The research team conducted primary and secondary research to understand student perspectives on MindSumo and inform campaign strategy. A pre-survey of over 300 students found that 93% were unfamiliar with MindSumo and over 75% lacked post-graduation jobs. Focus groups provided qualitative feedback, finding students wanted greater incentives for challenges and more diverse, organized challenge offerings. Research informed the campaign's educational focus on introducing MindSumo's platform and benefits.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents......................................................................................................................................................1
A Note from Faculty.................................................................................................................................................2
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................................4
Organizational Chart...............................................................................................................................................5
Research and Analysis............................................................................................................................................6
Campaign Strategy ................................................................................................................................................18
Strategy and Implementation...........................................................................................................................20
Public Relations......................................................................................................................................................27
Advertising...............................................................................................................................................................34
Value Added Workstream..................................................................................................................................43
Finance.......................................................................................................................................................................55
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................56
Appendix A...............................................................................................................................................................58
Appendix B...............................................................................................................................................................66
Appendix C................................................................................................................................................................69
Appendix D...............................................................................................................................................................74
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A Note from Faculty
Drexel LeBow Business Consulting Projects – Program Overview
This Start-up Consulting course was offered in the fall of 2014 within Drexel LeBow
College of Business’ Dornsife Office of Experiential Learning. As an introduction to the
academic and professional approach of the course, the following highlights some of the
unique aspects of the program, the course and the project.
The Dornsife Office of Experiential Learning offers real-world courses for undergraduate
and graduate students with nonprofit, for-profit and start-up clients.
Courses are co-facilitated by a faculty member and “real world” business consultant.
Students interested in the course had to apply (cover letter, resume, transcript and
reference) and were interviewed by faculty facilitators. Approximately 50% of applicants
were accepted into the course, and subsequently committed to the program.
Students are sophomore through senior status, majoring in varying business, engineering
and liberal arts disciplines.
Students in the course are demographically representative of the Drexel University
undergraduate population, representing varying countries and US states.
Students at Drexel University generally have three co-operative education experiences
during their academic career.
The course is driven by “Consulting 101”, and thus all teams utilize scope documents,
project plans (Gantt charts timelines) and status reports, all of which were update and
submitted weekly for review and feedback. A focus is also given to professional and
comprehensive deliverables, as well as communication, team dynamics and leadership
development.
Drexel University is a quarter-based, not a traditional 15-16 semester, school; therefore,
this course was executed over only 11 weeks.
The University and College fully support such courses, and thus students are given
exposure and assistance from various parties within the Drexel and Philadelphia
communities, including alumni and local businesses.
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We are grateful for the experience and opportunity to work with the 20 outstanding students
who participated in the course, as well as with MindSumo, and congratulate each of you on the
execution of a successful program.
Thank you,
Dana D’Angelo and Andy Macaleer
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Executive Summary
Students in Management 372, a course at Drexel University taught by Dana D’Angelo
and Andy Macaleer, have built an integrated marketing campaign for their client, MindSumo,
a start-up firm in the higher education and talent acquisition sectors, founded in 2011.
MindSumo presented the students with three main goals, with the primary hard goal being
to attain 1,000 new registrants for their platform and service and the softer goals being to
create general awareness of the company and service and provide compelling product
enhancement ideas from students that signed up and used the Mindsumo service.
The class was first organized into a student run consulting group called Gyoji
Consulting. Gyoji is a Japanese term referring to the mediator, or referee, in a sumo
wrestling match. In this case, Gyoji served as the middleman between MindSumo, students
and potential hiring firms. After the initial formation, Gyoji Consulting was divided into
Research, Finance, Strategy & Implementation, Advertising and Public Relations
departments. The Research department conducted quantitative and qualitative analysis on
the target market and MindSumo platform. Utilizing these results, the Strategy &
Implementation department formed the foundation of the campaign with an event focused
implementation strategy. The Finance department monitored the expenses and allocation of
the $1K allotted budget, as well as valued the overall return on investment. The Public
Relations (PR) and Advertising departments supported the events by building awareness
and ensuring attendee engagement. The PR team focused on creating client awareness
primarily on Drexel University’s campus working within a variety of media outlets. The
Advertising team developed all visual aids and creative media content to be used and
distributed throughout the campaign.
Each piece of the campaign was fully integrated and based on a single underlying
message, which was derived on themes discovered in initial research stages. Gyoji
Consulting aimed to educate and excite the Drexel University community about the concept
of MindSumo and overall brand, to register new users, while simultaneously capturing
valuable insight from the target audience in order to form value-added feedback for the
client.
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Organizational Chart
GYOJI CONSULTING
Sara Golshahr Nicole Rosenau
Finance
Joshua Haghighi
Research
Krishna Desai
Joshua Haghighi
Lillith Gong
Leona Dong
Strategy &
Implementation
Malay Naik
Matt
Matwiejczyk
Raj Patel
Adam Weinstein
Advertising
Su Wang
Ethan Bresnahan
Allison Murphy
Carolyn Wall
Kyle Winser
Public Relations
Hima Mistry
Jeff Nowak
Dhruv Patel
Matt Schreffler
Izabela
Adasiewicz
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Research and Analysis
Objective
The purpose of the Research and Analysis department was to analyze and interpret
primary and secondary research results in support to the strategic marketing campaign.
The research analysts gathered primary research from pre-surveys and post-surveys
distributed primarily on Drexel University’s campus, but also expanded to University of
Pennsylvania and Temple University campuses. In addition, the Research and Analysis
department developed and executed a focus group, focus group analysis, and secondary
research repository on related news publications about MindSumo. The purpose of these
research activities was to gather data gauging students’ mindsets pertaining to job
searching, networking, and overall interest in MindSumo’s challenge based platform. After
the collection of different quantitative and qualitative data, the research team organized and
tabulated the data in order to highlight key findings and relay to the class. In utilizing this
data, Gyogi was able to execute its campaign with closer attention to the direct wants and
needs of the target market.
Secondary Research Repository
Objective
In order to successfully create and execute an integrated marketing campaign,
secondary research needed to be collected and documented for reference by the firm. This
secondary research included articles, reviews, and press releases on the MindSumo product
dating back to their founding in 2011. All members of Gyoji Consulting were expected to aid
in the gathering of data for reference through-out the eleven week term as needed.
Implementation
The Research Team developed a consolidated Excel worksheet to gather relevant
articles found online by all departments. The articles indicated the existing influence of
MindSumo, recent (2013) recruiting news, and statistics evidence giving the team a base
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knowledge of the product to move forward. The worksheet was organized into different
worksheets and divided into sections: Article Title, Author, Summary, Category, and
Website. The content of the database was largely dependent on the class’s contribution. To
further secondary research knowledge, several follow up emails were compiled and sent to
client to gain more color on quantitative data they already had access to.
Key Findings and Analysis
The team was successful in collecting and utilizing this secondary research
repository to become better informed of the product and current branding, as well as create
a base knowledge of MindSumo and its current online presence. Information collected was
also utilized to begin with campaign message and slogan idea formation.
Pre-Campaign Survey
Objective
In order to understand the overall target market, as well as students’ wants and
needs, a pre-campaign survey was distributed to students at Drexel University, Temple
University and University of Pennsylvania students. These universities were chosen due to
being the most relevant and easily accessible markets. Because of the wide variety of
campus connections from individual Gyoji Consulting members, Drexel University was
chosen as the primary target location to distribute the survey and Temple University and
the University of Pennsylvania were chosen as secondary locations. The results of the
survey helped direct and focus the campaign efforts to better integrate with the wants and
needs of potential customers. The goal number of participants for the pre-campaign survey
was 3% of the campus population.
Implementation
The client provided the team with a pre-survey template of 18 questions previously
used in a survey distributed at Johns Hopkins University by a consulting class that
paralleled Drexel University’s course. The survey was then revised and simplified for
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distribution. Because of the Co-op, quarter system structure employed at Drexel University,
two survey templates were created with the questions altered slightly dependent upon a
Drexel or non-Drexel student focus. The survey questions focused on students’ general
demographic information such as majors, academic years, and significant factors in their
academic and career plans.
The survey was distributed electronically using Google Survey, which is a free
online tool. Google Survey aided in quick, efficient distribution and provided real-time
results, data trend analysis, and other helpful analytics. Students were able to complete the
survey on a laptop or smartphone and submit responses within minutes, being an efficient
way to gain insight on the target market while also going paperless. Survey responses were
then inputted into Google Excel worksheets, which made analysis and chart creation
exponentially easier and more efficient. The survey polls opened on October 13th and
closed on October 17th.
Survey distribution was facilitated by all departments in order to fulfill a firm goal of
300 Drexel University student survey responses. There were also 30+ surveys collected
from both University of Pennsylvania and Temple University students. Distribution
channels included, but were not limited to, past and present professors, fraternities,
sororities, sports teams, and other student organizations. All members of Gyoji Consulting
were responsible for aiding in the facilitation of survey distribution to attain the pre-set
firm goal.
Key Findings and Analysis
The main goal of the pre-campaign survey was to attain information from students
about academic level, giveaway prizes, knowledge of MindSumo, and current post-
graduation employment status. The first major finding in the pre-campaign survey was that
93.44% of participants had not heard of MindSumo. Therefore, Gyoji consulting was
presented with an opportunity to control the messaging relayed to students. Because
MindSumo was not well-known in the Philadelphia market, this also ensured a large pool of
potential users and vastly expanded brand awareness.
Questioning a student’s academic level revealed that more than 60% of participants
were either pre-junior/junior or freshman students, indicating the wide age range of
potential attendees for Mindsumo challenge events. Further, participants were asked about
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after graduation employment opportunities, which led to the discovery that more than 75%
of participants did not have a full time job offer lined up after graduation. This meant that
the mentor and networking streams may have appeared more attractive to potential
registrants, especially those that did not have full-time offers upon graduation.
Lastly, the team sought to obtain information on student preferences for physical
giveaways. In doing this, the top three performers were bottle openers, pens and stress
balls. This information was greatly considered when choosing promotional item giveaways,
resulting in the purchase of 500 branded bottle openers.
Based on this data, the team recommended that the Advertising and Public Relations
teams focus efforts on increasing the brand name recognition of MindSumo on Drexel’s
campus. This would help to promote awareness about the company’s platform and purpose
and reinforce their promotion through the selected giveaways, which would have the
MindSumo logo attached.
Additional Primary Research: Focus Group
Objective
The focus group was a qualitative method that was useful in providing
interpretations of data and information on a more detailed, personal level. The team
generated the content of questions and topics for the focus group, determining what
information was necessary and unaccounted for from the pre-survey. The goal of the focus
group was to educate and advocate for the target market, as well as gain invaluable insight
into the opinions and perspectives of potential users utilizing follow-up questions and in-
depth discussions. The Research and Analysis team specifically aimed at addressing the way
the target audience perceived MindSumo, including the connectivity between students and
employers and the website platform as a whole.
Implementation
The focus group was conducted on Wednesday, November 11th and ran from 6:30
pm to 8:00 pm. It included nine participants, with sushi and drinks provided as incentives to
participate. The participants were from diverse majors, ethnicities and academic levels,
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believing this would provide a more encompassing range of perspectives and opinions. The
Research team collaborated with the rest of the class to determine the questions and
content to be covered in the focus group. The team reached out to friends and classmates to
achieve a diverse set of individuals.
Focus Group Participant Demographic:
School
Year
Gender Major
Freshman Male Psychology
Freshman Male International Business
Freshman Male Computer Science
Sophomore Female Design and Merchandising
Sophomore Female Nursing
Pre-Junior Female Biomedical Engineering & Honors Program
Pre-Junior Female Architectural Engineering
Junior Male Entrepreneurship
Junior Female Fashion Design
Senior Male Economics
Senior Female Materials Science and Engineering
A focus group script was created for the moderators in the focus group. It outlined
the script that moderators used to ask questions to participants. At the beginning of the
focus group, participants were asked to complete a confidentiality form as the focus group
was video and audio recorded. On the reverse side of this form, there were survey questions
that were used during and after the focus group for data analysis. The open questions
focused on receiving participants’ initial reaction to MindSumo and its products. After
participants expressed their initial opinions, the moderators gave a detailed introduction
for Gyoji consulting and MindSumo. In addition, they covered the purpose and goals of Gyoji
consulting and encouraged participants to explore the MindSumo website, including the
challenge page and the mentor page. Participants provided opinions, ideas, and asked
questions through the entire process.
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To create greater symmetry within the project, the research team worked with the
Advertising and Public Relations teams to gather their open questions and issues before the
focus group. Each department was able to utilize feedback from the focus group to enhance
products such as Sumo tag, slogan, and ideal Sumo tag and challenge card locations on
campus. Sumo Guy, our campaign character as a student in a sumo wrestler costume, also
made an appearance so that the participants had a more visual impression of MindSumo’s
brand image. See the appendix for Sumo Guy photo.
The concluding section of the survey aimed to test the focus group’s influence on
participants. These questions focused on participant feedback and opinions after the
meeting. More information about the survey questions in the focus group can be found in
the appendix.
The team video recorded the focus group activity, as it was a key deliverable for the
activity. At the same time, there was also a note taker and an observer during the focus
group session. After the focus group had ended, notice was received from the technology
department that there was an interruption in the video five minutes into the presentation.
This email is referenced in the appendix A-8. Fortunately, all pertinent information had
been gathered by the observer and note taker.
Focus Group Observer Roles
In observing anything, different people will tend to hear different things. For this
reason, it was beneficial to have two observers behind the mirror. Their primary job was to
listen to the discussion, take notes, and record people’s first reaction while they listened,
asked, and answered questions. Participants often had perspectives on what was being said
that differed (sometimes substantially) from the client's perspectives. Ideally, the observers
were "partners" of the moderator, helping to gain maximum yield from the discussion.
Focus Group Moderator 1 and Moderator 2 Roles
Moderator 1 and Moderator 2 worked closely together to present certain
PowerPoint slides covering the MindSumo brand, asking the participants questions related
to the slides and various topics and discussing the participants thoughts and ideas about
MindSumo.
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Key Findings and Analysis
Moderator 1 observed both similar and different opinions from the participants of
the focus group. In terms of the three pillars, many saw connectivity and incentives as
valuable assets to the MindSumo brand. They also provided the research team with great
feedback about the design of the MindSumo website and the overall platform of the
challenge based system. Many of the participants wished that there was more of an
incentive to complete or win a challenge and saw this as a disappointment in the business
model.
Moderator 2 noticed that although participants were enthusiastic about MindSumo,
their challenge offerings were perceived as limited and lacking diversity. The challenges did
not cater to many majors and industries, and it was also noted that the challenge page
appeared disorganized. Many participants would have preferred greater site organization
with a filter or sorting system to differentiate challenges in different industries and majors.
Overall, the focus group was able to derive valuable feedback and recommendations for the
firm and the client.
Gyoji Consulting campaign activities were executed after the focus group and thus
implemented the focus group’s feedback, including the advertising sticker and the social
media pages. Participant opinions of Sumo Guy were also considered and viewed very
positively. From a campaign perspective, the focus group was largely on board with the
tactics chosen and greatly increased certain efficiencies through feedback.
See Appendix A6 for the detailed focus group notes and charts
Exit Survey Research
Objective
The exit survey was utilized to evaluate which campaign messaging pillars would
greater motivate students to participate in MindSumo’s challenges and what would push
the target market to use MindSumo’s product. The survey also examined the likelihood the
respondent would complete a challenge and recommend the product to their counterparts.
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Implementation
The survey was distributed in physical copies on campus at events hosted by the
Strategy department, such as Challenge Day. The copies were also distributed by Gyoji
Consulting team members and tabulated on Excel worksheets.
Key Findings and Analysis
The research team conducted three surveys in which each one asked participants to
rank MindSumo’s three pillars. For the pre-survey and post-survey, most students thought
connectivity and experience were more important than winning cash prizes. But the results
of exit survey showed a contrary opinion. In the exit survey, six out of 15 people chose cash
prized as their first choice and eight people chose experience as third choice. Additionally,
the results show that 75% of participants would like to complete a challenge and tell their
friends about MindSumo.
Post Campaign Survey
Objective
The post-campaign survey was identical to the pre-campaign survey in format, but
had more emphasis on product awareness assessment and product enhancement ideas for
the Philadelphia market. Results of the post-survey aided in determining the successfulness
of the campaign, specifically on Drexel University’s campus. A set goal was to obtain at least
240 Drexel University survey participants in order to gauge the overall effectiveness of the
campaign.
Implementation
The Research team administered the surveys in week 10, which helped to examine
the progress of the class’s campaign in the Drexel market. It was distributed electronically
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using the free online service provided from Google Documents, which allowed distribution
of the survey among the Drexel student participants to be quick and effective.
Distribution of the survey began on Tuesday, December 2nd and ended on Friday,
December 12th. In addition, the Research team compiled an email list from the pre-survey
campaign participants and all other registered Drexel users on MindSumo’s platform. The
team sent a mass email to this master list.
Other distribution channels ranged from current and past classes and professors,
fraternities, sororities, sports teams, Resident Assistants, student organizations, and social
media platforms. In addition, all members of Gyoji Consulting helped distribute the surveys
and recruit participants, with both electronic and physical surveys utilized for post-survey
completion.
Key Findings and Analysis
The research team has collected 222 responses from the post-survey. In the results,
62% participants are business major and 17% are engineering major and all participants
are from different academic level from freshman to graduate.
The following is the ranking of important factors to participants in their career planning
process:
1. Connect with employers
2. Gain project experience
3. Increase potential to receive job interview
4. Win cash prizes
Over 40% participants believe that connecting with employers is the most
important factor to them to success and 59% participants chose winning cash prizes as the
last one.
The results also show the most effective way to spread the word for MindSumo.
During the ten weeks of the campaign, Gyoji consulting used different ways to promote
MindSumo, such as various campus events, social media, and Sumo Tag. About 81% of
participants claimed that they heard about MindSumo through friends and classes and 7%
participants knew MindSumo through on-campus events.
Through the survey, over 82% students had signed up for MindSumo but only 22%
students had completed a challenge. Further, 54% of students did not complete a challenge
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because of the time commitment required, although a few of them are now working on a
challenge.
The post-survey also tried to attract students who have not signed up by telling
them the stories of students who had won challenges at Drexel. After reading the story, 60%
student showed interests in signing up and completing challenges.
18%
82%
Have you created an account for
MindSumo?
No
Yes
78%
22%
Have you completed a challenge?
No
Yes
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Pre-campaign and Post-campaign Comparison
First, Only 7% of participants had heard about MindSumo before the initiation of the
campaign. Currently, 82% of survey participants have created an account and a minimal 4%
have never heard of MindSumo. Second, pillar rankings are relatively similar, with
connectivity and experience seen as more important to Drexel students than cash prizes.
Top 10 Research and Analysis Key Findings
1. Participants in the focus group felt that MindSumo’s incentive program was not efficient
and effective.
a. They felt that the incentives for challenges should not be uniform and based on
challenge difficulties and company status and reputation.
b. Participants felt that the $100 minimum to cash out funds made on the
MindSumo platform was too high a barrier to entry.
2. Focus group participants felt that the MindSumo product concept and website
description was confusing.
3. Focus group participants felt that MindSumo’s website could use more filters to
organize challenges. Filters such as Popularity of Challenges (highest to lowest),
Monetary Reward, Major Focused, Industry Focused, Level of Difficulty (relative to
company perception) were all discussed.
4. Participants felt that introduction page on MindSumo had limited information about the
product and was unclear about its benefits to consumers.
5. Participants believed that adding a short video segment to the MindSumo website
would better inform new users of the concept and challenge segment.
6. More than half of Drexel University students were neutral or likely to recommend
MindSumo to friends.
7. More than 40% of participants believe that connectivity is the most important pillar.
8. More than 59% of participants believe that winning cash prizes is the least important
pillar.
9. 82% of participants signed up and created a MindSumo account.
10. 78% of participants said they did not complete a challenge and 54% said this was due to
time commitment.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the Research and Analysis department, through its many projects
such as the pre-campaign survey, secondary research, focus group, exit surveys, and the
post-campaign survey have achieved all goals set forth to help MindSumo succeed in its
strategic marketing campaign.
For the Pre-Campaign survey, the team was able to achieve the goal of 300+ survey
respondents. Key information found included the opportunity to educate the student
population at Drexel on MindSumo’s various service features, which led to a large surge in
the popularity of all features in the Post-Campaign survey. The team obtained 222
responders for the post-campaign survey. The team also obtained valuable information
from the response cards/mini-surveys at events.
Finally, Research and Analysis conducted one focus group to receive a more in depth
understanding of opinions on the Mindsumo platform, product development ideas, and
campaign feedback. Through the focus group, the team obtained great opinions and
suggestions for changes to future MindSumo brands, from adding more warmer/brighter
colors to the need for more functional development on their website. Through all of the
major activities that the research and analysis team has conducted, the team strived to help
Gyoji achieve a successful integrated marketing campaign.
Reference Appendix A for all Research and Analysis details and visuals
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Campaign Strategy and Messaging
Objective
The objective of the overall campaign strategy was to use the conducted qualitative and
quantitative research to gain a strategic understanding of the relationship between the MindSumo
brand and students who were potential customers. In order to accurately and effectively position
the product in the market, a concise, decisive message first needed to be created in order to build
a fully integrated marketing campaign. From there, talking points, slogans, promotional materials,
social media platforms, and events were created and executed, all leading back to one singular
campaign message.
Messaging and Positioning
Target Market
The target market can be broadly described as any student with an “.edu” email account.
That being said, the campaign focus was primarily Drexel University’s student body, with some
secondary outreach to Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and several other colleges
and universities on the east coast. MindSumo provides students with the ability to create
networking connections, enhance skill-sets, and make money, which are all points Gyoji
Consulting wanted to utilize in the campaign.
Message: “MindSumo is Our Generation’s Competitive Edge”
The Gyogi team began by brainstorming messages that encompassed everything
MindSumo represented. Because of its ties to college students, the full time job search, skill
enhancement, and resume building, the team felt that MindSumo was a way to ‘one-up’ the
competition in the market. From there, Gyoji moved to addressing the non-traditional approach
to networking that MindSumo employs. Collectively, Gyoji Consulting chose to differentiate
MindSumo as our generation’s competitive edge, relaying the message that it is truly a platform
for current students to use to get ahead now.
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To further the ability to properly execute our message, Gyogi Consulting also chose three
pillars, which were Connectivity, Experience, and Incentives. These three pillars were meant to
describe the benefits of MindSumo and provided talking points for all members of the team.
Slogan: “Step into the Ring”
After solidifying the campaign’s message, the firm was tasked with creating a slogan.
The goal for the slogan was to create something fun and intriguing to spark interest in the target
market. However, Gyoji also wanted to stay true to the roots of MindSumo and intended on
creating a supplement to the current branding. Because of this, Gyoji considered the previous
marketing tactics utilized by MindSumo. After extensive consideration, the slogan was chosen as
“Step into the Ring.”
While the slogan was young, fun, and youthful, it also contained deeper meaning. In
today’s job market, finding full-time opportunities and networking connections is truly
competitive. Though many students do come out as ‘winners’, it is becoming more and more of a
struggle to differentiate oneself from the pool of applicants. The team as a whole felt that “Step
into the Ring” encompassed the idea of finding your competitive edge through MindSumo while
still remaining a fun and marketable tag line.
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Strategy and Implementation
Objective
The purpose of the Strategy and Implementation (S&I) team was to bring MindSumo
to the public in a clear and energetic way. This involved everything from event planning to
direct product pitching. The S&I team was the eyes and ears on the ground making things
happen for the campaign. Their goal was to take the core values and messages of the
product and campaign and create executable events. It was also the team’s job to ultimately
determine at what university locations the campaign would be implemented. The S&I Team
planned four consecutive days called MindSumo Week with small scale events to generate
awareness at Drexel University and opted to use a more direct approach at Temple
University and University of Pennsylvania for cost effectiveness. Several Career Events were
also attended, as well as using Sumo guy, character facilitated by a student in a sumo
wrestling suit, for promotion on campus.
MindSumo Week
Overview
The S&I team developed a plan to implant the MindSumo brand and product into the
Drexel community and beyond. The core focus revolved around engaging the community
directly through leveraging the competitive nature of Drexel students. This meant planning
attention-grabbing events like Minute-To-Win-It challenges and Giant Jenga, while offering
incentives in the form of giveaways that enticed students to participate. The activities at
these events were designed to be quick and simple in order to draw comparison to
challenges posted on MindSumo and enable students to understand that challenges are
meant to serve as two to three hour opportunities, not month long endeavors. Additionally,
the social media presence with “#SumoTag” resonated throughout efforts to showcase how
powerful connectivity is to this generation.
Lastly, the promotional item giveaways represented one of the most powerful ideas
within the motivational construct: incentives. Students are able to complete challenges on
the platform with the opportunity to yield rewards. Likewise, students who signed up for
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the platform received a reward as well. Further, incentives received from MindSumo
themselves when signing up were discussed to pull students in and get them excited about
the product. From start to finish, the S&I Team crafted an experience to communicate
MindSumo’s unique value proposition and turn a student into a repeat user. MindSumo
week was able to generate 200 total signups with overall impressions of 700.
Competition Day
Competition Day was on Monday, November 17th, and served as the kick-off event
for MindSumo Week. The event hosted eight, simple “minute-to-win-it” challenges generally
constructed out of household materials. For example, to win one of the games, participants
had to catch three balls in a bucket placed on top of your head in under 60 seconds.
Essentially, the games appeared simple, required thought, and offered rewards, paralleling
the MindSumo platform. For the rewards, five hundred MindSumo-branded bottle openers
were ordered, along with two hundred and forty branded packs of gum and ring pops.
Results
The three-hour event achieved 65 confirmed sign ups. Gyoji Consulting saw the
most traffic between classes when students were walking by, receiving a total of 550
impressions. A total of 14 exit surveys were completed. The feedback overall was positive
and students that attended enjoyed both the games that were offered and the idea of the
website. A major hurdle with the event was that students had very little time to spend
playing games and often just signed up for the website.
Information Booth and Promotional Item Giveaways
The S&I team chose to utilize promotional item giveaways to attract new registrants
for two consecutive days on Tuesday, November 18th and Wednesday, November 19th. Both
events were equipped with a printed banner created by the Advertising team and branded
giveaways.
The S&I Team was stationed at Hagerty Library on Drexel University’s campus
Tuesday, November 18th, due to high traffic with finals week approaching. Space was
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reserved in the Bookmark Cafe for four hours, during which time students were given a
bottle opener or pack of gum in exchange for signing up on the platform.
On Wednesday, November 19th, the S&I team reserved space in LeBow Grand Hall
for four hours, using the time to increase sign-up numbers and promote an event for the
Drexel Entrepreneurship Association that hosted MindSumo on Thursday, November 20th.
At this event, a table was located on the first floor of LeBow including next to the campus
Starbucks to ensure a high amount of foot traffic. Ring Pops, bottle openers, gum and
challenge cards were distributed at this event.
Results
With the combination of the giveaways in LeBow Grand Hall and at the Hagerty
Library, Gyoji received approximately 110 new sign-ups. Over a duration of eight hours for
two days, the giveaways were able to obtain 1,500 impressions. These results were largely
due to the heavy foot traffic near the Starbucks on the first floor of LeBow and in the
Library.
Drexel Entrepreneur Association Event
Each year, the Drexel Entrepreneurship Association holds an event showcasing a
start-up firm for Global Entrepreneurship Week. This year, the event virtually hosted co-
founders Keaton Swett & Trent Hazy, discussing starting their own business, building a
national brand, and disrupting the traditional job search. This provided a great
informational way for students to get excited and inspired by MindSumo and the story
behind it. The event took place in Gerri C. LeBow Hall 3220 on Thursday November 20th,
2014 from 5 to 7pm.
Results
The team saw over 25 students in the audience and received positive feedback
about MindSumo. The event was held in in the main business school, with the session
videotaped. Videos were then circulated throughout the rest of Drexel Entrepreneurship
Week for any following events. An additional 25 signups were generated from the event,
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with total impressions of 150, calculated by the number of replays of the recording on
televisions throughout LeBow.
Classroom Presentations
University 101 is an introductory course to Drexel University and college life for
freshman and transfer students. Within Gyoji Consulting, there were four Peer Leaders who
act as teaching assistants in these University 101 classes. Business 101 is an introductory
business course for the LeBow College of Business. The firm coordinated an executed a plan,
which was approved by curriculum directors for University 101 and Business 101, to
approach classes and give a presentation on MindSumo. The presentation template was
created by the Public Relations team and contained points on describing MindSumo as a
new approach to getting jobs and internships through solving challenges and showcasing
skills in ways an old fashioned resume cannot. Students in some of these classes were also
asked to complete challenges by their professors as a class assignment.
Results
Gyoji representatives visited a total of 17 classrooms with an average of 30 students
in each class. The representatives presented the custom PowerPoint and were able to
generate an average of 26 signups per class, with a total number of impressions at 600.
Career Events
Overview
The LeBow College of Business hosts a variety of events for students and faculty,
such as Career fairs and workshops. Gyoji Consulting wanted to utilize these as effective
places to reach students who would be interested in the services that MindSumo offers. The
S&I Team informed students and faculty of MindSumo at these events and obtained sign-
ups. By creating awareness of MindSumo among business students, Gyoji Consulting
enhanced their results during MindSumo Week.
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There was a list of events hosted by LeBow College of Business during fall term in
which S&I strategically chose which events to attend. The S&I Team had a presence at five
events throughout the term. A table with promotional items, laptops, and tablets were set
up at each. The S&I team set a goal to obtain at least 20 sign ups at these events.
MBA Career Services Employer Mixer
The S&I team attended the MBA Career Services Employer Mixer in the Creese
Student Center and set up a table near the entrance in order to talk to students walking in
and out of the event. In approximately one hour of time, 35 new registrants were confirmed
on the platform. Overall, students were intrigued by the concept of the website.
Interviewing Workshop by Vanguard
This event was in LeBow Grand Hall on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.
Representatives that pitched MindSumo were located in the common area of the building.
Event attendees and student bystanders were both targeted to maximize efficiency.
Additionally, this event was on the first day of Sumo Tag, so the sumo wrestler was able to
make a guest appearance. In total, 20 new sign-ups were obtained.
Tools of the Trade: The PFM Group, co-sponsored by DFIG and UGCS
This event was held on Wednesday, November 12, 2014. Two students from class
created a presence at the event, collecting about 15 new registrants.
International Lunch and Learn
Gyoji Consulting had permission to speak at the beginning of this event. The team
had an international student speak to the students and faculty that attended this event,
which was very successful. Overall, the presentation was viewed positively and sign-ups
were obtained.
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Annual LeBow Freshman Dodgeball Tournament
The LeBow College hosted a dodgeball tournament from 1:00pm to 4:00pm on
Saturday November 15th for their first year students, with extra credit being offered to the
students. There was an estimation of over 150 students in addition to the peer leaders and
other older students participating in the event. Several students from each Gyoji team were
in attendance at the dodgeball tournament and many impressions were made, though
registrants were limited
Results
In total, all Career events contributed 120 sign-ups and 500 total impressions,
allotting for 10% of total sign-ups attained at Drexel University.
Direct Outreach
Overview
In addition to outreach through events and classroom visits, Gyoji Consulting also
chose to supplement efforts through direct outreach. Members of the department took part
in personal, one-on-one interactions in order to obtain registrants and explain the
MindSumo platform in detail. Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, and other communication
platforms were utilized to pursue and accomplish this initiative.
Results
Throughout the final four weeks of the term, Gyoji Consulting was able to obtain 300
new registrants through direct outreach. This accounted for roughly 23% of the campaign’s
new sign-ups.
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Temple University and University of Pennsylvania Outreach
Overview
Temple University and University of Pennsylvania are two of the main universities
in Philadelphia. S&I decided to target Temple and University of Pennsylvania due to close
proximity and various connections through fraternities, sororities, and professors. Creating
awareness at both universities exposed MindSumo to a broader audience and potential
users. Promotions were direct, with no major events held. Therefore, sign-ups came at no
cost to the firm.
Results
Members of Gyoji Consulting were unable to go into classrooms to give
presentations on MindSumo. However, with various other contacts through school
organizations and friends at Temple and University of Pennsylvania, the S&I team was able
to talk to students and raise awareness of MindSumo on their campus. Between the two
schools there was a total of 193 sign-ups attained. Of these, there were 125 sign-ups at
Temple University and 59 sign-ups at University of Pennsylvania.
Summary
The S&I team successfully implemented executable events within course and budget
restraints. Their efforts, with aid from the rest of the Gyoji teams, led to 1,125 sign-ups from
Drexel University and 193 sign-ups from Temple University and University of Pennsylvania
students.
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Public Relations
Objective
The purpose of the Public Relations (PR) team was to increase awareness of
MindSumo throughout Drexel University. The PR team developed relationships for publicity
with news media contacts and was responsible for obtaining the proper media coverage for
our program. The department of Public Relations was responsible for developing press
releases and other PR tactics, with the appropriate message to the proper channels, to
increase media interest in the program and client resulting in media coverage (newspaper
article, news clip, etc). The team wrote business letters, thank you letters and solicitation
letters, as well as drafted and created templates for emails and presentations. Over the
course of ten weeks, the Public Relations team accomplished the following goals:
Reached and educated the target market for Mind Sumo
Developed and maintained relationships with all points of contact
Added value to the brand’s reputation
After initially educating and making the public aware of MindSumo, the PR team
worked with the Advertising department to create promotional media for all campus events.
Social media played a large role in raising awareness for events and news happening
around campus. Additionally, outlets such as The Triangle (Drexel student newspaper),
student organization web pages, and connections to Business 101 classes were leveraged.
The PR team focused on local media outlets that would maximize exposure given the
time constraints of the project. The main focus of the campaign was to promote the events
around campus using social media. However, more traditional media outlets such as local,
hometown, and Drexel newspapers and newsletters were also utilized to broaden our
campaign reach.
Social Media
Social media platforms helped the PR team reach the target market by connecting
with them through their preferred channels of communication. The primary function of
these platforms was for public relations, but they were also leveraged to market specific
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events and messages. Facebook events were created, tweets were posted on Twitter, and
pictures were uploaded promoting events on Instagram.
The targeted social media outlets included Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and
were each managed by a designated PR team member. The PR team worked with the
Advertising team to identify the specific promotional items needed to spread awareness on
the social media accounts. Further, the hashtags #SumoTag, #StartUp, and #JobSearch were
leveraged to promote MindSumo. The accounts were created and consisted of similar
themes to promote MindSumo. Posts consisting of texts and photos were managed by PR
members, but the Advertising team also helped create deliverables for accounts.
Instagram
For the Instagram platform, PR worked with the Advertising team to develop
informational posts promoting upcoming events. A core group of hashtags were created for
every post and added to each individual picture. The purpose of the Instagram account was
to show followers the activities of Gyoji Consulting, drive traffic to our events and
promotions, and to raise awareness about MindSumo. Pictures were presented in a fun,
casual, and slightly artistic manner and were simultaneously published to our Facebook
page and Twitter feed.
Results
Gyoji’s Instagram platform was able to successfully reach 140 people, with overall
impressions extended to 515 individuals. In order to hit this number, the team executed
nine strategic posts onto the platform.
Twitter
The Twitter account was utilized to create posts while attending events. Live twitter
coverage of events aimed at maximizing the amount of potential MindSumo signups at on
campus events. The twitter account also had tweets shared by other social media accounts
to further spread knowledge of MindSumo based events. Tweets were sent out between
events to encourage potential signups and spread awareness of MindSumo news.
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MindSumo news posted on twitter included announced changes to the website, new
challenges, new clients/hosting companies, and all other material worth noting. Additional
tweets included retweeting of tweets from the actual MindSumo twitter and sending
challenges to student organizations by using their “@” addresses. The twitter account
acquired 33 followers and follows 500 accounts made up of student, university, and
Philadelphia area organizations. The account had 101 tweets varying from live feed at
events, shout outs to the client, posting of MindSumo challenges, and other information
directed at students. Many tweets have been re-tweeted and posted to MindSumo’s twitter
that has a follower base of 2,368.
Results
Gyoji’s Twitter platform reached to 67,475 people, with overall impressions
amounting to 117,075. These numbers were largely due to reposts from start-ups and
organizations with many followers, such as the MindSumo Twitter itself. Further, our
largest number of impressions from Twitter came from favorites and retweets on accounts
such as the Legacy Project (30,500 followers) and Follower Frenzy (19,800).
Facebook
Facebook was the main connection between all of the social media outlets. Posts
from Twitter and Instagram were shared on Facebook as well. The goal of this Facebook
page was to promote various events and articles that Gyoji Consulting held/created for
MindSumo. Through the Facebook page, Gyoji Consulting continued to extend the reach and
awareness for MindSumo. The Facebook page, after spending $150 on page promotion, has
gained a total of 207 likes and a reach of 5,060 people. The Facebook page was also used to
tell followers about various challenges that MindSumo hosted on their site to give people a
sneak-peek at the type of content available to them if they sign up. Facebook has also been
the platform used to distribute the two videos created by the Advertising team. Collectively,
the two videos have reached 1,500 people in the Philadelphia area.
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Results
Gyoji’s Facebook platform was able to reach 5,060 individuals, with 4,215 due to the
successful implementation of paid Facebook advertising. Overall impressions from
Facebook amounted to 6,220. The page additionally received 206 likes, with 79 of those
being a result of utilizing the Facebook promotional tool.
Pinterest
Working with the Advertising department, PR developed photos to post on the
Pinterest page. The goal for the Pinterest account was to create a feed of pictures under
various “pins” or categories that related to MindSumo, as well as all activities presented by
Gyoji Consulting. The pictures were shared on the other social media accounts in the form of
links or pictures to gain followers and promote awareness of the page.
Results
Pinterest was an account created experimentally and did not seem to work
effectively with the MindSumo platform. Due to the lack of interest, it was the least
successful social media tactic utilized and would not be recommended to pursue further in
future marketing campaigns.
Print Media
The PR team focused on contacting local print media outlets in the hopes of printing
promotional articles detailing MindSumo and raising awareness. By leveraging print and
digital articles, the PR team was able to successfully convey the benefits of signing up for
MindSumo. The PR team’s task for print media was to identify target media outlets and
specific individuals to contact. Focused targets were the Triangle and Market Street
Magazine. The Triangle is a student run newspaper at Drexel University that puts out 3,000
copies per issue every Friday. Gyoji Consulting was able to have articles printed in both
Market Street Magazine and The Triangle.
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The PR team also reached out to the Associate Director of Communications in the
LeBow College of business in order to gain insight on potential promotional opportunities.
Due to her connection to the Drexel Technology department, Gyoji Consulting was able to
have a three-minute promotional video filmed based on MindSumo and the challenges it
offers. The PR team targeted specific blogs relating to the interest of the target market for
distribution and developed social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
Pinterest to create visibility with the video.
Lastly, in order to promote the Drexel Entrepreneurship Association event
discussed in the S&I section, PR was able to secure a spot on the LeBow Video Boards. The
LeBow Video Boards advertise many of Drexel’s upcoming business events on television
screens throughout the main business building, LeBow Grand Hall, which created very high
visibility and increased awareness on campus for MindSumo.
Results
Drexel’s student run newspaper, The Triangle, reached 3,000 students via printed
newspapers. The article was hosted online for twenty-one days and was shared via
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Further, MindSumo’s corporate Twitter account re-
tweeted the article, bringing the total number of impressions to 12,190. The Market Street
Magazine article, combined with the LeBow Video, obtained approximately 8,300
impressions in total and the LeBow Video Boards created impressions on approximately
10,000 individuals.
Hometown Outreach
The PR team contacted high schools from students in our class to generate stories
for their alumni newsletters. The purpose of the hometown outreach was to further create
awareness of MindSumo to students outside the realm of Philadelphia, but still connected to
home. The PR team established and reached out to four different high schools for written
articles and career fair presence, each high school connected to a student in Gyoji
Consulting. Members of the firm also reached out to local newspapers to create press for
MindSumo in areas outside of Philadelphia. The distribution email was a standard template
filled out by each student. The main targeted outlets were:
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Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Chestnut Hill Local in Philadelphia
Farmingdale Observer in Long Island, New York
West Windsor Plainsboro High School North in Princeton Junction, New Jersey
Results
After pursuing four different hometown outlets, the Public Relations team was able
to secure one article in an Alumni Newspaper at Central High School in the Philadelphia
area. A 500-600 word essay will be placed in the winter edition of the Central High Alumni
Newsletter. The essay will be reaching the 2,400 current students and 3,000 active alumni,
totaling 5,400. They also received a potential offer for a future article in a high school
newspaper in the Princeton, New Jersey area.
Drexel Career Fair
The PR team attended the Drexel University Career fair on October 9, 2014. The
team was at the Drexel Armory building handing out a MindSumo flyer and speaking about
MindSumo with students attending the fair. The PR team acquired client approval for the
flyer to hand out at general student events. Black and white print copies were made. Each
copy is ½ of a page producing 250 deliverables with 125 pages printed in total. The goal
was to hand out 250 copies of the flyer and to spread awareness of MindSumo to Drexel
students. The Drexel Career fair organizers did not allow the PR team to setup a booth
inside the fair, but instead we were allowed access to the entrance where we would hand
out flyers and speak about MindSumo if anyone had questions.
Results
The PR team successfully handed out 250 flyers over three hours to students
attending the Drexel Career fair. Two representatives gained additional press for the
MindSumo brand by having photos taken by a Drexel photographer. A cell phone picture
was taken to produce an immediate deliverable, with the professional photos obtained after
they are uploaded to Drexel social media sites.
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Candid Campus
Drexel University uses an internal platform called Drexel One to support its students,
parents, and alumna with everything from paying bills to checking final grades. Candid
campus is a section on the main page of Drexel One where students can submit pictures of
campus events and other activities involving Drexel students. On December 16th, a photo of
the MindSumo focus group hosted by the research team was visible one the Candid Campus
section of the platform. Additionally, the picture was seen on the front page of the
DrexelOne smartphone application, which has been downloaded over 50,000 times. It was
hosted for 24 hours on each media outlet.
Results
Due to the number of downloads of the Drexel One application and the high traffic to
the website that comes with final grades being posted and students checking them, we
believe the entire Drexel community including staff, undergraduates, and graduates were
able to view the photo. That being said, we assess the impressions for this initiative at
26,000.
Summary
Overall, the PR team’s execution via social media, print and online media, as well as
classroom presentations was highly successful. Their piece of the campaign was able to
generate 188,020 impressions, with deliverables on the Candid Campus section of Drexel
One’s website and an article in Central High School’s Alumni Newsletter yet to be addressed.
Reference Appendix B for visuals on Public Relation’s Deliverables
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Advertising
Objective
The purpose of the Advertising department was to help raise awareness of
MindSumo on the campuses of Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, and Temple
University respectively. Through marketing, publicity, and promotion, the Advertising
department increased awareness of MindSumo. The department developed advertising
tactics to support the overall Gyoji campaign, both creatively and through media content.
The department members were responsible for organizing, planning, and
developing inventive traditional and nontraditional advertising tactics to fulfill the client’s
objectives, while simultaneously generating lasting and positive impressions for the
campaign. This process included developing advanced media content and producing
innovative deliverables that utilized the agency-approved campaign strategy. Through the
use of video advertising, viral marketing campaigns, and print advertising, the Advertising
department worked towards raising long-term awareness and getting more user sign-ups
for MindSumo.
#SumoTag
Objective
Sumo Tag involved a member of the class walking around in a sumo wrestler suit
and mask on Drexel’s campus. The purpose of this was to draw an association to the client’s
company name and raise awareness for Strategy and Implementation’s Sumo Week. The
objective was for people to see the “Sumo Guy”, take a picture with him, and post it on social
media tagging one or more of their friends with the hashtag #sumotag. Then, the friend(s)
would be encouraged to find the sumo wrestler and tag more friends, similar to the strategy
of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The main objective was to get 50 uses of the Sumo Tag
hashtag (#SumoTag).
Sumo Tag represented the connectivity that comes from using the MindSumo
platform. By tagging people around campus, students were able to see how they could
connect with other members of MindSumo, as well as the mentors provided by the platform.
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Sumo Tag was an overall successful endeavor, but could be more successfully implemented
with higher quality suits and a larger budget to pay for an actor to scour the campus. Within
the strict course and budget restraints, the team was still able to create expanded brand
awareness and viewers saw the Sumo Guy as a good, entertaining promotional tool.
Implementation
Due to a limited timeframe, we expedited the viral reach of Sumo Tag by
approaching clubs, organizations and classes. For example, the Business 101 lecture
students took pictures with Sumo Guy after class and tagged their friends. Sumo Guy walked
around campus while maintaining his appearances at clubs and organizations. Sumo Guy
had a handler who helped explain MindSumo, Sumo Tag, and Sumo Week. If possible, they
carried a laptop or tablet to have Mindsumo.com up to encourage signups on the spot.
During the filming of the videos, the Advertising department discovered that one of
the sumo suits had broken. This was a concern for the Sumo Tag tactic; however Gyoji
Consulting had purchased two suits initially so the campaign was not affected.
Results
When people saw Sumo guy walking around campus, other advertisements for
Sumo Week and Mindsumo.com became more interesting and intriguing. This method
raised awareness through guerrilla marketing which lead to individuals going to events
during Sumo Week and signing up online. Each member of Gyoji was required to do one
hour of Sumo Tag during the week long campaign. During the nine days there were ten
hours where a wrestler was walking around. This resulted in eleven Instagram pictures
with #sumotag. However, while this tactic did not prove successful with a total goal of 50
hashtags, it did get Drexel students asking why a sumo was walking around. This lead to an
increase in awareness of the MindSumo brand in general, as well as the events of Sumo
Week. With more funding to hire the wrestler for more hours within a two week period, we
believe this could be even more successful on other campuses. It would be worth the
investment to purchase a better suit that wouldn’t break and could be used during several
campaigns.
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During the ten hours, approximately 50 people took pictures with Sumo Guy, and 11
of them posted a picture on social media. This lasted one week plus two days the week
before. If every Instagram post was seen by 50 people, then the impressions totaled 550. In
the locations where Sumo Guy walked, there was an average of 500 people who saw him
per hour. Multiplying the 500 people by the 10 hours equals impressions at 5000. The 5000
impressions and the 550 Instagram impressions total 5550 impressions. The suit and mask
cost $92.75. Based on the $1 per impression value, the value of Sumo Tag was $5550.
Tactic Circulation Reach Frequency Cost ($) Value ($) Impressions
SumoTag
Physical 1 Sumo
Wrestler
10 hours 92.75
$5550 5550
1 Instagram
picture
50 Views
/Picture
N/A N/A
Challenge Cards
Objective
The Advertising department had 1K round shaped business cards made with three
current MindSumo challenges, along with the prize value (the monetary incentive) printed
on the front. A custom QR code and the link to the challenge page were also printed on the
back. The Challenge Cards were a unique shape/design that would grab the attention of
students at Drexel University. The Challenge Card content would be succinct enough for
students to look at or to read on the go. The challenges written on the cards were intriguing,
so students would want to learn more about MindSumo. Mentioning the cash prizes would
further incentivize students to take a card and sign up. These cards were placed at select
locations around Drexel’s campus and monitored by the Advertising department, to
understand which places gain the most interest. The main objective was to distribute all of
the Challenge Cards (1000 total).
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Implementation
An issue arose when shipping company delivering the Challenge Cards shipped to
the wrong address. After calling to confirm with both FedEx and the printing company, they
arrived and were distributed Wednesday of Week 8. A proportion of the Challenge Cards
were then handed out to Strategy and Implementation for Sumo Week.
In addition to this, some of the locations where we had planned to implement the
cards did not allow us to do so, such as locations managed by Drexel Campus Dining and
Drexel Student Housing. To mitigate the effects of these limitations, we allowed the
Challenge Cards to be used as visual and tangible aids when Gyoji Consulting presented to
various classes around the Drexel University Campus. We also allowed them to be used by
the Sumo Guy promoters to hand out to prospective sign ups, and to be put under the doors
of dormitories.
Results
The locations where we managed to implement the Challenge Cards as stand-alone
advertisements on Drexel's Campus included:
● LeBow Advising
● Hagerty Library
● Creese Student Center
● Rec Center
● Co-Op Center
We placed 320 Challenge Cards in total out on Drexel's Campus, and out of the
available 320, only 140 were taken. The Library was the most successful location, as
measured by the number of cards taken.
Challenge Cards were also a success when used as tangible aids at class
presentations, when the Sumo Guy handed out the Challenge Cards, when put under the
doors of dormitories, and when they were handed out on the stalls during Sumo Week. We
also had 300 handed out via class presentations and individual efforts within the class. 130
were handed out during Sumo Week. 50 were distributed under the doors of dormitories on
Drexel’s campus. We successfully managed to circulate 800 cards in total.
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Reach exceeded circulation due to an assumption that when one card was handed
out to one person (570 in total), this would account for 125% reach due to students passing
challenge cards along to friends. The cards under the suite doors also accounted for a 400%
reach as most of the dorms were 6-person-suites so we assumed that four to six people
within each suite would be exposed to the challenge card.
Tactic Circulation Reach Frequency Cost ($) Value ($) Impressions
Challenge
Cards
800 912.5 3 Weeks 124.5 912.5 912.5
See Appendix C2 for the Challenge Card Design.
Sumo Week Advertising
Objectives
The Advertising department, with the assistance of the Strategy and Implementation
team, decided that in order to guarantee sign ups, the creation of branded incentives would
be ideal. The idea behind these promotional item giveaways was to give out one incentive
for each recorded sign up. Ring Pops and gum were branded with MindSumo stickers to
hand out at events during Sumo Week.
Advertising also designed and printed flyers that were distributed around campus
to advertise Sumo Week.
Implementation
The Advertising department purchased and helped distribute Ring Pops and gum
during the events of Sumo Week. The Ring Pops and gum had printed stickers on them with
the campaign slogan “Step into the Ring” and a background describing the message. These
giveaways were given in exchange for a person signing up during Sumo Week.
A banner was also purchased with the same design used on the social media cover
photo printed on it. This banner was used by Strategy and Implementation over the course
of Sumo Week and while attending other LeBow events.
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Results
During Sumo Week the Advertising team distributed 225 ring pops, along with 100
packs of gum to the Drexel student body, in exchange of a 1:1 sign-up rate, resulting in 325
reaches in total. The sticker visible on these giveaways had the chance to be seen by more
than this number, but it is difficult to assume how many would have seen the wrapping, so
this part of reach was excluded for accuracy of the data.
The stickers, branding the giveaways, successfully reinforced the brand image of
MindSumo to our segment market, which were an effective tactic to get a large amount of
solid sign-ups within a short period of time and increase foot traffic to the tables.
130 flyers were circulated on campus during the week and obtained 150% of reach,
with the assumption that 50% of students may pass on the flyer to a friend.
Tactic Circulation Reach Frequency Cost ($) Value ($) Impressions
Ring Pops 225
325 1 Week 180 325 325
Gum 100
Sumo Week
Promotion
Flyers
130 195 1 Week 0 195 195
See appendix C3 for the Ring Pop and Gum stickers.
See Appendix C4 and C5 for Sumo Week promotional materials
90 Second Video
Objective
The Advertising department believed that a 90 second, stand-alone video was an
effective way to advertise for MindSumo overall, whilst portraying the three campaign
pillars.
The 90 second video portrayed a student looking for a job. The first half of the video
features him going to an interview and networking by himself. The interview is
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unsuccessful, with the student not showing the right amount of specific interest or
experience. This represented the incentive pillar. The interviewer then notes that the
student did not have enough experience. This appealed to the experience message pillar.
Then the Sumo Guy appears, the video rewinds, and the student meets the Sumo Guy. The
student goes through the same scene, except this time it is with Sumo Guy. This time, the
interview goes well. The student is represented as someone who is clearly ready for a job.
The student confidently attends the interview and the interviewer is impressed. In the end,
the student gets the job and expresses his happiness. The Sumo Guy speaks the campaign
slogan “Step into the Ring” at the end of the video. A link to the MindSumo website is shown
at the bottom of the video. The main objective was to have 50 hits on the 90 second long
promotional video.
Implementation
On the day of the video shoot, two actors called out last-minute. One of them was to
play a minor role; however, the other student was to play the main role of the student. Due
to this, reorganization of the actors and their roles was required. Matthew, who was
originally playing the executive, had to take on a larger role of the student. A member of the
Advertising Team, Ethan, then stepped up in taking on the role of the executive.
Due to the issue of actors failing to show up to the video shoot, the quality of the
video shot was reduced. The filming was rushed, and more time was spent preparing the
actors than planned. A substantial amount of the dialogue was disjointed which led to
difficulty in editing the video.
Results
The video compares a job search without MindSumo to a job search with MindSumo.
The message the video successfully portrays is that with the assistance of MindSumo, the
job search goes by smoothly and successfully. This 90-second video serves as an individual
promotional tool that will remain online for a long time, on websites such as YouTube.
The 90 second long video promotion of MindSumo and what it can offer students can be
viewed via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu7xeSe7ZnQ
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This video was posted on the social media pages hosted by Public Relations (Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube).
Tactic Circulation Reach Frequency Cost ($) Value ($) Impressions
90 Second
Video
YouTube: 14
Facebook: 1712
1715 2 Weeks 0 1715 1715
15 Second Video
Objective
A short fifteen second video to advertise the Sumo Week events was the most
effective way to raise awareness of Gyoji’s promotional events. This was done by walking
around campus and getting people to say “MindSumo - Step into the Ring!” The goal was to
have 50 likes on the fifteen-second video used on the Public Relations social media pages.
Implementation
The short fifteen-second video was used to advertise Sumo Week, the campaign’s
primary event. It was developed with the help of the Strategy and Implementation
department.
Results
This video was used to promote awareness, as it was easily visible on Gyoji’s social
media websites and reposted on those sites. This advertising was more accessible to a
wider user base and greatly raised the awareness of MindSumo. The fifteen-second video
promoting MindSumo oriented events can be accessed in the following locations:
● Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1499351350332011https://www
.facebook.com/video.php?v=1499351350332011
● Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/vUKfnjQkM7/?modal=true
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Tactic Circulation Reach Frequency Cost ($) Value ($) Impression
s
15 Second
Video
Instagram: 12
likes, 3 comments
Facebook: 8 Likes
850 4.5 Weeks 0 850 850
Summary
Increasing market awareness is crucial to the success of MindSumo and was a
primary goal of the campaign. In order to achieve this goal, a number of methods were
utilized, ranging from online advertisements such as videos, to physical advertising
methods (incentives, flyers etc.). Circulation of one main promotional video, as well as the
creation of a short video advertisement for MindSumo Week (a week of events planned by
the Strategy and Implementation department) posted on all social media accounts, and
distribution of Challenge Cards and promotional items have also efficiently promoted
MindSumo’s brand. The organization of events, such as Sumo Week, provided a platform
through which these promotional tools were distributed. Also, the Advertising department
targeted the student bodies of University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University by having a
Gyoji member dress up as a sumo wrestler and walk around campus, thereby raising
awareness for MindSumo through social media.
Reference Appendix C for details/ visuals from the Advertising team’s deliverables
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Value Added Work-stream
Objective
Gyoji Consulting was utilized to increase awareness and the user base of MindSumo and
to create meaningful relationships with users on the Drexel and surrounding campuses. The
agency created an integrated marketing campaign to penetrate and capture the target market and
to gain 1K new users on the MindSumo platform.
While working on the campaign, the agency also identified other opportunities that would
further support the goal of attracting more users as well as increasing brand recognition.
An additional task was initiated to increase awareness of MindSumo platform among not
only users (students) but also other stakeholders, including Drexel administration, career service
employees (both undergraduate and graduate office of the business college), professors and
instructors. Gaining the support from valuable stakeholders and turning them into MindSumo
“ambassadors” will benefit the company and will provide for sustainable growth after the
campaign goal of gaining 1K new users is obtained. These additional value added initiatives
enable MindSumo to broaden their reach and capture even more potential users and challenge
solvers. By recommending and implementing a decisive, clearly focused strategy geared toward
“ambassadors”, Gyoji ensures that MindSumo benefits continue to be realized after the
conclusion of the campaign and the company is better positioned to achieve long term goals.
Gyoji Consulting also performed market research for the client in the form of collecting and
analyzing data from above identified constituents as well as conducted informational interviews
with those students who participated in challenges in order to maximize impact and effectiveness.
Feedback and ideas for product and service improvement were also solicited and documented
below.
Overview
The Value Added Work-stream focused on promoting MindSumo to Drexel’s co-op
office, LeBow’s undergraduate and graduate career services offices, as well as to professors who
could utilize it as part of their course work. Building and leveraging strong relationships with
these stakeholders allowed for even greater reach and expansion of awareness, which was meant
to create long term supporters and promoters of the platform. Career service advisors and
45. Page 44 of 75
teachers were targeted as potential MindSumo ambassadors to promote the platform and
encourage students to showcase their skills, differentiate themselves, and get noticed.
In the long-run, the goal was for the Drexel Co-op Office to encourage existing co-op
employers to utilize MindSumo to find the right co-op and full time talent in a more efficient and
effective way. A presentation explaining what Drexel co-op is and what career services does at
Drexel was included in the campaign mid-point presentation. A pilot was implemented at Drexel
and multiple administrators were contacted and encouraged to utilize MindSumo and to provide
insights related to the benefits of (or lack of) the platform. Based on the feedback from those
offices, recommendations were made and can be found below. With future improvements to
appeal to the above stakeholders, a letter with a compelling story about the benefits of MindSumo
could be created and distributed to Career Services of other colleges for expanded reach and
benefits.
Outreach Initiative Activities
Co-op/ Career Service Offices/ Professors
The team connected with the above described stakeholders and educated them on
MindSumo’s platform and benefits.
The agency gathered feedback on why they think it is a valuable platform, would they
encourage students to participate, what would increase that likelihood, anything they
didn’t like about MindSumo as currently positioned and advertised on MindSumo
platform/website.
Based on expertise, survey results, initial informational interviews with Drexel
administrators and professors, appropriate messaging was developed (mostly choosing
from existing messaging for the project at large) for the three mentioned audiences.
We implemented slight changes to the original elevator pitch to better reflect interest and
professionalism of graduate career services’ audience (omitted the words like “chops”
and “vet”).
We emphasized job and networking opportunities to graduates (with particular emphasis
on McKenzie and other well-known and reputable companies posting challenges).
We emphasized the above and cash prizes to undergraduate offices
We emphasized that not only students will benefit as individuals from participation, but
that the teachers can also ensure Drexel’s presence in the competitive world
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Challenge Participants
We worked to persuade students to solve challenges while educating them on
MindSumo’s platform and benefits
We gathered feedback on why they think it is a valuable platform, whether they would
encourage other students to participate, and what would increase that likelihood, anything
they didn’t like about MindSumo as currently positioned and advertised on their
platform/website, if they will they solve more challenges in the future and what kind of
challenges are attractive to them
Drexel Co-op Career Services for Graduate Students
The recently added Cigna challenge on MindSumo’s platform provided a potential new
opportunity for the Value Added Work-stream. Realizing that Cigna is not only recruiting for
open positions on Drexel’s campus, but also participates in “Employer of the Week Sessions” and
panel discussions, and is of interest to many current students, the agency wanted to ensure all
interested in Cigna’s opportunities were introduced to MindSumo as the potential resume buster
and ability to connect with Cigna.
The Value Added Work-stream team members spoke with Employer Relations Manager
in the office of MBA Career Services, and introduced him to MindSumo. He was responsible for
posting two new Cigna job opportunities on Hire LeBow platform, and administering “Employer
of the Week Sessions”, and therefore had a list of students who expressed interest in Cigna. The
team introduced the Employer Relations Manager to MindSumo and its benefits, and persuaded
him to share that information with appropriate students.
An introduction e-mail was drafted and provided to Employer Relations Manager to be
forwarded to his students interested in Cigna. The team leveraged the fact Cigna is a local
employer and used it as an additional motivation to generate solutions to challenges on
MindSumo.
Due to initial lack of quantifiable results from the above initiative, follow-up
conversations resulted in a better understanding of inactivity from students and hesitation from
administrators in the office of graduate career services. Findings are described in the Results
section below.
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Drexel Co-op Career Services for Undergraduate Students
The agency met with the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Career Services at the
LeBow College of Business. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the Drexel
administrator to MindSumo, convince her of the benefits, and ensure she shares that information
with her students. That administrator is not only responsible for career opportunities and helping
students land internships and full time jobs upon graduation, but also leads resume workshops,
networking sessions, career development talks, and other resume building and career enhancing
initiatives. Although the meeting didn’t go as hoped and the Career Services employee did not
seem to be convinced that MindSumo could bring additional benefits to her students, the agency
gathered a lot of valuable feedback and learned what is causing hesitation in promoting
MindSumo for that individual. That feedback was combined with other results of informational
interviews and is summarized and analyzed in the Results section below.
Advertising MindSumo to Instructors and Encouraging Participation in Challenges
The agency directly contacted three professors to introduce them to MindSumo and
generate solutions from their students. The intent was to convince the instructors to have their
students submit solutions to the Airport experience challenge, Dorito marketing challenge and
Mercedes Benz innovation challenge posted on the platform at the time. The agency also aimed
to use those students who solved challenges for feedback on their experience and ideas for service
and product’s improvement. Internal incentives were offered to those who complete all steps and
participate in informational interviews with the agency. Outcomes and recommendations are
discussed below.
Results
Feedback Generated from Co-op Career Services
After the standard agency pitch was used and further customized to fit into overall goals
and objectives of administrators in both graduate and undergraduate Career Service office with
relation to students’ career development and job placement, constructive feedback was gathered
on why they are skeptical about benefits of MindSumo to Drexel students.
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Below are key takeaways from these meetings, explaining why potential MindSumo
promoters are currently less excited about the platform, as well as what they believe is necessary
to gain support and approval.
Structure/Standardization
o Challenges don’t seem to be standardized; some seem very difficult while others
seem trivial. In order to encourage students to utilize the platform a benchmark
should be developed and credible measurable results should be standardized.
Currently administrators don’t believe that sending students to the platform
would add value and be seen as an achievement by potential employers.
o Looking at the winning solutions of achieved challenges, it seems that some
challenges required 15 min and a quick drawing, while other challenges were
very complex and required a day of brainstorming and building models.
Credibility
o To add credibility to the offered services, job placements, quality and quantity of
winners, more reliable information and transparency via published results is
needed. As a rebuttal, the information provided by MindSumo was quoted and
administrators were assured that over 500 students were hired as a result of
completing challenges and thousands more have received interviews. The
constituents seemed to want that information published on the website and not
just verbally conveyed by the agency. As per previous suggestions, testimonials
and stories of students who won are the best solution for this roadblock and
would alleviate any doubts that currently seem to be a common theme among
Drexel administration. Adding testimonials from some of those 500 students
about how MindSumo helped them land their dream job will add credibility to
the platform and will help in gaining interest and approval from end users and
potential promoters (career services’ office and professors).
o The number of companies that a student could connect with by solving
challenges also seemed to be questioned by potential promoters. They would
want to see more specifics as to which companies hired/gave offers to challenge
solvers. It was also questioned how companies who haven’t posted a challenge
but are displayed as MindSumo partners are involved with the company and how
would students get connected with them. Providing that information to potential
promoters may help in persuading promoters and may further advertise tactic of
services and opportunities already in place.
49. Page 48 of 75
Mentors
o The quality of mentors, including their background and employment status, was
also questioned. It was pointed out that when searching for mentors in the
Accounting industry (using filters on the mentor site), only interns, assistants,
current students, baristas, student ambassadors, or figure skate coordinators are
returned via the search (including one undergraduate Drexel student anticipating
to receive her BS in accounting in 2019). At Drexel, when students are assigned
mentors, those are usually achieved professionals with years of experience in the
industry and high titles, therefore, the mentor connections part of the MindSumo
did not seem appealing to Drexel’s administrators.
o If there were some testimonials about mentor services and how students
benefited from those connections, it could add more credibility to the platform
and further show value of that component.
Feedback Generated from Challenge Solvers
Informational interviews were conducted with graduate students who were encouraged to
complete Cigna Challenge as a way to showcasing their skills and connecting with the company.
Some of their feedback included the following:
None of them solved the challenge, therefore the agency obtained contact information of
students seeking to connect with and work for Cigna and documented their feedback as to
why MindSumo wasn’t an appealing opportunity.
Students applied for financial roles with the company, so the challenge was not
appropriate for them as it asked to write application in C+, and most of them don’t have
the skills to do so.
Students who could solve the challenge felt that giving up their IP rights wasn’t a
significant reward and was not worth their time.
They also indicated they are guaranteed to have a five minute one-on-one conversation
with Cigna’s representative after attending Employer of The Week Panel, therefore
investing time in a challenge to maybe have a chance to connect with Cigna did not seem
appealing. They questioned the possibility to be connected with Cigna after solving the
challenge (again, testimonials on the website from former challenge takers would help
alleviate that concern).
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Financial incentive was not relevant to graduate students and overall potential incentives
did not appeal to graduate students.
Two graduate students expressed interest in tackling the Mercedes Benz challenge:
“Imagine new use cases where car and home work together“, but did not complete the challenge
in the following weeks. The team asked for informational interviews to share their reasons and
insights.
After carefully reading directions students said it wasn’t worth their time and ideas. One
student felt that all Home Automation companies are today looking for ideas of that type
and if he wanted to work on that case, he could send his ideas to Connect, Nest, PEQ, or
other current competitors. He also stated PEQ was offering $1,000 reward for valid ideas
opposed to a chance for $150. He also questioned if solving the challenge would have
given him an opportunity to speak with Mercedes Benz employee. He searched for a
mentor from that company and was not able to find one on MindSumo. Further looking
at the mentors section of MindSumo, he felt it didn’t offer any benefits to him and made
him question the integrity of the company and services offered.
Three classes were targeted with presentations aimed not only at generating sign-ups and
promoting MindSumo, but encouraging and internally incentivizing students to solve challenges
and then participate in informational 15 to 30 minute interviews to generate feedback. Eight
informational interviews were conducted and the below feedback was obtained:
Challenge selections
o Most participants completed the suggested Mercedes Benz challenge. They
found it interesting and mind stimulating. Many solvers discussed and
brainstormed their solution with others. They looked at other challenges as well,
but felt that the Mercedes challenge afforded for creative thinking and utilizing
current knowledge vs. conducting research or being asked to do something they
didn’t believe they had the skills or time to produce satisfying results.
o To most solvers it didn’t matter what company posted the challenge and they said
they would have solved it even if it was an unknown company (some inquired if
they can get connected with other companies working with MindSumo regardless
which challenge they solve?).
o Most solvers stated they will be periodically checking for new challenges and
would consider solving new problems, where no additional research is required,
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no extraordinary skills or knowledge are needed, and where they feel happy to
have their opinion heard by real businesses.
o Students who were encouraged to solve the Dorito challenge felt it was very time
consuming and required more skills and knowledge then they possess. They felt
the challenge was too difficult for them and the stated benefits were not
appealing enough for the given task.
Credibility
o Since students learned about MindSumo from another student highly
recommended by their professor, they trusted the information presented and
enjoyed solving the challenge. They felt that many reputable businesses and
employers partner with MindSumo, and therefore it seems to be a good source
for new connections and hopefully job opportunities.
Excitement
o Students were attracted by opportunities to showcase their skills, have their voice
heard by decision makers, and potentially add the successful outcomes to their
resume (mostly international/exchange students), with some of them being
motivated by cash prizes as well.
o International and exchange students find MindSumo very appealing, they believe
it’s a great business idea that allows them to test their skills and participate in
extracurricular activities. They see MindSumo as mini case competitions and
also like the weekly e-mail reminders of new challenges.
Other
o Some students appreciated the weekly e-mails about new challenges added.
They thought it was a reminder about potential new opportunities vs. just
company advertising. Two students noted that the challenge suggested for them
in the following weeks was actually the challenge they had solved already. They
initially thought they may have not completed the submission process correctly,
but after verifying their submission and receiving the same recommendation from
MindSumo, they voiced out concerns and noted mass e-mail strategy which may
result in deleting those e-mails in the future. (Recommendation: Improve SQL to
not suggest challenge already solved by the receiver of the weekly e-mail.)
o Students excited about the platform were disappointed that there were only five
open challenges for the Thanksgiving break (looking at the platform offerings
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during the 3rd week of November). If there was more variety and choices, they
were planning on brainstorming solutions over the school break.
o There were three challenges suggested to those students (Airport experience,
Mercedes Benz and Dorito) but participants were encouraged to solve any open
challenges on the platform. Most students thought that Dorito challenge required
too much time, research, and suggested videos/articles familiarity and therefore
were not interested in solving it.
o The airport challenge generated 40 solutions and was closed within days, so
students who intended to submit a solution and brainstormed the approach were
frustrated that it was closed before they polished their recommendations. They
voiced frustration about time wasted and inability to share their work.
(Recommendation: Challenges with time limit vs. number of solutions generated
seem more appealing therefore deadlines vs. number of solutions should be
utilized in order to provide more user friendly experience.)
o Some students were on the other end of the spectrum when timing of challenge
results was discussed. Students who solved “unpopular” challenges were
disappointed that the challenge was still open two months after their submission.
o Combining the feedback and experiences of the two groups of students, we
suggest that there is a minimum and maximum time the challenge should be open.
For example stating that the challenge will be open for a minimum of five days,
and a maximum of 30 days unless 40 solutions are generated before the 30 day
timeframe, would give students a better sense of a deadline and timing of results.
o Another way to overcome the above issue would be to rank challenges by
difficulty level and set a specific amount of days the challenge will be open.
Forecasting the flow of solutions, clearly marking the difficulty level, and
aligning it with the time period for which the challenge will stay open will create
more user friendly and transparent platform.
o Introducing a new attribute stating the difficulty level should also be closely
aligned with time required for a reasonable solution as well as with the
magnitude of the potential rewards.
o Many students seem to be more attracted by the possible networking and
connections with potential employers as compared to cash prizes. Consider
offering an informal interview, such as a casual 30 minutes phone conversation
with a company representative to top winners.
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o A student invited their friend to MindSumo challenge, to be able to measure her
skills against her peer and to have a fun competition or game. The student said
the feedback from the friend was: “MindSumo lacks a forward message about
what the site is; a concise statement that conveys the benefits”. A short
introduction to MindSumo, preferably via one minute video, stating the benefits
of the platform would help establish purpose and good reputation from the very
beginning.
o Currently, potential new users who go to www.mindsumo.com see a message
that is not clear to them. Allowing a glimpse into existing challenges and
benefits would increase interest and sign-ups. As stated above, a short concise
video seems to be the best way to get Millennials interested and engaged.
Improvement in E-mail Communications - Referral E-mail
The referral e-mail structure currently used could be improved to better serve its purpose.
To maximize new business opportunities and to convert potential sources into active
users, the following suggestions are proposed:
o The subject is too vague (introduction). Many recipients deleted this e-mail as it
seemed too vague and potentially spam. The new proposed subject for the
referral e-mail is: MindSumo – Our Generation’s Competitive Edge
o The body of the e-mail resembles spam e-mails. Recipients opening the
“Introduction” email did not trust the content of it and did not act on it.
o Format proposition:
“Hey! I have been using MindSumo for a while now and find it very interesting.
MindSumo is (…). I thought you would like their services too so I am sending
you this link https://www.mindsumo.com/challenges. Have fun solving challenges
and promoting your skills. Best, the User”
If the company wants to continue mimicking the e-mail as if it came from recommender’s
account, there is no need to state in the body that the sender (by full name) sent the invitation.
Also referring to the sender, from whom the e-mail appears to come, in the third person is
suspicious to the recipients.
o The link should clearly indicate where it will take the user.
https://www.mindsumo.com/challenges (Include hyper-link, but clearly disclose
where it will take the user versus just asking them to click here).
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Final Recommendations, Deliverables, and Results
Students seem to be more eager to investigate MindSumo when a friend, teacher, or
school personnel recommends it.
Career service employees touch most of the students in their respective schools and
should be leveraged for promoting MindSumo. Currently some of them are skeptical whether the
platform brings enough value to schools with co-op component and also they would like to see
more testimonials as to the benefits of MindSumo.
We recommend pursuing relationships with career services at schools without structured
internships and co-ops. A great place to connect with those individuals and introduce them to the
platform would be NACE conference scheduled to take place in Anaheim, CA on June 2-5, 2015.
Being a sponsor of the conference will automatically expose MindSumo to all educators and
depending on the level chosen will offer listings on the NACE website, recognition in NACE
Journal, and recognition during all conference sessions, etc. More details are available at the
following link: http://www.naceweb.org/ConferenceExpo/default.htm
Many students who see MindSumo as a fun place to test their skills seemed to have
discussed solutions with their friends. Holding occasional “MindSumo March Madness-like
Competitions” where students could compete against their friends, dorm room teams and
neighbors seems like a great way to get a broader group involved.
Post testimonials from both students and employers are required to further support the
benefits of the platform, add credibility and reassure the connections and job offers resulting from
MindSumo.
Add testimonials on how mentor connections benefited students.
Quantify benefits of networking, connections, and job placements.
Many students were mostly interested in connecting with companies. Considering
different prizes for winners may be more appealing for those students. Partner with companies
posting challenges and try to convince them to offer 30minute phone conversation with the
winner.
Student attracted by cash incentives voiced out that the payout level of $100 is too high
and too hard to get to. Revisit the analysis of payout level and if it makes financial sense for
MindSumo consider lowering the amount. In order to generate more referrals consider lower
payout with established minimum of referrals.
There seem to be additional benefits on the platform that are not clearly defined or
advertised. Students noticed that there are social media like groups. Consider automatically