Strategy Planning interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about a piece of strategic work you're most proud of.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why planning — vs account, vs creative, vs client-side strategy or marketing?
5. Which agency type appeals — creative shop, media, digital, integrated, strategy-led boutique?
6. Why the firm?
7. How do you see the firm's planning department + recent strategic work?
8. How does a planning department create value for the agency + its clients?

Technical concepts to master

• Insight + strategic thinking

  Insight (human truth) · Single-minded proposition (SMP) · Brand positioning · Jobs-to-be-done + category conventions

• Brief craft + the planner's signature

  Tight but generous briefs · Briefing creatives well · Defending strategy in creative reviews · The proposition vs the execution

• Research methods + cultural fluency

  Qual research methods · Quant research + brand health · Semiotics + category codes · Cultural radar + trend reading

• Advertising effectiveness + agency commercial

  Long / short — Binet + Field · Mental + physical availability — Byron Sharp · Share of voice + ESOV · Agency commercial — fees + new business + strategic value

Practical drills

• A client gives you a problem (e.g. 'our challenger FMCG brand is losing share to private label'). Walk me through how you'd develop the brief — from problem to SMP — in 10 minutes.
• [Interviewer gives a category + brand + simple data point — e.g. 'a mid-tier supermarket; basket sizes are down 8% year-on-year amongst younger shoppers']. Find me the insight + reframe the problem.
• Pitch me your strategic POV on a brand or category you know well — in 5 minutes. Be opinionated.

Smart-question anchors

• Planning department structure — solo planner / team / split with insight + data
• Strategy leadership + agency POV — CSO's published thinking + proprietary methodology
• Awarded strategy — recent Effies / APG / Cannes Strategy / WARC cases
• Brief culture — proprietary brief framework + briefing rituals + creative-planner relationship
• Career path — Junior / Senior Planner → Strategy Director → Head / CSO; 8-12 years typical

Sourced from

Account Planning Group (APG) · IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) — Effectiveness Awards + planner curriculum · WARC + Cannes Lions / Effies case library · How Not To Plan (Les Binet + Sarah Carter) + The Anatomy of Humbug (Paul Feldwick) · Adweek + Campaign + AdAge career + planning coverage · Indeed + Glassdoor — Strategist / Planner interview prep