Using customer journey to outline structure

profitability analysis stucture
New answer on Jan 23, 2022
6 Answers
912 Views
Daisy
Skilled
asked on Jan 08, 2022

Hi Community,

I heard that when structuring cases related to FMCG, it is good to use a customer journey structure. What do you think of this idea? For example, if it is a profitability case, and I know that the profit decreases because of quantity sold decreases. Can I just analyze with the customer journey map?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 09, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi Daisy,

The short answer is “no”. Just because it's FMCG does not mean it should be customer journey - please stop listening to whoever told you this!

If an FMCG is buying another company, why would they use a customer journey map? Equally, if they're adjusting pricing, why would they look at a customer journey map.

Please please learn how to process a prompt, understand what's going on with the business, and be objective-driven in your casing. This will get you much further than memorizing set frameworks/approaches and hoping the round peg will fit in the square hole!

Was this answer helpful?
Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 10, 2022
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Agree with other coaches, this seems to me as you trying to force a type of framework that doesn´t work well with this type of question. 

Generally speaking, avoid general frameworks, sicne they don´t solve the type of cases you will be given in the real interview. THey are good as mental checklists for yourself to ensure you have everything, but not as the key to open the door. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Was this answer helpful?
Moritz
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 09, 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | 90min sessions with FREE exercises & videos

This is a classic case of forcing a certain framework and a big red flag. In your example you point out that it's a profitability problem. If you use anything other than the profitability framework to begin with, you will loose your interviewer right there.

That being said, there may be a place for using customer journeys in a case interview and I wouldn´t outright dismiss it. However, it would always be related to a specific question around creativity/ brainstorming. 

Whatever you do, it should always feel natural. Don't ever force anything if in doubt!

Best of luck!

Was this answer helpful?
Hagen
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 09, 2022
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi Daisy,

First of all, it is great to see you are trying to better understand industry dynamics!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • Generally speaking, I would advise you not to generalize things, as tempting as it might be. The best way of structuring a case study depends on both the individual client (i.e. the simple industry does not suffice) and the type of question/ task.
  • For instance, in this specific situation, unless it is a one-product FMCG company (which would be rather unusual), I would advise you to rather think about structuring the revenue streams by business units/ products to further understand where exactly the issue lies.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best structure any type of case study, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Was this answer helpful?
Luca
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 09, 2022
BCG |NASA | SDA Bocconi & Cattolica partner | GMAT expert 780/800 score | 200+ students coached

Hello Daisy,

I’m quite surprised that you received a suggestion like this.
Even in the case that you proposed: How can you outline the main drivers of volume reduction starting from the Customer Journey? It could be, for example, a problem with your distribution channels.

I would suggest to refer to Customer Journey only if you need to brainstorm some ideas or to structure a problem solving that is about consumers behaviour.

Hope it helps,
Luca

Was this answer helpful?
Pedro
Expert
replied on Jan 23, 2022
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

No, for two reasons.

First, you are forcing a framwork regardless of the specific problem. Doing that will result in a rejection.

Second, customer journey is usually used to understand satisfaction drivers and pain points. So using it for profitability is just nonsense. You can use it for many things (identify new revenue opportunities, improve operations, etc.). 

The trick here is to stay flexible. You should have many alternative “mental maps” that you can use for brainstorming questions. Customer journey is one of them. But use it ONLY when it clearly makes sense.

Was this answer helpful?
Ian gave the best answer

Ian

Content Creator
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate
1,088
Meetings
76,110
Q&A Upvotes
227
Awards
5.0
150 Reviews
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely