Lately it seems as if every job adver-tisement says: “FMCG experiencean advantage.” Companies thataren’t even in the FMCG industrywant FMCG experience in their

new hires. And because job seekers are con-stantly faced with this barrier, they all want towork with FMCG to give themselves the bestchance of securing those coveted roles.

So what’s the fuss over FMCG and why does everyone want it? First of all, what doesFMCG really mean? Everyone knows it’s anacronym for fast moving consumer goods,but that’s when the definition gets grey.Everyone has a slightly different interpretation,often depending on what industry they workin. Here’s how we’ll define it…when you walkdown the aisle of your local supermarket andcan pick the product off the shelf, it’s classifiedas an FMCG.

But it’s still not that easy. Stationery manu-factures could argue that they’re in grocerytherefore they’re FMCG. Let’s compare the dif-ference between a carton of milk and a pen.Milk is a high-volume product that is restockedseveral times a day (hence the name fast mov-ing); it has a short shelf life and is consideredan essential. Pens, on the other hand, are pur-chased occasionally, have a long-term expirydate and could be considered luxury items. Somilk is FMCG and a pens are consumer goods.For the purposes of this article, we’ll say thatFMCG are any household essentials that aresold through the grocery channel.

There are good reasons why employerswant people with household product manufac-turing and marketing experience. Marketers

within FMCG are total business managers fortheir categories. They manage the entire processfrom research and development, manufactur-ing, product launches and ongoing marketingmanagement. They are marketing generalistswith involvement in all aspects of their prod-ucts while in many other industries, marketinghas become highly specialised. There are prod-uct managers responsible for a specific part ofthe product’s life; then there are marketingcommunications specialists who manageanother area of the same product or insightmanagers who are accountable only forresearch… and the list goes on. That’s whyFMCG marketers are different and more likebusiness managers. They manage all of thesespecialised areas themselves.

FMCG is a tough market that’s all aboutincremental advances rather than huge year-

on-year growth. They have to focus on otherthings, not just the marketing, to sell product.The grocery distribution channel is extremelychallenging because shelf space and position isat a premium. It’s essential to get forecasts rightbecause running out of stock can mean disasterin this high-volume business.

As a total business manager, strong financialanalysis is essential. FMCG marketers knowhow to crunch data and make that informationrelevant to the business. Sometimes relativelysimple decisions, like changing a packagedesign, could have dramatic financial repercus-sions. As the margin for error is slim, it needs tobe analysed; will the sales generated by the newpackaging outweigh the costs? To make thisdecision, it’s important to have an understand-ing of the total business and how a product orcategory contributes to the bottom line.

FMCG is a misnomer – the product mightmove fast once in grocery, but everything elseleading up to that product launch is slow. It takesyears of research for products to be developed andthis is just one of the reasons why large FMCGcompanies spend huge amounts of money onresearch and systems. The benefit of working inthe FMCG industry is a process-driven approach.It’s also why cutting edge marketing strategies anddisciplines come from this industry.

In commodities, it’s hard to create an emo-tional bond. It’s easy to form a relationshipwith a new luxury car, but how to do that witha tin of baked beans? And what’s the differencebetween one brand of baked beans andanother? These products are low involvement,price sensitive and have to appeal to a massmarket. Food marketers must work harder and

MARKETING JULY 2005

046 CAREERS

Christine Khor is managing director of sales and marketing recruitment specialists Market Partners and hasmore than 15 years of product and marketing management expertise, developed within multinationalmarket leaders. Contact Christine on (03) 9698 8788

What’s the fuss over FMCG?Christine Khor looks at the pros and cons of a career in FMCG.

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smarter to capitalise on every advantage. That’swhy every new packaging idea on a well-wornproduct is heralded as a marketing feat. I can’timagine how excited the marketers were whensomeone came up with the idea of having asqueezable tomato sauce bottle.

Even a new sticky label to close a pack of choco-late pieces is a selling feature these days. Thedevelopment of new innovations in this marketare long in the research realms, poked and prod-ded by focus groups and are under constantscrutiny due to the enormous resources tied upin their success. A food marketer may be work-ing for months, even years, on just a singlepackaging advancement, so it takes a certainlevel of commitment and diligence.

But before we jump on the FMCG band-wagon, there are some limitations. The

downside of sophisticated processes, technicaldata and research is that FMCG marketers arenot necessarily trained to make interpretationsbased on ‘gut feel’. If your industry or companyisn’t highly structured and is more instinctive,a person from FMCG might not be the right

cultural fit. The FMCG industry is also used todealing with long lead times. If your companyturns on a dime and needs to change directionsquickly to react to marketplace forces thensomeone with FMCG experience might not beas adaptable.

And, finally, because these people are indemand as employees they cost a lot of money.The salary range can be double that of market-ing professionals from other industries. Giventhis fact alone it’s important to determinewhether they will make a return on your

investment or if another candidate, qualifiedbut with non-FMCG experience, could alsocontribute to your business just as well withoutthe overhead.

For those people trying to get a foot intoFMCG, there is a couple of traditional ways.Start at the bottom, usually as a sales executiveafter graduating with a bachelor of business inmarketing, and work your way up. Or gainexperience in another industry and sacrificesalary to get into FMCG. But before makingthis decision, consider if FMCG is right for you.The long lead times, statistical analysis andprocesses demanded in this industry may notsuit people who work better in a more dynamicenvironment. Ask yourself if this is the kind ofmarketing for you or if you just want to do itbecause everyone else seems to want it.

It’s clear why many companies and jobseekers are keen to have FMCG experience. Butsome companies will never need the experienceof an FMCG marketer and some people maynever want to practise this kind of marketing.It’s important to be aware that while FMCGknow-how is valuable, it isn’t the be all and endall of marketing. Now you know what all theFMCG fuss is about. M

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“FMCG is a misnomer – the product might move fast once in grocery, but everything else leading up to that product launch is slow. It takesyears of research for products to be developed.”

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