Design Thinking for Innovation

Reflection

Counter Challenging the Marketing Challenge; through Story Telling

Final Assignment

The Challenge and the Counter Challenge

I work in the marketing department of an educational institution. My core activity revolves around  developing strategies. Mostly I am engaged in the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of the activities rather than the ‘when’  and ‘how’ of the same. Recently, our engineering department was facing challenges in attracting the  desired number of students to be enrolled in a semester. Although the engineering school is one of the  finest in the country, there were certain problems.

Even though the college has been in existence for over 3 years with more than 100 students, the annual  growth rate for this particular school was showing a barely noticeable growth.

I have always worked to find a viable solution to the challenges that I am faced with. The tasks at hand  were to increase the student enrollment of the engineering college to over 50 percent in a span of 3 years,  and to develop a successful strategy for the same.

Visualizing the Strategy

I had to perform an in-depth research and understand the entire marketing communications that was  undertaken over the last 4 years by this college. The message was clear. The art work aesthetically pleasing  and the targeting method was best if not 100 percent up to the marketing standards. Then what was  wrong? I believed in finding the answer to this challenge would provide insights into the problem.

This began the problem visualization stage. Based on innovative design thinking models, research was  initiated from two groups

1- Career  counselors of various schools and colleges  2- Prospective students

The findings received from the above two groups were strikingly different. The first group were happy  with the program and what it offered. They were recommending to pursue education in this school as  well. The second group, comprising the students, had no desire to join the program. After considerable  insight it was understood by the marketing department that the underlying issue was not the marketing  communication. It was the lack of the emotional connect of the students with our engineering program.  They did not perceive it as a practical educational option. Hence, the strategy to counter this issue was  devised. We needed was a story that related with the psyche of the prospective students. The best stories  that we like and tend to be believe in are the one that are similar to us. This initiated the mind mapping  process.

Mind Mapping and Story development as a digital content distributor

At the basic strategic level, it was decided that the story we were to conceive and write was related to  one of our current engineering students. After talking to the relevant head of department and after many  discussions, two stories were finalized. They were aimed to connect the students by providing the missing  emotional link. One story revolved around innovation and the other shared how to beat the odds to  achieve success. I will briefly mention one story revolving around innovation.

One of our engineering students, through a brilliant innovation streak developed a working low-cost 3D  printer. The ORIC office of the educational institute I work at has already funded the project. We wanted  to project that our engineering students are not just engineers but are innovators. They had the ability to  become entrepreneurs even when they were studying. The perception built through this exercise was to  share the concept that engineering students can become a success and financially independent. They can  avoid the job trap and can become job providers.

Learning Launch

Developing the relevant digital story telling content was only half the job. Content distribution was the  key for a successful campaign. We launched the story across various digital media platforms in a planned  and coordinated manner using state-of-the-art performance measuring tools. Till now the results have  been highly positive, engagements rates are increasing and complimentary #metoo campaign has also  gone viral. The results were more than what was desired when this project based on design thinking and  innovation was initiated.


Design Thinking for Innovation Reflection Counter Challenging the Marketing Challenge ; through Story Telling Final Assignment The Challenge and the Counter Challenge I work in the marketing department of an educational institution . My core activity revolves around developing strategies . Mostly I am engaged in the ‘ what ’ and ‘ why ’ of the activities rather than the ‘ when ’ and ‘ how ’ of the same . Recently , our engineering department was facing challenges in attracting the desired number of students to be enrolled in a semester . Although the engineering school is one of the finest in the country , there were certain problems . Even though the college has been in existence for over 3 years with more than 100 students , the annual growth rate for this particular school was showing a barely noticeable growth . I have always worked to find a viable solution to the challenges that I am faced with . The tasks at hand were to increase the student enrollment of the engineering college to over 50 percent in a span of 3 years , and to develop a successful strategy for the same . Visualizing the Strategy I had to perform an in - depth research and understand the entire marketing communications that was undertaken over the last 4 years by this college . The message was clear . The art work aesthetically pleasing and the targeting method was best if not 100 percent up to the marketing standards . Then what was wrong ? I believed in finding the answer to this challenge would provide insights into the problem . This began the problem visualization stage . Based on innovative design thinking models , research was initiated from two groups 1- Career counselors of various schools and colleges 2- Prospective students The findings received from the above two groups were strikingly different . The first group were happy with the program and what it offered . They were recommending to pursue education in this school as well . The second group , comprising the students , had no desire to join the program . After considerable insight it was understood by the marketing department that the underlying issue was not the marketing communication . It was the lack of the emotional connect of the students with our engineering program . They did not perceive it as a practical educational option . Hence , the strategy to counter this issue was devised . We needed was a story that related with the psyche of the prospective students . The best stories that we like and tend to be believe in are the one that are similar to us . This initiated the mind mapping process . Mind Mapping and Story development as a digital content distributor At the basic strategic level , it was decided that the story we were to conceive and write was related to one of our current engineering students . After talking to the relevant head of department and after many discussions , two stories were finalized . They were aimed to connect the students by providing the missing emotional link . One story revolved around innovation and the other shared how to beat the odds to achieve success . I will briefly mention one story revolving around innovation . One of our engineering students , through a brilliant innovation streak developed a working low - cost 3D printer . The ORIC office of the educational institute I work at has already funded the project . We wanted to project that our engineering students are not just engineers but are innovators . They had the ability to become entrepreneurs even when they were studying . The perception built through this exercise was to share the concept that engineering students can become a success and financially independent . They can avoid the job trap and can become job providers . Learning Launch Developing the relevant digital story telling content was only half the job . Content distribution was the key for a successful campaign . We launched the story across various digital media platforms in a planned and coordinated manner using state - of - the - art performance measuring tools . Till now the results have been highly positive , engagements rates are increasing and complimentary # metoo campaign has also gone viral . The results were more than what was desired when this project based on design thinking and innovation was initiated .