30 Fleishman-Hillard Interview Questions & Answers
1. At FleishmanHillard, we believe in learning from other PR campaigns, both positive and negative. Can you talk about a campaign you have seen that taught you a lesson you can apply in the future?
How to Answer
FleishmanHillard believes in learning from successes and mistakes, both internal and external to the company. Hiring managers are looking for a candidate with the same open-minded mentality.
By sharing a specific campaign that provided a learning opportunity, it lets hiring managers at FleishmanHillard know that you are a proactive learner, ready to build high-quality PR campaigns. It also shows your ability to identify aspects of improvement in campaigns that were not entirely successful.
1st Answer Example
"The Dove Real Beauty campaign was a successful campaign for the Unilever company as it addressed an alarming statistic - at that time, only 2% of women considered themselves to be beautiful. The campaign used 'real' women in the campaign as opposed to professional models. Unilever was successful at initiating the conversation about real beauty, and it increased sales during the campaign. I believe it was successful at identifying a theme that many women could relate to and a successful connection was made with its target group."
2nd Answer Example
"A Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner in the middle of a Black Lives Matter protest. The problem with this campaign was it minimized the seriousness of this movement as it portrayed a Pepsi being the solution to this deep racial issue. I learned from this campaign how important it is to get feedback from people of various races and backgrounds. If qualitative research had been done before the release, Pepsi likely would not have faced the backlash. Money and time spent on research are worthwhile to avoid potential damage to the company image and brand."
2. Helping clients with their brand strategy is one of the first phases of brand development. How can your experience with brand strategies be of value when working with FleishmanHillard's clients?
How to Answer
Ensuring a client has a strong brand strategy is one of the first steps in successfully helping it develop its brand. Therefore, it is essential to FleishmanHillard that its team members have experience in this area.
As you respond to this question, talk about what role you took while working on brand strategies in prior positions. Specifically, address how you can bring value to FleishmanHillard's client relationships concerning your experience with brand strategies.
1st Answer Example
"My prior positions have given me the opportunity to work on brand strategy teams. My main role in these teams was providing analytical support for strategic decisions making. In doing so, I was able to work with and learn from my teammates and also learn about the strategy building process. I am confident my experience gives me valuable perspectives on the process, which can help the strategy building phase for FleishmanHillard's clients run more smoothly. Also, my strong analytical viewpoint gives me a great foundation on which to make strategic decisions."
2nd Answer Example
"I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in a brand strategy team in a creative capacity. My role was to give input on how the company's brand was to be represented in advertisements and on social media. An important lesson I learned as part of this team is that members' roles are dependent on one another. It is important to understand the contribution everyone is making so you can better accomplish your tasks. I believe my ability to understand the various roles of a strategy team will help FleishmanHillard's clients work more productively and efficiently."
3. In your opinion, what is the best practice for handling bad press?
How to Answer
FleishmanHillard works very hard for their clients, ensuring that any bad press, or public crisis, is handled with professionalism and suave. The interviewer would like to see that you are on the same page as FleishmanHillard when it comes to helping their clients manage their reputation through a crisis or bad press.
1st Answer Example
"I believe the best practice for handling bad press is to have one dedicated spokesperson for the company, who can create a consistent message and image for the public to absorb. Generally, this would the be CEO or another leader of the company, who has been trained on positive talking points when dealing with the press. Despite the crisis, this person should remain focused on the positive aspects of their company by speaking to its strengths."
2nd Answer Example
"Many companies have recovered very well from a crisis, and the common factor seems to be getting ahead of the bad press. One step could be to push negative reviews and bad comments away from page one, using SEO techniques. Another would be to call the media and get your talking points out before they can turn a negative situation into a full-blown crisis. This effort could including putting together a list of potential questions, and having key members of the company practice answering those specific sets of questions."
4. Research is an integral part of the brand development process. What is your analytical experience as it relates to brands?
How to Answer
FleishmanHillard is looking for candidates with some level of brand analytical experience. Your experience may be related to any phase of the process, as long as it is relevant to brand development or brand evaluation.
Some areas brand analytics come in to play is in identifying target audiences, developing creative and selecting channels. Also, brands go through an evaluation on an ongoing basis through customer surveys.
1st Answer Example
"I am excited about the possible opportunity to put my brand analytical skills to use to meet the brand development needs of FleishmanHillard's clients. My previous projects have allowed me to gain extensive experience in evaluating and monitoring clients' brands. Through my analyses, I have been able to identify opportunities for clients to improve their brand positions. My brand analytical experience helps me determine what measures need to be looked at to make careful brand development decisions."
2nd Answer Example
"As an active team member on a brand development team, I was tasked with making recommendations on target customers and providing analytics to support them. While working towards developing my recommendations, I learned the importance of telling a story through the analyses. The ability to look at the numbers and build a story is an important skill to have in the brand development process as it can help FleishmanHillard's clients make the necessary strategic brand decisions."
5. FleishmanHillard believes that for visitors to have an enjoyable experience on a website or an app, its functions and formatting should be human-centric. How does this tie into the big picture when it comes to digital strategy?
How to Answer
Help the interviewer see into your philosophy behind user experience, its impact, and the importance in digital strategy. First, tell the interviewer how your beliefs in user experience align with those of FleishmanHillard. Then explain exactly how your approach complements other areas of digital strategy. Avoid describing the process of user experience planning; that will not directly address the question.
1st Answer Example
"The experience on a company's digital platforms needs to be human-centric and designed to fit in with the customer's needs. I know this from experience because I've seen campaigns where a company placed a lot of focus on collateral or different kinds of content, but when the customers made it to the website, whether because it was unattractive or they couldn't figure out how to use it, they quickly lost interest. When we don't match the target audience's preferences to a digital platform's functionality and feel, it can contradict all other messaging and branding that's been convincing until this point. The customer will lose trust or become confused, and this causes them to skip the buyers' cycle. In this situation, the final result for the company is negative, and they suffer a loss in sales."
2nd Answer Example
"Website and app experiences designed with customers in mind are an essential part of digital strategy. The online platform may be the first or only place where the customer gathers an impression of a company, then decides whether or not to make a purchase. When user experience is well-planned, the website or app can become a place of comfort for the customer and allows them to feel connected with the brand. It also makes decisions easy for the customer. Being able to intuitively navigate a site to learn about product details and pricing, for example, or seamlessly follow calls to action and complete purchases lowers the resistance and pushes sales to the finish line. Finally, the positive experience creates new opportunities because happy customers often return and refer others."
6. What do you believe are the critical stages of creating and implementing plans in digital strategy to ensure client success?
How to Answer
Based on your experience, describe the different phases of digital marketing planning that need to take place from start to finish. Keep your response brief and more conversational by addressing each stage in a sentence or two. Lastly, finish your answer with a brief description of which step is most important for a projects' success.
1st Answer Example
"The stages of planning for digital strategy include goal-setting to ensure your plan aligns the business objectives; assessment, market research, budgetary, and timeline planning. These stages are the foundation. Once the plan is in action, it's vital to test and analyze results, making changes as needed. This stage is the monitoring stage, and it will be ongoing to ensure I hit my goals. I believe the first step, assessing business objectives, to be the most important."
2nd Answer Example
"When creating a digital marketing plan, I always start by defining goals. What are the plans for reaching them and how do they fit into the business as a whole? Next, audience research and planning takes place. This data drives decisions on advertising channels, content, and user experience plans. Market testing to see how the audience interacts with apps and ads typically will move me into the next phase of finalizing the plan, scheduling benchmarks, etc. Once it's in place, the last steps are to measure and analyze results."
7. If you could only pick one area of focus to build on and connect with a target audience, what would it be, and why?
How to Answer
Your answer will likely not be considered right or wrong, but it will give the interviewer insight on your thought process, how you connect with an audience and your decision-making abilities. Answer candidly and try to resonate with facts or data. Be sure to answer decisively. It's great to be able to think on your feet, but it's also alright to show that you're both thoughtful and confident.
1st Answer Example
"While I think that a brand's strategy is usually successful due to its various moving parts, I have seen that emphasizing values is a significant part of building a strong connection with the target customer. When surveying customers, I learned they chose brands over others because they believed they could rely on them wholeheartedly. This data made me understand that the value of reliability struck a huge chord with the audience, so I planned a successful ad campaign that showed its employees serving customers overnight, on weekends, and holidays. If I were only allowed to chose one area of focus to boost branding, the value would be it due to this experience."
2nd Answer Example
"Studies show that the most impact made on an audience is at the emotional level. If your audience feels that you understand their hopes and dreams, they'll also believe that you're well suited to help achieve them. Almost 48% of consumers say that they rely on companies they trust for guidance on products and services that will help them. So, if I could only focus on one area of building a brand's identity, I'd choose to build a connection with the audience by demonstrating our knowledge of their wants and needs and how we can help to attain them."
8. When working with FleishmanHillard's clients, it is useful to have some understanding or experience with community relations. Tell us about your experiences in this area, a challenge you faced and how you overcame it.
How to Answer
Community relations can play a significant role in public relations campaigns; therefore, FleishmanHillard's hiring managers are looking for candidates who have experience building relationships with community organizations. Part of the challenge is identifying those organizations that are a good match with a client's brand and company values.
In your response, be sure to highlight at least one specific community organization you started a relationship with and mention any challenges you faced and overcame. Talk about why this particular organization was a good fit with your past company or client.
1st Answer Example
"My work experience in public relations has shown me how important it can be to develop strong relationships with community organizations. In particular, while working with an organic Consumer Packaged Goods client, I worked diligently to develop a relationship with a national non-profit promoting healthy eating habits. The most challenging aspect was selecting an organization that fit my client's mission and brand well. Once we worked out the details of the partnership, both parties benefitted, and the relationship promoted my client's brand in a positive light."
2nd Answer Example
"Building a relationship with a non-profit or community organization is important as it shows a company cares about worthy causes and is active in the community in which it does business. Because my company is the largest employer in the town where the headquarters are located, I recommended working with a local non-profit aiding low-income families in the area. Once the organization was selected, I found it somewhat challenging to outline the details of our relationship. We wanted to make a profound impact on the community while ensuring the connection was relevant. With feedback from our employees, we were able to develop a relationship where our contributions were meaningful to our company and beneficial to the non-profit."
9. A company should perform audits of their online presence to assess current performance. How can we ensure FleishmanHillard's audit service provides maximum value?
How to Answer
Through your answer, you'll need to show that you have an understanding of digital marketing strategy audits, what their purpose is, and how a company can benefit most from them. You can reply from the perspective of your work background. It will help if you incorporate elements of the digital auditing approach of FleishmanHillard.
When answering this question, you'll not only explain how to ensure the auditing service will provide value, but you will also touch on what the client's result will be.
1st Answer Example
"When working with a client that is trying to figure out why their online traffic has declined or struggled to pick up in the first place, we first want to understand what the company's core offering is, what their desired results are, and what they've been doing so far to achieve results. The first step will be to assess their current strategy - find out what's working, and what isn't. Some tools can be implemented to measure their website, online ranking, traffic and conversion history. Next will be a comparison of their results to competitors', and finally, we'll look for opportunities missed by the client and within their space in general. Our goal should be not to overwhelm the client with data, but to provide them with concise, actionable feedback. Simplifying the findings and planning process for the customer will help them to achieve a better, more immediate impact post-audit."
2nd Answer Example
"When working with a client planning to enter the marketplace, an audit helps a company to develop and launch their product in the best possible way. This audit should help them to create a highly targeted marketing plan to drive sales more quickly and recoup startup and initial investment costs. For example, as you perform an audit for a client preparing to launch their business in a particular niche, you should conduct keyword and demographic research to understand its consumers and their demands. This research helps the client understand what messages they need to send to their audience to advertise their services, where they should advertise, and uncovers consumer needs that aren't being met by other providers already. Your client can also use this information and further tweak their product or service to stand out as different and better position themselves against their competition."
10. The ability to write clearly and succinctly is vital when building public relations campaigns for FleishmanHillard's clients. How have you developed your written communication skills?
How to Answer
As expected, written communication skills are essential when working on PR campaigns. FleishmanHillard's hiring managers are interested in candidates who have made efforts to strengthen their communication skills over the years.
Talk about different projects and situations where you had the opportunity to utilize and build your writing skills. Also, highlight any strengths you have with a particular writing style or possibly a PR project you worked on where your writing skills played a critical role.
1st Answer Example
"In my prior positions, writing has been a key component of my job responsibilities. As an analyst, my writing skills were used to communicate with a variety of team members of varying backgrounds. When I moved on to public relations, I learned to write for an even broader general audience through a variety of press releases. As I exercised my writing skills, I found the challenge was to write an explanatory piece in a clear and concise manner. Through many different PR projects, I can confidently say writing is now a strength of mine, and I look forward to providing this skill to FleishmanHillard's clients."
2nd Answer Example
"Writing has always been a passion of mine throughout my education and career. Working with a few different companies, I have been able to hone my writing skills through a variety of projects. I have written creative pieces as part of the marketing team and also have developed informational pieces while working on blog posts for company websites. These experiences have helped me develop clear and descriptive writing skills necessary while working on PR campaigns. I continually seek ways to improve my business writing skills through workshops and seminars and am an avid reader of business news journals, which gives me exposure to many different writing styles."
11. A large part of creating content is in the creative process, but what strategic elements need to be considered for content creation to be highly effective?
How to Answer
Demonstrate your familiarity with effective content marketing by speaking of data and analytics first. Then, talk about other essential non-creative parts of content strategy that should be incorporated. While the creative and strategic elements of content creation will cross over into one another, avoid discussing the creation process when answering this question.
1st Answer Example
"A content marketing strategy always starts with data about the audience to ensure appropriate content creation and distribution. The data will tell you what kind of content your audience will enjoy, where and how you can expect them to consume it. Timing is also important, and research can be used to figure out the best times to post for maximum visibility. After forming and deploying a content plan, it's important to be consistent with analyzing the performance of all posts, which means looking at various engagement metrics like impressions, clicks, shares, likes, and engaged comments - not just the number of drive-by or automated comments but what's being said by the audience. All of these factors let you measure the success of your plan and make continuous improvements."
2nd Answer Example
"Data from different sources such as keyword research, surveys, or machine learning, needs to be analyzed to plan the best possible content and its reach, both organically and during paid promotions. Planning what topics to cover, keeping an editorial calendar, and knowing how to recycle posts effectively are important parts of creating a feeling of consistency and the proper messaging for a brand's audience. Lastly, it's a good idea to balance the human element with automation tools that will allow content distribution in a timely and organized way that best fits the preferences of your audience."
12. Market assessment is an essential first step to building a strategy centered around the customer, company, and competitor. Of these three, which do you feel you are most confident at assessing?
How to Answer
Hiring managers at FleishmanHillard are trying to assess your strengths and possible weaknesses. By identifying your strengths and weaknesses, managers will be able to see if you are a fit for the balanced team FleishmanHillard. When responding to this question, do not hesitate to reveal weaknesses. Instead, be prepared to explain how you will learn from other team members at FleishmanHillard.
1st Answer Example
"My past project work has given me valuable experience in completing thorough market assessments for marketing strategies. Based on this experience, I am most confident at assessing the customer. I base this confidence on my analytical experience gained through marketing research which has given me an understanding of what data is available to assess the client's current customers. Also, marketing research data has also included market opportunities that allow for the identification of future customers. I am eager to gain additional knowledge in the areas of company, and competitor, from fellow team members at FleishmanHillard."
2nd Answer Example
"My experience in the marketing field has given me wide exposure to evaluating both internal efforts and industries overall. Through analytical projects, I have been able to assess marketing strategies and make recommendations to make changes to better target customer segments and address industry competition. I am confident my experience and knowledge will prove to be an asset for FleishmanHillard."
13. FleishmanHillard is looking for PR experts who can communicate persuasively. Share with us a time you worked on a campaign that successfully persuaded an audience.
How to Answer
An essential aspect of many public relations campaigns is convincing your audience to take action. By the audience taking action, they are making a connection to the company and its message. Describe a PR campaign you worked on that included a call to action. Include what the response was to the campaign and if you considered it a success.
1st Answer Example
"I have worked on a few PR campaigns for clients looking to build a connection with their current and potential customers. I worked on a campaign for a health foods company that was donating a portion of its sales to non-profit organizations promoting healthy living to low-income families. During this limited time campaign, the client's sales increased by 5%. Also, there was a significant positive increase in its brand image, and of course low-income families benefited as they were able to learn about healthy nutrition habits."
2nd Answer Example
"Through my prior positions, I have had the opportunity to work on a few PR campaigns, and through each one, I have learned lessons that I was able to apply to future campaigns. For example, I worked with a client looking to promote its work with environmentally conscious non-profits. After analyzing results from the campaign, we learned that we did not target the correct audience and utilize the appropriate media channels. I believe the lessons I have learned while working on past PR campaigns will be valuable in serving FleishmanHillard's clients."
14. How do you believe social media has changed the public relations game?
How to Answer
Social media has changed the way we do nearly everything in business, and the interviewer would like to know the ways you believe it's had the most significant impact when it comes to PR. FleishmanHillard is well known for providing expertise in media relations and social innovation so it will be vital for you to show your depth of knowledge on the topic of social media.
1st Answer Example
"Social media has changed the PR game in every imaginable way. Social media has entirely changed how companies communicate with their target customers and vice versa. Communication through traditional advertising used to mean one-way communication, and social media has changed it to be a two-way street. Now, customers can engage with any brand by liking, sharing and commenting. This engagement means more real-time data for companies, on how their content is performing, allowing them to quickly steer away from a potentially ineffective, or even damaging campaign."
2nd Answer Example
"I believe that social media has forced companies to look at the flaws in their customer service, and customer engagement strategies. Social media now ensures companies build genuine customer relationships through conversation. Today, customers can take to Twitter to report bad customer experiences, for instance. This action means companies must address complaints immediately."
15. Tell me about your experience in content marketing and why you feel a successful content marketing strategy is vital to an overall digital strategy?
How to Answer
The interviewer wants to gain insight on your perspective of content marketing and the role it plays in promoting a company and brand. Answer first by presenting your experience in content marketing, followed up by explaining why content is essential. Then, provide an example of a time you used content to drive a message home to an audience.
Don't forget to provide examples of how data helped you decide on appropriate content and how you measured the success of material you implemented including testing and metrics.
1st Answer Example
"Content is important because it makes you a source of entertainment and learning for your audience. This offering turns your audience into advocates for your brand. I once ran a campaign for products that were supposed to help messy consumers get organized. Using data about our target audience, I realized most of my audience were in their middle stages of life, had big homes, and loved shopping and accumulating tons of stuff. But they were bad at staying organized. They couldn't find things when they needed them, and often spent lots of time hunting for them or wasted money making duplicate purchases. I found countless opportunities to create humorous but useful, visually stimulating before and after posts. The posts got tons of likes, comments, and shares from women on Facebook and Pinterest who shared and recommended the ideas. They were a source of new ideas, too, because they'd ask for more suggestions and it made me understand how they ticked. From there, I conjured up new ways to present the products. Delivering on their requests kept the content success going. Impressions and engagement on the social media pages increased by double digits month over month for more than a whole year and the product name is becoming synonymous with home organization."
2nd Answer Example
"Content marketing is an essential way to humanize a brand and establish a meaningful connection with your audience. My team created a campaign to market a pickup truck brand that historically catered to audiences living in rural areas. Our data showed that many of the potential consumer's idealized small-town life, hard work, and conservative views. We used video and picture content that showed actors whose appearance was such that they could easily be a neighbor to any of our audience members. In each piece, they would talk about how they loved their trucks; the same brand as the one we advertised, and how it allowed them to their help friends and family make a living and support their local and national economies. Our content conveyed in a heartwarming way that consumers who bought these pickup trucks were not just supporting a brand, but upholding a responsibility and sense of community. Many people in our audience commented on our posts with stories of their own, expressing their loyalty and affinity to the brand. After this, we saw an increase in repeat purchases and a surge in new customers who received this interaction with our content as valid social proof."
16. What do you find to be the most difficult aspect when helping clients build their marketing strategy?
How to Answer
As a consultant, there may be challenges you face when undertaking the task of building a client's marketing strategy. Being external to the company gives you a fresh, unbiased perspective on the current situation, but there is much to learn to help you execute your task effectively. FleishmanHillard is looking for someone who can learn about its clients' cases thoroughly and efficiently.
Talk about the most challenging aspect you encountered while serving as an outside marketing strategy consultant and how you dealt with it. If you have never had the role of an external consultant, refer to your internal marketing strategy work experience and the challenges you may have faced. Hiring managers at FleishmanHillard want to know you will be ready to face any difficulties that may arise from their clients' projects.
1st Answer Example
"Working as an external consultant, it was usually a challenge to gather information and data to begin the strategy building process. However, I found the most challenging aspect is learning the culture of the client's company. I think learning culture is an important aspect of the process as it affects the overall marketing strategy and goals for the company. Learning the company culture also has helped me more effectively communicate with the key players in the strategy building process. I will put my experience dealing with different corporate cultures to good use at FleishmanHillard."
2nd Answer Example
"Although I have not worked as an external marketing consultant, my work experience has included direct involvement with marketing strategies. Having been involved with most phases of the strategy building process, I find the most challenging task to be putting the 'puzzle pieces' together - taking the information and creating a story about where the company is at from a marketing perspective and what needs to be done to reach its goals. However, each client project has given me valuable experience that I will use while working at FleishmanHillard."
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17. FleishmanHillard is looking for candidates who can handle crisis communications quickly and effectively. Do you have experience managing communications for a company during a crisis?
How to Answer
Crises come up quickly and unexpectedly, and public relations professionals need to react promptly to limit any damage to the company's brand or reputation. FleishmanHillard's clients need public relations experts who come prepared for these type of situations.
Include in your response a specific example of a crisis you handled and explain how you went about managing the case, particularly as it relates to communications. If you have not had experience in this area of public relations, talk about what you think would be essential to consider when handling crisis communications for FleishmanHillard's clients.
1st Answer Example
"There have been a couple of situations where my team had to react quickly to unexpected crises. In one particular situation, an undetected error at one of our manufacturing facilities caused our products to be shipped and sold with a safety issue. This error required us to work with the operations department to correct the manufacturing issue while coordinating communications to customers and our retail outlets. What I learned from these situations is that teamwork and coordination with other departments is key to dealing with the issue. It was also helpful to have a protocol in place so that we knew what steps needed to be taken to deal with the situation efficiently and effectively."
2nd Answer Example
"I have received training and actively participated in building emergency protocols for crises. Through this experience, I have learned the importance of working with other departments to address the issue quickly. In these times of crisis, it becomes a company-wide effort and not just a PR matter. When working with FleishmanHillard's clients, it will be important to thoroughly understand their products, services, and operations to be ready to react to crises."
18. Storytelling has become an essential part of connecting with audiences, and marketing to potential customers. How can we use big data to employ this tactic in a way that resonates with an audience?
How to Answer
Here you can provide an answer that briefly explains what big data is and how it can be used to craft stories to which an audience will relate. You can give specific examples of kinds of data you've used in the past, for storytelling in a campaign. Don't focus on explaining the storytelling process; instead, your answer should focus on how to use the data to contribute to the process.
1st Answer Example
"Big data is important in marketing campaigns because of the insight it provides into the behavior and other personal aspects of your audience. When using it for storytelling in your campaign, you want to know what your audience cares about and how your brand or product relates to them on an emotional level. Let's say that you are marketing an accounting service for small business. You have collected a huge amount of data to understand the challenges and needs of people that would benefit from your services. The data shows a pattern of small businesses frequently switching accounting software. Digging further into the data, you find that a major frustration they are experiencing is finding a robust yet budget-friendly solution. Instead of just telling this group how your service compares and the price, you can evoke their emotions by telling a story of someone who was just like them and how your service solved their problem. The data has now allowed you to connect to the human side of your prospect in a way that posting product specs and pricing alone will not."
2nd Answer Example
"Having a system to use big data efficiently allows you to identify behavior, trends, and interactions within your audience. It lets you humanize and customize your advertising so that it's meaningful instead of disruptive to them. From big data, I've extracted information that tells me what kind of person buys a product, how much they spend on it, when they buy it, how long they use it for, and what makes them want to repurchase. Having this information, I get a clear picture of who is interested in a product and why. Understanding much of their background and history, I know when they'll be receptive to learning about a new product and at the right time, I approach them with a story of someone who is like them, shared similar struggles, and how they were lessened or resolved by what I have to offer. This method is a human-centric, problem-solving approach that companies can use to achieve a lasting connection that can't be earned using the outdated approach of demanding consumers' attention and telling them what they need."
19. In the early stages of strategy building, we must evaluate a clients' business both internally and externally. When working on marketing strategies for FleishmanHillard's clients, what initial steps would you take to begin the process?
How to Answer
By asking this question, hiring managers at FleishmanHillard want to see how you begin executing your marketing strategy work. Solid execution of the initial stages is essential to avoid wasting time or having to re-execute any initial phases.
As an outside consultant, learning and gathering information is one of the most crucial initial steps of strategy building. Talk about how you would thoroughly research the client's business and its marketing goals. Mention what specific types of information you would be seeking and how you would obtain it.
1st Answer Example
"I believe the first steps of building marketing strategies include a thorough evaluation of a client's business and the competitive landscape of the industry in which it competes. Successful execution of this initial step will allow the efficient completion of subsequent phases of the process. It will be important to learn the company's overall goals as well as gain a deep understanding of its products or services. I would gather this information by conducting in-depth interviews with several team members at different levels of the company. Also, it will be important to understand the industry and the client's competitive position within it. This knowledge will require research and interviews with industry experts outside the company, allowing me to gain an outside perspective."
2nd Answer Example
"When helping FleishmanHillard's clients build or revise their marketing strategies, it will be important to understand their marketing history along with their current marketing efforts. This understanding will tell me which marketing tactics have worked in the past and those that were found to be ineffective. It will also reveal how the industry, in which they compete, has changed over time. All this information will help build a marketing strategy for the client's future. It would be most beneficial to interview veteran employees of the company who have witnessed the changes, successes, and failures over the years. However, it will also be valuable to gather information from newer members of the team who may have a fresh perspective of the company's current marketing position. Quantitative information, such as sales and consumer research data, will be important to marry with the qualitative information from employee interviews."
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20. What do you believe is the biggest culprit of reputation crisis, today?
How to Answer
The interviewer would like to understand what you believe to be the biggest driver of crisis for companies, today. Discuss how you feel the digital age has affected the way companies are viewed in the public eye. You could also address common factors that you see when it comes to reputations threats, today.
1st Answer Example
"I believe that the biggest culprit of reputation crisis today remains an unclear vision. When a company seems to be split on their vision, their talking points, and their overall brand, that will be a significant weak spot. The moment something goes awry, this weak spot will grow and threaten the health of the company in its entirety."
2nd Answer Example
"In today's digital age, I believe the biggest culprit of a reputation crisis is lack of planning when it comes to the social media and social networking side of a business. The internet is forever, and many companies still do not have clear branding and messaging strategy when it comes to their online footprint. These days, all it takes is one bad tweet that is misconstrued by the public, and a company could be facing a firestorm online."
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21. FleishmanHillard helps companies identify a brand that accurately represents their core values while creating a lasting customer connection. In your opinion, what is the best way to build a brand across digital platforms?
How to Answer
When asking this question, the interviewer wants to hear about your knowledge of digital loyalty branding from a generalized perspective. You can speak to today's standard methods and provide your opinions on them supported by market research or past professional projects.
Don't divert into detailed aspects of branding that are not directly related to the question. When speaking of a connection with the audience, you should refer to the emotions a brand evokes and the resulting relationship to their audience.
1st Answer Example
"While researching online brand loyalty campaigns in the past, I've found the first place to start is by studying the audience and their preferences. Once I've learned these, I need to concentrate on advertising efforts where they spend most of their time online. Next, relatable messaging raises their awareness and interest in the brand. For example, if I wanted to promote a new video game to the tween demographic, I wouldn't try to reach on lifestyle blogs or conventional TV. Studies show that this demographic, 10-13-year-olds that love video games spend a large amount of time on YouTube, SnapChat, and newer video and photograph sharing platforms that are emerging. In my opinion, finding the audience across various platforms where they already feel most comfortable is the best way to stay in front of them, generate and hold their interest."
2nd Answer Example
"In my opinion, the best approach to digital branding campaigns online is setting the foundation of what our brand truly is. What is the heart of what we do and what is our message? Next, we must ask who is moved by our message, or who is our audience? What platforms and apps do they use and hang out on, online? What motivates them and how do they make decisions? All of the answers to these questions will allow us to build a strategy to catch their interest in our brand. To retain this interest and build loyalty, I've experienced that it's effective to take cues from campaigns that have already made an impact on our audience, while testing new designs, copy, promotions, etc. that are consistent with the feel of our brand. We also need to keep things from getting stagnant. I always say, 'excite, and delight'! Long-term consistency in our messaging and targeting to meet our audiences' expectations over a long period is crucial."
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22. How do you think social media can influence SEO or vice versa?
How to Answer
The interviewer wants to see how thoughtful you are about how social media fits into the overall digital and marketing strategy of the firm and its clients. In your response, discuss how you think social media presence is related to and also could influence overall branding efforts.
1st Answer Example
"I think currently seeing whether social media presence improves your SEO or not simply cannot be measured accurately. However, I don't think of social media as a tool to enhance your search ranks but a whole new channel to penetrate, monitor, and manage - it's a new lead source altogether. Social media channels are their own search engines. Those who find and follow your brand on Instagram, for instance, might not feel the need to search for it as it gets its information from the Instagram platform itself. Today, we want to be able to be effective and consistent in our messaging and its impact across all channels. So, the best way to measure that is by looking at whether or not certain (intended or expected) search terms are on the rise and whether the certain social media content is driving certain behaviors (clicking on the link for example) that the campaign had intended."
2nd Answer Example
"While social media pages don't often appear on the top of the search results (not yet anyway), certain online pages could. If we could link your website, social media pages, and other online presence, then we would have more mechanisms to improve SEO."
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23. FleishmanHillard works with clients on their content marketing strategy. What role do you think content marketing plays in developing brands?
How to Answer
It is vital that team members at FleishmanHillard understand the purpose and importance of a well-defined content marketing strategy. Hiring managers at FleishmanHillard want to see that you know effective content marketing builds more than awareness of a client's brand.
In your response, convey your understanding of the purpose of content marketing which is to build a positive reputation for a client's brand. Also, stress the importance of making a connection with the target audience.
1st Answer Example
"I have witnessed firsthand the importance of having a solid content marketing strategy in place. Content marketing allows you to make a connection with your target audience through educational information. A company's ability to provide content valuable to readers boosts its reputation as an expert on that particular topic. The content should be related to the products and services the client offers. Also, clients should tie their offerings into the content without losing the authentic nature of the piece by taking a strong sales tone."
2nd Answer Example
"Content marketing's purpose should be both to increase the visibility of a brand and to build up a client's reputation. Also, companies should look to create value for the audience by providing educational information. The value provided to the target customers creates a connection and builds up the company's reputation from their perspective. Content marketing takes brands a step further beyond awareness."
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24. When have you led a team in creating a new digital strategy campaign for your company or a client? What was the outcome?
How to Answer
The purpose of this question is to find out what your innovative potential is. It's also meant to uncover whether you have the necessary skills to drive change and influence various players involved in evolving digital strategy campaigns.
When you answer this question, it might be tempting to rehash overhaul processes you've learned from past situations, but this is not what you want to do. You'll want to talk about your ideas and actions that have driven change.
1st Answer Example
"I was once working on a large account where the client had been using the same strategies for a very long time. Their marketing team consisted of hard-to-convince, tenured employees who had success in the past. But as times were changing, they were losing traction. They didn't know what to do because it seemed their product remained the same, and as did their audience, but they were losing market share. They had been advertising on the same channels forever and somehow; they failed to notice their audience spending time on new platforms and adapting to new technologies. Rather than try to convince my clients with presentations, pie charts, and the traditional means, I gathered them together for interactive discussions. They all filled out forms about major purchases they'd made over the past five years, then shared them out loud. What we found from their stories was that in their personal lives, they had been receptive to new technology. For some reason, however, they believed their customers had not. Through this exercise, I connected them to the hard data I had to present and convinced them it was time to try new things."
2nd Answer Example
"As a marketing coordinator with a startup, I had noticed that our digital strategy did not involve enough paid promotion. The company was operating on a very tight budget, and the business leaders would almost immediately shut down any ideas involving inorganic growth without any consideration. Rather than trying to argue this point, I took the initiative and became highly active on our company social media pages. As a result, we were receiving double the amount of leads through them after just one month. I shared this information with the sales team first, and they immediately became supportive of making enhancements in this area. With their backing and proof from my initial efforts, I was able to convince our leadership that a small investment in social media advertising had the potential to double the influx of leads, and I gained their buy-in on making it part of our strategy."
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25. What are the advantages of hiring a public relations firm?
How to Answer
Not every company will be large enough to have an internal PR department, which is often where companies like FleishmanHillard come into play. There are a plethora of advantages to hiring a PR firm such as the ability to find experts in your particular sector, rather than a generalist. Also, a great PR firm will be more neutral and objective when it comes to crisis or reputation management. Discuss with the interviewer the ways that you feel FleishmanHillard would be of great benefit to their clients.
1st Answer Example
"The biggest advantages of hiring a firm such as FleishmanHillard include the existing media contacts that you can offer a client, which they will likely not have. Getting ahead of the press is often the biggest key to recovering from a crisis and an independent PR firm will always be much better at this. Also, an agency like FleishmanHillard will be able to be more objective when it comes to problem-solving, as they are not personally involved in the daily operations."
2nd Answer Example
"There are many advantages to hiring a PR firm or agency like FleishmanHillard. Some of these advantages include unbiased opinions, a more proactive team, excellent media contacts, and expertise in a specific niche."
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26. How do you learn and grow when it comes to branding, design, and marketing?
How to Answer
It is essential for FleishmanHillard that their team members are interested in continuous professional development. Discuss with the interviewer what you do to make sure you are on top of industry trends. Talk about what you do to keep yourself educated on new design techniques. Show the hiring authorities at FleishmanHillard that you have a desire to expand your design knowledge continually.
1st Answer Example
"I agree with FleishmanHillard that continuous professional development is critical to my success. In addition to my degree, I recently earned my Brand Management Certificate. I enjoy taking online courses and workshops, ensuring that I remain up to date on the latest branding, design, and marketing trends."
2nd Answer Example
"I do a lot of reading, educating myself on topics related to marketing, design, and branding. Also, I grow and learn by committing to at least one online course per quarter. This past month I took a workshop on the psychology behind brand colors and other design elements."
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27. Brand development is a continuous process. At FleishmanHillard, we help our clients with brand tracking efforts. Describe your experience with the brand tracking process.
How to Answer
Brand development is ongoing as clients' industries and customer preferences change. Tracking brands allow FleishmanHillard's clients to monitor brand perception. In doing so, it gives them the opportunity to make adjustments to the strategies they have in place.
Talk about your experience with the tracking process, whether from analytical or strategic perspectives. Include a specific example of what you learned from the brand tracking process.
1st Answer Example
"I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to manage several brand tracking surveys. These experiences have allowed me to understand better the measures to track to ensure the health of a brand. With one particular client, we were able to measure the damage to its brand after a product recall took place. Through the data, I was able to define what aspects or topics needed to be addressed in a public relations campaign to mitigate further brand damage."
2nd Answer Example
"In my past position, I have taken a strategic role in working with brand tracking data. My experiences included opportunities to make strategic decisions based on learnings from brand tracking studies. Through one particular tracking study, we learned that customers did not perceive that my client had a strong bond to the community. Because of this finding, I initiated a campaign to highlight my client's work with non-profits in the area. I believe my ability to synthesize the data and translate it into actionable steps will help FleishmanHillard better serve their clients. "
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28. FleishmanHillard's clients compete in a variety of industries. Industry experience is helpful, particularly with market assessments. Which sectors do you have experience with, and which one do you feel the most confident working within?
How to Answer
FleishmanHillard values industry niche experience as it will help provide their clients with high-quality market assessments during the strategy building process. Hiring managers at FleishmanHillard want to see if your industry experience overlaps with those in which their clients compete.
Some of the specific sectors that come to FleishmanHillard include:
- Consumer Products and Services
- Energy and Utilities
- Financial and Professional Services
- Food, Agriculture, and Beverage
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing and Industrial
- Public Sector
- Technology
When sharing about the industry, you feel most confident working on, talk about why. Research the industries in which FleishmanHillard's clients compete and highlight any of your industry experience that may be directly related to one of them.
1st Answer Example
"My previous positions have given me the opportunity to work with a few different industries. These include the technology, consumer products, and professional service industries. I feel most confident about my knowledge of the Consumer Packaged Goods industry where I had many different roles in the marketing department. Working in different roles allowed me to gain a more holistic view of marketing for this industry. I think my experience and knowledge of this industry can help FleishmanHillard better serve consumer products clients."
2nd Answer Example
"I have experience working in the financial and professional services sectors. My work in the financial services industry spanned over a decade, and it provided me with valuable knowledge as I moved through many roles within and outside of marketing. I gained excellent industry experience where I learned about the competitive landscape and financial product trends. I am confident that I can contribute valuable insights to the marketing strategies of FleishmanHillard's financial services clients."
29. What is the key to quickly developing trust with a company under crisis?
How to Answer
When FleishmanHillard takes on a client who needs help with crisis or reputation management, they need to know that you will be able to build trust quickly so that you can make quick progress on their needs. Discuss how you plan to develop confidence with companies who find themselves in a vulnerable position, needing your assistance.
1st Answer Example
"I believe the key to developing trust with a company under crisis is to show them that you have empathy for their situation, but that you are the expert in getting them out of muddy waters. It's important to show understanding, yet hold your position as the subject-matter expert. Similar to how a physician would demand presence and show confidence when meeting a patient for the first time, so would I show that confidence in my work, knowledge, and expertise."
2nd Answer Example
"I think the best first step to developing trust with a company under crisis is to show them immediately that I have done my homework on their situation. Before our first meeting, I would brief myself on absolutely everything I would need to know to make well-educated comments and suggestions. This genuine interest in their needs will almost always be enough to build a foundation of trust."
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30. Talk about your experience building marketing strategies. What was your specific role, and how does it fit into what we do at FleishmanHillard?
How to Answer
Most marketing team members contribute to the overall marketing strategy in some capacity, at times without even realizing it. The hiring managers at FleishmanHillard want to gain an understanding of your specific roles in marketing departments and how your experience may add value to the strategic marketing services offered to its clients.
However, it is also essential that you have an understanding of how your work has fit into the entire strategic landscape. FleishmanHillard is looking for marketing professionals who can get into the details, but also can refocus, when necessary, to look at the 'big picture.' Share brief information about your marketing role(s), but focus your response on how your work helped build or execute the overall marketing strategy at your company.
1st Answer Example
"Much of my work in the marketing area has been with consumer research as an analyst and project manager. In these roles, I have measured the effectiveness of marketing strategies to strengthen brand loyalty and ultimately increase sales. The research and analyses I have executed have helped to revise and build marketing strategies to best meet the needs of the company at a given time. With my experience, I believe I will be able to help FleishmanHillard's clients evaluate their current strategies and develop new ones to help them better compete in their respective industries."
2nd Answer Example
"My background and work experience have primarily been in the area of marketing communications. With all my work experiences, I have been required to work with fellow team members from marketing research, product development, and sales. This exposure has given me different perspectives on how the work of these groups contributes to the overall marketing strategy of the company. My work specifically has required me to have a strong understanding of the industry and company goals. Without this understanding, I would not have been able to execute the marketing strategy from a communications perspective."
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