Tackling the Marketing Case

1. Mock Madness Tackling the Marketing Case Michelle Antonio, Columbia Career Coach November 10, 2011

2. Goals • Share the employer perspective on interviews • Overview of what to expect in the case portion of the marketing interviews • Review the most common types of Marketing cases & constructs for answering • Highlight Key Resources/Next Steps to prepare for success

3. Employer Perspective • Hiring is a time intensive process for employers and candidates. Hiring mistakes are costly on both sides. • Employers look to hire candidates who demonstrate: • Passion for the function, industry & company • Cultural Fit • Skills, knowledge & initiative to succeed • Leadership • Teamwork • Project management • High-Level Communication Skills • Strategic thinking • Creativity/innovation • Analytical thinking • Knowledge of marketing concepts Assessed in case interview performance

4. Interview Structure • 1st round: 30-45 minutes • Final round(s): Varies by company • Format includes some or all of the following: • “Walk Me Through Your Resume” or “Tell Me About Yourself” (Pitch Questions) • Baseline questions: • Why Columbia? • Why marketing/brand management? • Why this industry? • Why this company? • Behavioral questions (“Tell me about a time…”) • Marketing cases

5. Why Ask Marketing Case Questions? • Great method for evaluating: • Knowledge of marketing concepts • Critical skills for the job • Strategic Thinking • Analytical Skills • Communication Skills • Creativity/Innovation • Ability to think on your feet • What do marketing firms expect from you? • Strong understanding of, and ability to apply, key marketing concepts – not previous background • Insight in to how you think is more important than the “right” answer

6. How to handle Marketing Case questions • Approach each question with a logical structure/ marketing framework (3 Cs, 4 Ps, STP) • Start strategic (broad), then get tactical (narrow) • Ask for, but don’t be dependent on, receiving data • Apply the “other” 3 Cs (Clarity, Conciseness & Confidence): • Clarity – articulate your roadmap upfront and your rationale throughout so they can see how you think • Conciseness – ask focused, relevant questions • Confidence – make reasonable assumptions, draw conclusions, assert your opinions, deliver recommendations

7. Typical Marketing Case Types • New Product Launch case • Business Case (declining sales, declining share, defending against a new competitor, etc.) • Advertising Critique • Creativity/Innovation case • General Marketing Knowledge case

8. New Product Launch cases • These cases test your ability to apply strategic and tactical marketing concepts as it relates to a new product launch • Company X is contemplating launching an existing product in a new market…. • Company Y is considering launching a new product under existing Brand X… • Company Z wants to evaluate whether it should expand Brand Z in to a new category segment…

9. Approaching New Product Launch cases • Strategic (3 Cs, STP) and tactical (4 Ps) frameworks will be needed • Always start with the consumer/customer – do consumers want/need this product? • Assess the company opportunity & competition • Competitive threats/response • Cost/Ease of entry (capital investment, branding, distribution) • Size of the market – estimate your market share • Determine Segment/Target/Positioning – what is your singular benefit that you intend to deliver to your target customers. How will your positioning be differentiated from competition?

10. Approaching New Product Launch cases (cont’d) • Determine marketing execution (4 P’s) • Price – should reflect positioning and drive profit • Product – which attributes to offer • Promotion – how will you create awareness and trial for product? • Placement – where will consumer buy it?

11. Business Case Questions • Can range from mini consulting case questions to real-world business scenarios • Mini consulting case examples • How many blue cars are there in the US? • If everyone in China held hands how many times would they circle the earth? • At any one point in time, how many gallons of ice cream are being sold around the world? • Real world business scenarios • Declining Sales • Declining Share • Defending against new competitor

12. Approaching Business Case Questions – Declining Sales/Share • Start broad/strategic: • Is decline driven by general category decline or share decline in my brand only? • Why is category/share declining? Answer will drive decision to reverse decline or exit category • Substitutes vs. change in consumer habits • Change in own product vs. competitor product

13. Approaching Business Case Questions – Declining Sales/Share (cont’d) • Once root causes are identified, determine strategy and tactics to address: • If category is declining, develop strategy to increase category usage or exit • If share is declining, determine why (explore 4 P’s) and develop appropriate strategic response • Price: has my price changed relative to competition? • Product: has the quality of my product changed or has competition upgraded/launched new products? • Promotion – have promotions changed? • Placement – have I lost distribution relative to competition?

14. Approaching Business Case Questions – Defending Against New Competitor • Assess the threat to determine whether or not you need to defend • Does the new product meet an untapped consumer need? • How strong is the competitor? Will they spend to support the launch? Do they have track record of being smart marketers? • Where will they take volume from? Are they targeting you or your competitors? • If you need to defend, strategies to consider: • Reinforce brand/product equity with advertising – remind consumers why your product is superior to discourage them from trying new product • Upgrade your product to provide new benefit

15. Approaching Business Case Questions – Defending Against New Competitor (cont’d) • If you need to defend, strategies to consider (cont’d): • Load consumers with your product so they will be stocked during competitor launch by using price incentives • If issue is private label entrant, determine how much of a price premium you can charge before your brand starts to lose volume; also, consider introducing a value brand • Track new competitor’s performance after launch

16. Advertising Critique Case • These cases assess your ability to critically analyze the effectiveness of a current or potential advertising campaign, using a consumer and brand focused framework • What is the most innovative advertising campaign you’ve seen in the last year and why? • Give an example of an advertising campaign that you think was misguided or a failure and why?

17. Approaching the Advertising Critique Case • Assess the advertising on the following dimensions: • Consumer • Who is the Ad targeting? • Will This Ad get the Target Consumer’s attention and be recalled? • Is it being seen/heard in the optimal print/media channels? • Benefit • What is the Benefit being communicated in the Ad? • Is the Benefit being communicated clearly? Is it compelling? • Brand • Does the Ad link the Brand to the Benefit? • Is the Brand portrayed positively? • Impact • Would this Ad compel the Target Consumer to purchase the product? • Is the Ad “ownable” by the brand (i.e., could any other brand deliver this message)?

18. Creativity/Innovation Case Questions • These questions are opportunities to: • Demonstrate you can think creatively on your feet • Convey your passion for marketing • Prove you can link creativity to strategy… So, think strategically! • Express your personality • Examples: • If you could be a snack food, which one would you be and why? • What are 10 things you can do with an empty pint of Haagen- Dazs ice cream? • What are 5 ways you can improve a cereal box? • Approach: While there are no stock frameworks for these creativity questions, you can and should use structure and frameworks to generate ideas

19. General Marketing Knowledge Cases • Questions that assess your general marketing and industry knowledge…that can easily turn in to another case: • What are the main consumer trends that you see in the marketplace for Category X?…If you had to launch a product to capitalize on one of these trends, what would it be and why? How would you market it? • What is your favorite advertising campaign today?..If you had to launch a counter ad campaign, what would it be and why?

20. Approaching General Marketing Knowledge Cases • Requires you to tap in to your knowledge of current trends, current events; so prepare by doing research, research, research! • Recognize that these cases can be similar to other ones – assessing a new product launch, advertising critique, so use frameworks where appropriate • Demonstrate your passion by asserting your opinion

21. New Product Case Example in Action • You are charged with marketing in the U.S. a candy bar that has been very successful in England.  • What things should you consider in bringing the product to the U.S.? • Debrief: • After hearing the candidate’s response, what do you think worked well? • What could have been improved in her response?

22. Resources & Next Steps • PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! • Career Management Center: • Advisors, Columbia Coaches, Career Fellows for mock interviews • CML: Job Juice Cards, Resume Books, Business Card Binders • COIN: Industry Research>Marketing>Interview Qs, Interview Stream, First Research, Career Digital Media>Recruiter Tips/Coaching Tips • MAC: • Your Mentor • The MAC website, Company Events and presentations • Other: • Mock Madness Phase 2 (December): Stay tuned for more details! • Go shopping, research company websites, blogs, trade publications (AdAge, BrandWeek, AdCritic) • Watch and analyze TV commercials (Super Bowl) • Meet insiders (alumni, company reps, classmates)

23. Closing Thoughts • There are 3 things you need to prove in the interview: • YOU CAN DO THE JOB • Translate your resume and interview responses in to marketing language • Know how your experience is relevant and sell your skills! • YOU ARE A FIT FOR THE JOB • Know why you want to work for that company • YOU WANT THE JOB • Know why you want to work in marketing • Do your homework on the industry and company • Get excited and show it! Good luck and let us know how we can help!