Julian Mercado

VP of Marketing at JM&A

Can you briefly describe your career journey and how you became VP of Marketing?

​​I started my career wanting to work in International Business which is my Bachelors degree. But, during my time in college and the start of my career I started to be fascinated by Marketing. I moved into digital marketing roles as the industry evolved. During the pandemic, many people were moving jobs due to personal things, and I got the opportunity to step up as the VP of Marketing. I now oversee brand strategy, campaigns, and innovation and my journey has been a mix of staying curious, taking risks, and building strong teams.

What does your role as VP of Marketing look like day-to-day? What’s a typical week like for you?

My typical week involves a mix of strategy and execution. I’ll usually spend time with my team reviewing campaign performance, collaborating with R&D on product launches, aligning with sales on market trends, and reporting to senior leadership.

How has the field of marketing changed since you started your career?

Marketing has been changing for so long, specially from traditional media to digital media. But for me, it has just been incredible to witness how digital media changes overnight. We always have to stay up to date the latest social medias and trends.​

What do you think are the most important skills marketing students should focus on developing today?

​Learn how to understand and analyze data from Google Analytics, Meta Ads dashboards, CRM reports, etc. But also let your creativity always be what leads you. The best marketers today are fluent in both data and storytelling.

What are some common misconceptions about working in marketing?

That the best marketers are all extroverts. Extroverts are very good at marketing but so are introverts. Introverts are usually very good listeners and they have just as great ideas.​

If you were just starting out in marketing today, what would you do differently?

​I would've learned about all the digital tools sooner. Even though it is important to know about traditional media, we are getting away from it more everyday. I wish I would've learned about SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing sooner.

Finally, what advice would you give to students hoping to one day hold a leadership role like yours?

Be adaptable. Marketing evolves constantly, and your success will be highly involved with your ability to evolve with it. Find mentors, always ask questions ,and never be scared to reach out to others through email or LinkedIn. And most importantly, love what you do and be passionate about it.