Often what leads to one product having greater success than its competitors is creative marketing. The top makers of athletic shoes, for example, all make high-quality products. But marketing has put Nike in the forefront of consumer consciousness.

Just as effective marketing is vital for business to compete, it’s critical for job candidates to stand out among their competitors. You can adapt several marketing techniques to bring your talents to the attention of employers and gain an edge.

Comparative adjectives are a classic element of advertising used to prompt consumers to choose one product over another. In your search, you need to find ways to motivate hiring managers to select you over other candidates. You’re in competition with many others who possess the same skills. Simply presenting your skills won’t land you a position.

"In the grocery store of life, you have to figure out why someone would pick you up off the shelf," says Andrea Nierenberg, president of the Nierenberg Group, a business communication-consulting firm in New York. "Are you new and improved? Are you repackaged? What are you doing to get that competitive edge? What you want to do is position yourself as you would a product."

To position products, companies attempt to establish brand names and identities. They select characteristics that may make them unique and attractive to consumers. The names are publicized to get consumers to associate them with these characteristics. Companies hope that when consumers shop for items with these characteristics, they’ll think of their brands and buy them.

In marketing your skills and accomplishments to potential employers, your goal is to establish your name as a brand in the job market. You want managers who are looking to hire or recommend candidates with backgrounds like yours to think of your name. Ms. Nierenberg, who teaches self-marketing for the School of Continuing and Professional Studies at New York University, says three skills are essential to a successful marketing campaign.

• Networking. You have to be able to cultivate strong professional relationships.
• Presentation. Whether you’re speaking to one person or a thousand, you need to be able to persuade people to see your viewpoint.
• Motivation. To reach your potential, you have to be inspired to take action, even in difficult situations.

The level of creativity you use in combining and executing these basic marketing techniques will determine how effectively your campaign makes your name known to those who can help you advance your career. Just as you would if you were advertising a product, you need to get hiring managers to pay attention to your message.

Word-of-mouth advertising -- where friends tell each other about products -- is considered to be the most powerful promotional tool. Publicists often speak about trying to create a buzz about their clients -- to get potential customers talking to others about their clients. People are likely to investigate products further if they hear about them from someone they know.

You have to be your own publicist and create a buzz about yourself in the market you’ve targeted. It’s important to take every opportunity to talk to people who may be able to help you achieve your goals. "You can never be afraid to talk to people who can help you," says David Boykin, author of "Career Management Strategies for the 21st Century: The First 15 Years of Your Professional Life" (CMC Publishing, 1998). "That’s where a lot of people fail in marketing themselves. They don’t quite know how to approach somebody."

Mr. Boykin credits his skills in one-on-one marketing with his rise from the mailroom at International Business Machines to his current position of vice president, technology infrastructure division at Chase Manhattan Bank. He makes a distinction between networking and marketing. Networking, he says, gets you into the circle of people who can help you. Once there, you have to market yourself. Being in the circle does little good unless you’re comfortable with approaching people and publicizing your credentials.

"Some people are intimidated by the clout a person carries within an industry or the position a person carries within a company," Mr. Boykin says. "You have to put that aside and realize that if you don’t talk to that person, you’ll never know if they could have helped you. You have more to lose by not talking to the person than you do by talking to the person."

John Sardanopoli, a New York accountant who is trying to switch into marketing, admits to not being naturally outgoing in business situations. But he realizes that he has to be more proactive if he hopes to make connections that will lead him to his goal. "I try to keep in mind that everyone I meet represents a possible business opportunity," he says. "You never know who might be able to help you. So, I try to make myself as available to as many people as possible, not just the people in my [comfortable] little group. It’s important that I expand the scope of the people I come in contact with."

You may approach someone who has absolutely, positively no interest in anything you have to say. That could be uncomfortable. The more you risk a little discomfort, the better your chances of finding someone who can provide a major break in advancing your career.

An integral part of a product’s marketing program is the research on its target audience. Companies try to increase their chances for success by learning as much as possible about their potential customers, what product features they feel would most benefit them and what’s most likely to motivate them to purchase products.

Asking questions of those whom you target for your personal marketing campaign to find out what you can do for them, not just what they can do for you, should be a regular practice. Ms. Nierenberg cautions that candidates often make the mistake of approaching contacts like stalkers with resumes.

"People are usually tuned into one radio station all the time, WII-FM, What’s In It For Me?" she says. "You have to tune into other people. Get them talking about themselves and actively listen to them. Listening is very important. If you’re not focused on the other person, you miss [valuable] information that the person is conveying to you. When you really listen to other people -- and you listen with both your eyes and your ears -- you’ll learn everything you need to know about them and more."

Consumers tend to buy products from companies they feel understand their situations and needs. Similarly, employers tend to prefer doing business with someone who demonstrates a genuine interest in their companies’ concerns. Market research that ascertains your contacts’ needs and concerns will give you an edge over your competitors.

Not all marketing campaigns go smoothly. An example is New Coke. Consumers resoundingly rejected this new soft-drink formula. In response, Coca-Cola Co. reintroduced its original soft drink as Coca-Cola Classic. New Coke has gone the way of eight-track tapes and the Edsel.

What’s significant is that the company handled this major rejection without sign of panic. Outwardly, there was little indication from the company that there was anything wrong. It presented a positive, confident attitude as it made adjustments.

As you market yourself to prospective employers, you’re bound to experience rejection. You may have had quite a bit already. It’s essential to your success that you work past rejection and not allow it to seep into the attitude you present to contacts.

"If you’ve been in any kind of job search for any length of time, it can be very discouraging," says Mr. Boykin, who is also president of Career Management Concepts, a career-consulting firm in White Plains, N.Y. "Then, you begin to lose confidence. You start to think that maybe you’re washed up -- that maybe you’re not cut out for [the job]. That comes out in your attitude [during interviews]. You can’t show any signs of being desperate, being worn out, of being burnt out -- you just cannot afford to show signs. These are the things that kill people in job searches."

Olinda Turturro, an actress in New York City, maintains a positive attitude by viewing rejection as a dispassionate business decision, rather than a personal snub. She doesn’t discount that rejection can be painful and the negative feelings must be addressed.

"To deal with the stress of rejection, you have to be able to pad yourself with things that make you feel good," Ms. Turturro says. "The most important thing for me is to have [emotional] outlets. To put my attention somewhere else and not think about business."

Don’t allow rejection to derail your marketing campaign. You may need to adjust your marketing strategy, find new information or explore different target markets. Remain confident in your abilities and accomplishments.

When a new product’s sales are slow, a company may attempt to jump-start sales by using a technique called sampling. It will give away samples of its product to get people to try it. The theory is that if those who try the sample like it, they’ll buy it and tell their friends about it. Word-of-mouth is powerful in marketing.

If your marketing campaign is yielding few offers, try the sampling technique by volunteering your skills in your target market. Volunteering can be especially effective if you’re trying to change careers. Working on trade or fund-raising events in your target industry may be an opportunity to learn about the industry. People within the industry will learn about you, creating that all-important buzz.