Term Research Paper

Business 1010 Dr. Briggs

Reilly Shook
Fall 2016

Job Title: Vice President of Marketing and or Senior Marketing Position

Job Description: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics senior positions are responsible
for the following duties:

Setting and carrying out departmental and organizational goals

Overseeing and managing a department or companies budget and finances
Managing the general activities of an assigned department, area or company
Negotiation of contracts
Analyze costs and operational expenses
Personnel hiring, firing and management issues

Breaking the position down further you get in to much more detail related to marketing in
general. Senior Marketing Employees or Vice Presidents are specifically responsible for the
advertising, promotions and events planned to promote a company, product or service offered. In
addition, Marketing Executives may set pricing strategies, forecast product demand and oversee
product development while monitoring any trends in the marketplace. (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2015).
When researching the position I noted several positions that were posted and their job
descriptions. One ad with the Maryland/DC Credit Union Association and one ad with Golden 1
Credit Union listed the following duties source (Careers, 2016) (Golden 1, 2016):

Each credit union stresses the need for effective management, communication, analytical,
development and financial skills. These are also key job requirements for many executives. An
ehow article written by Sam Amico points out additionally that all marketing employees are
responsible for getting the information out about their company in a positive and productive way.
Marketing can be both sales and public relations. They must be able to lead a team and analyze
trends. Communication skills, both written and verbal are essential (Amico, 2008).
General Career Path:
As with many positions within management, working your way up the ranks is expected. To be a
good marketer you must be familiar and or knowledgeable about the product or service you will
be promoting. Regis McKenna points out that not all marketing jobs can be filled from the same
type of candidate. For example someone tasked with marketing in a technical field may not have
the expertise needed to be a Marketing Analyst or the Marketing Vice President of a Credit
Union. While many companies recruit senior executives from outside their firms, many
Marketing people come from within the company they will be promoting for. The reason for this
is knowledge base. Given that a candidate has the basic skills for the marketing position, such as
social media training, communication skills, analytical skills, financial skills and so on then a
typical career path may look as follows (Services, 2014):

Marketing
Assistant or
Intern

Assistant
Brand
Manager

Brand
Manager

Marketing
Director

Group or
Division
Director

Senior
Company
Executive or
Vice President
of Marketing

Given that paths can vary depending on the persons background, degree and or experience this

may not be the path all take. Most experts agreed that marketers are most valuable when they
have many years of experience and that can only be gained by working in several different
positions and gaining the necessary experience.
General Education/Experience:
Most senior level executives in Marketing have at least a Bachelors degree and many have a
Masters due to the fact that many schools only offer a Masters in Marketing and not a
Bachelors. A degree in business is typical as it covers many of the aspects of marketing. As a
marketing candidate moves up through the ranks they will gain experience in such things as
finance, budgeting, personnel management, trouble-shooting, social media development, product
development, strategy and even psychology of sales. The other skills Marketing individuals
must either have or develop are strong verbal and written skills, confidence, creativity, selfmotivation and team management (Amico, 2008). To operate at the senior level of marketing it
is encouraged and usually required that you possess a Masters degree in marketing and at least
5-10 years of progressive experience and extensive experience operating at a senior level (VP
Sales - Marketing, 2015). Both credit union ads listed earlier also requested previous financial
institution experience as a requirement for their positons.
Average Salary:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics the 2015
Median Salary for Senior Marketing employees is $124.850.00. National estimates for Senior
Marketing employees are (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015):

Source Bureau of Labor Statistics

Payscale.com puts the median salary at $139,372 for at least 5 years experience. The attached
image breaks it down further including typical additional compensation items.

(Payscale Human Capital, 2016)

Career Outlook:
The growth potential for this position is currently around 6% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).
As social media continues to grow and we become a global society, all marketing people will be
forced to look at marketing in a global way. You wont be able to just run a local ad, you will be
challenged to seek out new avenues for business by accessing everyone you can over the internet
and social media platforms. As far as credit unions go, their marketing is limited to their
allowed membership base but even these individuals want their information across several
platforms. More and more people are banking online and never actually enter a branch. Credit
Unions can no longer rely solely on the personal touch and this makes it more difficult to stand
apart from the big banks. This however, is an opportunity for the marketing team and makes
them that much more important to the credit unions success in our current economy.
Professional Bio:

Brandi Kirksey is my boss and the Vice President of Marketing for Horizon Credit Union.
Brandi has been with Horizon for about 18 months now and previously was employed by
Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation - a division of the Davis School District. Brandi has her Bachelors
degree from Weber State University in Marketing. Brandi was drawn to Marketing after she had
taken an intro to business class in her sophomore year. At the time Brandi was also getting her
real estate license and thought the two made sense together. After graduating Brandi took a
position with Kier Corporation doing some marketing and some new home sales. She used her
marketing skills to make her one of the more profitable sales associates at Kier. She sponsored
events for Kier and did their company website and marketing plan. After several years Brandi
met her husband at an open house, got married, moved east and had 3 babies. After moving back
to Utah she took the job at PARC and served as the Board Liaison and Event Coordinator.
Brandi hosted events, wrote the annual strategic plan and did all the sales and marketing for
PARC. Her current boss is a member of PARCs Board and he hired her away to run the credit
unions marketing department. Brandi has gathered various experiences dealing with different
populations over her career. Currently Brandi is charged with running the marketing department,
maintaining and justifying her budget, all new product roll outs, events, marketing materials,
branch design, technology implementation and public relations. I currently run the social media
accounts under Brandis direction making sure that the appropriate message gets out to the
member. In her spare time, Brandi is also a professional photographer and uses this skill to make
sure all her marketing photos are ones she herself has taken and approved for use. Brandi has
loved marketing since her first class and cant imagine another career path. While working for
credit union is as lucrative as many other industries, she finds the varied responsibilities more
challenging and fulfilling.
Pros and Cons:

The varied responsibilities can be a pro and a con. Its a pro if you like having multiple things
going on at once and a con if this overwhelms you. Being a multi tasker is very important in this
position. The hours are long and even longer when an event is planned and running. On the pro
side, this job uses all of your skills on a daily basis and allows you to be both creative and
finance based. On the con side, the industry changes so much and so rapidly that keeping up
with the trends can be a job in itself. Burn out is high and many choose to leave this career after
a few years. This job can be in many different markets and you typically work in an office
environment. The perks like freebies and monetary gifts can be good as well. The competition
for these positions is stiff and there are lots of new graduates. The hours are long and the stress
is high because you are constantly having to meet deadlines and get your marketing ideas out
there and working. You have more freedom, you can progress quickly, stay challenged and
become financially successful if you can survive the stress and panic (Kumar, 2013).
Fit:
As I have worked these last few months in marketing I have come to realize its not for me.
While I enjoy the pace, the creativeness and the perks, I dont enjoy the idea of marketing. I am
good at sales, love people and my boss but I dont like being in an office all day. I am not good
with financials and I dont like all the extra hours my boss works just to keep on top of all the
things going on every day. If something doesnt work she takes the blame even if it wasnt done
how she planned it. For now this will be a job but not my future career path. I will keep looking
and hope I find my true path.
Bibliography
Amico, S. (2008). ehow. Retrieved from ehow:
http://www.ehow.com/about_6119240_job-description-vice-presidentmarketing.html
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015, December 17). Retrieved from U.S. Department of
Labor: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/top-executives.htm

Careers. (2016, November). Retrieved from MD/DC Credit Union Association:

https://www.mddccua.org/careers/14185
Golden 1. (2016, November). Retrieved from Glass Door:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/jobs.htm?
suggestCount=0&suggestChosen=false&clickSource=searchBtn&typedKeyw
ord=vice+president+marketing+credit+union&sc.keyword=vice+president+
marketing+credit+union&locT=&locId=
Kirksey, B. (2016, October 31). Vice President Marketing. (R. Shook, Interviewer)
Kumar, V. P. (2013, July 4). Pros and Cons of Marketing. Retrieved from
deccanherald.com: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/342489/pros-consmarketing.html
Payscale Human Capital. (2016, October 28). Retrieved from Payscale.com:
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Vice_President_(VP)
%2c_Marketing/Salary
Services, C. (2014). Career Path: Marketing. Retrieved from Michigan - Ross School
of Business.
VP Sales - Marketing. (2015). Retrieved from HR Village:
http://www.hrvillage.com/hrjobdesc/VPSales-Mktg.htm