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Beiersdorf (Subject) / Beiersdorf Interview (Lesson)

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• 01 Please present yourself focussing on the experience most relevant to your position at Beiersdorf. Name: Mariella Studies: Double Degree Master in International Management/ CEMS University: Vienna University of Economics and Business |||  focus on data analytics & marketing  ||| International Experience: Studying, working and volunteering in the U.S., Peru, China and Germany over the past few years ||| intercultural sensitivity & experience with intercultural teamwork ||| Working Experience: Mondi:  Marketing   |   Collaborated in 2 brand relaunch campaigns   |   Launch of Microsite; Content   |   Digital Sales Kit collaboration with sales team WWF:   Team Lead Social Media   |   Mondi contact with Social Media   |   Built a team of 5 people   |   Increased content interaction by 150% 0 Budget   |   through small campaigns; funny and engaging content CEMS Business Project:   Smartphone producer Xiaomi   |   Analyzed sales data in Excel to understand competitive environment   |   analyzed market   |   4P strategy Azimo:   Business Development   |   strategic part: analyze industries; give recommendations  |   Operational part: identify leads, send e-mail campaigns, call worked independently  Why Beiersdorf: Experience with Mondi showed I want to work in industry that is more data-driven and focused on the final consumer and final consumer needs - where more than skin care?
• 02 Please present yourself (long CV pitch) School focused on marketing and international business worked as an Au Pair after school started Bachelor at WU: focus on Marketing; study languages; go abroad again so I did: learned Spanish, went to Peru, did volunteering Mondi: after Bachelor wanted to discover whether what I had studied in theory I would also like in pratice and YES collaborated in two huge brand relaunch campaings discovered passion for digital marketing and social media closely worked with marketing agency and media agency took on sole responsibility for production of giveaways and sales tools -> want B2C; more emotional; data-driven; understanding for consumers and their needs Started as team lead social media at WWF responsible for leading the team, creating and planning the content for Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Blog Increased social media interaction by 500%, increased page likes from ~700 to 1.500 within 2 months organically Master: MiM CEMS - international environment, exchange again, practical experience with business project Exchange in China - most different  Business Project Xiaomi; potential strategy of entering the Indian low-end smartphone market, in-depth analysis of competitors, industry and customers, 4P strategy CEMS internship Azimo Fintech startup focussing on international remittance payments Business Development completely different industry and area throw myself into new environments analyzed different industries for potential partnerships to expand the business in the European market -> work independently; find my way towards reaching my goals BUT again reassured that I want marketing; B2C and learn much more about digital marketing and brand management
• 03 Why are you interested in Beiersdorf/ What interests you most about Beiersdorf? WHY: Personal attachment to brands - family brands (accompanied me my whole life) Focus on emerging markets - interest - see myself working in future Brands highly differentiated Small range of highly differentiated brands rather than massive amassion of brands Beiersdorf: 17.000 Mitarbeiter | P&G 95.000 | Unilever 165.000 | Johnson & Johnson 120.000 | Henkel 53.000 | L'Oreal 90.000
• 04 Why do you want to do an internship in eCommerce/Sales? Truth applied for Digital Marketing  During Application process was asked whether I would also be interested in doing it in eCommerce & Sales Open for this new experience, learn something new eCommerce at Beiersdorf very data-driven sth I want to focus on  most important reason (industry) and Beiersdorf - everything focused on final consumer   |   look at consumer patterns   |   create content choose a language that reaches the final cosnumer that I have information about   |   make an informed decision based on data   -   that I can learn and leverage in the eCommerce & Sales team
• 05 What brands insipre you most and why? (1) NIVEA History accompanied me and my family throughout my whole life Grandma had sensitive skin, allergic reactions to creams and lotions the only option for her was always NIVEA High trust in the brand, reliability and security it gives you and your family (2) Florena Make a natural product affordable Value proposition that I like Trend - more natural products and organic making it affordable is a good deal (3) La Prairie anti-aging skin emotional topic for people scientific luxury brand that people trust in 
• 06 What recent campaigns do you like most? (1) 8x4 digital festival targeted to younger audience (14-18) snapchat influencer (up to 20.000 likes for a pic on instagram) fun, hip spring 2018 (2) kiss more labello cinema turn off lights international kiss day june 2017 (3) Guerilla marketing in 2012 in France woman tries Q10 nivea lotion suddenly strange things happen she gets a lot of weird attention from guys in the end: a guy on a white horse
• 07 Describe one digital marketing campaign you have seen recently Marketing campaign by 8x4 5 influencers took part in the campaign medium was snapchat 5 different types of the 8x4 deo spray with different sujets (animals) and each influencer got an animal and made an influencer video that was shared on instagram the announcement pictures had up to 20.000 likes and more focused on a young group: 14-18 # campaign hip and fun 
• 08 How did your time abroad change you? (1) USA moved out of my parent's house to live with another family that had different values transformation was much more personal step towards majurity (2) Peru Increased cultural sensitivity - learned to be flexible (both with people and in decision making) Insitutions; market environment, social norms Frustrating Make Peruvian friends - not live in the exchange bubble Learn how things work the local way helped (3) China Frustrating because of language barrier Country where I did not know the language and could not read the letters Wanted this extreme experience - to deal with it My learning: Definitely take some time to study the language before
• 09 If you could ask the CEO of Beiersdorf one thing, what would it be? What was the most difficult decision you had to take in your role as a CEO at Beiersdorf?
• 10 If you could choose a country for an exchange, what factors would you consider? (1) Is it culturally distant? (2) Is there a language barrier? (3) Is it a completely new experience? 
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• 11 What are some competing brands of ours? Main competitors: L'Oreal (cosmetics, beauty care, skin care) Unilever Procter and Gamble Johnson&Johnson Competing brands: NIVEA - Vaseline (Unilever): skin care, body care creams, lotions NIVEA - Bebe (Johnson & Johnson) Hansaplast - Band-aid (Johnson&Johnson): band aids Eucerin - Johnson&Johnson lotions NIVEA - Dove (Unilever): shampoos, lotions, deodorants La Prairie - L'Oreal Paris, Estee Lauder: make-up and perfume Labello - Blistex atrix - Neutrogena (Johnson and Johnson): hand cream  NIVEA men - L'Oreal men expert
• 12 What are some challenges of Beiersdorf in the area of eCommerce/Sales? (1) Global Efficiency vs. Local responsiveness Adapting to unique customer needs in sales strategy & communication (2) Aligning each retailer's online and offline presence of brands (3) Emerging markets What is the best way to get the product to the customer - best sales channels? In-store presentation
• 13 What interests you most about working with other cultures? (1) Exciting to work with somebody who has a completely different mindset and different cultural and professional background (2) I can learn so much from somebody different than me (3) It helps me to think outside the box and be creative Example: CEMS Business Project (3 Chinese, 1 Indian, 1 French)  whole different dynamic - conflict everybody thinks differently creative solution on how to bring the product to the poor in India (Game competition)
• 14 What does integrity mean to you? To walk the talk! Put values on a company wall I can put company culture and values up on the intranet landing page but if I do not live up to these principles they are worth nothing For me: Do what you say. Say what you mean. Live up to your principles and values. 
• 15 What is a good leader? (1) Gives a clear direction (2) While at the same time giving everybody the necessary space to do things in their own best way, leveraging their very own potential and strenghts (3) Discovering, recognizing and appreciate these strenghts and individual talents  (4) Encourage people to challenge ideas, challenge the status quo and do things in a different way than what everybody takes for granted
• 16 What is Beiersdorf's startegy especially in the area of eCommerce/Sales? Data-driven approach & learn about customers Engage with customers digitally Increase presence in Emerging markets Boost sales of La Prarie & Eucerin
• 17 What specific strenghts do you bring for the role at Beiersdorf/to Beiersdorf? Analytical & Data-driven: Like to make an informed decision based on the patterns I see in data High attention to detail Intercultural & communication skills 
• 18 What were the most game-changing things you took away from your exchange? 3 keywords 18. Was haben Sie am allermeisten aus ihrem Auslandsaufenthalt mitgenommen? 3 Schlagwörter! Absolutes Chaos Flexibilität Open mindset
• 19 Why do you choose Beiersdorf over another FMCG company? Personal attachment to brands - NIVEA Increasing focus on emerging markets Small but still so successful - leveraging NIVEA while strengthening other brands
• 20 Why are you a good fit for Beiersdorf? Vast international experience - perfect fit for an international cultural setting (exchanges and international working experience; Mondi culture) Pragmatic - opposite of feeling paralyzed in an organization - I am very pragmatic and Beiersdorf is very pragmatic Highly motivated to achieve the best outcome together with my team and I need to work in an environment that is really moving foward where everybody is highly engaged with their working goals
• 21 What are your strenghts? (1) Very open minded - embracing differences & collaborative (2) Egarness to learn new things and continuously imporve both as a professional and as an individual (continuous learner) (3) High attention to detail and thorough working style
• 22 What are your weaknesses? (1) When nervous no structure in communication Mondi (giveaways for 2 campaigns) boss very harsh on me, strict, got nervous  Think well before what information is essential for these 15 min that I have with her Notebook 3-4 bullet points (2) Too direct in my communication Internship at Mondi had communciation problems via email with a colleague that was known for being a little bit more difficult - missunderstanding about a campaign Feedback from my boss: I am very direct but cannot expect other people to be; sometimes ask back what is meant Asked or approached her directly (3) Hard time approaching people directly when I am frustrated WWF Generation Earth colleague that was very frustrating for me very bureaucratic; first gave me 10 reasons for why something cannot work rather than giving me solutions When I see a problem I also want to solve it or look  for an alternative rather than just criticising I never approached him directly about it; never shared my frustration with him or the team Bad because (1) I got more and more frustrated (2) he did not have the chance to change anything (3) in the future it will just be the same Tsinghua University difficult team member; felt uncomfortable when speaking in front of him because his reactions were arrogant  This time: approached him directly; asked him whether he could help me better interpret his attitude or gestures
• Example of conflict at workplace CEMS business project Mondi Elisabeth missunderstanding in email communication campaign she did not come to me directly but rather went to my boss and complained about me incredibly my boss was on my side and gave me constructive feedback like e.g. my communication is very direct but I need to understand that other people do not have such a clear and strucutred way of telling what they want or need I might have to double-check and ask especially with her Boss: take it as a feedback; don't approach her I then double checked or even avoided email communication and went to her directly making sure I fully understood what she needed Mondi Nicole IQ campaign not directly a conflict but we were supposed to work together and were very different characters she was very quiet; I am more energetic, pragmatic wanting to start working right now with a high motivation It intimidated her a bit I started to ask her many questions and tried to get to know her on a personal level whenever possible We realized we had many things in common such as travelling or appreciating cultures/an intenational setting; we are both very flexible in our work style and very adaptable to change (markeing campaing daily life) I figured what her weaknesses were and tried to complement these in the best possible way and vice versa e.g. she had more difficulties taking decisions - I supported her by telling her what I would do; she was very much used to Mondi's dynamic corporate culture and flexible - I learned from her how to stay calm when everything is changed again
• Example of innovation/innovative ideas at work/university (1) Marketing course smartphone company came up with logo Dialmonde high-value smartphone brand wich is why logo was a diamond dial monde stood for calling the world - monde being a luxury brand that stands for connectivity and reliablity (2) Friya Business Project IMM 5 Entering the UK market (London) Superfood - drink UK people love gardens and roses campaign pick a rose and send greetings to a beloved one on instagram with a # (3) Mondi Doing a great job sticker Physical sticker to tell somebody they are doing a great job nice in the office also to motivate employees and get them excited for the brand and campaing brought this sticker digital - by adding peoples names in paint and sending it as a customized email signature
• Example of teamwork (1) Nicole Mondi IQ relaunch campaign 2 very different characters I was energetic - intimidated her with my motivation and will to start doing; she was very shy, introvert get to know her as a person complement her in her weaknesses and vice versa difficulties taking decisions - consult her on what I would do dynamic working environment - change is the only constant; learned from her how to deal with it and how to stay focussed  (2) CEMS business project Team of 6 people Chinese, Indian, French, Austrian Deal with different cultures - also some people work in a less structured way reliability is very important criticise openly 
• Example of leadership formally and informally (1) Informally X Cultures Project A leader emerged from the group (afterwards everybody had to state who is the leader and everybody voted for me) I stepped into the project that had already started and was directly approached by a team member that it is not working at all, people refuse to use the facebook group and communication is not going well I just used the facebook group and had a few important learnings e.g. if people did not answer or perform the task it was mostly because they did not understand the instructions properly (people from Colombia, Malayisa and Russia) Regular meetings on skype etc especially when you work remotely is very important (2) Formally Generation Earth Hard to lead especially when people do what they do voluntarily keep everybody on track mostly people just did not do what they were supposed to do or did it too late send reminders to people me myself: stay really on track, show high motivation and dedication to my tasks complete all my tasks timely to be a good example my feedback was that with me it worked very well but when I left it turned to chaos
• Example of convincing others of my idea WWF Generation Earth: all the time in my role as team lead Azimo Business Development: BD for DACH region one part of job was reaching out to people and contacting potential leads in certain industries manager was US raised - he wanted a highly salesy approach use many unnecessary words - it is awesome, it is amazing customers are more conservative have to state clearly what are the benefits of the product but might not even be so interested in that but also how does it work? what do I need to register? used a few strong arguments to tell him why my approach is the better one in this particular case he agreed eventually the team agreed the CCO agreed my response rates were among the highest in the team at my direct mailing campaigns with response rates of 10-12% which was higher than that of most of my colleagues in the team
• Example of a difficult situation Color Copy Notebooks Production of 1.200 Notebooks for Color Copy Campaign 200 notebooks were for special event - personalized Timeline was impossible Never had produced notebooks before One of my first projects Challenging  Last minute changes Price went up and down Where do costs arise in production process? Wanted to solve it myself Problem were 2 seperate orders (1 specialized for event, and 1.000 for campaign not personalized) Agreed start production of all books but first ship the 200 personalized ones price went down substantially My learning: Did not say anything to my boss about the difficulties I faced Was bad: It all turned out well but could have gone the other way I would definitely ask for support earlier in the process
• 23 What achievements are you most proud of? (1) Negotiation of postponment of a 15k € bill with giveaway supplier due to budget freeze (2) Notebook production - difficult but achieved it (3) Entering into master's degree: long-term goal; worked hard and paid off  
• 24 What was your biggest failure so far? WWF Generation Earth Hannes Very frustrating team member Very bureaucratic, criticised ideas without giving any solutions, before doing anything he would tell me 10 reasons why an idea would not work instead of doing it When I criticise I also like to give solutions and be proactive I have never shared my frustration and anger with him or the team; never said it directly My frustration increased I did not give him the chance to do anything differently it will most probably stay like this in the future -> Kevin Tsinghua university
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• 24 What is your preferred way of working? (1) Flat hierarchy (2) I like to be trusted, work independently (3) Collaborative - communication - teamwork
• 26 Where did you demonstrate your analytical skills in a logical process? Azimo internship Analyzing sectors for potential partnerships B2B2C strategy - how to best reach our customers through collaborating with only a few b2b actors What services do migrant workers use; what do they do? Where do they go? online second-hand market places Measures of popularity (1) Size of the plattform in terms of ads or visitors (2) organic google search result (3) size of Facebook page German language schools several measures that allow me to assess whether migrant workers would be the typical student at the language school and hence estimate the potential reach through such institutions in the DACH region A1, A2 or B1 German exams for permanent visa Long-term evening courses (people do typically after work) short-term oriented analyze and give rankings
• Example of getting outside my comfort zone Internship with Azimo Business Development and sales start up culture - not knowing much about the company but you are on the phone doing a call and you have to be comfortable with the situation Selling over the phone is always an uncomfortable situation
• 27 What is our most exciting innvoation? Q10 (1998) anti-aging of skin skin care NIVEA and Eucerin energizing skin very emotional topic with consumers Newest innovations: HYDRO IQ technology in moisturing skin care products for an even better effect moisturing skin
• 02a Please present yourself (1 min pitch) Name: Mariella Studies: Double Degree Master in International Management/ CEMS University: Vienna University of Economics and Business International Experience: Studying, working and volunteering in the U.S., Peru, China and Germany over the past few years Working Experience: most important Marketing 2 brand relaunch campaigns; recently gained experience in Start-up Business Development & Sales Why Beiersdorf: Experience with Mondi showed I want to work in industry that is more data-driven and focused on the final consumer and final consumer needs - where more than skin care?
• Example of outside the box thinking Internship at Azimo Expand the Business into European markets Everybody very much focussed on analyzing big industries Thought outside the box - where do I meet many migrants in my daily life? What do they do? What would I do? Started partnership discussions with cheap fitness center
• 04a Why are you the right person to do this internship in eCommerce/Sales? International experience - intercultural team  Experience working with data & data analytics Experience in content creation; focusing on target group Open minded - open to learn - ready to be challenged 
• 13a Has there ever been a situation when your international colleagues annoyed you? CEMS Business Project Xiaomi Tiffany not so structured Me much more structured First two weeks reading get company information 60 pages of what everyone had researched Split the research part and have 2 people summarize it in 5 pages But is not cultural - it is a different working style ( Celia ! ) ESAN International Negotiations course Prepare for final negotiation I was the only one preparing and negotiating Me and 4 Peruvians Of course professor noticed But is not cultural - Easy to say "Peruvians are lazy or don't take things seriously" - They have a looooot to do for other courses like Finance and Economics that are very difficult so don't commit so many resources for a Negotiations course. Worked with Peruvians that were very hard-working.  Yes, I was annoyed by my international colleagues but the same way a German or Austrian colleague could have annoyed me. 
• 28 Have you ever been in a position to lead people? What were the challenges? WWF Generation Earth Team Lead Social Media People worked voluntarily - university/work easily gained priority Lead by example - I myslef showed high commitment and motivation Content plan with a column for "name" - responsibility & accountability Remind people of tasks/ chase people for tasks Manage the diversity in the team Everyone had a different skill level & experience (in university everyone the same skill level more or less) Strength everyone contributes Have people choose projects they like in accordance with what they do best
• 29 How can you motivate your peers to join you at your corporate processes? (1) Be highly commited and motivated myself - be a good example (2) Use communication - inspire others with your ideas - explain why/what
• 30 How did you manage change in the past? Mondi change in leadership (1) Learn from experienced team: Change the only constant at Mondi (2) Change in hierarchy in team; new job roles etc. People proactively accepted new roles and leaders - I learned a lot from this behavior (3) Meeting where everybody could raise concerns; I did not have concerns at that time (2 months left, not directly affected) (4) Old leader really suported new leader - great personality DO DIFFERENTLY: (1) Realized some dissatisfaction in team (2) Would in initial phase do more team meetings and give people ground to express frustration and clarify things
• 31 Please explain the responsibilities and experiences of your internships Erste Asset Management: Redesign of the company's homepage Independent project Collaboration with several different departments: communications, sales, legal Mondi Both campaigns: Agency work Production of giveaways and sales tools Organization of kick-off events Media Plan Color Copy: Company's flagship brand Supportive Project: shipment of freshly produced paper packs out of mill to key accounts worldwide Social Media (Facebook) Launch of digital tools: microsite, digital sales kit IQ: Strategic Decision-making on logo, slogan, designs, sujets Pre-approving packaging for production Formulating product benefits for packaging WWF Generation Earth: Built a social media team Distributed responsibilities among team Created content plan Created content myself Weekly jour fixe (organization and lead) Own project: Round Table Xiaomi: CEMS Business Project Team of 6: 3 Chinese, 1 French, 1 Indian Assess whether it makes sense for Xiaomi to enter the Indian low-end market (base of pyramid) and how (4P strategy) Analysis of sales data in Excel Thorough market, customer, industry and competitor analysis 4P Strategy to enter low-end market Azimo: Analyzing different vertical to assess potential of high-level partnerships based on certain criteria such as revenue, customer base Targeted specific industries through email, linkedin and calls Initiated discussions for a potential partnership with 2 companies by leveraging personal network
• 31 What are your goals? (1) Within next five years: Build FMCG brands in emerging markets  I want to develop myself professionally and personally for which I want to take on responsibility and be challenged in my work place.  (2) Really long run: Take on projects in sustainability or social projects in FMCG to benefit consumers and communities in emerging and developing markets
• What is a good team for you? Everybody is motivated to achieve the best outcome  Supportive Open to criticism Open to question the status-quo Culture of feedback and open discussion of any disputes or problems
• 32 What skills do you have that are relevant for the role? Excellent communication skills English & German language skills Intercultural skills Data Analytics skills Content creation Computer skills Project management
• My questions Consumer needs are so important in Beauty and Skin Care. How do you get this information? Do you have Focus Groups in Place? How do you stay locally responsive? How long does it take from the idea of a new product until its launch?
• 33 Why do you take on a leadership role in certain situations? (1) Urge to get things done (pragmatism) CEMS Business Project 2 Parts - Presentation and Report Took lead in report writing (2) Structured thinking - people see me as the leader Very good at structuring projects/tasks Goal - know what is necessary to get there and how to divide the work Initial discussion people see me as leader because of this structured approach

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