Some descriptionClaire Sweet is a student ambassador for CIM South West  Claire holds the marketing position of Global Brand Manager for Triton Tools at Powerbox International.

The title of my blog is ‘Why I chose marketing as a career’…but actually I think it chose me. Sometimes paths just happen and you end in a career that you love and a job that is rewarding.

Graduating from University

After graduating from De Montfort University with a degree in Arts Management,  I spent some time as reporter at the local newspaper, following which, I worked in communications for a short while before landing a role as a Team manager at the Screwfix Contact Centre. After enjoying managing a team for over a year, I headed back to what I knew when a position came up to coordinate the internal communications for the contact centre. It was during this role that I got to spend time with the Screwfix marketing team. We would meet and discuss all the latest marketing campaigns that were planned so I could keep the contact centre team updated and informed.

Moving into marketing

I always looked forward to the marketing meetings…I was super interested in the campaigns and how these affected the business and the calls expected to come in as well as all the exciting creative that went along with each project. Being in a communications role is very similar to marketing.  In my role, I was ‘marketing’ the marketing campaigns to the staff in the contact centre who would then be aware of that was happening in order to be able to talk to customers about it and recognise any details customers may have, such as voucher codes, etc.

I expressed my interest in marketing to the marketing manager and I was super lucky to be given a 6-week secondment on a new project…I left the marketing team when I left Screwfix six years later!

Working as a Marketing Assistant

The project I was working on as a marketing assistant was for a new store concept and I was really lucky to be able to learn the marketing ‘trade’ during this time (not that you ever stop learning)! I learned all about the 7 Ps and how every ‘P’ links to the next. I learned how to put together a store launch plan, a PR plan and put together a new catalogue. It was a fantastic experience and I was lucky enough to be able to then study for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Level 4 Certificate  I really enjoyed both learning and working at the same time as I was able to put theory into practice, whilst also using my ‘on the job’ knowledge to help with my studies.

Promotion to a Marketing Manager

Following my Level 4 and a promotion to a Marketing Manager , I served many roles at Screwfix within marketing: working on other new projects, managing the local marketing team and working as the Direct Mail marketing manager. During this time, I took a year outside of the marketing roles and became the PA to the Marketing Director and the Operations & Property Director. The opportunity came up and I thought that this would be a great way to learn more about marketing from the director’s point of view. I was able to gain a great insight into the day to day role of a marketing director and understand his thinking and how things worked. The year I spent in that role was incredibly educational and also gave me a great chance to make some important contacts, as well as seeing the marketing team from a different point of view and seeing how it all worked.

Undertaking further study and professional qualifications

During this time, I also studied for my CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing Level 6  to further my learning.

Continued learning has always been important to me. As well as learning on the job, I love to learn the theory alongside. I believe we can never stop learning and to continue to learn can only make us better and more equipped in our roles. I love marketing because we are always learning new things. We are learning about customers, learning about their wants and needs and learning about the impact of marketing campaigns. Working in marketing is so varied. Two days are never the same and there’s no chance to get bored – and I love that the most. I love meeting new people and working with like-minded enthusiastic marketers. Getting the chance to talk to your customers and create new ways to make decision making easier for them and seeing the impact of a particular campaign is incredibly rewarding.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)

I was looking for other ways to become more involved in marketing and, earlier this year, I was lucky enough to be successful in gaining a place as the Student Ambassador on the South West Board of the CIM. My role as the Student Ambassador involves chatting to potential and new students about the course and the CIM from someone who has been where they are – studying hard to get an essay in on time or revising for that final exam! The role is really fulfilling – if I can just give one useful piece of advice to a student that will help them, then I feel I am serving my purpose!

Acquiring the role of Global Brand Manager

After working in various marketing roles at Screwfix, earlier this year, I was incredibly thrilled to land a new role as the Global Brand Manager for Triton Tools at Powerbox International Ltd. My new role involves creating and executing a marketing plan for the brand by creating exiting content, making some great contacts with people who use our tools and investigating other routes of increasing the brand awareness. It’s certainly been an exciting three months so far and I’m looking forward to what the future will bring – both with my marketing career and with the CIM.