Career Profile Part 2

Name: Sandy Thou Position/Title: Category Development Manager Company Name: Whitehall-Robins Division of American Home Products Company's web address: http://www.ahp.com/whitehall.htm, Company Description: American Home Products Corporation is a $14-billion domestic and international company. American Home specializes in prescription, over-the-counter drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. The Parent Company comprises of several divisions specializing in a particular industry with Wyeth-Ayerst making up the largest division in Pharmaceuticals. The Whitehall-Robins Division concentrates on over-the-counter drugs in the Consumer Products Industry. Whitehall-Robins has sales of $1.4 Billion in 1996 making up the largest over-the-counter health care company in the United States. This division specializes in marketing Rx to OTC conversions into the trade class channels. Some key Rx to OTC switches are Advil® and Children's Advil® for Ibuprofen, Dimetapp®, Axid AR® - H2 Acid Blocker and Orudis KT® - Ketoprofen. The key brands they market are Advil®, Robitussin® and Centrum®. They also span to other categories such as Hemorrhoid¹s, Shampoo, Lip Care and Asthma.

Job Description:

In my current position, I am part of the National Account Program calling on the Largest Retailers in the United States. Whitehall-Robins has created cross-functional teams to best serve our National Accounts. My role on this team is in Category Management it involves consumer research, market basket, analyzing trends, planogram merchandising and promotion evaluation. My responsibility lies in 4 key customers with a direct report I oversee. I work closely with our National Account Managers that handles the sales function for these accounts. Category Management works jointly with the salesperson to help grow our accounts in both their category and our brands. We also have a Logistics/Finance person on our team to help coordinate any shipping or inventory problems and financial issues. We are moving along as a Team to be more efficient and utilize all our resources based on each person¹s expertise. As a function of a Team we need the Logistics/Finance person to help us be a check and balance for the Team as a whole. We all report directly and indirectly to a Team Leader. We do all work together to create promotions and strategies that help build our brands and in essence we also work with our Marketing Department. The Marketing Department helps us with additional consumer research and brand strategies.

Career Path:

I started with Whitehall-Robins right after College as a Territory Manager. A Territory Manager was an entry-level position in sales calling on retailers and wholesalers. Then I moved into a Unit Manager position responsible for 10 Salespeople. After being in sales for 3 years I switched over to Category Management which still is in the sales department. Category Management is the growing and hot trend of my industry today. I started in Category Management as a Category Development Analyst working with our Regional Accounts in the Central area. This role required a more analytical background which I did not know at the time if I had any. Luckily I was able to acquire and learn all the necessary functions of Category Management. This involved learning a variety of technical skills. After working as a Category Development Analyst on our smaller regional accounts, I moved on to being a part of our National Account Team. As a part of the team my title changed to Category Development Manager (CDM) in which I also managed a Category Development Analyst. As a CDM I worked with our largest retailers in the country and work cross-functionally with the salespeople and marketing. The next move involves several paths in which I can take. The first one is staying in Category Management and becoming a Senior CDM. Another option would be to rotate back into sales as a National Account Manager or District Manager. There is also an opportunity to work in the Corporate office in a Sales Support Function or the Training Department. Personally, I would like to take the path of being a National Account Manager in Chicago or if I could move to the East Coast I would enjoy working in the Corporate Office in the Training Department.

Career Challenge:

My long-term career goal is to switch over to Marketing from Sales. In order to make the switch I need to have a proven track record in sales. There has only been a handful of people that have made the transition. The few salespeople that switched have moved up the corporate ladder in sales through various positions. Also, the majority of people in our Marketing department have a Master's degree in Business. An MBA is not required but highly recommended. They do make concessions for people that have the right work experience. I hope that in the next 2-3 years I will have the amount of experience and positions in sales that I will become a Brand Manager in Marketing. I feel that with my experience so far I am heading the right direction. My current role in Category Management deals with many of the issues in Marketing such as consumer behavior and buying habits. I need to progress to the next level either as a National Account Manager or a role in the Corporate office to get the extra experience needed.

Educational Background:

Kansas State University Bachelor of Science in Business, Majoring in Marketing

Favorite Course:

Retailing - a course offered in Marketing. Retailing was my favorite, probably thanks to the instructor. My instructor was able to relate real career experiences in with the course work. The instructor made the material interesting with anecdotes from her own career. Also, the material covered in the coursework entailed other sources besides the textbook. My instructor was able to compile her own research and data into the class.

Best Course for your Career:

I was a member of a Business Fraternity which nominated me my junior year to be the Vice President - Rush. As Vice President -Rush my job was to recruit fellow members to the business organization. Once the members have been recruited I had to instruct them concerning the history and objectives of the organization. I felt the office I held gave me the experience of working with others and how to recruit and motivate people. This also gave me the leadership skills that have helped me with my career.

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