Mark Choueke is group editor of Marketing Week, the UK’s leading business weekly magazine for professionals working in the marketing and media industries. He appears regularly on television, radio and in the UK national press as an expert on all issues relating to business, marketing, brands, communications and consumer behaviour.

What’s the FMCG marketing scene like? How would you advice those eager to enter the industry? What makes RB stand out above the crowd? As the first of our six guests on our Expert View series, we speak to Mark on his thoughts of the industry.




Q: As an ‘industry insider’ – what keeps you fascinated by the marketing scene?
MC: What genuinely fascinates me is the fact that marketing is at the centre of our potential for growth – not only of products, but of the economy as a whole. Marketing is the lifeblood, the heart and brains of the economy. Marketing can stimulate growth by putting options in front of people. Not by trying to sell things that people don’t want or need, or encouraging people to spend what they haven’t got; marketing stimulates growth by telling people about the things they do need. I believe that marketing can really make life better.

Q: What are the greatest changes you have seen in fmcg marketing and marketers over the last 5 years?
MC: Actually I think that fmcg marketing has been among the slowest of the sectors to find its place in the world of new media. It is still the acceptable face of TV advertising for example, because it is dealing with the products that we all put in our shopping baskets every week and therefore the level of engagement with consumers is so much greater than in other areas. With fmcg you touch, you open, you give to your family – it is the area we are all most familiar with.

Q: What do you think are the biggest current challenges for today’s marketer?
MC: Influence, buy-in and speed to market. This is what makes RB so different – the dedication to trying out new ideas, testing and getting things to market quickly – and then doing something else if it doesn’t work! Most companies don’t work like that. Also, communication is about using the right language, the language of business – using facts, but at the same time retaining the instinctive and creative abilities. Being able to work swiftly, influence quickly. Marketers mustn’t ever lose that instinct!

Q: What is your key advice for young people wanting to pursue a career in marketing or its associated disciplines?

MC: Make your knowledge and understanding as broad as possible. Good marketers understand how the world works and how business operates. Don’t just read about the brands on the company websites – learn about them and consumers through other sources, read the papers, follow the news. If you can do this and apply that broader knowledge to what you do you will succeed. If you can’t then you are a duck in the water. Be inquisitive all the time and take a ‘journalistic’ approach to everything you do.

Q: In your opinion – what makes a great marketer?
MC: A great marketer has a flair for engagement, has influence and a talent for relationships. The great marketer has creative ‘nous’ and is a lover of life – of society, of science, economics – in essence a really rounded individual.

Q: What is your view of RB UK when it comes to how they market their products? How do you think they differ from other fmcg companies in their approach?
MC: RB has a commitment in the way in which it invests in its brands – in marketing, above and below the line. They have a passion that makes them easy to write about. They are not the first name that comes to mind when you think fmcg – but somehow that makes them special for someone like me. By being a bit under the radar, when you discover just what they are doing you feel as if you have discovered something special and that you are ‘in the know’. They tend to ‘do’ stuff rather than talking about it.

Q: Do you have a favourite RB brand?

MC: You have some of my favourite products and brands – I buy Strepsils and Nurofen for throat and headaches/pain.

Endless column inches have been devoted to the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare etc. and the way we can use them to promote consumer brands while also expanding target audiences. Now, even one of our

most preferred search engine, Google, has entered the social media arena through Google+ , which leads me to wonder, how can WE – as newly graduates – use social networks to increase OUR professional identity?

Companies these days are using a variety of social networking tools to scan for eligible candidates. I, however, don’t mean that they are spying on us, tracking the every move that we make or even rejecting our application on the basis of our weekend photos or our musical taste. Yet, turning a blind eye to this technological development might not be the smartest thing to do. Integrating your professional identity into your social networks can indeed reap solid rewards.


There’s no point saying that there is a perfect recipe as to the exact things that must be written and shared in order to secure yourself a job. But with a little extra effort, you can leverage your resources to show more about yourself than the simple piece of text printed on your CV. However, going online with your professional identity is not only simply about uploading information about your degree, projects or professional experiences, but it can also mean expressing yourself through your hobbies whether that may be your photograph albums, your own short stories/poems, and even your creative ability in developing another online resume! Of course, presenting yourself in the right way without over-exaggerating your abilities is crucial too.

Expressing yourself through sports and photography?

Reckitt Benckiser is one of such firms that is highly interactive in the social media environment, as the blog you are reading now, to the Facebook, Youtube channel, LinkedIn and even Google+ can show. At RB, we like to think of ourselves as innovative and distinctive to our FMCG competitors’ cultures. So if you are considering applying for RB (or any other companies for that matter), maybe it will be worth thinking about creating your own “social resume” now!

P.S. Check out this very interesting infographic from Mashable with some really impressive figures about social media recruiting!

Last week, I put the question to Reckitt Benckiser’s directors, managers and associates alike: “If you were to give one tip to candidates applying to RB, what would it be?” Three of the people below were assessors during my assessment day, so what they have to say to you all potential RBers out there will be really valuable!

If I look back to when I was going through the RB recruitment process, I think the best advice I would have given myself would have been to…

Be yourself! At the end of the day you don’t want to be working in an environment which doesn’t suit you. The culture at RB is very unique and our assessment process is about finding people who will excel in this environment. Think of it like a dating agency . It’s as much about finding what you want from a company as what a company wants from you.

Be an all-rounder. Yes you may have just studied science for 4 years, but RB is more than just that. We look for your business acumen, logic, negotiation skills, teamwork and so on. Be 3D!

Good Luck

The past 6 weeks have gone by so fast!  It’s hard to believe I just started my role as a Sales Analyst for Grocery Team here at the US headquarters in Parsippany, New Jersey.  I’ve already travelled to Vail and Dallas for sales conferences, Carlisle, Pennsylvania for a client meeting and assisted my team in creating our 2012 planning presentations.

I didn’t know what to expect from a desk job at RB, but I haven’t spent much time at my actual desk.  I have learned so much, so fast and love the excitement here.  Right off the bat I received a full week of training.  I get to interact with so many different people on a daily basis and have been exposed to facets of RB I didn’t know existed.  There are some pretty cool events planned for the following weeks and I’m pumped to start blogging and keep you all informed.  Be sure to check back next week!

My journey with RB began when I was selected for the Summer Internship Programme from our campus (Xavier Institute of Management). I had a pretty interesting project which required a lot of travelling to small towns all over West Bengal (which happens to be familiar territory for me). I had to create a model to attract consumers in these rural towns by setting up stalls, making announcements and creating buzz about RB products. My work during the internship paid rich dividends as I was called for an interview for the position of Management Trainee. By this time I had already started feeling a sense of pride to be associated with the RB brands. Every little village/town that I had visited showed great respect for brands like Dettol, Harpic and Mortein even if they did not use all these products. I had dreamt of joining this company right after my summer internship ended (getting a pre-placement offer also meant not having to sit for placement talks/interviews etc. – which indirectly means a whole lot more time to enjoy myself under less pressure while others slog for their final placements). These thoughts provided the impetus required to put in hard work for the presentation and interview. Well… Here I am!

My journey as Management Trainee started in June 2011 with my Distributor Sales Representative stint in Karnataka. Life suddenly changed from sports, studies, night long parties (read: hostel life during MBA) to visiting retailers and selling our products. From the very first day, I had a target and I had to over achieve that target. The first problem I faced was – local language. Within a week I tried to pick up a few key words so that basic communication required at a shop would not be hindered.  The stint was interesting. I got to learn a lot of things and had to learn them pretty fast. Things that seemed baffling and tough gradually started becoming easy. Before I had time to sit and reflect, I was done with the stint. By this time, I was already breathing numbers, targets, productivity, ECO and tons of other terms which seemed like meaningless jargons a few weeks back but now started to make sense.

Time to move on – currently I am in Gulbarga (unknown land, unknown people, unknown food, unknown language). The only thing I know are my targets, products, schemes etc! This stint has been very challenging so far – lots of complications which I had not been exposed to during the first month. Slowly, I am beginning to enjoy these challenges and learning the nuances of dealing with problems. It has been a fortnight since I came here – and now the place seems quite familiar – the bus routes, the forts, the hills, the restaurants (though I still cannot read what’s written anywhere, I can at least push myself to understand what people are talking about)!

It has been an exciting and eventful journey with RB so far and I am looking forward to what lies in store next. It has been a lot of learning and I am sure there is a lot more to come, which will put me in good stead by the time I complete my training period!