Marketing in the field of telecommunications. Marketer for the telecommunications market: features of a modern career. Determining pricing policy

Just a few years ago, none of the Russian telecommunications companies had a marketing service in their structure. The functional responsibilities of the employees of the so-called marketing services were incomparable with what we mean by the concept of “marketing” today.

What kind of MARKETING could we talk about when in the field of communications 7-8 years ago there was no market as such (with its inherent attributes of competition and market pricing). Later, thanks to the flexible policy of the Ministry of Communications, demonopolization of the industry began, and the first non-state telecom operators appeared. Today, in some of the most advanced regions of Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.), the transition from state monopoly to a market with elements of state management has actually been completed. In Moscow, for example, communication services are provided by more than 100 companies. That is, a competitive environment has formed with a large number of independent companies that independently determine pricing and production policies. The state controls only the entry and exit from the market, and also determines the minimum rules for working on it.

Changing operating conditions for telecom operators have led them to realize the need to adjust their business strategy and tactics. One of the first steps of telecom operators was the creation of divisions responsible for marketing. Due to the acute shortage of specialists of this profile, there is an increased demand for them. Demand creates supply. Articles, brochures, and books began to appear in the industry and mass media aimed at filling the knowledge gap in marketing in the field of telecommunications services. These publications give a good idea of ​​the functions and methods of marketing in various areas of the communications industry: cellular, telephone, data transmission, etc. Despite their obvious scientific and educational value, it is quite difficult to talk about their applied significance. Most of the books are an attempt to translate the works of F. Kotler, I. Ansof and other foreign luminaries of marketing in relation to the field of information services. As a rule, Russian authors do not have experience working at telecommunications enterprises in modern conditions or were involved as consultants on individual projects, therefore they are absent in almost all publications real examples and know now.

Let's try to fill this gap. Let's consider with practical point view of the theoretical concept of marketing in the field of telecommunication services.

In one of the early Russian works on communication marketing (Marketing in the service sector using the example of communication enterprises. - Moscow: CNTI "Informsvyaz", 1993), the authors introduced the concept of "the concept of marketing communication services", which provides:

1) study of consumers in market conditions;

2) studying and forecasting potential demand for communication services;

3) identifying the enterprise’s capabilities to meet the demand for services;

4) creation of new and development existing species services;

5) determination of pricing policy;

6) bringing the service to the consumer by improving the system and methods of their implementation;

7) implementation of marketing activities, including planning and control.

Although the concept is not entirely adequate to the current situation, the main functions are listed correctly and allow you to form an opinion about the marketing of communication services. Let's analyze the components of the concept using the example of tasks performed by the marketing service (hereinafter - SM) of one of the largest Moscow telecommunication operators.

Studying consumers in market conditions

Objective: To analyze the profitability of various segments of the consumer market for communication services, to assess the priorities in the use of communication services by various groups of consumers.

Goal: Optimization of sales efforts.

Initial data:

The operator’s unsegmented client base: client name, information on the nomenclature and volumes of consumption of communication services (more than 10,000 pieces of information). Published data on the structure and size of client bases of competing companies. Directories. Expert assessments specialists - SM employees.

Considering the availability of reliable information only on its own clients, SM accepted the assumption that the results of the study, with a certain degree of reliability, can be generalized and extended to the entire market of business subscribers in Moscow, having previously adjusted the result taking into account published data on the client bases of other operators.

The first step was the development of a classifier for consumers of communication services. A 3-level classification has been developed.

1. Level - by type of property ( individual, commercial structure, budget - government organization, non-profit structures, other).

2. Level - according to the share of participation of foreign capital (Russian, foreign, joint venture).

3. Level - by type of activity ( financial institution, consulting, production, transport services, scientific and educational organizations, telecommunications companies, hotels, business centers, trading and intermediary firms and so on - more than 40 types in total).

The second stage is collecting information about the company's clients. To collect the necessary data, additional employees were involved in the SM, who conducted a telephone survey of clients. The survey was conducted under the pretext of “finding out what the client wants.” In addition to the information load, the telephone survey had a positive advertising aspect, that is, it served as a reminder that the telecom operator is mindful of its customers and is committed to improving operations in accordance with the wishes of customers. For companies with several types of activities, only the main type of activity was recorded in the classification. The results of the telephone survey were selectively checked against reference information in several databases (Yellow Pages, Euroaddress, etc.). The degree of compliance was established to be over 80%.

The third stage is information processing and analysis client base operator, including billing service details. The number of clients in each category was calculated. Average and absolute indicators were determined for the number of lines, numbers, average income per number, per line, average monthly expenses for communication services (total expenses and separately for international, long-distance, local communications) for each group.

An analysis of the structure of our own client base and clients of competing companies revealed the need to change the sales policy in various segments of the consumer market. For many, the result came as a surprise. High profitability and, consequently, the attractiveness of a number of segments that were traditionally classified as low-income and uninteresting from a commercial point of view were revealed. Based on the results of the study, a portrait of a typical consumer of the company's services was compiled. Large-scale marketing and advertising campaigns have been developed and carried out for this category of consumers, ensuring a stable position of the company in the market.

Studying and forecasting potential demand for communication services

Task: Organize operational information support for making management decisions.

Goal: Drawing up a company income forecast, adjusting the sales strategy, etc.

Initial data:

Official published data on industry income, the dynamics of its development, events, facts, rumors, etc. Information purchased from third-party consulting organizations. Electronic information media (Internet, publication archives, etc.).

The determining factor in making the right management decision is the completeness, reliability and efficiency of the source information. An important factor is also the form of presentation of information material and its brevity.

In order to provide company management necessary materials The marketing service collects and processes large amounts of initial information on telecommunications topics, as well as on related markets. The entire range of source data that may have a direct or indirect impact on the communications market is filtered.

Given the limited human resources SM, most of the reviews of weekly publications and news on the communications market are purchased from news agencies. The information they provide is, as a rule, highly specialized in nature. To fully assess the communications market and make forecasts for its development, information is needed general(political events, economic situation, state of the real estate market, investment climate, taxation and much more). SM receives this information from newspapers (Kommersant, Vedomosti, MK, MN, etc.), magazines (Expert, Itogi, Dengi, Vlast, etc.), from Internet (www.rbc.ru, www.nns.ru, www.interfax-news.com), other information sites). The Internet is ahead of all other sources of information in terms of speed and completeness of coverage of events, but contains few relevant reviews and studies. This gap is filled by specialized magazines (Connect, "Networks and Systems", LAN, "Vestnik Communications", "Communication Courier", "Technologies and Communications") and newspapers ("Computerra", PCWeek, "Moscow Telephone Operator", others).

The abundance of information about the communications market is obvious. Therefore, it makes no sense to bring all the information to the attention of management. The most interesting news and publications are scanned and placed in an electronic archive developed by SM, in which information is grouped into the following sections:

1. Brief news summary.

2. Communications industry.

3. Telephone communication.

4. Company news.

5. Regional news.

6. Satellite communications.

7. Mobile communications.

8. International market.

9. New technologies and equipment.

10. Internet and data transmission.

11. Other news (investments, exhibitions, major political events and other news affecting the communications market).

The electronic archive is updated weekly. Access to the archive is organized on the Intranet platform using a Web interface. The size of each weekly issue is 30-50 pages and, in addition to the full texts of the articles, contains their brief annotations in the form of a contextual table of contents. Thus, the company's management has access to the most important information online.

Analysis of information placed in the archive makes it possible to assess and make forecasts for the development of the industry. By using a significant number of independent sources of information, the marketing promotions competing companies and develop operational countermeasures. Electronic archive data allows you to save money spent on collecting information about both competitors and partners.

Skillful organization of an operational information system implies the readiness of the CM to carry out any one-time instructions from management at a sufficiently high level. For example, if it is necessary to find out within one day all possible information on a competing company that will take part in a tender, if there is no data file on the competitor, the following procedure is applied:

1.Via help services The contact phone number and address are found out.

2. SM is selected in electronic archive and on the Internet all publications in which the name of a competing company was mentioned.

3. A call is made to the company to find out the standard commercial conditions for the provision of communication services. At the same time, they ask about the availability of a license to provide communication services and the type of equipment used. As a rule, this is publicly available information.

4. Using the license database, the fact that a given company has a license, its wording, regions to which it is valid, expiration date, etc. are checked.

5. According to the database of the Moscow Registration Chamber, the composition of the founders, the size authorized capital, property type.

6. Based on publicly available telephone databases, clients of this company are identified and their brief analysis- identification of industry, territorial or other specifics. To form an opinion about the work of a company, you should call several clients of a competing company and, introducing yourself as an employee, find out whether the client is satisfied with everything.

7. Under the pretext of receiving additional information about the company for the purpose of subsequent acquisition of services, a visit of the management system manager to the office of a competing company is organized. Based on visual data, the management system manager can make a conclusion about the company: its size (number of employees, level of computerization and work organization), state of finances (office decoration, neatness of employees, etc.).

8. The next step is to identify hidden (semi-secret) information about the company. The SM manager will play the role of a potential dealer of the company's services. The vast majority of operators have ready-made so-called dealer packages, which indicate dealer rates and provide unpublished information about the company, the equipment used, the presence of technical limitations, etc. There are other legal ways to find out such information.

9. Together with the sales service manager, the SM manager determines the circle of people in the organization conducting the tender who may be personally interested in lobbying the interests of a competing operator. If the fact of lobbying is established, then it is necessary to develop a set of measures to neutralize this employee or to discredit him in the eyes of the organization’s management.

Based on the data obtained, an analytical report is prepared and provided to management.

Concluding the example of organizing information support for management, one cannot fail to mention the acquisition of management information materials from third-party consulting companies that specialize in conducting research and maintain their own databases. However, you cannot rely entirely on data from consulting companies. Any third-party information requires careful verification before being reported to management.

Identifying the enterprise’s capabilities to meet demand for services

Task: Analyze the efficiency of using existing equipment (hubs for connecting subscribers) and justify the placement of new equipment - network planning.

Goal: Obtaining maximum economic effect taking into account limited technical resources.

Initial data:

Internal statistical information of the company. Prospects for development of Moscow. Data from the Russian Academy of Sciences on various indicators (demographic, economic, housing, etc.), detailed by Moscow region.

One of the most interesting tasks in marketing communication services is planning network development. To solve this problem, the SM uses the geographic information system (GIS) MapInfo 4.0, which provides linking of data arrays through an address or other code to a location on the available SM electronic map Moscow. The capabilities of a similar system (Marketing Geo) are covered in detail in # 3 (21) of the Marketing and marketing research in Russia." The essence of solving the problem is to compare a significant amount of cartographic information on various topics, on the basis of which a conclusion is made about the prospects and feasibility of placing network equipment in a particular zone. Several experts participate in solving the problem. Each expert ranks the zones by priority. Then the concordance coefficient is calculated (the level of agreement between expert opinions). If expert opinions coincide for the majority of zones, then the result is a list of zones ranked by priority for installing network equipment.

The difficulty of the task lies not in matching the cards, but in the preparatory stage. Preparing initial information for mapping is a very labor-intensive process: it is necessary to bring address information in informal databases to a single format that is understandable for the program. For the first time, while solving the problem of planning network development, SM was faced with the problem of the lack of the necessary zoning of Moscow by telephone exchange coverage areas (network equipment is installed on the territory of the telephone exchange). SM independently developed such a zoning layer for the territory of Moscow. In relation to this layer, indicators of the attractiveness of zones for placing network equipment were calculated. Information was visualized in the form of 5-8-level color range(for example, black is the most attractive area according to a given criterion, followed by blue, green... the least attractive areas are marked in white). The gradation of values ​​for the attractiveness criterion of zones is selected in such a way that there are no more than 2-3 zones with the highest value, and so on in the direction of increasing the number of zones, in proportion to the decrease in their level of attractiveness.

Experts were asked to make a conclusion about the feasibility of installing equipment based on the following maps of Moscow, divided into more than 200 segments:

1) distribution of subscriber density of the operator’s network in Moscow (separately by clients, numbers, lines);

2) distribution of the density of requests for communication services (separately by clients, numbers, lines);

3) distribution of failure density by technical reasons(divided into 2 classes of reasons, separately by clients, numbers, lines);

4) forecast of the sales department for the implementation of large projects for the year (by clients, numbers, lines);

5) load level (in%) of equipment installed on the network;

6) topology of networks of closest competitors and their published development plans;

7) distribution of the density of future developments in Moscow: a) until 1999, b) until 2010;

8) cartographic data of the Russian Academy of Sciences about Moscow, zoned by the territory of post offices (population density, distribution of Internet service consumers, distribution of industrial and trade zones, etc.)

In total, more than 20 maps have been prepared. To draw up a conclusion, an expert usually only needs to review 5-8 cards. This approach to network planning provided efficient use operator's technical resources. Network equipment installed in accordance with SM recommendations was ensured by a steady demand for it from new clients.

Creation of new and development of existing types of services

Task: Develop and implement a new service for large foreign companies.

Goal: Increase the attractiveness of the operator by expanding the range of services. Make a profit by promoting new services.

Initial data:

Internal information about the volumes and range of services consumed by large clients. Internet. Foreign industry literature.

Large foreign companies are one of the most profitable segments of the communication services market. They are also the most demanding, both in terms of tariffs and the range of services provided to them. Abroad, so-called smart network services have long existed, which are an addition to basic communication services. Intelligent communication network (ICN) services include: personal number, debit and credit telephone cards, voice mail, additional charge numbers, toll-free numbers, etc.). Until recently, these services were not technically feasible on Russian networks communications. However, after the possibility of technical implementation became possible, there was no demand from domestic companies for these services. Another thing is foreign corporations.

Based on the results international studies market of ISS services and data on the Moscow market, the marketing service worked out ISS services for which there could be demand: tariff schemes and procedures for providing these services were drawn up.

For example, the “toll-free number” service is in demand among large companies that conduct large-scale advertising campaigns simultaneously in many regions of Russia. All calls come to the central office in Moscow, that is, there is no need to maintain offices in all regions. A subscriber from another city does not pay for a long-distance call; the company that owns the “toll-free number” does it for him. As a rule, this is a beautiful, easy to remember number, universal for all regions (for example, 8-8-095-7777). In America, such numbers are called “800” after the first digits at the beginning of the number. The toll-free number service was offered to well-known foreign companies. Some of them appreciated the convenience new service and connected several Russian cities with a “toll-free number” to the Moscow office.

Expanding the range of communication services through ISS services made it possible not only to improve the operator’s image in the eyes of foreign companies, but also to extract additional profit from the sale of these services. Although at the first stage the income from their sale is small.

Determining pricing policy

Objective: To develop a flexible tariff system that meets the requirements of various consumer segments.

Goal: Maintain (increase) the company's income level. Attract new clients, retain existing clients.

Initial data:

Internal statistical information of the company. Information about the company's competitive advantages/disadvantages in relation to its closest competitors. Contact details of most Moscow telecom operators. Internet.

In conditions of an economic crisis, the natural desire of companies is to reduce the costs of using communication services (refusal of telephone lines, strict control over volumes telephone conversations, use of low-quality services of alternative operators, etc.). In this situation, it is impossible to do without adjusting the tariff policy. The decision to reduce tariffs for all customers is impractical, as it will lead to significant losses in operator revenue. At the same time, if tariffs for certain categories of users are not reduced, this will lead to their outflow.

Before the crisis, there was only one tariff scheme, which limited the range of the operator’s clients to those companies that spent more than $150 on one line. US per month. After the crisis, the number of such clients sharply decreased, that is, in terms of monthly payments they moved into the category of “less than $150.”

SM conducted an analysis of the company’s clients and divided them into four segments depending on the level of spending on communication services and the specifics of the company’s business.

1) “large office” - costs for communication services are more than 150 dollars. per line per month;

2) “average office” - communication costs from 100 to 150 dollars. per line per month;

3) “small office” - communication costs from 50 to 100 dollars. per line per month;

4) "Moscow" - less than 50 dollars. per line per month.

For each category, a flexible tariff plan has been developed that determines the size of the subscription fee, the minimum bill amount and the tariffication of calls within Moscow. The developed schemes have been adjusted in relation to the tariffs of their closest competitors in such a way as to be a little more attractive. A simplified example of the analysis of tariff plans is presented in the diagram (in reality, cost calculation is much more complicated - it is necessary to take into account many factors, such as the structure of the client’s long-distance communication, the volume of incoming and outgoing local communication, payment for additional services, etc.).

The diagram shows that the lower the curve of total monthly expenses, the more attractive the tariff plan. Tariff plans 1 and 4 practically overlap or are very close to the competitor’s tariff plan at all levels of expenditure on communication services. Designed four tariff plan made it possible to reduce the outflow of customers to the camp of competing companies, while it was possible to attract new customers for whom the operator’s services were previously unavailable.

Bringing services to the consumer by improving the system and methods of their implementation

Task: Conduct a marketing campaign to attract customers. Evaluate the effectiveness of activities.

Goal: Increase company income.

Initial data:

Database of existing clients. Telephone directories and databases.

The operator has developed and introduced several new services, in addition to reducing tariffs for basic services. The operator’s advertising department developed and carried out a large-scale advertising campaign, however, it did not bring the desired results: the response rate was significantly lower than the design one. It was decided to apply a complex of direct marketing in certain areas of Moscow. First of all, these are areas where the operator has a developed network infrastructure and free technical resources.

SM acted as follows:

1) market segmentation of business subscribers was carried out in order to draw up a portrait of a potential consumer of new services;

2) text developed newsletter a feedback form has been drawn up in the form of a questionnaire sent by fax to the head of the company from the general director of the operator with a profitable commercial offer;

3) Moscow business zones with the highest density of potential clients meeting the established criteria were identified (the selection of zones was made in connection with the automatic telephone exchange);

4) based on established address restrictions and telephone indexes, databases with information on companies (name, telephone, address, full name of the manager, type of activity, etc.) were purchased;

5) the data obtained was reduced and updated (using a telephone survey, the contact details of the companies and the name of the manager were clarified);

6) a week before sending letters, advertising banners are posted in the distribution areas;

7) measures were taken for printing, packaging and delivery (postal and courier) of information letters and questionnaires to enterprise managers (with confirmation of delivery or by the “personal delivery” method);

8) after two weeks from the end of the mailing, a repeat survey was conducted to find out whether the manager received the letter and what his reaction was. For those who did not receive or did not pay attention, the letter with the questionnaire was duplicated by fax.

The effect of the advertising and marketing activities carried out in the short term was assessed by the number of telephone requests for information on services, and in the medium term - by the number of established lines to those companies to whose address the mailing was carried out. In our case, the initial response rate was more than 6%, of which about a third purchased services. The resulting effect from direct marketing activities practically coincided with the calculated level of 2-3%.

Implementation of marketing activities, including planning and control

Task: Provide the sales department with the necessary information on new major projects. Monitor the progress of the project at all stages.

Goal: Increase the efficiency of the sales department.

Initial data:

Directories. Internet. Media publications. Exhibition materials. Agents. Government structures. Personal contacts.

The greatest commercial interest for operators has always been those clients with a large volume of consumption of communication services. As a rule, they are connected via fiber optic cable, an office PBX is installed, and exclusive tariffs are provided. It is in this segment of the market that there is a fierce struggle for each client. Under general approximately equal technical and commercial conditions, factors such as the timing of the start of work with a potential client, maintaining good relations with the client at all stages of the project, and lobbying the interests of the operator begin to play an important role in competition.

The work of the CM with the object begins at the stage of submitting an application for the allocation of a plot of land for construction or reconstruction ( major renovation etc.). The facility must be monitored at all stages: development and approval of the building design, beginning construction work, acceptance of the building, search and occupancy of tenants, start of operation.

SM analyzed the stages of work on large projects, compiled a list of data that needs to be known for successful work with the client. The task was divided into two subtasks:

1) creation of an electronic database for entering, storing, and using online information for each major project(project map);

2) organizing the collection of information on the project at all stages of its implementation.

3) For the first subtask, using the MSAccess DBMS, a database was developed that contains the following blocks of information:

4) general information by project (address, project name, purpose, comments);

5) technical information(type of construction work, current status of work on the project, completion/start dates of construction work cycles, dimensions, appearance);

6) contact information (customer, contractor, investor, full name + telephone numbers);

7) competitors (name of competitors, their conditions, reasons for losing/winning the project);

8) commercial information(needs for communication services, probability of project implementation in%);

9) work of the sales department (project manager; stages of work on the project: first contact, proposal submitted, etc.; target dates);

10) SM work (source of information on the project; current status of the project: no funding, in progress, sale of the building, looking for tenants, etc.; comments, target dates);

11) service information (project identifier, sign of activity of work on the project, etc.).

The database is populated by the SM based on information received from a large number of sources. All sources are divided into primary and secondary. Primary agents include agents who collect information on projects and transmit it to the management system, sales department employees, commercial organizations, which maintain databases on the construction market, state and municipal authorities that carry out licensing and supervisory activities. The marketing service has concluded agreements with all primary sources. Secondary sources include data that requires further careful verification and refinement: these are exhibition materials, official bulletins of the Moscow Construction Department, Moskomzem and other similar organizations, data information servers on the real estate market, specialized newspapers and magazines. It is the responsibility of the CM to verify this information before transmitting it to the sales department.

Thus, the use of a project database allows the management team to monitor the progress of work, make a forecast for the sale of services, analyze the causes of successes/failures on a large sample, make recommendations for adjusting the sales policy, that is, solve planning and control problems.

Resume

In one article it is impossible to list the entire wide range of tasks that employees of marketing services of telecommunications companies have to solve. The consumer judges how successfully they are resolved by purchasing services from an operator who has managed to provide the optimal price/quality ratio for this particular client.

P.S. This article was written in mid-1999 and published in the October issue of the journal Marketing and Marketing Research in Russia, so a number of statements given in the article are now outdated. However, approaches to practical solution marketing objectives remained largely unchanged.

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Twenty-five billion dollars, this is how experts estimate the total volume Russian market telecommunications are serious tools that require serious care. And marketing, as a function of market analysis and proposed solutions on how to retain these funds and manage them further, is becoming increasingly critical for the possible victories and defeats of a business.

And if you consider that marketing for Russia is one of the youngest professions, and the first Kotler appeared on the shelves a little over twenty years ago, special attention It’s understandable for marketers, and even more so for marketers in such high-tech areas as telecommunications. Marketing in the field of telecommunications is one of the most exciting marketing: high-tech products and services require special attention from the marketer. IQ to understand their essence; the speed with which some market offers replace others dictates the speed of reaction, the ability to grasp complex systemic things in an extremely short time; and finally, the growing competition of often similar services and products requires special creative talent in branding and promotion.

Normally, these functions are distributed between by different specialists: marketing analyst, brand manager, product manager PR and advertising, product - manager, specialist BTL and mobile marketing, event - a manager, and, of course, one who is able to set tasks, distribute all these functions and then integrate the results - Marketing Director. If you manage to find a combination of all the above qualities in your marketing director, this is an ideal case.

How do such leaders arise? What set of knowledge and experience determines membership in a group of strong professionals? What minimum knowledge does the market require from novice marketing department managers, and how much do both cost today? - We make brief calculations on these topics based on our recruiting experience in the telecommunications market for the last two and a half years.

Instead of talking about the origins successful career In telecom marketing, here are three specific biographies of top marketing managers in the largest telecommunications companies:

Career 1: woman, 35 years old, diploma from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, additionally - Institute of the USA and Canada RAS. Internships and work in representative offices of Western companies, as a brand manager, sales and marketing coordinator, marketing manager. Next - the post of marketing director in the Russian branch of a large Western corporation, and then marketing director of a large Russian telecommunications company.

Career 2: male, 31 years old, diploma from the Moscow Energy Institute with a degree in Physics Engineer. Additional education in the Marketing program at the Academy national economy under the Government of the Russian Federation and the MBA program in State University management. Consistent career in operator companies as a representative specialist, senior agent specialist, marketing specialist, senior marketing specialist, sector manager marketing planning and tariff policy, market research and information analytics manager and then marketing director of a large Russian telecommunications company.

Career 3: male, 39 years old, diploma from the Moscow Institute of Management, work at the department of Foreign Economic Activity and foreign experience management". Work in advertising agency agent and copywriter, marketing communications manager in the Moscow office of a Swiss company (non-telecom), PhD thesis on the topic marketing communications in the foreign economic activity of the enterprise. Worked as Marketing Director in the Moscow office of a Western telecommunications integrator, then Marketing Director for Central Eastern Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa, then Marketing Director of a Western telecommunications company in Russia.

As we can see, there is a general algorithm in the careers of top marketing telecommunications companies: they are young (31-39), have two higher educations, the first or second is required in marketing, are fluent in English, have gained experience in Western business models, have had a consistent career in marketing , branding and advertising from lower management positions. In general, such stories are already evidence of the civilized market promotion of a specialist in Russia and the civilized personnel policy companies.

Today, the careers of many strong professionals - mid-level marketers - are built using the same algorithm.

Depending on the size, market segment and form of ownership of telecommunications companies, they employ either “universal” marketers who perform general marketing functions to the best of their ability and understanding, or narrow specialists (analysts, brand managers, product -managers, PR and advertising managers, etc.), where special knowledge and experience of similar work is required already at the entrance to the company.

IN small companies, where the marketer is represented by one person, there is a high percentage of marketers without education in the field of marketing - with a technical or communications diploma. In these cases, it is typical to combine the functions of an advertising and marketing manager, and typical requirements for a specialist look like this:

Male/female, 25-40 years old, higher education(technical or economic). Experience in a similar position (in IT or telecommunications industry). Responsibilities: development of annual marketing and media plans for the main office and representative offices; working with the media, budget administration and cost control; pricing; development promotional materials; development and implementation marketing programs and shares; marketing support for dealers, communications with manufacturers-suppliers and company partners on the implementation and financing of marketing programs. Implementation of the company's presentation through the use of various information campaigns and resources: the Internet, corporate WEB-SITE, participation in press conferences, preparation and distribution of press releases and corporate presentation materials, participation in specialized events and more.

It should be noted that many of the “universal” marketers with a technical background today are focused on subsequently obtaining an MBA in marketing, which will give them the opportunity to get a job in the marketing departments of large companies or take a management position in a medium-sized company.

When specializing in the marketing departments of large companies functional responsibilities are divided among narrow-profile managers: analysts, sales strategy marketers, brand managers, PR and advertising specialists, and other specialists. Thus, the marketing department in a large operating company may look like this: a marketing research department, a marketing planning and analysis department, a product development and promotion department, and a marketing communications department (advertising and PR). For these functions they prefer to recruit specialists with a narrow profile. Despite the fact that each company has its own differences in the functions of these specialists, we can highlight the most typical descriptions requirements for such vacancies.

Marketing and Sales Strategy Manager must have mandatory marketing education and specialized experience to perform following functions: strategic marketing, planning the revenue side of the company’s budget as a whole; cost part in commercial areas, investment process management: territorial distribution of investments; analysis of profitability, market investments, planning pricing policy and forecasting demand elasticity, STEP and SWOT analysis; identifying perceptions and forming a position in the market, operational marketing, management of profitability by EBITDA margin; coordination of the marketing mix (marketing research, plan-fact analysis and reporting).

Marketing Assistant today it is also preferable to have a specialized education and is valued for performing the following functions: preparing analytical reports on market research, writing quantitative research, analysis and processing of information from focus groups, analysis open sources information (market segmentation, trends, main players), consumer market analysis, selection target audience(socio-demographic and psychographic portraits of the target audience.

Brand Manager- a “particularly valuable” professional category in connection with the increasing role of branding as a factor in successful competition. Telecommunications companies want to see people with experience in large companies in the position of brand manager, product manager, department head for 2 years. Knowledge of the telecommunications market, product promotion tools, information collection and processing tools, marketing fundamentals. Experience in forming and managing an assortment of products related to a specific sales area, forecasting demand (sales structure). His responsibilities often include inventory management, developing relationships with suppliers, as well as developing and implementing promotion programs. own products and information and technical support for sales and coordination of work within the company on brand development.

Ideally, for informational support of the brand, they will stand out individual functions Manager PR and advertising, which includes the development and implementation of PR programs: internal PR, external PR, formation and development of a media list, preparation of press releases, news materials, feature articles, initiation of publications, processing media requests, media planning, complex of implementation works corporate publications, development and implementation affiliate programs, organizing and conducting photo sessions, filming videos, participating in exhibitions.

With even greater differentiation of roles, the company has Event manager, whose responsibility includes organizing all company events (seminars, conferences, trips, corporate events for company employees), organizing events together with vendors, events for dealers, financial support for events.

Remuneration for marketing department specialists in telecommunications companies depends on the size and profile of the company. Wireline operators traditionally pay lower salaries than cellular companies, although there are some exceptions.

Average level wages for the capital's telecommunications market and the most sought-after marketing specialists in telecommunications as of August 2006 is as follows: