In a group exercise, you must pitch a new product extension for Cream Silk. One teammate strongly pushes for an expensive celebrity endorsement, while another insists on a purely digital micro-influencer strategy. The team is gridlocked. What do you do?
RoleBrand Manager
DifficultyDifficult
TopicCommunication
Asked at
Why This Is Asked
Unilever's Virtual Discovery Centre includes group exercises to assess how you influence, collaborate, and drive results in a team setting, reflecting real brand team dynamics.
General Approach
Focus on the process rather than your personal opinion. Propose a framework for evaluation, then guide the group toward a data-informed consensus. Demonstrate active listening by summarizing others' points before adding your own.
General Answer
Start by reframing the gridlock as a shared problem to solve, not a battle between personalities. Say plainly that both ideas have merit, then propose a quick evaluation framework anchored on the brand's goals, such as reach, relevance to the target segment, and cost per engagement. For a product like Cream Silk, remind the group that the decision should hinge on who the consumer is and where she gets her beauty information, not on which idea is louder. Suggest a time-boxed discussion where each teammate defends their option against those criteria for five minutes, and commit to supporting whichever approach the data favors, even if it is not your initial pick. If the group still stalls, offer a hybrid: a celebrity face for broad awareness paired with micro-influencers for credibility and conversion, which often fits the Philippine market where trust in peers and relatable figures runs high. Keep your tone collaborative but decisive, and in the interview setting, show you can hold the room without steamrolling. Close by asking a teammate to summarize the agreed next steps, which signals you are thinking about execution, not just the pitch.
PH Interview Gotcha
Avoid being the overly polite candidate who says 'Sige, okay lang sa akin kahit alin' just to avoid conflict. This reads as lacking conviction. Instead, offer a method: 'I suggest we evaluate both options against our target consumer and budget constraints. Let's list the expected impact of each.' This shows leadership.
Sample STAR Answer▾
S
Situation
During a case competition in university, my team of four had to develop a marketing plan for a new energy drink. We split over whether to allocate budget to a campus event or social media ads, and time was running out.
T
Task
As the one who noticed the deadlock, I wanted to move us forward while ensuring both sides felt heard and the final plan was data-backed.
A
Action
I suggested we spend 5 minutes listing pros and cons for each idea on a whiteboard, then vote on the criteria we cared about most: reach, cost, and brand fit. We discovered that a blend was possible: use 30% of budget for a small launch event with student ambassadors (a compromise on the big event idea) and 70% for targeted Facebook/Instagram ads. I volunteered to create a quick table showing the projected ROI for each.
R
Result
We finished the plan with 15 minutes to spare and presented a cohesive idea. The judges praised our integrated approach, and we placed second out of 20 teams. The teammate who wanted the event admitted the hybrid was more realistic.
Key Takeaway
Facilitating a structured decision-making process can break impasses without alienating team members.
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