Where will your passions lead you?

10 Marketing Career Guide

Where will your passions lead you?

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


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



“The only constant is change.” HeraclitusGreekphilosopher


Strategies that drive our marketing


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.


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


Our marketing organization


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.


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



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 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


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



• 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



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,


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



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


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



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


• 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


• 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


• 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)



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


• 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



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


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


Leadership competencies


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.


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.

Where will your passions lead you?

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