How to Prepare for Brand Management Interviews

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How to Prepare for Brand Management Interviews

• Extracted from a Quaker Oats Presentation (Oct
  00)

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Agenda

• What is the goal of recruitment?
• What do Brand Companies want?
• How to handle Marketing Case questions?
• How to get ready for the process?

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What is the goal of recruitment?
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How do we identify true interests and aptitude?

• Identify understanding of and interest in brand
  management and marketing concepts
• Identify competencies --
• Top performers are more likely to exhibit these
  competencies more often and more completely for
  better results
• Understand past performance --
• Your past performance is the single best
  predictor of future performance

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What competencies do marketing companies want?

• Communication Skills
• Analytical Abilities
• Ability to Learn
• Strategic and Conceptual Thinking

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Creativity
• Cultural Fit with the organization
• Understanding of Marketing Concepts

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How to get ready for the questions?

• Prepare for behavioral questions
• Capitalize on your strengths
• Prepare examples of how you have exhibited the
  desired traits
• Tell your story, not a text book philosophy
• Know your weaknesses and be ready to respond when
  they are be probed
• Prepare for marketing case questions

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What are Marketing Companies expecting from case
questions?

• We dont expect that you had a past in marketing,
  but we do expect that you understand marketing
  concepts
• We really want an opportunity to understand your
  potential in a brand management career
• How you apply your skills and competencies to
  solving marketing problems
• How versatile your skills are
• We are not looking for one specific answer, we
  re trying to understand how you think

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How to handle Marketing Case questions?

• Approach each question with a framework
• Think broad, then narrow
• Think strategically, then tactically
• Use the 4 Ps (price, product, promotion,
  placement) or the Cs (consumer, company,
  competitor, category)
• Be concise and focused

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New Product Launch

• How would you develop and potentially introduce a
  new product, a toddler snack, from the Quaker
  Oats company?
• Currently, there are a only a few products
  available, from Gerber, located in the baby food
  section of the grocery channel
• Gerber dominates the baby food category with
  Beechnut a distant second

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New Product Launch

• Identify if consumers want and need this product?
• Try to segment the market
• Understand the competition
• Where are the opportunities in the market?
• Determine the target and positioning
• What is the differentiated point of difference
  that is meaningful to this target?
• What core competencies are needed to deliver the
  proposition? Do we have them? Can we get them?
• What do the financials look like?
• Determine the proposition, the 4 Ps?
• If financials make company hurdles, Launch

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New Product Launch

• Should Quaker introduce a toaster pastry? Should
  we extend one of our equities into this category?
  How would you assess?
• Quaker Chewy Granola Bars are 1 granola bar,
  Quaker Fruit Oatmeal Cereal Bars are now 2,
  behind Kelloggs Nutrigrain Bars.
• Kelloggs Pop Tarts brand is the dominant leader
  of Toaster Pastries.

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Competitive New Product Launch

• Malt-o-Meal has just launched an Instant Oatmeal
  brand at a reduced price vs. Quaker Instant
  Oatmeal. How would you figure out whether or not
  to defend?
• Samples received show that the product offers
  more oatmeal per pouch, but the flavors are not
  as good tasting
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal is the dominant brand in
  the instant oatmeal category

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Create a new product

• Develop a new energy drink, targeted to MBA
  students? How would you approach it?

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Business Situations

• Understand the sales, profits, and market share
  situation. Where is the problem? Whats happening
  with the consumer base?
• Determine relationship between sales, profit and
  share
• Identify the category size and trend or
• Identify the competitive situation
• Strength of other players
• Recent changes from other players
• Attempt to strengthen the problem area

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Business Situations

• Your brands market share is up, but sales are
  declining. The company wants brands that grow or
  at least are more profitable. What is going on?
  What can you do?

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Category is declining. What now?

• Why? Shrinking market or changing preferences?
• How quickly has this happened? Are competitors
  impacted too (broader than your category)?
• Choose exit or grow category or maintain at
  more profitable levels
• If Grow, How?
• Alter product
• Increase usage
• Create new use
• Leverage brand into other categories
• Sell into new distribution channels

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Business Situations

• Your brands sales are declining and the category
  is growing. What is happening?

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Market share is declining. What now?

• Why is category growing?
• Consumer preferences?
• Competitive moves (new products, new positioning,
  price)?
• Why is your brand not growing?
• Consumer right target?
• Competitor right position?
• 4 Ps (product, placement, promotion, price)
• Action

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Business Situations

• Your competitor just announced a superiority
  claim over your product. What do you do?

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Competitor Claim

• Understand the risk
• Assess threat of competitor/brand
• Assess strength of claim with your consumer
  target
• Assess marketing support behind claim
• Is the claim legal? Do you respond legally?
• Assess responses and implication?
• Product match claim, introduce other?
• Price Change value equation?
• Promotion Divert attention? Increase loyalty?
• Place Other channels?
• Respond

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World Class Advertising

• Commands Attention
• Arresting
• Engaging
• Surprising, Unexpected
• For Me Relevance
• Holds an emotional kernel of truth or insight
• Touches the heart or tickles the spirit
• Ownable - differentiates the brand vs.
  competition
• Only your brand can say it
• Only your brand does say it

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Tell me about a great advertisement

• Evaluate advertising using your heart first, then
  your head
• React with your gut
• Then, observe the strategy
• Answering the question
• Describe the ad, the target and the positioning
• Describe how the execution commands attention, is
  for me, and ownable

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General Marketing Questions

• Tell me about an example of great marketing
• One that holds a strong, relevant position in
  peoples minds and is well-marketed through the 4
  Ps
• Tell me about a bad example
• One that has a confusing positioning or holds a
  significant gap or inconsistency in the 4 Ps
• Tell me about a well-marketed web site
• One that holds a strong, relevant positioning and
  delivers against the 4 Ps

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Other questions

• If you were a web site, what would it be like?
• If you created an advertisement for yourself for
  this position, what would it be like?
• Why do you want to work for my company?
• Why do you want to go into brand management?

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How to get ready for the process?

• Practice
• Find your own best approach/framework for case
  questions
• Dont let limited information throw you
• Practice with small groups
• Dont rest on internship laurels
• Visit the channel
• Observe yourself responding to marketing with
  your gut
• Be concise and focused in your answers
• Research the companies you are targeting

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How to get ready for the process?

• Then, after all of that preparation and practice
• Be true to yourself
• Relax
• Be yourself
• Have fun
• Find the fit that is right for you