where will your passions lead you?
TRANSCRIPT
Marketing Career Guide 11
Exploring your potential14 Strategies that drive our marketing16 Our marketing organization 25 Key marketing skills and competencies32 Leadership competencies34 A day in the life of our marketers
12 Marketing Career Guide
Our organization is no stranger to change, as it
has been our culture’s key to growth and success
in an ever-evolving market. At Dell, we continue
to grow to meet the needs of a constantly shifting
market. We’re eager to keep you informed on
career opportunities at Dell and offer a clear
understanding of their benefits.
Exploring your potential
Exploring your potential
14 Marketing Career Guide
Strategies that drive our marketing
Exploring your potential
Dell’s unique approach to marketing is a result of
our customer-centric culture. We find success by
listening and responding to our customers’ needs.
We’re committed to creating customer-based
solutions and describing those solutions with clear
customer benefits. This approach sets us apart
from our competitors.
Marketing Career Guide 15
Across our marketing continuum,
three things drive our business:
Customer
We focus on customers and their outcomes.
Data
We focus on the Dell difference that customers value.
Brand
We focus on staying true to our unique personality.
Dell’s marketing strategy
16 Marketing Career Guide
Our marketing organization
Exploring your potential
Dell has developed a system to help guide your
career development based on your passions.
Considering your abilities and experience, you
have the option to pursue your interests in any of
our three industry-standard marketing groups and
19 marketing job families. We have also identified
11 marketing skills, which correspond to each job
family at the Individual Contributor, Professional/
Manager and Executive career levels.
We encourage you to keep this information at
hand and use it while you work with your manager
to define your career path.
Marketing Career Guide 17
Our marketing groups
Dell’s Marketing Operations Team
has aligned our cross-organizational
marketing groups with the industry-
standard organization structure
developed by the International Data
Corporation (IDC). The Dell marketing
organization is comprised of:
Segment Marketing: Builds local awareness, creates and executes marketing campaigns to enable successful sales and demand generation
Corporate Marketing: Drives Dell branding, marketing communications and public relations efforts; oversees market intelligence, analyst relations and digital marketing
Solutions Group Marketing: Creates product roadmaps and defines core product messaging to help enable sales
18 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
Marketing structure Marketing groups
Solutions Group Marketing
Segment Marketing
Corporate Marketing
Each of the marketing groups plays a critical
role in developing and delivering Dell products
and solutions to market. We invite you to
take advantage of cross-functional marketing
experiences so you can build your career
while you help us build a dynamic, world-class
marketing organization.
Marketing Career Guide 19
Marketing job families Marketing skills
Marketing Operations
Product Management
Corporate Communications
Pricing
Social Media and Community
eBusiness
Research
Communications
eCommerce
Brand and Positioning
Merchandising
Messaging
New Product Development
Customer Insights
Sales Partnership
Scalable Solutions
Marketing Strategy
Pricing
Demand GenerationManagement
Online Management
Merchandising
Technology Partner Management
Corporate Giving
Events
Channel
Customer Relationship Management
Segment Marketing
Market Development
Outbound Marketing
Technical Marketing
20 Marketing Career Guide
01MarketingOperations• Partners with Segment Marketing teams,
global operations, product management
groups, customer relationship marketing
(CRM) and finance organizations to build
product family demand plans that support
segment profit and loss (P&L)
• Develops specific marketing plans and
activities for specific products and
segments to establish, enhance or
distinguish product placement within the
competitive arena
• Manages new product transition to
minimize supply shortages, and excess and
obsolete inventory (E&O)
02Pricing• Develops and implements pricing
strategies to maximize sales and market
penetration to ensure long-term
profitability objectives are met
• Evaluates effectiveness of pricing strategies
and modifies pricing structures as needed
• Conducts research and performs
competitive pricing analysis
• Monitors ongoing competitive environment
to ensure practices do not adversely impact
company reputation or customer satisfaction
03Research• Provides support through research,
customer insights and analysis of the
company’s markets, competition,
customers and end users
• Analyzes the competitive environment,
customer insights, future trends
and product usage, and makes
recommendations based on findings;
provides updates to inform product/
solution design, marketing and
business strategy
04ProductManagement• Is responsible for solutions and technology
marketing activities designed to increase
sales growth and expand market share
• Uses technical expertise and extensive
industry experience to formulate product
strategies and identify new product
opportunities, and analyzes markets to
determine opportunities
• Ensures offerings are defined to obtain
maximum profitability
Dell marketing is organized into 19 types of roles, called job families, that align with industry-standard
marketing roles. Visit go.us.dell.com/jobdesclibrary for additional information for each marketing job family.
Dell marketing job families
Exploring your potential
Marketing Career Guide 21
• Develops and implements strategic
marketing plans and objectives
• Evaluates and adjusts strategies to respond
to changing and/or competitive markets
• Identifies and communicates customer
value proposition and maintains
relationships with sales, product partners
and third-party vendors
• Contributes to product development based
on client needs
• Maintains relationships with customers and
represents customer requirements during
the development process
05SocialMediaandCommunity• Develops and implements internet
marketing strategies to optimize online
user experience; develops social media
and community presence; increases
marketing effectiveness and improves
customer satisfaction
• Executes online marketing programs such
as search optimization, affiliated marketing
and social networking to create “buzz;”
drives traffic and generates sales
• Gathers and translates ideas into profitable,
scalable promotional marketing campaigns
and promotions
06Communications• Focuses on communications to external
customers in their assigned segments
• Selects appropriate targeted messages
and mediums to drive segment-specific
behavior; collaborates across channel,
direct and retail
• Builds awareness of the full Dell portfolio
of offerings
• Drives revenue into the business
while building internal and external
credibility of offerings
• Plans, develops and implements
strategic projects for marketing
communications (advertising, direct mail,
promotional programs and more) to
promote Dell offerings
• Works with business units to
communicate messages
• Supports target-focused sales and helps
the business unit to attain quarterly
marketing plans
• Aligns all marketing communications to
support the Dell brand
• Acts as thought leader in shaping and
positioning go-to-market strategies
07CorporateCommunications• Develops, implements and manages
a global or regional communications
strategy for Dell
• Enables the building of productive,
mutually valued relationships with internal
and external stakeholders to further Dell’s
business objectives
• Helps shape the perception of the
company and protects and enhances our
reputation, brand and valuation
22 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
08eBusiness• Develops and implements online marketing
strategies to optimize user experience,
increase marketing effectiveness and
improve customer satisfaction
• Manages merchandising product
placement, navigation, promotion and
content to optimize customer conversion
and consideration
• Leads campaign management, product
launch and transition, online merchandising
and end-to-end customer conversion
09eCommerce• Directs the development of global
eCommerce programs and overall
website strategy to maximize brand
presentation and consumer experience,
and supports the company’s integrated
online marketing strategy
• Drives analysis to deliver business-influencing
changes to the commerce platform
• Drives cutting-edge strategies for online
demand generation, including behavioral
targeting and CRM targeting
• Translates emerging technology into
solutions for the customer through
content management, facilitating online
transactions and supporting offline sales
10Merchandising• Drives the vision and strategy of assigned
product line(s) and manages the product
throughout its lifecycle
• Translates business strategies into product
strategies and specifications that deliver
against our core customer needs and our
strategic and financial goals
11TechnologyPartnerManagement• Oversees the development of strategic
business plans and marketing programs to
support sales in designated target audience
• Identifies and develops alliances and
relationship programs to produce sales
opportunities
• Develops, establishes and maintains ongoing
company relationships with strategic
partners and customers; builds go-to-
market plans that satisfy partner needs,
customer needs and Dell needs
• Builds partner marketing plans in
cooperation with segment marketing teams
12Channel• Interacts with customers through company
channel marketing programs
• Implements channel marketing programs
with indirect channels (retailers,
Marketing Career Guide 23
wholesalers and resellers) to enhance
Dell’s presence at points of sale, to
generate sales and to increase Dell’s rate of
recommendation to customers
• Plans and executes return-on-investment
analysis for marketing programs, marketing
funds management and engagement with
main partners (Intel, Microsoft and VMware,
for example) to maximize vendor funds
• Pre-sale activities include supporting
Sales and Merchandising by providing
insight into consumer and market trends,
and demonstrating how the Dell brand
could be effectively communicated to the
end customer
• Post-sale activities include executing joint
marketing programs with the channel
partner, driving sales performance and
inventory levels, and ensuring a strong
and consistent Dell brand experience;
participates in sales forecasting for
designated product lines
13CorporateGiving• Develops and implements our giving strategy
in direct alignment with corporate objectives
• Builds and develops non-governmental
organization relationships with strategic
giving recipients; acts as liaison to
charitable organizations
• Consults with business and/or country
leaders on policy and vetting for business-
initiated donations and programs
• Develops the team member engagement
strategy to align with our giving and purpose
14Events• Consults with internal clients and
customers to plan and execute customer
and team member engagements
• Oversees the planning and management
of customer engagements and special
events; manages multiple work streams
• Manages event budget
• Maintains a superior, consistent Dell
brand identity and customer experience
across events
15 CustomerRelationshipManagement• Creates customer insights that drive
appropriate messages and offers to the
target market
• Performs strategic marketing, customer
insight analysis, data modeling and direct
marketing activities
• Leads analysis of customer and financial
information to enhance marketing
strategies and tactics
• Develops and maintains strong and
profitable customer relationships
24 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
16SegmentMarketing• Delivers integrated marketing plans that
meet segment financial goals, align with
vertical initiatives, and capitalize on market
trends and opportunities
• Assesses market trends, quantifies
opportunities and develops programs to
meet growing segment and solution needs
• Drives overall Segment Marketing
Communications strategy, including
budget recommendations, roadmap
planning, recommendations on content
theme and vertical callouts
• Supports sales training and enablement;
utilizes third-party customer data and
direct customer interaction to inform the
product group and messaging team
17MarketDevelopment• Identifies and develops global business
opportunities
• Drives strategic initiatives that support
regional tactical needs and guide the Line
of Business to focus on global planning,
ready-to-ship (RTS) execution and
customer experience
• Grows Dell’s business outside the U.S. to
achieve worldwide revenue-mix goals
18OutboundMarketing• Designs and develops content about our
products and services for marketing and collateral
• Develops targeted messages to drive product and
service positioning, increase sales and enhance
market share
• Participates in product promotion planning
in support of marketing objectives; prepares
materials for internal and external product
presentations, business plans and leadership
communications
• Translates product plans, roadmaps and
strategies into key product marketing messages
• Drives product marketing activities and
communications to establish, enhance or
distinguish Dell’s product placement in the
competitive arena
19TechnicalMarketing• Develops technical marketing and
communications to increase product sales
growth and expand market share
• Creates and communicates Dell’s value
proposition by clearly articulating the technical
and business advantages of Dell’s solutions
• Writes industry white papers, customer
presentations and articles promoting Dell’s
solution capabilities and how they meet and
exceed customer and market expectations
• Generates customer-facing, technical, pre-
sales content; efforts can include planning for
solutions and architectures, including reference
architectures, performance benchmarks and
other solution tools for sales and customers
Marketing Career Guide 25
Key marketing skills and competencies
Dell marketing leaders have identified eleven
specific marketing skills and competencies that
align with each of the 19 job families within Dell’s
three career levels:
• Individual Contributor
• Professional/Manager
• Executive
Use the chart after page 18 to understand how
marketing skills align with marketing job families
and what degree of skills are needed for each job.
Brand and Positioning
Individual Contributor:• Identifies specific customer needs and
requirements in all segments
• Understands and applies conventional and
progressive segmentation techniques based
on the strategy
• Assesses and maximizes Dell’s
competitive positioning
• Applies brand and product positioning
concepts and principles using standard Dell
tools and formats:
− Defines point-of-parity and point-of-
difference proof points
− Understands how to measure brand equity
Professional/Manager:• Demonstrates deep knowledge of brand
strategy and alignment to sub-brands and
product positioning
• Interprets measures of brand health and can
formulate corrective actions where required
• Influences segment-specific campaigns and
product positioning to ensure they tie back
to the Dell brand
• Incorporates and integrates key messaging
into the marketing mix
Executive:• Determines how one marketing and brand
strategy may impact other Dell segments
• Validates and shares ownership of the
brand position
• Balances long-term brand goals with
immediate sales objectives
Individual Contributor
Professional/Manager
Executive
26 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
Customer Insights
Individual Contributor:• Understands the wants, needs, behaviors and
perceptions of customer segments
• Monitors:
− Broad economic, political/legal,
technological and social/cultural trends
− Trends in the industries Dell serves
− IT trends
− Competitor business models, strategies
and objectives
− Customer requirements and preferences
• Uses existing evaluation and training tools to
further knowledge about customers
• Interprets and applies customer insights and
purchase/decision process to targeted segments
Professional/Manager:• Holds team accountable for acting on analysis
of customer insights
• Uses customer insights to inform positioning
strategies and tactics
• Drives go-to-market strategies based on
customer insights
Executive:• Proactively emphasizes customer needs
• Advocates for customer insights; ensures they
guide brand positioning and marketing strategy
Marketing Strategy
Individual Contributor:• Understands current marketing strategy
and objectives
• Selects target market segments based on:
− Overall attractiveness
− Resource implications and strategic fit with
corporate objectives and competencies
• Uses analytics and research to guide decisions
and test opportunities
• Understands the technology adoption life
cycle and drivers of technology usage
Professional/Manager:• Demonstrates a broad understanding of
different business models
• Develops end-to-end marketing plans and sets
effective, measurable goals and objectives for
each target segment
• Converts marketing strategies and tactics into
action assignments consistent with objectives
• Coordinates marketing efforts with other
Dell resources
Executive:• Aligns and influences internal organizations
and external alliances in support of the
marketing strategy; ensures that marketing
activities are integrated
• Measures financial and market performance
against objectives and adjusts marketing
strategy and tactics accordingly
Marketing Career Guide 27
• Balances long-term performance goals with
short-term sales targets
• Articulates a vision and three-to-five-year strategy
Messaging
Individual Contributor:• Understands target audience motivational
factors, communications objectives,
available messaging tools and how success
will be measured
• Develops effective sales and marketing collateral
and tools that convey the value of Dell’s
offerings (i.e., case studies, value calculators)
• Develops and communicates value propositions
to Dell sales and relationship/account teams
• Uses ROI to measure the impact of
communications programs
Professional/Manager:• Guides compelling message selection
and development based on customer
value proposition
− Writes effective communications briefs and
provides constructive feedback to agencies
and external partners
− Tests and executes marketing/advertising
strategies and tactics
• Uses primary and secondary research tools to
optimize messaging
• Identifies appropriate communications
channels to meet messaging objectives
• Defines how success will be measured
Executive:• Ensures communications programs and tactics
are consistent with Dell’s brand and product
positioning, pricing and distribution strategies
and tactics
• Articulates and strategically delivers messaging
to media and customers
Sales Partnership
Individual Contributor:• Understands customer needs and
requirements in specific segments
• Monitors key competitors’ messaging and
offerings against Dell’s messaging and offerings
• Gathers business intelligence to understand
buying behaviors, sales cycles and solution sets
suitable for market segments
• Understands the technical specification of
each offering/solution
• Articulates solution benefits and value
propositions to the sales team; designs and
implements effective “sales animation” programs
Professional/Manager:• Understands consultative and solution selling
techniques, and services marketing
• Finds ways to improve the effectiveness of
Dell marketing and sales collateral (i.e., white
papers, value calculators)
28 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
Sales Partnership
Executive:• Works with sales and account teams to
position Dell as a trusted advisor
• Provides feedback to Product Planning on
product concepts and integration to create
solution opportunities
• Investigates opportunities to speed up the
sales cycle
• Provides feedback to Product Planning on
product concepts and integration to create
solution opportunities
Pricing
Individual Contributor:• Recognizes, evaluates and tests alternative
pricing strategies (i.e., value-based and cost
plus, etc.)
• Constructs demand curves and measures
price elasticity
• Sets and implements pricing tactics to
encourage customer actions that benefit Dell
(including up sell and cross sell)
• Identifies opportunities to modify Dell
pricing at the strategic, tactical and
transactional levels
Professional/Manager:• Aligns pricing with other elements of the
marketing mix
• Makes weekly tactical adjustments to meet plan
• Communicates pricing opportunities to other
Dell functions
• Adjusts pricing in response to changing market
conditions, including competitors’ actions
Executive:• Sets pricing strategy that supports and
reinforces Dell’s market strategy objectives for
each segment
• Ensures pricing strategy and tactics are
consistent with Dell’s brand, product mix,
messaging, and channel strategies and tactics
• Identifies how to optimize pricing across the
Dell product portfolio
New Product Development
Individual Contributor:• Understands technologies, cost points
and market segments involved in new
product development
• Incorporates customer insights into Dell’s
product realization process (PRP) and phase
review process for new product development;
develops messaging briefs
• Understands competitive offerings and
can articulate the corresponding Dell
value proposition
• Uses research techniques such as
conjoint analysis to identify new feature/
product opportunities
Marketing Career Guide 29
• Assesses relative costs versus benefits
of different product/service features;
can articulate a “business case” to
guide development
• Is an effective advocate for customer
requirements/preferences when
coordinating with engineering, operations,
sales and other functions
Professional/Manager:• Identifies the core offerings to meet the
requirements/preferences of targeted segments
• Identifies opportunities to improve current
offerings and new, distinct solutions offerings
• Has a strategic view of the aggregate product
plan and how products will be positioned in
the market
Executive:• Identifies how to optimize the Dell product
portfolio to deliver on profit and loss goals
• Has broad perspective and knowledge of
customer, technology and product trends
Merchandising
Individual Contributor:• Uses customer understanding and data analysis
(including average revenue per unit) to inform
merchandising strategy and tactics
• Understands merchandising vehicles (i.e.,
catalog, email, etc.) and how to leverage them
to accomplish goals and objectives
• Effectively implements merchandising
programs in online and offline environments
• Monitors competitive activity, programs
and positioning
• Tracks and measures results according to plan
• Provides valuable feedback to the online team,
agency and external vendors on:
− Product offers
− Marketing briefs
− Primary messaging
− Reasons to believe
Professional/Manager:• Develops merchandising strategies based on
well-defined goals, objectives and outcomes
• Provides guidance to online marketing teams
• Ensures merchandising programs are
implemented effectively in online and
offline environments
• Understands other functional areas,
such as Product Group, and how they
effect merchandising
Executive:• Aligns merchandising programs so they
support the Dell offerings, value proposition,
positioning and long-term profitability
• Balances top- and bottom-line objectives in
direct and indirect channels
• Formulates marketing and merchandising
programs that create channel harmony and
minimize conflict
30 Marketing Career Guide
Exploring your potential
Scalable Solutions
Individual Contributor:• Understands industry and customer pain points
• Identifies specific customer needs,
requirements and preferences in a given
segment, from evaluation and acquisition
through use and disposal
• Understands how solutions are implemented
• Understands the distinction between selling
products, packages of products, services
and systems
Professional/Manager:• Articulates Dell’s unique ability to deliver value
to customers, differentiating our offerings from
those of competitors
• Finds optimum balance between the cost of
sales and delivery and the needs of specific
customer segments
• Drives integrated go-to-market strategies and
plans based on defined solutions
Executive:• Directs customer research that drives
solutions development
• Creates and maintains relationships with
key influencers in the market, including
industry specialists, research analysts, media
contacts, etc.
• Integrates alliance/partner priorities within the
solutions development process
Demand Generation Management
Individual Contributor:• Understands target market; ensures
campaign’s objectives are clearly specified
and prioritized
• Identifies and prioritizes decision makers and
influencers within targeted segments
• Understands all forms of demand generation
(i.e., telemarketing, direct mail, etc.)
• Understands viral and social media vehicles
and best practices for leveraging them to
drive demand
• Analyzes reports on effectiveness (ROI) of
overall demand generation programs
• Provides constructive feedback to agency and
external vendors
Professional/Manager:• Explores ways to improve customer
experience and engagement
• Monitors/optimizes demand-generation
programs to increase lead quality, volume and
delivery to channel partners and sales
• Manages/adjusts demand generation elements
such as programs, rebates and incentives to
ensure maximum profitability
• Develops structured campaigns in each
segment to optimize and be consistent with
the Dell brand
Marketing Career Guide 31
Executive:• Builds a strategy that leverages partner
investment (co-marketing)
• Balances short-term demand generation
objectives with longer-term brand-
building objectives
• Ensures all campaigns within and across
vertical markets are aligned to the Dell brand
and overall business objectives
Online Management
Individual Contributor:• Understands the target market and works to
optimize the customer experience
• Uses web analytics to determine what sources
of traffic are converting best and identifies
areas of opportunity
• Knows how to test and evaluate customers’
online experiences
• Has strong analytical abilities and can calculate
the ROI of site merchandising activities
• Understands the strategies and mechanics of
natural language, paid search and site search
Professional/Manager:• Understands the online infrastructure
(technology) that supports Dell.com to manage
and improve the user experience
• Aligns online strategies and tactics with offline
sales and marketing strategies
• Understands analytics in order to manage P&L
Executive:• Ensures online capabilities and initiatives
support the Dell value proposition,
merchandising objectives and global brand
• Works with IT to prioritize online marketing
requirements that will serve Dell long term
• Ensures online practices are integrated with
marketing and merchandising efforts
32 Marketing Career Guide
Leadership competencies
Exploring your potential
Throughout your career, you will have
opportunities to sharpen your leadership
competencies through work experiences,
training programs and interaction with peers
and mentors. Dell follows a global leadership
competency model that is comprised of
behaviors, capabilities and skills necessary
for future leaders. These specific leadership
competencies help leaders drive our business
forward and meet our strategic goals.
These competencies are also included in
performance reviews for all team members.
EngageInspire and motivate others while
successfully delivering on commitments.
• Customers come first.
Always act with the customer in mind.
• Be personally effective. Listen; take ownership;
be a role model; grow and learn.
• Communicate with clarity,
transparency and respect.
• Involve others. Provide direction,
development and inspiration.
Marketing Career Guide 33
ExecuteCreate positive results. Focus on effective
decision-making, streamlining processes and
thinking and acting globally.
• Be decisive and courageous. Contribute,
provide and solicit input and take action.
• Simplify. Focus on what matters most and
keep activities streamlined and effective.
• Be inclusive. Think globally, value diversity,
collaborate and consider the impact of
your work.
ExcelPosition Dell to win by encouraging continuous
improvement and identifying and driving strategies
to differentiate Dell from our competition.
• Innovate. Be creative; take smart risks;
continuously improve.
• Drive strategy. Know the business;
look ahead; plan for the future.