Author: Taylor Warfield, Former Bain Manager and interviewer

Last Updated: October 8, 2026

 

The Lippincott interview is a three-stage process: a recruiter screen, a first-round interview with behavioral questions and a short brand case, and a five-hour Super Day made up of three case interviews, a group exercise, and a writing exercise. This guide walks through every stage, the real questions candidates have been asked, and the application requirements that quietly eliminate most applicants before anyone reads their resume.

 

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Key Takeaways

 

Lippincott runs a brand-focused hiring process that tests creative judgment and structured thinking rather than the profitability math you would practice for a traditional consulting firm.

 

• Three stages: a recruiter screen, a first-round behavioral interview plus brand case, then a five-hour Super Day

 

• The Super Day includes three one-on-one case interviews, a group exercise, and a timed writing exercise

 

• Glassdoor rates the process 3.2 out of 5 for difficulty, with hiring averaging 34 days as of January 2026

 

• Campus applications require a cover letter answering two set questions in 500 words or less, and Lippincott rejects applications submitted without one

 

• Cases are brand analyses, not profitability trees, with prompts like rebranding your own university

 

• Entry-level Strategy Consultants started at a base of $82,000, rising to $150,000 to $190,000 at the Senior Associate level

 

What Is the Lippincott Interview Process?

 

The Lippincott interview process has three stages. It opens with a 30-minute recruiter screen, then moves to a video interview covering behavioral questions and a short brand case. The final stage is a five-hour Super Day with three one-on-one case interviews, a group exercise, and a writing exercise.

 

Stage	Format	Typical length	What it tests
Recruiter screen	Phone or video with a talent team member	About 30 minutes	Background, motivation, communication, and logistics such as GPA, school, major, and work authorization
First round	Video with one or two team members	45 to 60 minutes	Behavioral answers plus a short brand case, often tied to what you wrote in your cover letter
Super Day	In person or virtual, run as a cohort	About 5 hours	Three case interviews with senior staff, one group exercise, and one written exercise

 

Most people get in the door on their own. According to Glassdoor data updated in January 2026, 72% of candidates who reported a Lippincott interview had applied online, 13% came through campus recruiting, and only 5% through an employee referral.

 

Who Is Lippincott and Why Does Its Interview Look Different?

 

Lippincott is a brand, marketing, and experience consultancy that sits inside the Oliver Wyman Group, which is part of Marsh McLennan. It was founded in 1943 and its founders coined the concept of corporate identity, according to the firm's About Us page. Its work spans brand strategy, naming, marketing and customer strategy, experience design, and visual identity.

 

That mix is why the interview feels unfamiliar to candidates coming from a traditional consulting prep track. You are not being tested on whether you can build a clean issue tree. You are being tested on whether you can look at a brand, form a sharp opinion about it, and defend that opinion with business logic.

 

The firm is also small. Lippincott operates nine offices: New York, San Francisco, London, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Seoul. Headcount sits in the low hundreds, which means each office hires a handful of people per cycle rather than the dozens that boutique consulting firms of similar prestige take in.

 

Client work runs across Coca-Cola, Samsung, Starbucks, Delta, Nokia, and DuPont. Lippincott's careers page reports that Lippincotters live in 46 cities worldwide and that 25% of employees have been with the firm for over 10 years. That retention number matters for your prep: it tells you they hire for long-term fit, not just raw case ability.

 

How Do You Get a Lippincott Interview in the First Place?

 

You get a Lippincott interview by submitting a resume and a cover letter that answers two specific questions in 500 words or less. This is the single most overlooked part of the process. Lippincott's campus Strategy Consultant posting stated plainly that any application received without a cover letter would not be put forward for consideration.

 

The two required cover letter questions were:

 

1. Career motivation: why are you interested in a career in branding
   
   
2. Dream brand: what would be a dream brand for you to work on and why

 

The posting also asked candidates to refrain from using AI to generate the letter, noting that the firm was more interested in hearing your voice than in perfection. Take that at face value. A polished, generic consulting cover letter is the fastest way to blend into a pile at a firm whose entire business is distinctiveness.

 

Here is the part almost nobody plans for. One candidate reported that their first-round interview included a mini "what would you do" question about the exact company they had written about in their cover letter. Whatever brand you name in that 500 words becomes live case material, so pick a brand you can actually diagnose.

 

The campus posting also listed hard eligibility screens: a GPA of 3.5 or higher, graduation as a college senior in the spring or summer of the application year, and unrestricted eligibility to work in the United States. Experienced hire postings do not publish a GPA bar. Your consulting resume still needs to show writing, research, and creative work rather than pure quantitative credentials.

 

Timelines run long. The full-time Strategy Consultant role that closed applications in September 2025 listed a start date of September 2026, a full year later. If you want a shot at that cycle, my resume review service gives you unlimited revisions with a 24-hour turnaround so your application is ready when the window opens.

 

What Happens in the Lippincott First Round Interview?

 

The Lippincott first round is a video interview with one or two team members that pairs behavioral questions with a short brand case. Expect roughly 45 to 60 minutes. Candidates consistently describe the tone as friendly and conversational, which is exactly why people underprepare for it.

 

The behavioral half opens with the usual ground: tell me about yourself, walk me through your work, and what you enjoyed most about a past project. Design and creative candidates should expect to present a portfolio and talk through their process.

 

Then comes the motivation block, and Lippincott pushes harder here than most firms. One candidate was asked what made them want to do brand strategy consulting as opposed to other professions. Answering why consulting in general is not enough, because the interviewer wants to know why brand specifically.

 

The case half is short and open. Reported first-round prompts include choosing one company from a list of 12 and explaining what their brand is and how you would improve it. Others describe being handed a brand and asked to analyze its positioning against the industry.

 

If your fit answers still feel scripted, my fit interview course covers 98% of the behavioral questions consulting firms ask in a few hours.

 

What Is the Lippincott Super Day Like?

 

The Lippincott Super Day is a five-hour final round with three one-on-one case interviews, one group exercise, and one writing exercise. Candidates report cohorts of roughly 20 people going through the day together, with offers going to only a small number of them. Consistency is what separates offers from rejections here.

 

One candidate who was rejected described the reason bluntly: they performed well across the day but stumbled in a single interview. With three separate case conversations scored independently, one weak showing is usually enough to end a candidacy.

 

The three one-on-one case interviews

 

Each of the three interviews pairs you with a different senior team member, typically a Senior Associate, Partner, or VP-level interviewer. They are case based but conversational, and each interviewer brings their own prompt. Reported cases include rebranding your university and working through a simple market segmentation problem.

 

Because the interviewers do not coordinate on prompts, you cannot coast on one prepared answer. Treat each of the three as a fresh start and reset your energy between them.

 

The group exercise

 

The group exercise puts you with other Super Day candidates to solve a problem together. One candidate reported a NASA-style survival ranking exercise, which is a classic team prioritization task rather than a branding problem.

 

The point is not the answer. It is whether you can build on other people's ideas without either steamrolling the room or disappearing into it.

 

This is the same skill tested in a group case interview at any consulting firm. Lippincott weights it heavily because its own job postings describe a collaborative, non-hierarchical working style where junior people are expected to push the team's thinking in front of clients.

 

The behavior that reads best is specific and repeatable. Reference a teammate by name, extend their point rather than replacing it, and volunteer to track time or capture the group's output so someone owns the structure.

 

The writing exercise

 

The writing exercise is timed and done alone. Lippincott's job descriptions ask for the ability to write brand manifestos, creative concepts, and messaging, and to tell a clear story with a sound argument. The written test exists because that is a genuine daily requirement of the job, not a screening formality.

 

Structure it the way you would structure a written case interview: lead with your recommendation, support it with two or three reasons, and close with what you would do next. Write in complete sentences with a point of view. Clean, confident prose beats clever prose every time.

 

What Kind of Case Do You Get in a Lippincott Interview?

 

Lippincott cases are brand analyses. You will not get a profitability tree or a heavy math problem. One candidate who interviewed for Strategy Consultant put it well: the case is not structured like a normal case interview, it is brand focused, and it tests creative problem solving.

 

Real prompts candidates have reported include:

 

• Analyze this company's branding in comparison with the industry

 

• Choose one brand from this list of 12 and explain what their brand is and how you would improve it

 

• How would you change the branding of your university

 

• Name a brand you would like to rebrand and walk through how you would do it

 

• A hypothetical market segmentation question

 

That last one is the only place traditional prep transfers directly. Basic market sizing and segmentation math shows up, but at a level you could handle on paper in two minutes.

 

The rest rewards a different muscle. In my time interviewing at Bain, the candidates who struggled most with brand questions were the ones who had drilled case interview frameworks hardest, because they kept reaching for a structure instead of an opinion.

 

How to structure a Lippincott brand case

 

Use four moves in order. This is not a branded method, just the sequence that consistently produces a strong answer under time pressure.

 

1. Diagnose: state what the brand currently stands for in one sentence, and what business problem that creates
   
   
2. Find the tension: name the gap between what the brand says and what customers actually experience
   
   
3. Reposition: propose one clear idea the brand should own, and say who it is for
   
   
4. Prove it: show two or three concrete places that idea would change the product, the experience, or the marketing

 

Example: let's say you are asked to rebrand your university. A weak answer lists strengths and suggests a new tagline. A strong answer sounds like this.

 

Right now the school markets itself on academic prestige, the same claim every peer school makes, so it competes on rankings it cannot win. The real experience is that students build things together across departments before they graduate, and nobody is saying that. The brand should own "graduates who have already shipped something," aimed at applicants choosing between a safe name and a place they can build.

 

Then prove it: rebuild the campus tour around student project spaces instead of the library, replace admissions brochure headshots with work products, and change alumni outreach from donation asks to project mentorship. Notice that the payoff is not a logo. It is a set of decisions a client would actually have to make.

 

The same instinct helps in a marketing case interview at any firm. If you want a faster path through the fundamentals, my case interview course gets you to a top 10% level in 7 days.

 

What Lippincott Interview Questions Should You Prepare For?

 

Prepare for four categories: motivation, behavioral, brand opinion, and case. Candidate reports across Glassdoor cluster tightly around these, and the motivation questions come up more often than at a traditional firm.

 

Motivation and fit questions include why you want to join Lippincott, why consulting, why brand strategy consulting instead of another profession, and how you spend your spare time. That last one is not small talk. The firm's own careers messaging leans on curiosity and outside interests, so a flat answer reads as a fit miss.

 

Behavioral questions cover your background, a project you enjoyed most, your greatest success in your field, and how past experiences map to the role. Structure these with the same discipline you would apply to consulting behavioral questions anywhere else.

 

Brand opinion questions are the ones people fumble. Expect what is a brand or company that stands out to you and why, what is a brand that you like, and how would you reposition it. Have three brands ready with a real thesis on each, and pick at least one that is not a tech company everyone else will name.

 

How Hard Is the Lippincott Interview?

 

Lippincott's interview difficulty sits at 3.16 out of 5 on Glassdoor based on 53 candidate reports, with 56.6% describing the experience as positive. The hiring process averages 34 days across all roles. Those numbers put it below MBB difficulty ratings but the small number of open seats makes the practical odds tougher than the score suggests.

 

The interview format breakdown from those same reports shows what you are most likely to face:

 

Interview stage type	Share of reported interviews
One-on-one interview	29%
Phone interview	20%
Group panel interview	11%
Presentation	9%
Skills test	8%

 

Source: Glassdoor candidate reports for Lippincott, updated January 2026.

 

Difficulty also varies sharply by role. Visual Design Intern and Business Development Analyst candidates rated their interviews hardest, while Associate and Production roles rated theirs easiest. Design and creative roles carry the extra burden of a portfolio review on top of the case work.

 

How Much Does Lippincott Pay?

 

Lippincott publishes base pay ranges in its job postings because its parent company operates under pay transparency rules. The figures below come from Marsh McLennan postings for Lippincott roles based in New York.

 

Role	Published base pay	Posting year
Design Intern	$30 per hour	2025
Strategy Consultant (campus hire)	$82,000	2025
Senior Consultant, Strategy	$100,000 to $120,000	2025
Senior Consultant, Marketing and Customer Strategy	$105,000 to $130,000	2025
Associate, Brand Strategy	$115,000 to $150,000	2026
Senior Associate, Brand Strategy	$150,000 to $190,000	2026

 

Every level is also eligible for performance-based incentives on top of base, per the same postings. Entry-level pay lands below what a first-year analyst earns at a strategy firm, and the Oliver Wyman salary for a comparable role sits meaningfully higher. Candidates choose Lippincott for the creative work, not the paycheck.

 

One more practical note on the offer: Marsh McLennan requires colleagues to be in their local office or onsite with clients at least three days per week, with one weekly anchor day when the full team is together.

 

How Should You Prepare for the Lippincott Interview?

 

Tip #1: Build a personal file of 10 brands before you apply

 

Write half a page on each one. What it stands for, who it is for, where the promise breaks down, and what you would change. This file feeds your cover letter, your first-round answers, your Super Day cases, and your brand opinion questions.

 

Tip #2: Choose your cover letter brand as if it were a case

 

Candidates have been asked a live "what would you do" question about the exact company they named in their application. Pick a brand with a real, diagnosable problem, not just one you admire.

 

Tip #3: Practice forming an opinion in 60 seconds

 

Set a timer, pull up any brand's homepage, and say out loud what it stands for and what is wrong with it. Do this daily for two weeks. The Lippincott case rewards speed of judgment far more than depth of analysis.

 

Tip #4: Write one page a day, timed

 

Give yourself 25 minutes to write a recommendation on a brand problem and stop when the timer ends. The Super Day writing exercise catches people who have never written under a clock. Practicing the constraint matters more than practicing the content.

 

Tip #5: Rehearse the group exercise behaviors, not the answers

 

You cannot predict the prompt, so drill the moves instead: summarize where the group is, name a tradeoff nobody has said out loud, and hand airtime to the person who has not spoken. Doing that once well is worth more than five good ideas.

 

Tip #6: Prepare separate questions for all three Super Day interviewers

 

You will meet three different senior people in one afternoon, and asking the same closing question three times lands badly if they compare notes. Have six ready, and make sure your questions to ask in a consulting interview get at the actual work rather than the culture boilerplate.

 

Tip #7: Run at least three live practice rounds with a partner

 

Brand cases are conversational, which means the failure mode is rambling. You will not hear yourself doing it until someone else is on the other side, so book mock consulting interviews and have them cut you off when you drift.

 

The Lippincott interview rewards candidates who show up with a point of view rather than a framework, and the fastest way to build one is to start diagnosing brands out loud today. Pick five companies you use every week and write down what each one stands for, where the promise breaks, and what you would fix. Do that before you touch anything else in your prep.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

How long does the Lippincott interview process take?

 

Lippincott's hiring process takes an average of 34 days according to 53 candidate reports on Glassdoor as of January 2026. Individual experiences vary widely. Some candidates report moving from application to offer in about three weeks, while others describe processes that stretch across two months or more.

 

Does Lippincott ask traditional case interview questions?

 

No. Lippincott cases are brand analyses rather than profitability or market entry cases. Candidates report prompts such as analyzing a company's branding against its industry, rebranding their own university, and simple market segmentation questions. The math is light and the judgment is heavy.

 

Do you need a cover letter to apply to Lippincott?

 

Yes, for campus roles. Lippincott's Strategy Consultant posting stated that any application received without a cover letter would not be put forward for consideration. The letter must answer two set questions in 500 words or less, and the firm explicitly asked candidates not to use AI to write it.

 

What GPA does Lippincott require?

 

Lippincott's campus Strategy Consultant posting listed a GPA of 3.5 or higher as an eligibility requirement, alongside graduating as a college senior and unrestricted eligibility to work in the United States. Experienced hire roles do not publish a GPA cutoff.

 

How much does Lippincott pay entry-level consultants?

 

Marsh McLennan published a base pay of $82,000 for the entry-level Lippincott Strategy Consultant role in New York. Senior Consultant postings ranged from $100,000 to $130,000 depending on the practice, and Associate roles ranged from $115,000 to $150,000. All levels are also eligible for performance-based incentives.

 

Is Lippincott part of Oliver Wyman?

 

Yes. Lippincott is part of the Oliver Wyman Group, which sits inside Marsh McLennan. Lippincott job postings are hosted on Marsh McLennan's careers site and list Oliver Wyman Group as the hiring organization. The two firms collaborate on client work, but they recruit separately and run different interview processes.

 

How many candidates get invited to the Lippincott Super Day?

 

Candidates report Super Days running with roughly 20 other people in the same cohort, with offers going to only a small number of them. That makes consistency across all three case interviews the deciding factor. One weak interview out of three is enough to end a candidacy.

 

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