Ruchir Shubhro - Assistant Brand Manager at Johnson and Johnson
What were your responsibilities?
I worked with the Tylenol® and Benylin®. The work was mostly project driven and required extensive end to end collaboration. The internship gave me a glimpse into the breadth and depth of work that a brand manager does day to day. Some memorable projects I worked on were developing a launch strategy for a new product, spearhead the media planning, forecast for the category sales and developing creatives for in season marketing campaigns.
What was a typical day at work?
As cliched as it sounds, there is no typical day as you are juggling multiple projects at the same time. The general day involved a quick stand up with the manager or broader brand team to align on priorities for the day. As the day progresses, I would have meetings with cross functional partners and media agencies to chalk out the projects. The work is highly collaborative as you constantly leverage the expertise of subject matter experts to gauge the right path to success for the project.
What was your favourite part of the internship?
Experiencing the ownership of the projects was something I loved during the internship. You are given a surprising amount of ownership from day 1. There is little to no delineation between the work done by a Full time ABM and an ABM intern. You are the lead on the projects and are expected to deliver results by end to end collaboration and strategic implementation. As a result, you are heavily invested in the project due to the high accountability and timelines.
What skills are important for this job?
As an ABM, you must leverage the expertise of your teammates, media partners and cross functional partners at each step to get the project to success. As a result, you need to focus on fostering meaningful relationships that help you get the job done. The learning curve is steep so one must act like a sponge to get a large amount of information in a short time to carry out the diverse projects. Having an agile mindset comes in handy as the projects often pivot and course correct mid-way.
What did you least expect going into the internship?
Going into the internship, I had my doubts on how I would connect with the team sitting in front of a screen. The onboarding team and the entire marketing business unit was extremely helpful throughout the process. Everyone is helpful and is invested in your success and growth. The sense of teamwork and collaboration (even though it was work from home) was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had so far.
Any advice for first year MBA Students?
Talk to upper years who interned with CPG and retail companies to understand what areas you are interested in. Be curious and learn about the brand stories and the marketing campaigns that influenced you. Develop your own brand and tell amazing stories.
What did you do before your MBA?
I worked in retail strategy, bringing brands such as Starbucks and H&M to the middle eastern consumer. I started in internal strategy and eventually moved to brand management and retail planning.
What are your post MBA goals?
I want to pursue a career in CPG brand management.