1. How to Prepare for Brand Management Interviews
Extracted from a Quaker Oats Presentation (Oct ’00)

2. 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?

3. What is the goal of recruitment?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. What are Marketing Companies expecting from case questions?
We don’t 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

8. How to handle Marketing Case questions?
Approach each question with a framework
Think broad, then narrow
Think strategically, then tactically
Use the 4 P’s (price, product, promotion, placement) or the C’s (consumer, company, competitor, category)
Be concise and focused

9. 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

10. 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 P’s?
If financials make company hurdles, Launch

11. 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.
Kellogg’s Pop Tarts brand is the dominant leader of Toaster Pastries.

12. 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

13. Create a new product
Develop a new energy drink, targeted to MBA students? How would you approach it?

14. Business Situations
Understand the sales, profits, and market share situation. Where is the problem? What’s 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

15. Business Situations
Your brand’s 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?

16. 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

17. Business Situations
Your brands sales are declining and the category is growing. What is happening?

18. 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 P’s (product, placement, promotion, price)
Action

19. Business Situations
Your competitor just announced a superiority claim over your product. What do you do?

20. Competitor Claim Understand the risk Assess responses and implication?
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

21. 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

22. 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

23. General Marketing Questions
Tell me about an example of great marketing
One that holds a strong, relevant position in people’s minds and is well-marketed through the 4 P’s
Tell me about a bad example
One that has a confusing positioning or holds a significant gap or inconsistency in the 4 P’s
Tell me about a well-marketed web site
One that holds a strong, relevant positioning and delivers against the 4 P’s

24. 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?

25. How to get ready for the process?
Practice
Find your own best approach/framework for case questions
Don’t let limited information throw you
Practice with small groups
Don’t 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

26. 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