This Tuesday, AMA was joined by Kenneth Bayton, an Under Armour Global Marketing Lead! Kenneth, a 2014 UMD graduate, shared career and life advice with AMA students and said that ultimately, the most important lesson was “don’t let anyone tell you no.”
Kenneth began the panel by talking about his time in the advertising agency Buffalo Agency. While there, he took a course in project management and eventually strove for the Project Management Professional® exam and certification. The exam was more than four hours long and two hundred questions, but he knew it would be worth it. Kenneth had the mindset of a project manager; he was "thinking about the big picture all the time, weighing all the options."
Life in an agency was good for Kenneth. The fast-paced days of working with different clients and companies taught him to think on his feet (to “pivot and change”) and consider the interconnectedness and importance of all different sections of marketing strategy, such as the innovation, print, external and legal teams. But once he found his niche in project management and learned his love of sports could be realized in a business sense, he moved to Under Armour.
Kenneth has been an Under Armour Global Marketing Lead for over two years now. He is a Project Manager; “I’m the middle guy,” he called himself. He spends his days talking to different teams (creative, social, strategy) to create a cohesive marketing strategy.
“It’s a lot of late nights and early mornings,” he mentioned, because his job changes with global movements and news cycles. Flexibility and the ability to pivot at any time is key in marketing due to the real-time nature of the field.
Kenneth also added that marketing strategy differs around the world. Americans tend to like flashy and vibrant campaigns, but many Europeans appreciate more practical products and campaigns, and those in Asia value experiential advertising. He appreciates the global nature of his work, saying that sometimes he had to find translators for Zoom calls to Tokyo.
So what does it take to become a Global Marketing Lead? How do you reach professional success? When he was a college student, he didn’t know what he wanted to do, saying that people understand more about their path after entering the workforce. Kenneth offers some advice to students: figure out how to differentiate yourself, and don’t be afraid to explore.
“The best advice I ever got? Don’t let your chin hit your chest,” he said, meaning that students should keep their heads up and look towards the future. “Be one step better every day.”
By Jacqueline Zito