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Olin Marketing Association

Olin Marketing Association. NBMBAA Interview Prep 2013 Interview 101. Interview Objectives. Get to know you and your background, assess fit Conversational questions

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Olin Marketing Association

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  1. Olin Marketing Association NBMBAA Interview Prep 2013 Interview 101

  2. Interview Objectives • Get to know you and your background, assess fit • Conversational questions • Understand how you frame problems in a business setting and how your personal attributes fit with the company’s core competencies • Behavioral questions • Measure your passion for marketing and their company • Marketing related questions • See how you think on your feet • Case questions (not as common!)

  3. Conversational • Walk me through your resume • Why Marketing / Brand Management? Be ready to: • explain abnormalities in your resume • focus on transitions between roles (both reverse and forward chronologically) • explain (particularly if you are a Career Switcher) what interests you about marketing • tie your personal values / attributes to those that the company valuesand marketing These questions may not come up with every interviewer, so don’t base your interview on your ability to explain this

  4. Conversational • Why this company? You should: • know the company’s values and attributes • Interview Wiki • Online forums • Job description • 2nd years • be able to speak about the company’s products • company website • store visit to understand channel and competitive products • think through the company or product’s value proposition from a consumer standpoint

  5. Behavioral Objectives • Behavioral questions are designed to explore your personal attributes that align with the firms recruiting competencies • Examples: • Examples: • Strong leadership • Team contributor • Analytical mindset • Creativity • Flexibility / Adaptability • Strong communication skills • Results-orientation • Insight • Know Yourself • Curiosity • Initiative • Influence

  6. Behavioral • Describe a situation when you had to make an important decision when you did not have all of the necessary information. • Tell me about a time when you managed a cross-functional team. • Tell me about a time when you exerted influence over people that you had no control over. • Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your manager. • Give me an example of a time when you failed. • Tell me about a time when you had to make an unpopular decision • Tell me about a tough boss that you had and how you handled it • Have you been in a situation when you received critical feedback. How did you adjust? • How do you feel varied perspectives enable a group to create a superior product / idea?

  7. STAR Interview Format BRIEFLY set up the situation Situation Explain the task that you had to complete or the problem that you had to solve. Some refer to the “T” as Thinking. Task Focus your answer on the Action and Result, Take OWNERSHIP of your part Describe the actions that you took to complete the task / solve the problem. Be SPECIFIC Action Explain the result of your efforts. Quantify if possible. Result

  8. STAR Preparation Tactics • Create a database / spreadsheet of key work experiences described in STAR format • Have at least 15 experiences in mind • In many interviews it’s not ideal to repeat experiences; however, repeating an experience while shedding light on a different attribute is better than fumbling to find a suitable experience • Apply key work experiences to different attributes • Practice flexibility in your stories’ emphasis • Practice, practice, practice! • Answers should be in the 2-3 minute range, the interviewer may dig in and ask more questions

  9. Applying Flexibility • Not every question is going to exactly correspond to an experience • Practice telling your stories with slightly different emphases • Examples • Competitive report failure also told as adaptability • Vendors overstepping client relationship told as a power to influence and difficulty working with a boss • Intern onboarding development told as having an idea and building a process • Issue with stakeholders at organization told as researching issue and working across stakeholders

  10. Marketing Questions • What is a product or service that is marketed well / poorly? Innovative? • Have you seen any good / bad commercials? • How would you market _____? • What brand do you associate with? • Tell me about a well-marketed web site • What has been a successful brand extension? • For any specific company, pick a brand from that company and have an analysis of their positions and what they are missing

  11. Marketing Questions • What is a product or service that is marketed well / poorly? Innovative? • Platinum, Black Crown • Have you seen any good / bad commercials? • Go Daddy kiss / Southern Comfort • Effective commercial versus good marketing. • How would you market _____? • What is value proposition and who will appreciate that value? • What brand do you associate with? • Be personal! • Tell me about a well-marketed web site / good customer experience • Be personal, what do you use • For any specific company, pick a brand from that company and have an analysis of their positions and what they are missing • Research

  12. Marketing Frameworks • To answer these questions, apply your marketing frameworks: • Macro environment • Porter’s 5 Forces (sometimes too broad) • 3 Cs: Customers, Competitors, Company • Product environment • STP: Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning • Execution • 4 Ps: Product, Place Promotion, Price

  13. Porter’s Five Forces 3 Cs STP 4 Ps

  14. Five Forces Barriers To Entry • Economies of scale • Capital costs • Cost advantage of existing competitors • Barriers to exit • Patents Supplier Power Market Rivalry Buyer Power • Number and size of suppliers • Switching costs/product differentiation • Availability of substitutes • Possibility of forward integration • Number and size of competitors • Industry growth rate • Product differentiation factors • Industry margins/pricing • Significance of the purchase relative to cost structure • Switching costs • Purchase volume • Threat of backward integration Substitutes • Relative price/value of the substitute compared to industry’s product • Cost of switching to substitute • Buyers’ propensity to switch

  15. 3Cs Market Positioning of XYZ Company Customers Competitors Company • Core Strengths and Goals • Sources of Advantage • Impact of Strategies on Market Positioning • Relative Importance of Proposed Marketing Initiatives to Others Within the Company • Customer Base • New/existing • Loyal/switchers • Profitability by Customer Segment • How much do they purchase? • At what price? • Target Customers • Who are they? • What are their habits? • Major competitors • Traditional • Unexpected substitutes • Competitors Strengths and Weaknesses • Profits • Costs • Market Share of Competitors

  16. Segmentation/Targeting/Positioning Segmenting Targeting Positioning • Divides market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics or behavior • Geographic: division by state, country, location, etc. • Demographic: division by age, gender, income, family size, education, etc. • Psychographic: division by social class, lifestyle, or personality characteristics • Behavioral: division by knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses to a product • After evaluating different segments, you must decide which and how many segments to serve • A target market consists of a set of buyers who share common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve • The place the product occupies in the consumers’ minds, relative to competing products • May be positioned based on attributes, usage occasions, users, against a competitor, away from a competitor, or based on product classes • Positioning statement: To (target market), X is the brand of (frame of reference) that (benefit/ point of difference) because of (product attribute)

  17. 4Ps (“Marketing Mix”) Promotion Promotion Blend Salespeople: Kind Number Selection Training Motivation Advertising: Targets Kinds Media Type Copy Sales Promotion Publicity Price Flexibility Level Over Product Lifecycle Geographic Terms Discounts Allowances Elasticity Product Physical Good Service Features Quality Level Accessories Installation Instructions Warranty Product Lines or Extensions Packaging Branding Place Channel Type Market Exposure Middlemen Kinds and Locations of Stores Transporting and Storing Service Levels Managing Channels

  18. Marketing Questions • Have you seen any good / bad commercials? • Toyota RAV4 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iymBRSUfz9U • Segmentation • Targeting • Positioning? • Tap King • http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/top-tv-commercials-12121024

  19. Case Questions • Product launch • Market sizing • More on this on 9/20

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