Companies in Hong Kong and across Asia are becoming more sophisticated when it comes to branding and marketing, prompting a revamp of recruitment strategies in the consulting industry. Jay Milliken, senior partner of brand and marketing consultant Prophet, gives the lowdown.

How has the branding and marketing consultancy landscape changed in recent years?

Traditionally, the market has been segmented into strategic consulting firms and creative agencies. Now, clients want branding and marketing consulting firms that are both strategic and creative, which can blend art with science.

Historically, Asian and Hong Kong companies have been less sophisticated relative to the US and Europe when it comes to branding and marketing, but that gap is closing quickly. Today, companies are moving away from more tactical, sales-oriented activities to a long-term focus on branding, aligning their customer experience and branding to the type of company they aspire to be.

This significant shift means that consulting companies have also had to shift their talent base from tactical executors to more strategic thinkers.

How are businesses responding to these changes in terms of recruitment?

They’re doing this by hiring more strategic or more creative people. Even better, but rarer, is someone who is both. But good talent is always hard to find.

What separates a great branding and marketing consultant from an average one? What other skills are needed?

There are a number of skills and characteristics that people in this industry require to be successful:

Intense curiosity. We are constantly asked to help solve our clients’ most challenging issues, and therefore need to constantly be learning new things.

Problem-solving. This is at the heart of what we do and you need to be both structured and creative. For potential candidates, we test this in a variety of ways.

Customer mindset. To be successful you need a true appreciation of, and affinity with, consumer needs. Without that perspective, your work will not have the relevance required to generate demand. This also means you often have to get out from behind your desk and experience those needs first-hand. The client service business can be very complicated – do you have what it takes to navigate these tricky waters?

Passion. You’ve got to love what you do because consulting is not an easy job. You need a strong passion for marketing and brands. We love what we do and love to work with other people who feel the same way. We will ask you about your favourite brand.

Flexibility. Ultimately we serve clients and their needs, so we often need to be incredibly flexible.

Working hard vs. working smart. There is a time for both, but a good consultant understands the difference. Consultants talk about the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto principle, which means 80 per of your results come from 20 per cent of your effort. The problem is figuring out what that 20 per cent entails.

Culture fit. In consulting, there is a common idea for fit called “the airport test”: can you imagine being trapped in an airport waiting for a delayed flight with this person?

What are the advantages of working in a consultancy? How about for an in-house role?

The first advantage of working in a consultancy is the variety of experience – you get to work across multiple industries and client issues. You will also develop a broader skill set, as working with more industries and issues results in a broader set of transferable skills.

The issues also tend to be bigger – clients hire us to work on all sorts of things that the C-suite cares about, which creates intellectual challenges. Regardless of your experience level, you are also more likely to get more responsibility in a consultancy.

With in-house positions, the big advantage is that you get to specialise, as you develop a deep understanding of a certain category or functional specialism. You can also “get your hands dirty” bringing strategies to life in your own market.

What path did you take to become senior partner? Is it a typical one?

I started my career, post-MBA, in hardcore strategy, firstly on the corporate strategy team of Sears, Roebuck and Company – a Fortune 500 retailer – and then in management consulting at Mercer Management Consulting, now Oliver Wyman.

Having ridden the internet bubble up, then down, as a management consultant, I was intrigued by the possibility of leaving the cost-cutting and operational improvement parts of management consulting behind, and focusing more on customer-led growth strategies.

I joined Prophet as an experienced manager, and then worked my way up to senior partner over the past 13 years. It is a very typical career path for an ex-management consultant.

How can professionals make the move into branding and marketing consulting? Are there any roles that lend well to a switch?

If you are a management consultant who wants to work on more of “the fun stuff” as I call it, then that is one successful pathway into the industry. If you are a marketer in industry who really enjoys, and is good at, solving strategic marketing issues, then that is another pathway. The more senior a role you are looking for, the more important it is to have some consulting experience, because the expectations and responsibilities are higher.

This article appeared in the Classified Post print edition as Brand new thinking.