As I wind down my blogging responsibilities, it feels appropriate to announce that I’m finishing up as Pharmacy Sales Analyst and will take on my next challenge as Assistant Brand Manager for Pest Control -uber excited!

Seeing as  this will be my last blog post, I thought it would be fitting to revisit some of the key points in my first blog post, which was about my reasons for working at RB and how it would help me achieve my goal of having a fulfilling marketing career. Let’s see whether these points still stand true 6 months on…

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Strong portfolio of brands – No doubt this point still rings true. My Sales Analyst/Account Manager role has put me at the forefront of promoting our RB Powerbrands to my customers to ensure support and promotion within their stores. Massive launches of the past 6 months in Australia? Strepsils Cool, Nurofen for Children relaunch, Dettol No Touch Systems and Veet Suprem Essence just to name a few…

My job is certainly made easier when we’re promoting and selling in market-leading brands, which is why I’m really excited to be tackling Mortein in my next role, which has really big brand presence in Australia, as well as Brazil and India. Can’t wait to get my hands dirty and learn how to manage one of RB’s global Powerbrands!

Real ownership and responsibility –I definitely feel that I have had ownership and responsibility in a range of projects and tasks since starting 18 months ago – being able to present our business strategy to the CEO of my account, organizing and managing a stand in a retailer’s staff conference, convincing my buyer to adopt our shelf strategy in their biggest category – just some of the achievements you can also have as a RB graduate!

Challenges are the norm at RB; it’s up to you to decide how to tackle them. It might be tough initially, but it’s only when you retrospectively review your accomplishments after finishing the task that you realise how much you have learnt both personally and professionally. Certainly the experiences gained in the Sales component of the RB Commercial Graduate Program will help me tackle my next role in Marketing.

The Aussie graduates! – Well, what can I say…we’re like one big family! As we’ve gotten to know each other in the office, its great to know that I can always rely on a fellow graduate when I’m stuck in a rut with a project or just need someone to bounce ideas off. Getting the motivation to push yourself to the next level is difficult, but knowing graduates who have been in your situation and ‘broken through the pain barrier’ to get to the next level is certainly encouraging.

We still catch up outside of work, we’re planning a graduate dinner soon but before that, we’re all going to do participate in the City 2 Surf 12km run in a few weeks time…should be fun!

And that’s it folks, I certainly don’t think my reasons for choosing the RB Commercial Graduate Program have changed, in fact, they have merely been reinforced.

Whilst I’m sad to be leaving here, it is with great pleasure that I announce that my fellow graduate, Natalie, will be taking over my blogging responsibilities.
Natalie and I started the graduate program at the same time and we have shared many great professional experiences. She’s coming along to Marketing with me as Assistant Brand Manager for Nurofen, so please welcome Natalie as she shares her experiences and insights in her new role!

As I watched Germany’s annihilation of Argentina and Australia in the 2010 Soccer World Cup on TV, I couldn’t help but notice the importance of teamwork at play. Sure, Miroslav Klose and Cacau may linger in people’s minds for scoring goals, but they couldn’t have done it without the help of their teammates, who played a part in collaborating and maneuvering the ball to get it closer to the red zone.

The relevance of teamwork shouldn’t be lost on anyone in tertiary study, we’ve all had to participate in group work and know how challenging it can be when someone slacks off or doesn’t show up – like being red carded, this can mean the difference between winning and losing. How many of you can relate to having to do the bulk of the work or being punished by a result not befitting of the majority of your group’s efforts? It’s no wonder why ‘teamwork’ gets a bad reputation at university!

But hopefully your cynicism of said concept hasn’t totally skewed your perception of what can be achieved if all the wheels are in motion. Think back to the handful of team experiences in your life that DID work. Perhaps it was at your part time job where your sales team was trying to achieve a store sales target. Perhaps it was on the sporting stage where your team couldn’t have won the match without everyone’s input…

That’s what it will be like if you worked for RB. Sometimes, the tasks we face seem mammoth and impossible, but with a strong team at hand, we often overcome it and truly succeed. The best thing about working here is the wealth of knowledge that each person brings to the table, whether Director level down to graduate, everyone is more than happy to lend a helping hand.

Recently, I had an important meeting with my account to discuss how we engage with them moving forward since we had encountered some challenges. With the Sales Director and National Business Manager in attendance with me, we were able to work collectively together in the meeting and overcome any hesitation and concerns that my customer had – my ‘team’ helped me deliver on our strategy and business model and we had some great outcomes. It’s great to know that my colleagues are more than happy to give me their help and guidance when I need assistance.

Team spirit comes in all shapes and sizes at RB. It could be your sales team working together to meet a tight deadline for a category review, or perhaps your marketing team working cross-functionally with Finance, Supply, R&D and Sales in managing the brand. Or simply, it could be the camaraderie between the RB Commercial graduates, sharing our own experiences and advice to help our fellow graduate through a challenging task or situation.

Perhaps that’s why I’m glad I made this choice of working here at RB. If you take anything away from the soccer analogy above, it is the importance of team spirit and working together to achieve goals (no pun intended).

As a campus brand manager for Reckitt Benckiser I feel I am well informed about the company and its attributes, such as being fast-paced and highly consumer focussed. In particular, RB pride themselves on the opportunities they provide. Other companies may make promises that in reality they do not keep, however I feel this is not the case with RB. I say this because I had the privilege of experiencing my first RB opportunity during May, when I was asked to accompany employees from the corporate communicate teams on an RB corporate brand marketing workshop in Lisbon, Portugal!

The conference took place just before my last exam; however I could not miss this amazing opportunity. After all how many 18 year olds get this experience. My role involved representing the campus brand manager scheme on an international platform, so to encourage other markets to follow suit and adopt the initiative.

This adventure was a surprising amount of work and I feel that the general preconceptions of business trips as being wasteful are far from the truth. My experience was enjoyable and challenging but one that I would repeat in an instant. For me the hardest part was having to be awake for 5.30am, but seeing the early hours was a worthy compromise.

Upon arrival we, the RB UK team, went straight to the exclusive hotel Tivoli. After a few hours of presentations there it was, my time to shine and tell all about my exploits as a campus brand manager. Dare I say it but I do believe I did a good job. This is based on the fact that all countries taking part, bar one, have since decided to adopt the campus brand manager scheme in their markets and for this I feel complemented. The scheme is strong enough to sell itself but my presence and enthusiasm for the role, I like to think, helped to tip the balance.
The meeting had RB representatives from many different countries and of even more cultures, giving me the opportunity to see how such a diverse company actually works together. I personally got to spend a lot of time with Ricardo, from the Brazilian team and Uwe from Russia. I also really enjoyed experiencing how different countries had diverse approaches to group discussions.

I also met agency staffs whom are of the creative side, who work with RB designing media and work on evolving the digital side of the company. I learnt from one of the agencies why it’s important for a firm to be aware of the importance of going digital.

During the course of the day we split into mixed groups where we worked together with the objective of devising new ideas for raising awareness and enhancing the RB brand. I was given another opportunity and this was to present my groups new ideas. I can proudly say that one of the ideas our group created has been put forward and is set to be implemented into practice, exciting stuff!

All in all I am very glad to have been given this opportunity, to take part in an international conference with unique networking opportunities. This whole experience has certainly inspired me to progress with my role as I now know how much of an impact it has on the company. Did I mention how good dinner was?
So if you are reading this from afar keep an eye out as there is soon to be a campus brand manager coming to a university near you soon!

Sometimes, all it takes is one word to sum up a situation, event or scenario.
Soccer World Cup? Exhilarating!
Passing your university exams? Awesome!
Getting that job you always wanted? Terrific!

I suppose the same could be applied to the events leading up to my role as Sales Analyst at RB, lets see…

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ANXIOUS
I knew I wanted to work in marketing within the FMCG industry, but with so few companies offering graduate jobs in Australia, I was definitely feeling anxious.

The RB Assessment Centre was certainly tough by any standards, but in the same vein, it showcased to me that they were only looking for a few exceptional candidates, which only made me want the job more! Calm and focused under pressure, I made sure that I did my homework about RB and gave some good responses during my interview…

ECSTATIC
‘You got the job!’ Knowing that I had a graduate position waiting for me the following year meant I could focus on enjoying the rest of my time at university without worrying too much about academic results – AIESEC, pub crawls, Japanese language club and playing tennis with mates – all great memories!

…and I believe all great milestones in life need to be marked with a celebration. After getting the good news, my mate and I headed to Japan for a two week getaway and backpacked our way from Osaka to Tokyo, exploring the temples in Kyoto, feeding the deer in Nara, and getting lost in the bright lights of Tokyo city – so much fun!

CHALLENGING
They say we hit the ground running at RB and my first few weeks were no different. Getting accustomed to my multi-dimensional role in Field Sales, waking up early, driving solo to visit rural customers by day 3 and learning to read a planogram and differentiate between the 100s of SKUs within the 17 power brands – now that’s a challenge!

The most difficult of all? Learning how to survive on a budget and realising that dirty clothes don’t wash themselves! Suddenly, living independently wasn’t as glamorous as it was portrayed to be…but I digress, it’s been a great learning curve and I certainly haven’t had any regrets moving up here to Sydney for my job.

OPPORTUNITY
The future is bright. I’ve learnt so much during my time at RB and look forward to learning so much more as I transition over from Sales to Marketing in the coming months.

When I was looking at FMCG graduate jobs, RB was the company which really stood out for me because I knew it could offer me the career I was looking for, not only in the short term in regards to getting the basic foundation skills in marketing and sales through the RB Commercial Graduate Program, but for many years to come, with opportunities like international transfers and fast career progression on the horizon…

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But don’t just take my word for it; here are just some of the responses from my colleagues when asked to describe RB in one word…

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‘INSPIRATIONAL – Motivation to succeed beyond your own expectations through the passion of colleagues, the strength of your brands or the incredible achievements of the business as a whole’
- Natalie, Sales Analyst and fellow graduate.

‘WINNERS - We are relentless in pursuing this. Whether it be trying to increase share of shelf (SOS), get a new product ranged, or get an NPD off the ground; we never give up. Road blocks are often learnt from and overcome with a good piece of commercial rationale’
- Paul, National Account Manager, Sales.

‘COLLABORATION – RB will work together with you to develop your skills and reach your potential’
- Danielle, National Account Manager, Sales.

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And how would RB senior managers respond? Have a look at this really interesting video ‘Describe RB in one word’ and find out.

It makes rather interesting viewing, don’t you think? What’s your favourite word in there?

If you were about to purchase a Clearasil product, would it matter if you knew they were manufactured by the same company that owned Airwick, Veet and Finish?

Perhaps you might not pay particular attention to the parent company when buying a branded product, but when you’re looking for Marketing Graduate Programs in the FMCG industry, it important to understand who produces what and which company has a portfolio of strong brands to work for…

Think back to before you started Marketing 101, would you have known who manufactured Pringles or Dove? Why is it that most consumers are familiar with Nestle and Johnson & Johnson’s portfolio of products, but generally draw a blank when we’re asked about Reckitt Benckiser or Henkel?

It boils down to whether a company’s strategy is to individually brand or umbrella brand their portfolio of products – and both strategies have their own merits. We may have strong, recognisable brands amongst our 17 global power brands, but I’m sure our name does not come to mind when you’re planning which marketing/sales job to apply for, even though RB is one of the top performing FMCG companies in the world and just recently, our RB UK Marketing Director topped the list of UK’s most influential people in the Marketing industry. 

As a graduate, what resources do you have to find out about FMCG companies? When I was in my penultimate year at university, I went on Wikipedia.org and typed in ’FMCG’, firstly to see what it meant (!), but secondly to find out which companies fell into this category. From there, I went to each local corporate website and had a look at which ones were offering internships, graduate programs or entry level jobs.

Alternatively, you can go to your local supermarket or department store and look at the labels on recognised brands to find which parent company they belong to…you may be shocked to find that there are only a handful of key players in the market!

I think it’s important to research and investigate which company culture suits you – from reading their company brochures to attending career fairs where you can ask the graduates themselves, its vital to know what you’re getting yourself into. As mentioned most recently in my colleague Chris’ blog post, RB is not for everyone but if you share our cultural values of achievement, team spirit, entrepreneurship and ownership, you will thrive at RB.

What is RB doing to increase its corporate profile? In 2009, we updated our corporate logo to the high performance, pink kite display to better reflect the fast, direct and strong nature of our business and our brands. We have a strong presence on social network websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube –do you remember last year’s Facebook campaign where RB challenged users to upload videos of their suggestions for innovative products that would meet the needs of people going to music festivals?

Given that there are only a handful of global FMCG companies operating in Australia/New Zealand, you need to do your homework early or risk missing out some great opportunities that can take your career to the next level. Mind you, not everyone has a graduate program or positions in your country but at least you can have peace of mind know about any opportunities that do exist.

I don’t need to tell you that Marketing is a well sought after career and that the applicant pool is competitive, but do your research and you might just end up on top!