Tell me about a campaign that underperformed and what you did about it.
RoleMarketing Lead
DifficultyDifficult
TopicBehavioral
Asked at
Why This Is Asked
Marketing leaders are expected to have failures: the question isn't testing whether you've never had one, it's testing whether you diagnose and adapt quickly instead of doubling down or making excuses.
General Approach
Be specific about the metric that signaled underperformance and the exact adjustment you made in response: vague answers ("we pivoted our strategy") without a concrete before/after read as rehearsed rather than real.
General Answer
Start by choosing one real campaign where you can recall the numbers without hesitation, because the moment you say "around" or "roughly" your interviewer will sense you are reconstructing rather than remembering. Lead with the specific metric that failed, the target you had set, and the actual result, then explain what you believe caused the gap in one clear sentence, whether it was a weak hook, a misread audience, or a timing issue. Say plainly that you did not wait for the campaign to finish before acting, and describe the precise adjustment you made, such as reallocating budget to a better-performing platform or rewriting the ad copy and re-testing it within a week. Mention how you tracked the impact of that change over the next few days, and if the improvement was modest, acknowledge it honestly rather than claiming a perfect recovery. In the Philippine context, you can reference local realities like the cost of mobile data affecting video views or the timing of payday weekends influencing conversion, but only if it genuinely applied to your situation. Close by stating what the experience changed in how you plan campaigns now, such as building in a checkpoint at day three to review performance before spending the full budget.
PH Interview Gotcha
Many Filipino marketers answer with 'nagsink-in na naman yung campaign just like before' without citing numbers. This lack of specificity makes you seem inexperienced. Instead, lead with the exact metric that underperformed and the precise adjustment: 'CPI was Php 52 versus a target of Php 40, so I paused the video creative and re-targeted ages 25-40.'
Sample STAR Answer▾
S
Situation
I was leading a three-month digital campaign for a fintech client targeting overseas Filipino workers, promoting a new remittance app. Our primary KPI was app installs via Facebook and TikTok ads, with a target cost per install of under PHP 40. By week four we had only 2,100 installs against a forecast of 4,500, and CPI was at PHP 52.
T
Task
My task was to diagnose why the campaign was underperforming and implement a correction within 10 days to get back on track without exceeding the remaining budget of PHP 1.2 million.
A
Action
I conducted an A/B test on the top-performing creative and found that the video ad showing an OFW in Hong Kong had a 35% lower click-through rate than the static image with a clear ‘send money in 5 minutes’ headline. I also discovered that 70% of installs were coming from the 18-24 age group, but our core user base was 25-40. I paused the underperforming video, reallocated budget to the static ad, and refined the audience targeting to ages 25-45 plus interests in ‘remittance’ and ‘OFW life.’ I also reduced TikTok spend by 30% and shifted those funds to Facebook where our conversion rates were higher.
R
Result
In the following five weeks, weekly installs climbed to 1,100 on average, bringing our total to 7,600 by end of campaign. CPI dropped to PHP 38, and we closed within 5% of the install target while underspending the budget by PHP 80,000.
Key Takeaway
Data-driven creative and audience segmentation can rescue a faltering campaign faster than chasing broad reach.
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