A day in the life of an Assistant Brand Manager

The wonderful thing about RB is that there is never a dull moment and I do mean NEVER. There are ALWAYS projects to manage and drive to completion and new projects on which to begin working with your team.

And this doesn’t include any initiatives you suggest and pursue as you begin to contribute your own ideas, skills and propositions to the business.

I thought it would be interesting to share what one potential day in the life of an Assistant Brand Manager (ABM) is like to provide you a little more insight into what we ABMs do.

A couple disclaimers:

1) I cannot be very specific in the details that I am sharing as a number of these projects and meetings are confidential; however, I have done my best to give you a good idea of what each meeting and/or activity is all about.

2) While I am listing a lot of the scheduled meetings and activities in which I participate, none of this takes into consideration the plethora of calls, emails, in-person discussions, last-minute meetings, idea brainstorms, requests and questions that happen in and around these scheduled events each and every day.

• 7:30 AM: Arrive at RB
• 7:35 AM: Get organized for the day, read, respond to and send out new emails, review case cut and daily sales reports, update consumer promotion summaries and tie up any other loose ends from the previous day/week
• 8:15 AM: Pull syndicated sales data for any new or remaining analysis requested
• 9:00 AM: Meet with direct manager and immediate team members to discuss any new project updates and align on priorities for the day and/or week
• 10:00 AM:Visit onsite design agency account manager to check on status of artwork mockups being prepared for upcoming management review and brief him on new label or artwork requests/changes to previous requests
• 11:00 AM: Meet with cross-functional team, including representatives from supply, R&D and Regulatory to discuss product formula transition, update timeline and assign next steps
• 12:00 PM: Brief lunch with my teammates
• 12:30 PM:Check emails and voicemails, respond with necessary follow up calls or emails
• 1:00 PM: Work on any requests, including analyses, presentations and briefs, from my direct manager or director
• 2:00 PM:Meet with our trade marketing managers to identify any account-specific issues, brief them on plans or changes to product launch timelines and logistics and fulfill any requests for brand-side analysis to share in retailer presentations and line reviews
• 3:30 PM: Call plant project manager to discuss a few of my segments projects, request new cost estimates, notify her of early EPA approval for a label so to update the project’s timeline and move forward with the artwork
• 4:00 PM:Return to design agency account manager to pick up the mockups, review them with my direct manager and my director for feedback, return mockups with collected feedback for changes or align to move forward for the management review
• 5:00 PM:Conference call with web agency to discuss this year’s online program and assign budget, deadlines and deliverables
• 5:45 PM: Work on ROI analyses for my segments’ recent media flights and FSI’s
• 6:30 PM: Depart RB for home to eat dinner, spend some time with my wife and recharge to do it all again the next day

I hope this example of my schedule offers you a better view into the daily life of an ABM at RB.
Please let me know if you have any specific questions, as I am always happy to help in any way possible!