Reflection- Mind Mapping

Challenge    I am currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. As a part of our  curriculum and to supplement our education and learning we are regularly tasked with  projects and assignments.  These are in various formats; some are research driven reports,  some questionnaire-based analysis of a certain market trend and some in the form of  presentations. The one factor common in these tasks is that a central topic is assigned around  which further research is required. There is a requirement to visualise thoughts and  communicate. While traditional note taking is always an option, there are more effective  processes to streamline and put in order the thoughts and ideas that arise during research.     Selection    I am enrolled in an internship at a digital marketing firm. As one of the interesting tasks, our  team had to revamp and rejuvenate a client’s marketing strategy for their online platform.  The project naturally required conducting extensive research of the competition to gain a  complete understanding of the market. This would enable us to better place our own client  in the market in relation to its competitors. To make sense out of the wide array of  information and to chart all of it into a constructive flow, I used mind mapping as a tool. The  specific application was MindMeister.  As opposed to just a pen and paper, MindMeister is a  wonderful tool plan a course of action. It provides a clear central idea and links all resultant  ideas to ensure coherency and a clear train of thought.       Application     When given any task, I start by gaining a clear understanding of the main topic or what the  crux of the matter revolves around. This understanding of the main concept helps provide a  pivot for all the subsequent ideas and information to revolve around. This mind mapping  encourages a free flow of ideas that makes it an ideal format for brainstorming and creative  problem solving.     During my internship at a digital marketing firm, one of our new clients had asked for us to  revamp their online page and thereby hoped to tap into the online realm of social media so  as to increase their customer base and have a wider audience for their products. One of the  biggest concerns was that this company had never marketed itself on any social media  platforms. Therefore, it had no established audience or reach in this online world, contrary to  its competition in the FMCG market.     When presented with this problem my team and I needed to brainstorm and collaborate so  arrive at a better understanding on our course of action and to devise the new strategy. The  current COVID19 pandemic prevented us from physical interaction. Our geographical  locations were displaced. In this scenario, we used the online mind-mapping tool  MindMeister.  This is an online mind mapping tool which helps us in coming up with a creative  strategy so that we can tackle the online audience in a systematic manner. I have attached a

screenshot of the mind map that we came up with to provide a better understanding of the  process.

As you can see in the screenshot attached, through the help of mind mapping we were able  realize the need to compartmentalize the various audiences for our client’s company which  then gave us a better idea on how to target these audiences. We decided to first split our  audiences in hot, warm and cold audiences. The degree in which a customer lies was decided  based on their engagement with our company on their now developed and running platforms,  their Instagram page, Facebook page and their website. This was done so that we could better  target those people (HOT) who had recently engaged with our company with a more call to  action approach and those in the warm zone with a more discount oriented luring strategy.    Furthermore, through the information available on Facebook ads and other such marketing  tools used online, we were able to make audiences based on how recent the customers  engagement with our company was. For example, if someone had visited our page in the past  three days, they would be more likely to purchase as compared to someone who had visited  our page a month ago.     The client already had a huge set of advertisements ready. However, after making our  segregations we realized that we could not use the same advertisement for all audiences.  There was a need to pick and choose between audience sets. Again, through the help of  mapping, we realized that not only do we need to compartmentalize our audiences but at the

same time segregate our ads on the basis of their nature (more call to action, more  informative or more brand awareness oriented). By doing so we were able to better corelate  the ad with the type of customer.     Insight and Approach     What I have learned from implementing mind mapping as a tool is that coherency in the work  that you do is always important. A project may require other facets to complete however the  link to the main topic or the central idea is key in any task that one does. The other important  learning was how mind mapping helps one in creating a hierarchy of importance in the tasks  on decides to undertake. For example, mind mapping helped me in realizing the importance  of first conducting a market research for my client, rather than pushing the client’s products  in the market through ad boosting and other such means. This has helped me place my client  in a comparatively better place since I understood the market and accordingly could market  the products.     Mind mapping as a tool is immensely helpful as it puts my thoughts in front of me and  therefore helps me look at them more objectively. It enables me to decide on what belongs  within the scope of the central task I am to do and what does not. Since I have started  implementing mind mapping as a tool in my projects, I have noticed a substantial  improvement in my presentation skills too.     Through this design thinking course, I have realized the need to include or supplement my  mind maps with visualization as a tool. The combination of visualization and mind mapping is  an effective duo. Through visualization I can make these challenges come to life in a visual  image. Through mind mapping I can help make this visual image concise and relevant so as to  better present my thoughts in a more organized and descriptive manner. The idea is to draw  an illustrative image of mind and therefore be able to convey it to the concerned stakeholder.


Reflection- Mind Mapping Challenge I am currently pursuing a Bachelor ’s degree in Business Administration . As a part of our curriculum and to supplement our education and learning we are regularly tasked with projects and assignments . These are in various formats ; some are research driven reports , some questionnaire - based analysis of a certain market trend and some in the form of presentations . The one factor common in these tasks is that a central topic is assigned around which further research is required . There is a requirement to visualise thoughts and communicate . While traditional note taking is always an option , there are more effective processes to streamline and put in order the thoughts and ideas that arise during research . Selection I am enrolled in an internship at a digital marketing firm . As one of the interesting tasks , our team had to revamp and rejuvenate a client ’s marketing strategy for their online platform . The project naturally required conducting extensive research of the competition to gain a complete understanding of the market . This would enable us to better place our own client in the market in relation to its competitors . To make sense out of the wide array of information and to chart all of it into a constructive flow , I used mind mapping as a tool . The specific application was MindMeister . As opposed to just a pen and paper , MindMeister is a wonderful tool plan a course of action . It provides a clear central idea and links all resultant ideas to ensure coherency and a clear train of thought . Application When given any task , I start by gaining a clear understanding of the main topic or what the crux of the matter revolves around . This understanding of the main concept helps provide a pivot for all the subsequent ideas and information to revolve around . This mind mapping encourages a free flow of ideas that makes it an ideal format for brainstorming and creative problem solving . During my internship at a digital marketing firm , one of our new clients had asked for us to revamp their online page and thereby hoped to tap into the online realm of social media so as to increase their customer base and have a wider audience for their products . One of the biggest concerns was that this company had never marketed itself on any social media platforms . Therefore , it had no established audience or reach in this online world , contrary to its competition in the FMCG market . When presented with this problem my team and I needed to brainstorm and collaborate so arrive at a better understanding on our course of action and to devise the new strategy . The current COVID19 pandemic prevented us from physical interaction . Our geographical locations were displaced . In this scenario , we used the online mind - mapping tool MindMeister . This is an online mind mapping tool which helps us in coming up with a creative strategy so that we can tackle the online audience in a systematic manner . I have attached a screenshot of the mind map that we came up with to provide a better understanding of the process . As you can see in the screenshot attached , through the help of mind mapping we were able realize the need to compartmentalize the various audiences for our client ’s company which then gave us a better idea on how to target these audiences . We decided to first split our audiences in hot , warm and cold audiences . The degree in which a customer lies was decided based on their engagement with our company on their now developed and running platforms , their Instagram page , Facebook page and their website . This was done so that we could better target those people ( HOT ) who had recently engaged with our company with a more call to action approach and those in the warm zone with a more discount oriented luring strategy . Furthermore , through the information available on Facebook ads and other such marketing tools used online , we were able to make audiences based on how recent the customers engagement with our company was . For example , if someone had visited our page in the past three days , they would be more likely to purchase as compared to someone who had visited our page a month ago . The client already had a huge set of advertisements ready . However , after making our segregations we realized that we could not use the same advertisement for all audiences . There was a need to pick and choose between audience sets . Again , through the help of mapping , we realized that not only do we need to compartmentalize our audiences but at the same time segregate our ads on the basis of their nature ( more call to action , more informative or more brand awareness oriented ) . By doing so we were able to better corelate the ad with the type of customer . Insight and Approach What I have learned from implementing mind mapping as a tool is that coherency in the work that you do is always important . A project may require other facets to complete however the link to the main topic or the central idea is key in any task that one does . The other important learning was how mind mapping helps one in creating a hierarchy of importance in the tasks on decides to undertake . For example , mind mapping helped me in realizing the importance of first conducting a market research for my client , rather than pushing the client ’s products in the market through ad boosting and other such means . This has helped me place my client in a comparatively better place since I understood the market and accordingly could market the products . Mind mapping as a tool is immensely helpful as it puts my thoughts in front of me and therefore helps me look at them more objectively . It enables me to decide on what belongs within the scope of the central task I am to do and what does not . Since I have started implementing mind mapping as a tool in my projects , I have noticed a substantial improvement in my presentation skills too . Through this design thinking course , I have realized the need to include or supplement my mind maps with visualization as a tool . The combination of visualization and mind mapping is an effective duo . Through visualization I can make these challenges come to life in a visual image . Through mind mapping I can help make this visual image concise and relevant so as to better present my thoughts in a more organized and descriptive manner . The idea is to draw an illustrative image of mind and therefore be able to convey it to the concerned stakeholder .