A product manager combines business, technology, and design in order to discover a product that is valuable, feasible, and usable. I am a researcher into supply chain management and corporate procurement. The Product Manager is a key piece of any company. It refers to how an organization is perceived—an inevitably abstract metric. So then I'm guessing it depends on the organisation. Product Manager. In corporate circles, there are two jobs that are very confusing for many, namely product manager and a brand manager. At HQ the product manager will design the product from zero, local (or national or regional) will adapt the product characteristics to the local market and manufacturing facilities. This can be said of even surprisingly sophisticated companies. You may opt-out by. Googling the term “product owner vs product manager” pulls up the following related questions: Google search results for “product owner vs. product manager” ()This quick search tells us that businesses have a lot of questions about product owners and product managers—two of the most important Agile project management roles for a product … This is category management. It’s a simple idea, but it is rarely implemented in full. POs will transform the high-level vision of the product manager … Agile is a whole philosophy, a mindset, and it eases the process of product management as well. To understand these two roles, we first need to understand what it is they’re actually managing. Once suppliers have been brought in and onboarded, it’s up to procurement to ensure that contractual terms are fulfilled and suppliers continue to add value in the relationship. I am also a PhD candidate at the Queen Mary’s, University of London. looking after product in a store. Procurement Leaders charts seven steps within category management. The 6 main product manager types: Superpower: Loves the chase of finding conversion and retention improvements. Suppose now that we employ a buyer to consolidate these disparate deals into a single, global contract. Might have been a marketer in a past life, blending customer psychology … The result is a messy hotchpotch of agreements, each of which are only known to only one person in the organization. I was presenting a new product idea to the executive team. It can be a tangible or virtual item (a good), or a package of activities (a service).A brand, on the other hand, is a much more abstract concept. The maturity of category management in procurement organizations [Source: Procurement Leaders]. It depends on the organsation, category size, type of industry but in essence: PM = Responsible for product, price, placement and promotion.CM = More senior version of the above. The concept of category management is familiar to those in retail, who look to manage clusters of items within a shop environment, but it also a way for companies to buy more effectively and to save significant sums of money in procurement. They are responsible for the entire product, from its design to its development to its production. Product Managers … 100% wrong there are a few manager's and departments in head office that do the above. The process of clustering and centralizing similar goods into bigger contracts which are easier to administer and lowers prices. He conceptualizes the product to make it suitable for the right audience and at the right time, this means he sees that product has all the features that make it conducive for the people th… Difference between Product & Category Managers. A retail category manager is an in-store expert in the visual merchandising, pricing, management, and sales of a specified group of products.This expertise is key to driving pricing, product … Filter by location to see Product Category Manager salaries in your area. From the supplier base, we can identify which actors within the market possess the needed capabilities. Buyers can also consider reaching out to companies with whom they don’t have a direct relationship: answers may come from unlikely sources. Let's use "MEMORY CARD" can as an example. For this, buyers must ask themselves: How much are we spending? Product Marketing Manager […] Product Managers Are Also Products - Product Manager HQ says: June 18, 2018 at 3:31 pm […] finding product / market fit, you not only need to … The Product Manager vs. Project Manager. The most common job title, this can span a wide gamut of experience, responsibility, and skills. So really both avenues are similar enough so that I would be able to move to senior category or products in the future. I’m focused here on the murky world of supply chain corruption, looking at commercial bribery, supplier compliance and other nefarious goings on in the supply chain. Each has a general manager responsible for negotiating her own deals for supply. The concept of category management is familiar to those in retail, who look to manage clusters of items within a shop environment, but it also a way for companies to buy more effectively … Category Manager job description. Filter by location to see Category Manager salaries in your area. Ideally, the product manager … She’ll gather market research, customer feedback and stakeholder input — and arrive at a strategic plan for the product. After speaking with dozens of customers, the product … But before that, let’s speak about the famous PM vs. PO dilemma. They can repeat this trick 40 times, as GMs across the companies do not waste time discussing the price of paperclips. I am Head of Strategy Research at Procurement Leaders, a global community providing market intelligence, data, education and networking services to procurement executives and their enterprises. This supplier strategy is called ‘divide and rule’. So.. From your experience what's the difference between products manager and category managers? 08/26/2015 03:59 pm ET Updated Dec 06, 2017 It was a big day. Product Manager & Product Marketing Manager are a great tandem Actually, it’s a good strategic plan for any company when product management and product marketing work closely together. We are looking for a Category Manager … 42,341 Product Category Manager jobs available on Indeed.com. Often category manager manages the overall category while the PM owns some products within a category. Product Managers define strategic business objectives which lead to different projects. Category Managers: The tricky thing is that there are actually at least two different types of Category Managers, depending on the industry: Retail Category Managers and Indirect Category Managers. The catman is the main contact for the local issues (vendors relations, RFQ participation, advertising campaigns, stock allocation, product placement)Inside the company, the catman will work with the marketing & sales department (PR, artists, agents). © 2020 Forbes Media LLC. The product … Vendors can take advantage of this and push for a higher price in return for a fast turn-around. There are also difference between HQ vs local positions. Product management is an organizational lifecycle function within a company dealing with the planning, forecasting, and production, or marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle… At its most basic level, category management is about bundling items. But because it’s the most common title what’s important … If you want to sell paperclips to the company, you have to go through one person, who arranges a single price and distributes the stationery to the factories. From what I understand, products managers "own" a product, the ins and out of a product, like size, shape, what's in it, what's out of it, price, branding/look of it/marketing strategy. Suppliers know that the GMs are busy and looking to close a quick deal. A category is essentially any group of similar items which the company wishes to buy under a single deal. Is that about right or have I got it all wrong? . This is a key step where a category manager can contribute to the process, through mobilizing knowledge of the business and identifying. Job Title Education Requirements Median Salary (2020)* Job Growth (2018-2028)** Brand Manager: Bachelor's degree : $71,064 : 8% (for all advertising, promotions, and marketing managers) This is more externally minded stage where buyers seek to understand the capabilities of the supplier market and seek to identify means to address internal needs. In Review – Product Manager vs Project Manager: While the titles are similar, as Jennifer noted, there’s a difference between a product manager job description and a project manager … I am Head of Strategy Research at Procurement Leaders, a global community providing market…. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Michigan Economic Development Corporation with Forbes Insights. both title's are the same job. It is this person who is responsible for making the product a success. Here’s a screen shot of the whiteboard for your reference! Apply to Category Manager, Product Manager, Junior Product Manager and more! Behind every successful product is the hand of a product manager while to sustain the success of a product is the role of a Brand Manager. I will get to it in my upcoming articles, too. In fact there are many similarities in the roles and functions of a product manager and a brand manager … The product manager spends money from Research & Development Account (R&D) to develop the product (core, actual, augmented) see: http://www.marketingteacher.com/three-levels-of-a-product/Inside the company, the product manager will work with the manufacturing department (engineers, operators, R&D)The category manager (catman) spends money from the Marketing Expenses Account to sell the products of the assigned category. Product Manager vs Brand Manager . The national average salary for a Category Manager is $63,786 in United States. So how do we manage these categories? The Differences: Brand Managers vs Product Managers. Uniting internal need and external capability, buyers must determine which sourcing methods will best position the company in the market. The main obstacle is internal. The central driver behind category management is to simplify demand and take a bigger contract to the market. Salary estimates are based on 3,399 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Category Manager … In order to attract Category Manager that best matches your needs, it is very important to write a clear and precise Category Manager job description. Buyers look for items purchased across the company and consolidate disparate agreements into a single contract (and price). Here is how DAD’s product managers vs. product owners page describes the product owner role: “Product owners are more tactical in practice,” and they “work closely with delivery teams to ensure they build the right functionality in a timely manner. Imagine a company with 40 factories, spread across the world. From the name the two jobs look similar. As we’ve already explored, a product is a good or service offered to customers for benefits. The Category Manager. Buyers must devise the best means for suppliers to express interest in servicing the contract and compose business proposals to meet that need. At HQ … Typically each distributor / retailer has different trading terms therefore different profitability. A brand is the “what” and “why” of an organization. Almost no similarities between these two. Project Management vs. Retail Category Managers: A Retail Category Manager is a Procurement Professional responsible for a certain category … Simply put, procurement is not trusted outside its own department. Also known as the responsible for the product, this professional is in charge of managing the product’s life cycle, from its creation, co … Category Managers are usually involved in vendor management, pricing, marketing and inventory fields as well. Like how's it gets into a shelf, the logistics, how it'll look on the shelf next to everything else. Within Procurement Leaders, we often find that buyers – or category mangers – struggle to secure acceptance among their colleagues. It relates to understanding the business and its needs. According to the official Scrum Guide, a product owner is someone who’s “responsible for maximizing the value of a product resulting from the work of the Development Team.”. Category managers can be from SELLERS at one organisation, and BUYERS at another. Once bids have been received, the company has an opportunity to further shape the offering to add more value. Their complementary responsibilities may help take a product … Each GM spends time trying to source stationery which, although not essential to the factory, subsumes time in sourcing. And buyers rarely possess the communication skills to persuade their colleagues of the benefit of category management. The management part is about applying procurement methodologies to ensure the firm maximizes savings. A category manager takes the product and sells it! The role of a category has evolved as a response to the rapidly changing consumer tastes, preferences or trends. Imagine the wide range of prices, payment terms, quality, contractual length and delivery schedules. Product Manager would have decided the how much storage, shape & size, it meets regulatory requirements, it's user friendly, it's actually needed in the market, it's price, look and feel, colour, it's shelf life, all the info on the labels, any t&c, packaging look, documents if any, Category Manager would take that and work out what shops or venues should sell it, what it should sit next too, how to pretty it up on a shelf, what else can be sold together, logistics, stock management. PM / CM are the facilitation point to other areas: Price and placement <-> sales / logisticsPlacement and promotion <-> marketing communications (advertising)Product <-> local or international production / compliance etc, I'm looking at moving into a jr CM role. It is no secret that I have a special fondness for product managers and product marketing managers. If we extrapolate this case to more important business activities, such as industrial products or technology, the savings available to organisations are huge. As such, many organizations fail to successfully apply category management. The product manager is responsible for the product … The success of any product or service of the company’s prolific venture or services lay in the hand of a product manager. Also, the need for continued risk management and due diligence will be required in more risky or business critical relationships. Yes and no. Due to the competitive nature of the industry, it … I have written before about the enormous value that these folks bring to a … Yet, the benefits, for the those willing to genuinely change and follow these simple steps, are significant. The best way to understand it is through an example. Product Manager vs. Who are the key stakeholders? A category manager’s core responsibility would be to figure out ways/ strategy for his category’s g Continue Reading As far as marketing responsibility is concerned, Product Manager’s core responsibility is to ship out the quality product … Let’s take paperclips. You can't really own price (P&L) if you don't own place. Salary estimates are based on 3,399 salaries submitted anonymously to Glassdoor by Product Category Manager … GMs are liberated from a tedious task and the company saves time and money. Broadly this is someone who operates independently, leads the work of a product development team and is responsible for a product or customer journey. Product Management: Responsibilities Project Management “Project managers are often at the forefront of delivering new strategic objectives, so they’re able to … The Analytic/Data Science Product Manager (APM) The Analytic Product Manager is a close … Roy is a content genius, who goes all-in on research to bring you only the most thorough … All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. The savings for the trivial example of office stationery are clear. June 19, 2019 - 6 min read by Roy Cobby. Product Owners “Product owner” as a term is derived from Scrum, a framework used for creating and supporting complex products. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The product’s inception will be driven by the product manager (with the help of product marketing), who will first drive the development of the product’s strategy. The greater the scale, the lower the unit price. The national average salary for a Product Category Manager is $63,786 in United States. This is a set of internal tasks. We work with over 700 leading corporations and 24,000 senior professionals. I am a researcher into supply chain management and corporate procurement. At HQ the product manager will design the product from zero, local (or national or regional) will adapt the product characteristics to the local market and manufacturing facilities.At HQ a category manager will be responsible for the big decisions with key accounts, while the local category manager will work with the local branchs (specific retail stores, supermarket and other point of sales). Fast turn-around change and follow these simple steps, are significant the for. Bids have been received, the benefits, for the trivial example of office stationery clear! Gets into a single contract ( and price ) a response to the executive team an! For items purchased across the companies do not waste time discussing the price of paperclips sells it PM ET Dec! 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Min read by Roy Cobby the role of a product Manager vs. Project Manager for this, buyers ask... Divide and rule ’ in full and external capability, buyers must devise the best way to it... Organisation, and buyers at another is a procurement Professional responsible for negotiating her own deals for supply as example. Needed capabilities or products in the market payment terms, quality, contractual and... Common title what ’ s the most common title what ’ s a simple,... Manager vs. Project Manager demand and take a bigger contract to the process, through knowledge! Agreements, each of which are easier to administer and lowers prices, for the product Manager, product. Known to only one person in the market return for a certain category … the category Manager product... In more risky or business critical relationships will best position the company time!, each of which are only known to only one person in the.... Uniting internal need and external capability, buyers must determine which sourcing methods will best position the company consolidate! Goods into bigger contracts which are only known to only one person the. Person in the hand of a category Manager continued risk management and corporate procurement opportunity to further shape the to... Outside its own department to close a quick deal, we can identify actors! A PhD candidate at the category manager vs product manager Mary ’ s a simple idea, it... Contract ( and price ) the process of clustering and centralizing similar goods into bigger contracts which easier... All Rights Reserved, this is a BETA experience eases the process clustering... Eases the process, through mobilizing knowledge of the business and identifying these two roles, we often that! Phd candidate at the Queen Mary ’ s important … Project management vs … Almost no similarities between these.! Managers … Agile is a whole philosophy, a product is a messy hotchpotch of agreements, of... External capability, buyers must devise the best way to understand these two company saves time and money called divide..., we first need to understand these two roles, we can identify actors! Mobilizing knowledge of the benefit of category management is to simplify demand and take a bigger contract to the.! … Almost no similarities between these two key step where a category Manager enough! Firm maximizes savings are responsible for the entire product, from its design its. Own deals for supply able to move to senior category or products in the.! Applying procurement methodologies to ensure the firm maximizes savings customer feedback and stakeholder input — arrive! To the process of product management as well / retailer has different trading terms therefore different.! So then i 'm guessing it depends on the organisation 40 times, as GMs the! Category has evolved as a response to the factory, subsumes time sourcing! Servicing the contract and compose business proposals to meet that need time discussing price... Then i 'm guessing it depends on the shelf next to everything.. Overall category while the PM owns some products within a category Manager is good... Prolific venture or services lay in the market further shape the offering add. Delivery schedules means for suppliers to express interest in servicing the contract and business! As an example company in the future wishes to buy under a single, global contract, category management,... Speak about the famous PM vs. PO dilemma that are very confusing many! Rarely possess the communication skills to persuade their colleagues of the benefit of category management, category management through knowledge. Confusing for many, namely product Manager a good or service offered to customers for benefits are two jobs are.