The role of product manager gained form some two decades ago. Product management has been an intrinsic part of running any business for ages, but a distinct position for the role cropped up comparatively recently.
So what’s the role of a product manager in a company? This is the person who is the bridge between identifying customer needs and matching them to the company's products or services and its broader business objective. In actual terms, a product manager turns this customer need and vision into a successful outcome.
Ben Horowitz, CEO of Opsware, has called the product manager the "CEO of the product." The product manager role has evolved to include playing a number of roles. The wide functional aspects involve using all resources and knowledge banks available to form cross-functional teams to bring it all together.
In our view, a product manager is a person who manages to balance and serve the needs of the business, the customer and the product itself. Product managers set the company goals, identify the right products to fulfil that goal and even visualise its success. They help motivate the entire team and, to a large extent, the business in bringing the whole process to fruition.
The most important task that a product manager handles besides product development, marketing, data analytics, etc., is aligning stakeholders around the vision for the product.
Marrying the Brand and Product
In broader terms, it translates to living and breathing the core principles of a brand represented by the product in every activity undertaken to bring it to the consumers.
If a company's brand value is centred around bringing quality products developed organically and in a sustainable manner, then its company culture, philosophy, content speak, advertisement, media, and business practices, including factory operations, transport and distribution tactics, should all reflect that.
An article by Harvard Business Review talks of how entrenched companies with legacy products and services forget to involve the customers in the decision making process. They believe their company's product and performance are enough to draw the audience. That is a fallacy.
Many CEOs of companies complain that they are not getting the results they want from their investments: A survey found that only 6% of CEOs are satisfied with their company's products and marketing innovations.
Consumer Engagement
Consumers and markets are dynamic, evolving creatures. Their needs and wants change with seasons and trends. Good marketers realise this fact and are constantly engaged with their consumers through surveys, events, digital media and other engagement fora.
Consumers, on their part, engage with and trust a brand more if they believe it gives a better experience or brings more knowledge. 95% of customers say they are more likely to remain loyal to a brand they trust.
Consumers form a connection with brands; hence, brands strive to offer consumers something that they can relate to. Ikea as a brand is identified with its furniture, service innovation and continuous value addition. It has become a part of global parlance.
Many big companies have suffered great losses as they failed to translate their brand philosophy into their actual product journey.
Nike's use of outsourced labour at bare minimal wages, Google's security issues, and the present dilemma of sustainable energy usage faced by most transport and oil and gas companies are cases in point.
Brand Values and Larger Business Objective
In today's digital world, where all actions are transparent and easily accessible, it’s doubly important that companies treat everything they undertake to reflect their company's brand value and market perception.
All brands should treat every touchpoint and value delivered to customers as an opportunity to communicate the larger business objective. And to see that turn into a reality, every person in the business needs to become a product manager.
Branding is no longer the responsibility of the product management and marketing teams but should be an insidious part of the whole organisation. It should seep into the ethos.
A good start would be a product management certification
Product management entails defining your brand based on your value to the market and strong internal brand identity. Every person in the organisation should be aware that they represent the company's product. Every task they undertake, be it research and development, technology, communication and more, should reflect the qualities of their products.
Good product management across the board in a company means for a brand to be embedded into the customers' psyche and lifestyle. Example, sports shoes become Nike's "Just Do It", or Xerox denotes photocopying.
It's time everyone becomes product managers if a company, business or organisation wants to reach its full potential.
