Too much stress on the marketing managers causes Loss of confidence, depression, anger, frustration, anxiety and panic attacks etc. very frequently they become addicted to alcohol, drugs, in many cases they become victims of fatigue related diseases, high blood pressure, heart ailment etc; in worst cases, heart attacks etc. are the results of increasing mental stress, due to increase in competition on marketing managers.

The stressors in work place of marketing managers are as threats on jobs, continuous development of new marketing skills, too much travelling, staying away from family due to excessive touring, adaptation to new marketing tools and technology.

Managing time on the job, conflicting demands , Role conflict, sometimes lack of motivators for performance, organizational politics, in some cases responsibilities without adequate power to fulfill them, achieving the desired targets before deadline and along with these the high degree of increasing competitors and aggressive marketing strategies to win over them, has become very crucial to manage.

From the Performance-Stress curve it is clear that, if the stress level of marketing managers are at EUSTRESS level, then optimum output can be expected from them, but if it increases to the DISTRESS level it is harmful for the managers and also for the organizations; at the same time, due to increase in competition, increase in stress is inevitable, so, these are the responsibilities of both the marketing managers and the organizations to go for Stress Management approaches for reducing stress and keep it within the EUSTRESS level.

Some Remedial Measures:-

The marketing managers must put optimum effort to adopt the stress reducing techniques on their own accord, to be healthy and successful. The organizations also should take care of the mental stress of marketing managers and conduct the compulsory seminars, classes, counseling regarding stress management and stress reducing techniques.

Some of these are as follows.

• Regular exercise is a powerful anti-stress activity. It is regarded as one of the safest and a cheap way to reduce stress. Aerobics, stretching or massaging reduce stress as they release endorphins.
• Proper yoga techniques.
• Meditation.
• Zen Meditation can be used as an anti-stress technique as it leads to relaxation of mind and body. Researchers have shown that Zen meditation is able to produce alpha waves which are associated with a feeling of tranquility and lack of tension. Zen meditation involves concentrating on a bindu point on a picture.
• Music can also go a long way in reducing stress. Listening to soothing music can help one in coping with stress.
• Developing a hobby can be of great help to people under stress. Hobbies like gardening, photography or philately can give a sense of satisfaction and provide relaxation to mind.

If the stress level is very high and difficult to manage, specialist doctors should be consulted and proper treatment is advisable.

Stress management techniques are basically about evolving a coping mechanism. The coping mechanism should give emphasis on relaxation, leisure and tranquility.

Conclusion

A conclusion can be drawn from the above discussion that, in present era, mental stress of marketing managers have increased to a very high extent, there is no doubt about it, but it can be changed to a healthy level of stress and the competitions can be made more challenging by scientific and systematic marketing strategies, on going market study & research, continuous adaptation to the changing market trends, proper use of right marketing workforce, managing time and of course stress reducing techniques by the marketing managers themselves and the organizations.