Seiden Advertising interview questions

I sent the employer my resume and within a day they had reached back to me. They liked my resume and called me in for an in-person interview that lasted about 30 minutes. I got an offer a few days after the interview ended.

I saw the job posting on my school career website and submitted my resume to an entry-level strategist. Received an email to schedule a phone interview within 7 days and had my first call with a 2nd year Strategist: 1st Phone Interview (~30 mins) - Basic questions about background ("tell me about yourself") - What is one brand doing well in your opinion & why - What is one brand NOT doing well in your opinion & why > after answer, was asked follow up questions to justify - Theoretical/case based question: Dove has expanded their line to men's products. Do you think this is a good decision, or not good decision and why? [A few minutes for questions]-> While the person I spoke to was comfortable and sounded comfortable on the phone, she had absolutely no information to give me about hiring timeline or details. She was very reluctant to give me ANY information at all, beyond "we'll be in touch." Seemed like a disorganized hiring process where interviewers don't have information to give and interviewees do not speak with formal HR (if they even have HR) One week later, I received another email advancing me to the 2nd round. The next step was a take-home case study project for Kleenex, which was launching a new product. The deliverable was creating a presentation with 1) product ideas and naming options 2) select a top name and suggestions for product claims 3) rationale for selections After submitting the presentation, we scheduled a second phone call to go over the presentation. I found it shady that she only introduced herself, yet had me on speakerphone and I could hear others in the room listening in. - Can you walk me through your presentation - Walk me through the names > additional questions - How will this extend the brand's halo The conversation felt rushed and again, disorganized, as if the interviewer was conducting this for the first time and was viewing my presentation for the first time. Her followup questions were largely combative and not following the natural flow of conversation. Overall, this is a very niche firm (healthcare advertising) and though they've been in the business for some time, their online portfolio is paltry. Basically, their only prominent client is Bayer, and client deal flow seems slow. It's a small team (40-50) full of new college grads and young analysts...not an ideal place for long-term career growth.