Magazine Growth

Looking for business case examples for interviews? Look no further than this ZS Associates case study interview example.

Case Study Prompt

Our client is a large media conglomerate – let’s call it Moon Media. Moon functions mostly in online and print media, and within those in 3 major segments:

1. Enthusiast Media – something like Hot Rod Magazine, Snowboarder Weekly, or S&M for the elderly.
2. Consumer Guides – Motor Trend, Consumer Reports, etc.
3. Business News – Fortune, WSJ

We’re going to be focusing mostly on the business news segment today. The business news segment has seen declining revenues over the past 5 years after decades of very stable growth. It’s called Prime Inc. and is broken down into print and online media. There is a website, but it basically just reproduces the news that’s in the magazine.

We’ve been hired to consider two things- first, we need to determine why revenues have been declining and second, we need to recommend some alternatives to stimulate growth.

How would you approach this problem?

Case Study Overview

In business case examples for interviews, it’s important to do a thorough read-over of the case prompt before diving in. In this case study, the client is a media conglomerate that publishes magazines. One segment of the business is seeing declining revenues, and it’s your job to dig into the numbers to find a solution for turning the decline around.

The Profitability Framework will be your friend as you lay out your structure for the business situation in the case. However, don’t limit yourself to any basic framework. Use your knowledge of the frameworks and your business smarts to build a custom structure tailored to the specifics of the case interview.

The case has a qualitative difficulty 2/4. Use it to prep for a second round at ZS. The case has no math exhibits.

ZS Associates Interview Tips

What does ZS look for in its case interview candidates? The ability to find personalized solutions to complex business problems.

Stay away from ‘one size fits all’ thinking in this case. Your structure should be tailored to the business problem in the case.

Find 1-2 takeaways from this case to work on moving forward.

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