RB is still very young and still not on the list of top quality MBA candidates considering Brand Management careers. If RB does not differentiate between 22 year old undergrads and 28-32 year old MBA graduates from top schools then it will further lead to the deterioration of the RB brand name among MBA schools.
RB is only CPG company who will promote you to Associate Brand Manager and Brand Manager even if you dont have a MBA. This does not make any difference to me as I am on track for BM in the next few months but hurts RB's image as an employer.
I understand that one learns most at the job but it does not substitute for the polish, the fundamentals, the hard and soft skills etc that one learns through 4-5 years of pre MBA work experience and the 2 years of rigorous training/conditioning/exposure at business school.
No other CPG marketing company does that e.g. Unilever, P&G, SCJ hire ONLY MBAs for brand positions.
Several other Associate Brand Managers like me have 5-8 years quality pre MBA work experience but now have same salary and position as a 22 year old undergrad who joined less than 3 years ago fresh out of college and still thinks 3 beers is binge drinking : ) so one can imagine the varying quality/intellect of discussions in the meeting rooms : )
