Between 2022-2024 there was sustained interest in hiring marketers, specifically brand managers and digital marketers.  Since the beginning of 2025 however we have seen demand for marketing positions reduce and current hiring focus has increased for sales positions.

Hiring from outside the industry

• For brand marketers there are possibilities to transfer into the drinks industry from other sectors. However, these candidates will often need some knowledge and experience of the alcohol industry, ideally that they have at some point gained some sort of experience with drinks.
• The exception here is strong alcohol brands as they can sometimes successfully hire salespeople/marketers from outside the alcohol industry particularly from the luxury sectors such as perfume, watches, fashion.

Brand Managers

• Until the beginning of 2025, from 2022 the demand for hiring Brand Managers at all levels continued to stay strong.
• The levels Assistant Brand Manager (ABM) and Junior Brand Management (JBM) saw increased hiring in 2024, in some cases ABM level roles newly added to teams. The ABM role is a second role rather than an entry level role requiring some knowledge of wine/WSET qualifications 2/3.
• The Brand Manager/Senior Brand Manager (BM, SBM) salary range is large because there is such a variety of roles at this level. Some companies do not have the SBM level rather just different levels of BMs with experience. This generally depends on the size of the marketing team and overall company.
• Head/Director Brand Management is still only present in a few companies that have teams of 4/5+ brand managers. Otherwise this role is added to existing responsibilities of others such as Head of Marketing, Portfolio Director, Agencies Director.
• Salaries at the ABM/JBM have softened slightly as there are more roles at these levels. At the BM/SBM level salaries are stable although on moving roles we are no longer seeing the large salary increases of 2023/4.
• Supplier Relationship Manager has some overlapping skill sets and responsibilities to Brand Manager.

Brand Ambassadors

• In late 2024/5 demand for Brand Ambassadors has reduced. Often found in larger companies with very strong brands although in 2021/2022 there was an increase in demand for Brand Ambassadors across all sizes of company.
• Occasionally Senior Brand Ambassadors exist although turnover at the senior end is very low as it is often difficult to find a comparable role elsewhere.

Trade/Customer Marketing

• Trade & Customer Marketing is often found in the team at the mid-level of candidates. This hasn’t changed since previous years and hiring demand has  remained stable.

Category Managers

• Category managers mainly exist in larger agencies & producers; if this expertise is needed in smaller companies it can be outsourced to specific agencies or a data-focused salesperson may take on some parts of this in addition to their role. This role sits in between sales and marketing and depends on the company as to the reporting lines.
• It is a very small people market and these people are rarely asked to come to the office as they mainly deal with national sales, significantly grocery customers. It would be unusual for them to be in the office 2 – 3 days per week.
• Category managers can move between alcohol sub-sectors easily and there are more at junior and mid-level in the large beer and spirits companies.

No & Low sector

• The no-&-low sub-sector is attractive to candidates with experience in the health & wellness industry and these candidates typically have experience in building brands. Additionally they have great enthusiasm and interest and are very keen on the no & low sector marrying drinks with their passion for health and wellness.
• However despite interest from these candidates we have not seen the corresponding enthusiasm from wine hiring managers who are still looking for wine experience. Other sectors such as spirits and beer are more open to the differing candidate experience although a candidate with drinks experience will still have an advantage.