Tips for mastering marketing from Uganda Marketers Society ignite session 2023

The evening was a cocktail of attendees from all walks of life and partnerships notably The Chartered Institute of Marketing and Uganda Marketer's Society which bore the event. Over the clinking of bottles and hush-hush of networking, came the voice of the moderator Primrose Kobusingye, Head of Marketing FINCA Uganda LTD.

Soon she was joined by Juliet Mpiima, Head of Human Resources NCBA Bank Uganda and Emmy Hashakimana, the Marketing and Innovation Director at Uganda Breweries.

The theme of the session was "Building a marketing career. The critical skills at different levels." This is what the panel of speakers had to share.

"If I think about marketing, I think I ended up getting into marketing because I had an interest for it," said Hashakimana pointing out that one has to have an interest in the industry in order to get on the path to success.

When asked about the different marketing avenues and if some are better than others, he said, "I honestly believe we are all playing with different talent and some of us are stronger and more than the other. So I think your success may lie in one of them and the trick is identifying what that is. So it doesn't matter which sector you work in. I think it is a new strong asset and if you also love it, that's what matters most." 

"Depending on your strengths, you have somewhere to be," said Hashakimana. He added that earlier on in the industry aspiring marketers have to be jacks of all marketing trades if presented with opportunities. However, with time you are forced to make a choice. 

Although it is hard to specialise in everything, having knowledge of the different departments can best position you for productive interactions and coordination as you grow.

"I'm marketing director, which means I had to get a bit of everything in the different facets. I have never been an expert at all of them but I need to be able to ask the right questions," he explained.

According to Mpiima, "The noisiest part of the office is the marketing department." However, outgoing people don't enjoy an advantage over introverts in the department. 

"It is not always sunshine people. I don't think so. I worked with what were actually some of the most brilliant minds in the region. Some of them are pretty introverted, but they come alive in their intimate spaces. So if you get to know and understand what makes them tick, you actually see that shine. They are probably not the kind that goes out in terms of the solution. Yeah. And there are people who should do it. There are people who will do more activities that involve the camera. Somebody has to pass the numbers and produce what you guys call the ROMI (return on market investment),"

"So there are many other things that have to be done and may not necessarily be the kind of work that will be enjoyed by the person who just wants to talk. But I feel that the blend of personality is beautiful and it complements each other and that you'll find that in personality the various challenges allowed it to live. So it is. It's very deceptive to think that the person who shows up and talks has the most to teach," she explained.

In Mpiima's experience, the marketing talent in Uganda is vibrant and growing. However, it works differently in this era than in previous ones. "My experience with the marketing talent is that to attract them, they must love your brand, so they only come to you if they actually love your brand."

When asked which of the two departments, Marketing and Human Resources, is responsible for attracting recruits, Mpiima said, "After you bring them on, if you do not give them the ability to be able to do loyal business decisions, be able to change things in the place, then you probably will lose them as fast as you got them."

"To attract them you must have the right offer and also you must have a career process so that in general it's a very exciting new home," she added.

On the marketing front, Hashakimana said, "When I'm recruiting I look at great things, judgment, drive and influence and that's is pretty important of all the numbers. Starting with influence and influence has a lot to do with leadership. I think you're always going to have to influence people to get things done."

When he was asked about marketing avenues earlier, Hashakimana had hinted that in today's world, there's the ChatGPT answer and the human experience answer. Addressing the issue of Artificial Intelligence, the marketer said the new field is going to get better with time. However, he encouraged marketers to double down on the principles because those don't change much unlike practices.

"The basic message is getting the principles and the second bit is ensuring you're always agile with everything that changes you always agile and you know interested in what's happening," he said.

Mpiima expounded on Hashakimana's point saying employees should rely on personal and professional growth as much or maybe even more than they rely on organisational career development programs. She also called for initiative and showcasing multiple talents wherever necessary.

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