Brand ambassadors are to business what Spandau Ballet songs are to the band’s songwriter Gary Kemp: gold, marketing gold (ask your granny, she’ll sing you the chorus!).
They’re the people who make a brand stand out from the crowd, attract new customers and retain existing ones.
Most businesses can’t afford Taylor Swift or David Beckham to be their celebrity face so they use marketing specialists to do the job for them.
They come in various guises – brand manager, brand ambassador, brand specialist – but they all have the same aim: to be the gatekeeper of a brand’s reputation, the voice to its customers and the media, and the architect of its image.
In Scotland we have many industries worth promoting and protecting, from drinks to tourism, food to textiles, which means brand managers in these fields continue to be a hot commodity on s1jobs.
Becoming a brand specialist usually starts with a marketing qualification but requires a creative personality combined with an analytical brain. Starting salaries are usually around the £20,000 mark for in-house marketing specialists, rising to £40,000 upwards for managing bigger, more well-known brands.
Here’s what we reckon you need to strike gold as a marketing brand ambassador:
Passion
Being genuinely excited about a brand is infectious and it’s one of the most important qualities a marketing specialist can have. Promoting cat food and toilet paper might not be as exciting as a new food range or cool clothing but the key is to find some aspect to the brand that you can get excited about.
Be protective
Whether it’s a Facebook post or a new product feature, a marketing specialist should always have a keen eye on the brand’s reputation. It’s a bit like a parent-child relationship – you’re always vigilant but keen to let it flourish at the same time.
Strategy and creativity
These are the key strengths of a good brand manager. Choosing the right visual or written message combined with the analytical data to back it up is a winning combination. It means having the story writing skills of JK Rowling and the analytical mind of a data statistician.
Don’t follow the pack
Sometimes a trend is too good to ignore – remember the ice-bucket challenge anyone? – and it’s fine to jump on the bandwagon but while trendspotting is good, trendsetting is better.
Keep things simple
Our attention spans are shrinking – even goldfish do better than humans nowadays – and brands don’t have long to make a good impression. Keeping the brand message simple and uncluttered is key to having it stay long in the memory.
Be bold and find your brand with the latest Marketing and PR vacancies on s1jobs