The Best Book On How To Crack The Case Interview

Start with what the problem is, and what components you need to understand in order to produce a solution, and then progress to your plan in dealing with the problem.

Three S’s Of Case Questions: Structure, Strategize, Summarize

What we’ve done in the above graph is dissected one branch of a company’s profit from a specific product. For a deeper understanding of the tree structure we’ll use the scarf industry as a model. The complete cost of a scarf breaks down into supply. Supply is then analyzed into two components: raw material, and added value to the product. The raw material would be the base yarn used to create an individual scarf. Let’s imagine that natural yarn is made from wool which comes in limited colors. To appeal to the yarn wearing market you would need to dye the yarn into popular shades. This customization is the added value to the products’ base price.

The Tree Structure is a method used to break down big concepts into more easily digested ideas.

Placement refers to the use of different channels to get your product out and is also coined as “push marketing.” The three typical channels used are distributors, retailers, and selling directly to the public. F

To optimize selling, there are three major points which need to be evaluated:
How the product differs from its competitors’ products.
How and why the product appeals to customers.
If the product has multiple units that work with different segments of the stock market.

Promotion includes advertising, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Other promotional questions you should ask: do you use cross-promotion with other products? How can you strengthen the product’s word of mouth? Do you use social media marketing? That whole field is in the promotion pocket.

There are two main frameworks that you should familiarize yourself with before your consulting interview: the Four-P Framework and Porter’s Five Forces. Although there are numerous other frameworks—the five C’s, the Seven-S Model—out there these are the most applicable and easiest to learn.

This framework breaks down the four principles of marketing: product, price, placement, and promotion. These principles determine the life cycle of different types of products. Before a company launches any product, it must answer questions about the product, how it compares to competitors in terms of pricing, developing placement, channel and promotion strategies.

Typically you will find that every marketing case boils down to some variation of the Four-P’s and almost every industry strategic push theory can be plugged into Porter’s Five Forces template.