Loonilever PLC

Looking for a case with advanced case interview math? This McKinsey case study is the case for you!

Case Prompt

Our client (Loonilever) is a major consumer products company with operations in over 80 countries. Loonilever operates across all categories in the consumer products space: personal wash, hair care, oral care, laundry, household cleaning, skincare etc.

Over the last decade or so, it has been losing share to its key competitors, particularly to B&G. It is keen to regain/build share in key categories, especially in traditional B&G strongholds.

Skincare is the most profitable category for the large consumer products players, with gross margins of ~75% (vs. 30% for laundry). They are now evaluating an entry into China’s skincare market, a market that B&G has enjoyed market leadership in for over a decade. Though Loonilever is the market leader in China’s laundry segment, it does not currently operate in the Skincare segment.

Loonilever has hired McKinsey to help them determine what their potential entry strategy into the Chinese skincare market should be. Can Loonilever achieve a revenue target of $100M in two years? What should its entry strategy be?

Case Study Overview

Before you dive into the case, prepare yourself for some advanced-level case interview math. The client in the case is a consumer products company that is looking to enter a new foreign market. The company has a revenue target of $100M in 2 years. Your job is gather the data needed to present the company with an informed market entry strategy.

The Market Study Framework will help you form a structure for the case, but don’t limit yourself to the basic framework. Think outside the box to develop a custom structure that will best help you solve the business problem presented in the case study.

The qualitative difficulty of the case is 3 out of 4, making it a case study you would see in a final round case interview at McKinsey. There are several challenging math exhibits in the case needing to be interpreted. The quant difficulty has a score of 4/4 – the case interview math is no joke!

McKinsey Interview Tips

McKinsey looks for case interview candidates that are structured and quant-proficient.

Focus on maintaining structure the entire way through the case. And if your mental math needs honing, refer to our free math drills for case interview math practice.

In this case, make it a point to focus on these 2 things:

• Time yourself throughout the case: 2min to build structure and 2min to present it; 2min each for a brainstorming question; 2min for final recommendation
• Your communication and polish as you walk through the case (the goal: C-suite level proficiency for each category!)

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