Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A tasteful job
Today I attended a meeting called “taste-testing Ballerina”, what a fabulous job I got ;)
Conference
In the middle of January we stayed at Såstaholm Conference Centre, located just outside Stockholm, for a few days. Our entire selling-force gathered up to prepare the first selling-period of 2011.
The first day was packed with information from the management and the marketing departments. We had teamwork-activities when we simulated being actors, actresses and directors - we made commercials! It was fun and the activities were wrapped up by a great dinner in the gorgeous circus-room at Såstaholm. Then, I guess we all fell asleep pretty fast after a long and intense day.
The second day started with lectures by the key account managers, followed by an education in a new datasystem. The promotion- and category managers gave input and the day also ended with a lovely dinner. The food was fabulous! A great conference was to an end...
The first day was packed with information from the management and the marketing departments. We had teamwork-activities when we simulated being actors, actresses and directors - we made commercials! It was fun and the activities were wrapped up by a great dinner in the gorgeous circus-room at Såstaholm. Then, I guess we all fell asleep pretty fast after a long and intense day.
The second day started with lectures by the key account managers, followed by an education in a new datasystem. The promotion- and category managers gave input and the day also ended with a lovely dinner. The food was fabulous! A great conference was to an end...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
To know the real world
As a brand manager you must know what happens in stores to be able to manage your job. You must know what kind of products, expos and displays that are liked by the customers and consumers, in other words you must be aware of the “real world”. If you do not know this, it is hard to come up with good ideas of new innovations or creative exposures. Of course, you can find many hard facts in different data systems and researches but a great complementary thing to do for finding this information is to partner up with a seller for a day, which I recently did.
Just before Christmas I car pooled with one of our skilled seller for a whole day. We visited some of the stores that he are responsible for and checked that everything was under control before the big Christmas-holiday. I once again, I realised that to experience how a regular day for a seller looks like makes me understand so much better what’s needed in-store. Even if I know many things before; to car pool is a great reminder of how things really are.
For lunch we meet some others sellers and they all have so many great ideas of how things can be developed and improved. We must never forget that they are the absolute best source of information about “the real” world. My goal is to partner up with different sellers for a few times a year. Each time it gives me so many new ideas and great inspiration, but it is so easy to forget in our everyday-life at the office. But in 2011 I have promised myself I will car pool more often (of course, if the sellers let me….).
Just before Christmas I car pooled with one of our skilled seller for a whole day. We visited some of the stores that he are responsible for and checked that everything was under control before the big Christmas-holiday. I once again, I realised that to experience how a regular day for a seller looks like makes me understand so much better what’s needed in-store. Even if I know many things before; to car pool is a great reminder of how things really are.
For lunch we meet some others sellers and they all have so many great ideas of how things can be developed and improved. We must never forget that they are the absolute best source of information about “the real” world. My goal is to partner up with different sellers for a few times a year. Each time it gives me so many new ideas and great inspiration, but it is so easy to forget in our everyday-life at the office. But in 2011 I have promised myself I will car pool more often (of course, if the sellers let me….).
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Orkla Brand Academy nr 4
After four weeks (17 days) at Sarpsborg I am done with Orkla Brand Academy (OBA). It has been fun and I have learned a lot. Everything from how to create a brand stamp or a advertising campaign, how to manage sales and strategy, and so on. We have had both external and internal lecturers. The most lecturers have been great but some you can recall more easily than others. During the entire academy we have been the same people in the class which means many new friends, that is fun!
Focus has of course been on marketing but to become a great marketer you also need to know the surroundings to get the total picture. Now when I am done with these four weeks I have many good tools in my luggage, mainly marketing-tools but also within nearby areas that I can use in my everyday job.
The very last night we had a ceremonial dinner. We dressed nicely and had a lovely dinner at the manor of Sarpsborg. Robert, the lecturer, told us all the stories and myths about Orkla and finally we got our diplomas. The ceremony was very special and unexpected, more than that I cannot tell you…you will see if you complete the OBA yourself...;)
Focus has of course been on marketing but to become a great marketer you also need to know the surroundings to get the total picture. Now when I am done with these four weeks I have many good tools in my luggage, mainly marketing-tools but also within nearby areas that I can use in my everyday job.
The very last night we had a ceremonial dinner. We dressed nicely and had a lovely dinner at the manor of Sarpsborg. Robert, the lecturer, told us all the stories and myths about Orkla and finally we got our diplomas. The ceremony was very special and unexpected, more than that I cannot tell you…you will see if you complete the OBA yourself...;)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Orkla Brand Academy nr 3
Four more days and three more nights at the manor in Sarpsborg are done. I have now completed the third out of four modules of Orkla Brand Academy (OBA). It feels good!
What is Orkla Brand Academy? It is one of Orkla’s many courses that all interns need to pass. Orkla arrange a great number of courses each year and they are all completed at Orkla’s great conference centre in Sarpsborg, close to the Swedish border in Norway. The educations are about marketing, sales, purchase, trade, and others areas needed when working in our branches. People from the entire world working within Orkla are gathered and take the courses together.
After a completed academy, Orkla offers us to move on and take more courses in other fields. It is such a great privilege as employed at Orkla to achieve those courses; they are both fun and interesting. At the same time, Orkla creates internal directions by spreading quality knowledge.
Since I work as a brand manager, my main area is marketing and therefore my first academy is marketing. It is built up of four modules and teaches us how to manage brand positioning, write brand stamps, create advertisements, and so on.
My fourth and final round of OBA will be at week 44 this year. As I have heard, it will be finished with a great dinner with a ceremonial session where all of us get a signed OBA-diploma. I look forward to it and will of course update you afterwards how it was. Until then, take care!
What is Orkla Brand Academy? It is one of Orkla’s many courses that all interns need to pass. Orkla arrange a great number of courses each year and they are all completed at Orkla’s great conference centre in Sarpsborg, close to the Swedish border in Norway. The educations are about marketing, sales, purchase, trade, and others areas needed when working in our branches. People from the entire world working within Orkla are gathered and take the courses together.
After a completed academy, Orkla offers us to move on and take more courses in other fields. It is such a great privilege as employed at Orkla to achieve those courses; they are both fun and interesting. At the same time, Orkla creates internal directions by spreading quality knowledge.
Since I work as a brand manager, my main area is marketing and therefore my first academy is marketing. It is built up of four modules and teaches us how to manage brand positioning, write brand stamps, create advertisements, and so on.
My fourth and final round of OBA will be at week 44 this year. As I have heard, it will be finished with a great dinner with a ceremonial session where all of us get a signed OBA-diploma. I look forward to it and will of course update you afterwards how it was. Until then, take care!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Barcelona
Three times a year our sales- and marketing departments meet up for a few days of preparing for upcoming launches. Usually we meet at a hotel or at a conference-building close to Stockholm since it is the biggest city and easy to gather up at.
This fall we had our meeting at a completely different place, in a small village called Sitges in Spain. The reason to this was that the sales force had managed to reach our high goals that we had put up in the beginning of this year. They did a very good job throughout the whole spring and as a reward we had the meeting in the south of Europe.
Sitges is located close to Barcelona and we stayed at a hotel nearby the beach. We hade seminars, presentations and hard work from early morning to late night but every day we had a few hours of rest that we could spend in the sun and relax. And in the evenings we ate dinner together. It was a really great week!
Pictures below show the fabulous dinner we had the last night before we went home. So my message is, if you work hard and score high, you will be rewarded in Orkla!
This fall we had our meeting at a completely different place, in a small village called Sitges in Spain. The reason to this was that the sales force had managed to reach our high goals that we had put up in the beginning of this year. They did a very good job throughout the whole spring and as a reward we had the meeting in the south of Europe.
Sitges is located close to Barcelona and we stayed at a hotel nearby the beach. We hade seminars, presentations and hard work from early morning to late night but every day we had a few hours of rest that we could spend in the sun and relax. And in the evenings we ate dinner together. It was a really great week!
Pictures below show the fabulous dinner we had the last night before we went home. So my message is, if you work hard and score high, you will be rewarded in Orkla!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Orkla Brands Nordic + Solna Business Park
Summer summer summer, lovely summertime! Right now I am on vacation and have completed one out of three weeks of no job during this summer. I am really enjoying the days and relaxing but I am also looking forward coming back to work later on.
Before I checked out for summer I had completed seven weeks at my new job at Göteborgs Kex and I really enjoy it! I am working in a great team and the tasks are new, many and fun. The organisation Göteborgs Kex differs pretty much from Nidar (where I worked before) as it is much smaller and the position brand manager is completely different from being a trade marketing manager. Even if I often feel frustrated not knowing all the tasks yet, it is at the same time very stimulating to learn so many new things every day. I have a steep learning-curve and I look forward to the day when I can work independently.
One of the reasons to look forward coming back from holiday is to see how our offices are. In Sweden, the main body of the Orkla Brands Nordic companies are gathering up in Solna Business Park (just outside Stockholm) and our offices are right now being finished. The companies are Göteborgs Kex, OLW, Pierre Robert and Axellus and since 1th of June they are located at Svetsarvägen 15, Solna. The address is in Solna Business Park where many other FMCG-companies are situated. When everything is completed we will be around 100 people from Orkla Brands Nordic companies working at the same floor. It will be so much fun and we can more easy get help from each other. I tell you more when I get back in August.
Happy summer!
Before I checked out for summer I had completed seven weeks at my new job at Göteborgs Kex and I really enjoy it! I am working in a great team and the tasks are new, many and fun. The organisation Göteborgs Kex differs pretty much from Nidar (where I worked before) as it is much smaller and the position brand manager is completely different from being a trade marketing manager. Even if I often feel frustrated not knowing all the tasks yet, it is at the same time very stimulating to learn so many new things every day. I have a steep learning-curve and I look forward to the day when I can work independently.
One of the reasons to look forward coming back from holiday is to see how our offices are. In Sweden, the main body of the Orkla Brands Nordic companies are gathering up in Solna Business Park (just outside Stockholm) and our offices are right now being finished. The companies are Göteborgs Kex, OLW, Pierre Robert and Axellus and since 1th of June they are located at Svetsarvägen 15, Solna. The address is in Solna Business Park where many other FMCG-companies are situated. When everything is completed we will be around 100 people from Orkla Brands Nordic companies working at the same floor. It will be so much fun and we can more easy get help from each other. I tell you more when I get back in August.
Happy summer!
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