Strategy Planning interview prep.

A planner is the agency's strategic thinking engine: turns a fuzzy client problem into a sharp brand point of view, finds the human insight, writes the brief that inspires great work, and defends the strategic spine against client noise + internal pressure to play safe.

What interviewers look for

  • Does the candidate have a POINT OF VIEW, can they take a strategic position and defend it, not just summarise research?
  • Can they find a real INSIGHT, a human truth nobody else has framed, vs surface observations dressed up as insights?
  • Can they write a brief that INSPIRES creatives, sharp SMP, vivid audience, room for the work to surprise, not a wishlist?
  • Are they culturally fluent, do they read consumers + categories + trends with feel, not just dashboard data?
  • Can they SELL ideas, present strategy with conviction to creatives, account, clients; defend the point of view under pressure?
  • Do they understand advertising effectiveness. Binet + Field, mental availability, what builds brands long-term vs short-term?
  • Are they collaborative with craft, respect creatives, partner with account, push back without being precious?

Behavioural questions to expect

  1. Walk me through your CV.

    What it tests: Story coherence + planner fit, evidence of curiosity, pattern-finding, point-of-view-taking, not just project execution.

  2. Tell me about a piece of strategic work you're most proud of.

    What it tests: Depth of insight + ownership of POV + outcome. Planners are downgraded for 'I helped support the team' framing, they want 'I framed the problem this way, and that unlocked the work'.

  3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.

    What it tests: Self-awareness + maturity. Cross-role canonical. Fake planner weaknesses ('I overthink', 'I care too much about the work') downgrade immediately.

  4. Why planning, vs account, vs creative, vs client-side strategy or marketing?

    What it tests: Authentic interest in the planner craft (insight + strategic POV + brief writing + cultural fluency), not 'I want to be strategic' generic.

  5. Which agency type appeals, creative shop, media, digital, integrated, strategy-led boutique?

    What it tests: Genuine fit + understanding that planning craft differs by agency type (creative shops do brief craft + qual / cultural; media agencies do audience + channel strategy; digital does behaviour + journey).

  6. Why this firm?

    What it tests: Agency-specific homework. Bar: specific evidence from the agency's planning reputation, recent strategic work, CSO POV, clients, not generic 'great agency'.

  7. How do you see this firm's planning department + recent strategic work?

    What it tests: Firm-specific homework + understanding of the agency's planning POV, awarded work, client mix.

  8. How does a planning department create value for the agency + its clients?

    What it tests: Whether candidate understands planning's role: sharper briefs → better work → better business outcomes; brand thinking the client can't do alone.

Technical concepts to master

Insight + strategic thinking

Insight (human truth)
A truth about how people feel, behave, or perceive, a tension or felt gap, surfaced from research that the brand can use to resonate.
Single-minded proposition (SMP)
The ONE thing the work needs to communicate, the strategic spine of the brief, distilled to one sentence.
Brand positioning
The brand's place in the consumer's mind, target audience + frame of reference (category) + point of difference + reasons to believe.
Jobs-to-be-done + category conventions
Jobs-to-be-done: what functional / emotional / social job the consumer hires the brand to do. Category conventions: the codes most brands in the category follow that newcomers can break.

Brief craft + the planner's signature

Tight but generous briefs
A great brief is tight on the SMP + audience + tone, but generous on the creative territory, gives creatives a sharp constraint + a wide field to play in.
Briefing creatives well
How you BRIEF IN matters as much as the brief itself: set context, share the insight, name the SMP, share what NOT to do, leave time for questions, defend the brief in creative reviews.
Defending strategy in creative reviews
When creatives bring work, the planner's job is to evaluate against the brief, is it ON-STRATEGY + does it ELEVATE the brief? + defend the strategic spine without being precious.
The proposition vs the execution
The SMP belongs to the planner; the execution belongs to creatives. Planners who write executions in the brief erode trust; creatives who ignore the SMP erode effectiveness.

Research methods + cultural fluency

Qual research methods
Focus groups, depth interviews, ethnography, accompanied shops, online communities, used to surface human truths, language, behaviour, tension.
Quant research + brand health
Surveys, brand tracking (awareness, consideration, NPS, salience), category data, audience segmentation, U+A studies, used to size + monitor + segment.
Semiotics + category codes
Reading the visual + verbal codes of a category to spot conventions worth breaking (e.g. financial services 'reassurance' codes; beer 'mateship' codes).
Cultural radar + trend reading
Continuous scanning of culture (media, sub-cultures, behaviour, language, content) to spot shifts before they hit dashboards.

Advertising effectiveness + agency commercial

Long / short. Binet + Field
Long-term brand-building drives mental availability + market-share growth; short-term activation drives immediate sales. Optimal mix is around 60 / 40 brand / activation.
Mental + physical availability. Byron Sharp
Brands grow by being easy to think of (mental availability, distinctive brand assets, salience) + easy to buy (physical availability, distribution, presence).
Share of voice + ESOV
ESOV (Excess Share of Voice) = SOV minus market share; positive ESOV correlates with future share growth. Standard planner argument for above-the-line spend.
Agency commercial, fees + new business + strategic value
Planner is part of the agency's strategic capital, pitched on new business, billed at higher rates, drives intellectual leadership; senior planners are revenue-positive.

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

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