To CIM or not to CIM?
Friends, this is the case when we were lucky enough to get a great interview from an incredible woman. Get comfortable and adjust to a chic long ride.
Get to know each other.
Vice President of Commerce and Business Development in the CEEI Carlsberg Group region.
Top-manager of large international companies.
Certified CIM marketer and CIM expert.
Charismatic speaker and effective leader.
Iryna Kachura!
Iryna, how did you end up in marketing and what was your professional track?
I've been in marketing since before anyone knew what marketing was.
I am a representative of the first generation of marketers in Ukraine and the entire post-Soviet space, because marketing was not needed in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, there was propaganda, and everything else was based on the residual principle. There was no economic necessity in marketing. And then when he began to be born, I came to him.
I was still at GlaxoSmithkline during this period and wanted to develop and learn. And so The Chartered Institute of Marketing appeared in my life. This was the second edition of the CIM program in Ukraine. And it was an absolute breakthrough - professional, educational, and for me personally.
I worked with Philip Morris for 14 years in various positions, starting as a brand manager in Ukraine and then as a marketing manager responsible for several brands. Then I moved to Philip Morris headquarters in Switzerland and there I worked as a global marketing manager, first responsible for one brand L&M, then Chesterfield. It's a very cool job. Indeed, L&M was present in 70+ markets, Chesterfield when I started in 15, expanded its presence to 50+ markets. That geography allowed you to know many consumers, you came to understand how to work with global brands from a global level. And after working for 7 years in Switzerland, I went to work in Almaty.
This is where my first meeting with Kazakhstan took place.
I worked for 3 years as Marketing Director at FM KZ, responsible for marketing in Kazakhstan and 5 other countries. It was exciting, I went through a lot of challenges - team rebuilding, innovative launches, and several devaluations. Consumer behavior was changing before our eyes and we had to make quick portfolio decisions. It was very dynamic! The launch of ICOS alone was worth it.....
All in all, I worked in tobacco for 14 years. It was clear that I had been through a lot and if I went to another market it would be interesting, but I was used to it, not to sound boring. I didn't want to go back to HQ because HQ is a specific job - on the one hand, you're involved in global strategy and brand building, but over time you run the risk of becoming disconnected from the markets and becoming a theorist.
Only the porn industry can be more interesting than pharma, tobacco, and alcohol. By the way, at several conferences, I have seen presentations by marketers from pornhub, they have very interesting marketing. If you are ever curious, you can search their cases on the web, the tasks they face are very non-trivial. The companies that they make are also very interesting.
By the way, at several conferences I have seen presentations by marketers from pornhub, they actually have very interesting marketing. If you are ever curious, you can search their cases on the web, the tasks they face are very non-trivial. The companies that they make are also very interesting.
When I joined Carlsberg, one of my most important professional duties, which is written in the job descriptions, was alcohol tastings. They mostly happen in the mornings, because this is the time when our receptors are still fresh you come to the office and at 9:15 you already start tasting and then I thought, look, this is cooler, I am sitting here drinking and I get paid for it too. And this is such an experience, of course, very important - to understand your product. We created a lot of our own in Ukraine, but I go back to Pornhub and I think what kind of tastings they have there in the mornings or the evenings.
What role does or did education play for you?
I am constantly learning, I consider it very important.
When I see people who come to CIM, I want to say to them - "What a great job you are!" Because we, marketers, need to learn constantly. Constantly something new, constantly something different, and not keeping in touch with what is happening is a recipe for elimination from the profession. If we choose the profession of marketing, we choose the profession of full-time students. Marketers, IT, and doctors are permanent students. Other professions can learn once and then rest, but you and I never rest, we are always learning.
I was a person who was lucky enough to study at the London Business School in the Executive Leadership program. I also graduated from the most famous European business school IMD (Switzerland) and attend their additional courses once a year.
So what about the question "To CIM or not to CIM?"
I answered this question myself at one time and I am very glad. And now I will answer why. There is a saying that at the age of 17, I think about how I will enter the institute and find myself, at the age of 20 - how I will graduate from the institute and a bright future awaits me, but then it does not always turn out that way (at 25 we can be happy with cheese on sale ). I've been around for many years, but I don't always know "who I'll be when I grow up."
I don't always imagine what my next professional position will be. For example, I never thought that I would get to the position I am in now. I thought that I would always stay in marketing, but I was offered to expand the area of responsibility - to sales and business development. And I've been doing this for a year and I'm still learning, constant only job training and I'm interested in learning a lot more, and this is what CIM gives us in particular.
What did CIM give you?
The first thing to mention is knowledge. When I joined the student group, I heard serious academic reading. This is where you gain knowledge, something you already had in your understanding of marketing and business. Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of new things and this, of course, is the first driver we have when we go to study. But knowledge is only one and I can't even say that it is the biggest part. I learned from being at CIM how important it is to keep growing, how important it is to always see that there is more, and how important it is to never end this learning process. Since then, after CIM, I haven't stopped.
There is also such a concept as CIM increasing professional value. Implied? It is when you have The Chartered Institute of Marketing on your CV that you can apply for higher positions and higher salaries. This is partly true. When I look at the CVs of people in positions on my team, if I see a CIM, I know that the person's base is fine. I understand that it will take less effort for me or my team to match this base with the base we have. It will be a common vocabulary and we will speak the same language if a person has passed The Chartered Institute of Marketing. And then we multiply this base by your self-awareness and self-confidence. If you have this formula of the base multiplied by self-awareness and self-confidence, then at the end of this formula there will always be x2. That is, you can set a higher bar for salary and at least a higher bar for the position. Does this mean that after completing CIM you will automatically get higher positions and a higher salary, then no. But does it give you a chance - definitely, yes. This is your opportunity to increase your professional value.
CIM pumping in leadership?
Yes, but what gives leadership? Leadership, of course, is a broad concept, already a little devalued. When we talk about leadership, we invest a lot in this concept. What did I mean by this? This is that, first of all, studying at a school that is a leader in the marketing world, this, of course, gives self-confidence. And accordingly, when a professional has self-confidence, it is much easier to take leadership positions. And in general, it is always important to work for leaders, learn from leaders, and communicate with leaders, because this is what raises your bar.
Undoubtedly, CIM gives membership in the society of professionals. You are entering a new circle. You enter a new level of communication and this helps a lot in the future - both in work and in promotion, and creates a field of mutual understanding between professionals.
CIM is a new friends. I hope that you will be able to work out, in this case study together, and that you will be able to create such a professional and friendly relationship for many years. I still have friends I met at CIM. What is interesting, we got together humanely and continue to communicate and be friends as families. In a week, I'm going to Spain to visit my CIM friend, but now my lifelong friend. And I am grateful to CIM for the friends I made during my studies. Because we have a lot to talk about professionally it always remains the most important topic of communication with us. Well, it is very difficult to "make" friends, so to speak. The older we get, the more difficult it is for us to make real friends.
I wish to create a friendly framework for many years!
CIM shows, and does a very good job of it, how different the world can be. You have the opportunity, being in Kazakhstan, to communicate with a person who has a very wide geography and a very wide experience in various fields and situations. You can communicate with speakers and tutors. CIM always opens our eyes and shows how it can be different, and this is the most important thing to constantly keep our brain in good shape, showing it how we are different.
What exactly CIM gave me is the confidence that I have chosen the right profession, the confidence that marketing drives the business, and the confidence that the field of application of my energy, my passion, and my brain is the right one.
Therefore, long live marketing!