The FINANCIAL — Marketing jobs are currently much in demand in Georgia because of the sheer amount of growth opportunities offered by Georgian companies, marketing managers say.
The FINANCIAL — Marketing jobs are currently much in demand in Georgia because of the sheer amount of growth opportunities offered by Georgian companies, marketing managers say. However, they do worry about the possible deficit of good marketing managers in Georgia, since there is no single faculty at any university of Georgia that offers a Major in marketing.
“The deficit of marketing managers will be caused by increasing competition between the companies and the products as well,” said Levan Goginadze, Marketing and Business Development professional. “Development of the specialty of marketing manager is hindered by incorrect understanding of this profession. Often, marketing is associated with sales and advertisements. It is often perceived as extra expenses,” he added.
On the other hand, the majority of universities in Georgia do not offer a marketing specialty to students at all. This also disrupts the development of the marketing manager specialty, professionals say. Among such institutions are Tbilisi State University, Ilia State University, Free University. At these universities students can study economics or business to get a diploma of marketing manager. But those universities who offer this profession like International Black Sea University say that about 33 percent of their students choose marketing manager as their specialty.
“Demand for the marketing specialty is increasing in our country,” said Kakhaber Djakeli Fulbright Scholar, Professor Dr. IBSU. “As Georgian companies have become more active, the demand for marketing managers has increased accordingly. In order to develop manufacturing in the country it is necessary to have more professionals in the marketing field. To have professional marketing managers it is important to have theory and practice as well as developed business and time. Today Georgian companies use their marketing knowledge very well. The activities of Barambo, Natakhtari, Georgian banks indicate the development of marketing,” he added.
Marketing professionals in Georgia talk about the tricks they sometimes use in selling their companies’ products successfully and share their experience with The FINANCIAL.
“I have created several bonus clubs and saving systems as I knew loyal customer programmes were very popular in Georgia,” said Oto Shamugia, Head of the Marketing Department at JSC Populi. “As the Georgian market is already saturated with such products it was a challenge for me to present the production. The job of marketing executives is to present the product in such a way so that the best qualities of that item are highlighted to make it appealing to customers. Such kinds of projects are long term projects and do not impact on the sales as much as they impact on customers’ goodwill. In my opinion every marketing manager should try to exceed customers’ expectations,” he added.
“I am mainly using basic marketing tools,” said Tinatin Makaridze, Head of Marketing at Georgian Water and Power. “A few years ago there was a lack of competition to such an extent that it was almost not necessary to use marketing tricks. Little by little, this trend is changing as the country's economy is developing and many new brands are forming. Of course, besides creativeness it is important to have solid funding for successful marketing communications. Marketing is more or less a new profession in Georgia so managers use marketing tricks less here than in other more experienced countries. Marketing managers in Georgia manage their marketing activities in very conservative frameworks I think. Lack of experience determines the lack of innovations in this field in my opinion,” she added.
“If marketing manager use “tricks” to mislead customers, it is unprofitable for the product in the long term perspective as the customer will realise it sooner or later,” said Levan Goginadze, Marketing and Business Development professional. “It is necessary to use different methods to attract more and more customers especially when the competition is strong. Using different methods depends on the specific product itself. Different attention should be paid to for example an expensive watch and a bag of coffee,” he added.
“To become a successful marketing manager it is important to study, work hard, to identify and recognize the mistakes and perception of news in a timely manner. It is also important to be creative, to have critical and analytical thinking, to know human psychology. A marketing manager should know his/her product thoroughly well. Successful people in this profession are creative, self-confident and open to innovations. This is a profession that gives an opportunity to quickly see the results of your work,” he added.
“A marketing manager should follow the tendencies that are current worldwide and adapt them to the Georgian reality. That gives an opportunity for Georgian marketing to be similar to international marketing. Marketing managers need well developed communication skills, leadership abilities. They should be brave, should support innovative ideas, and should look for nonstandard decisions,” said Tinatin Makaridze.
“Beginner marketers in Georgia possess quite good theoretical knowledge and can receive advice and examples from excellent practices,” said Nina Jankowska, Head of the Marketing Division at Aldagi BCI. “That said however, the key factor for success is to put this knowledge in to reality in a proper, creative and effective way. There are lots of tools to carry out various advertising and marketing activities. A very important factor is to choose these tools, channels, properly and adjust them to the local market. In order to be successful it is crucial to know customers very well, feel their needs and constantly keep pace with market development. As we all know, marketing itself involves proper segment selection, raising customers, maintaining them, and establishing a good relationship with them,” she added.
“An offer that provides creative, innovatory, customer oriented and value-added features tends to always be successful,” added Jankowska.
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