Product management

<h2 id="history">History</h2><p>
The concept of product management originates from a 1931 memo by Procter & Gamble President <a href="/facts/Neil_H._McElroy/eLw84rfm">Neil H. McElroy</a>. McElroy, requesting additional employees focused on brand management, needed "Brand Men" who would take on the role of managing products, packaging, positioning, distribution, and sales performance. </p>
<p>The memo defined a brand man's work as:
</p>
<ul><li>Study carefully the shipments of his brands by units.</li>
<li>Where brand development is heavy ... examine carefully the combination of effort that seems to be clicking, and try to apply this same treatment to other territories.</li>
<li>Where brand development is light:
<ul><li>Study the advertising and promotion history of the brand.</li>
<li>After uncovering our weaknesses, develop a plan that can be applied to this local sore spot.</li>
<li>Outline this plan in detail for the division manager.</li>
<li>Prepare sales helps and all other necessary material for carrying out the plan.</li>
<li>Keep whatever records are necessary and make whatever field studies are necessary to determine whether the plan has produced the expected results.</li></ul></li>
<li>Take full responsibility ... for the general printed word plans for his brands.</li>
<li>Take full responsibility for all other advertising expenditures.</li>
<li>Experiment with and recommend wrapper revisions.</li>
<li>Sees district manager a number of times a year to discuss with him any possible faults in our promotion plans for that territory.</li></ul>
<p>In modern terms, McElroy defined the role as: analyzing product distribution, optimize working distribution strategies, diagnosing and solving distribution issues, optimize product positioning and product marketing, and collaborate with regional distribution managers.
</p>
<h2 id="role-of-product-managers">Role of product managers</h2>
<p><a href="/facts/Product_manager/SeL7Y2Nm">Product managers</a> are responsible for managing a company's product line on a day-to-day basis. As a result, product managers are critical in driving a company's growth, margins, and revenue. They are responsible for the business case, conceptualizing, planning, <a href="/facts/New_product_development/ogcXTIco">product development</a>, <a href="/facts/Product_marketing/DdN29qJC">product marketing</a>, and delivering products to their target market. Depending on the company's size, industry, and history, product management has a variety of functions and roles. Frequently there is an <a href="/facts/Income_statement/8GA6orju">income statement</a> (or profit and loss) responsibility as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance. 
</p>
<h3>Tasks</h3>
<p>Product managers analyze information including customer research, competitive intelligence, industry analysis, trends, economic signals, and competitive activity,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> as well as documenting requirements, setting <a href="/facts/Product_strategy/0yBjljPU">product strategy</a>, and creating the roadmap. Product managers align across departments within their company including product design and development, marketing, sales, customer support, and legal.
</p>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Product_lifecycle/G3U6gtBv">Product lifecycle</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Product_manager/SeL7Y2Nm">Product manager</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Product_planning/oDzHqY7f">Product planning</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Product_marketing/DdN29qJC">Product marketing</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Product_differentiation/BGeUHFCL">Product differentiation</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Program_management/sS77vjgb">Program management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Software_product_management/T8EowDlS">Software product management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Service_product_management/EPuGJ1m0">Service product management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Technology_roadmap/ov21IlGM">Technology roadmap</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/User_experience/0GF3UETu">User experience</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Brand_management/J6NlJmlK">Brand management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Customer_experience/WsurycBq">Customer experience</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Marketing_management/GNhxLaf0">Marketing management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Mass_customization/UWu7jQ69">Mass customization</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Product_(business)/l9P9fUJa">Product (business)</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Project_management/JgQVSU3o">Project management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Requirements_management/8Ns3J9fP">Requirements management</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Aggregate_project_plan/vzG0SdVQ">Aggregate project plan</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

The Wikibook <i>Marketing</i> has a page on the topic of: <i>Product_Development</i>

<ul><li> Media related to Product management at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>By Steven Haines. "The Product Manager's Desk Reference." Published by McGraw Hill. Page 390. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xTMWzXuPqgwC&q=inbound&pg=PA389" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=xTMWzXuPqgwC&q=inbound&pg=PA389</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Product management open-in-new

Product management