |
Brand Manager Videos
Becoming a Brand Manager FAQs
How Do I Start A Career In Branding?
You start a career in branding by obtaining a post-secondary education and relevant experience in marketing and business.
Those in the branding career, such as brand managers, generally have a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or communication. To boost their prospects and plan to advance to a managerial position, some may also get a master's degree.
Is Brand Manager A Good Job?
Yes, brand manager is a good job. It is a good job if you enjoy the creative world of advertising and marketing and like the high salary possibilities.
Brand managers generally make good money overall. An entry-level brand manager might only make around $79,000 yearly, but, on average, they can make about$102,000 yearly. On the higher end, they can earn approximately $132,000 or more.
What Education Is Needed To Be A Brand Manager?
The education needed to be a brand manager is at least a bachelor's degree, usually in business, marketing, and communication.
Because this occupation is a high-level managerial position, some employers may prefer that you have a master's degree, which can be helpful to you as it can earn you more in salary.
What Is The Branding Hierarchy?
The branding hierarchy is the systematic branching structure of a brand's distinctive elements for its sub-products. Essentially, it's the organizational structure that determines how your brand operates, how people perceive it, and how they will interact with it.
What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Brand Manager?
The qualifications you need to be a brand manager are postsecondary education and prior relevant experience at a managerial level.
Because this occupation is a managerial position with high-level duties, most brand managers have a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or communication and some also have a master's degree.