How Marketing Managers Use the Side Project to Get Promoted

In this episode of The Marketing Career Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how side projects outside your day job can accelerate your promotion timeline. They break down the story of a mid-career brand manager at Nestlé who built a personal newsletter about pet food trends, grew it to 12,000 subscribers in eight months, and used that project to leap from brand manager to senior brand manager. Lucas explains the three criteria that make a side project career-relevant — visibility, skill gap, and network effect — and why internal hiring managers often trust side-project evidence over performance reviews. Luna challenges the time-cost argument and shares data from a 2024 LinkedIn survey showing that 43 percent of marketers who landed internal promotions had a professional passion project they discussed in interviews. They also discuss how to frame a side project on your resume without looking like you were slacking off at work. If you're stuck at a career plateau and wondering why your day-to-day output isn't translating into a promotion, this episode offers a concrete alternative path. #SideProject #CareerPromotion #MarketingCareer #BrandManagement #Nestle #PetFoodTrends #LinkedInSurvey #SkillGap #Visibility #NetworkEffect #InternalPromotion #ResumeTips #MarketingStrategy #CareerGrowth #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #MarketingPodcast #MidCareerMarketers Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo