Tag: marketing

Categories
Analytics Innovation Marketing

3 Key Skills for the Digitally Transformed Economy

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I was recently listening to a news report in 2020 by Singapore state-owned media CNA, where Chief HR Officer of Singapore University of Technological Design, Dr Jaclyn Lee, outlined three of the most important skills to have in this new digital economy:

  1. Analytical and Computational Thinking Skills
  2. Innovation and Thinking out of the box
  3. Social Media Marketing

The interview particularly resonated with me as these are the skills which I have previously identified were important for my career development and listed as my top 3 skills on LinkedIn, and also in the summary statement too (Social Media is one form of Digital!) As my blog was created with the specific purpose to educate juniors and adult learners on analytics, innovation and marketing, I believed that it would be apt to share from my experience how I managed to build up my Analytics, Innovation and Social Media knowledge.

1. Analytics and Computational Thinking

Analytical skills has been around for the longest time, we may not know it, but the critical learning skills we have been exposed to all our lives also applies in terms of analytics.

For me, I acquired my analytics skills from my Business Analytics Education at Nanyang Business School! There are also several other Universities like National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University which has analytics courses as well!

Another way to gain this knowledge is from online courses. Coursera, EdX, Udemy are examples of online sites with free courses. In Singapore, the WSQ also offers adult learning courses in multiple courses including analytics and computational thinking!

To hear more about why I decided to specialise in Business Analytics, do read this post!

I also used my analytics knowledge to decipher the content of spam comments here!

2. Innovation

My experience with innovation is that the responsibility to build innovation lies in yourself. I always believed that I am an out-of-box thinker who will constantly find new ways to do things. These are some ways you could try improving on innovation!

I. Find new ways to do a project

Have you completed a work project or an assignment at school before and performed well? Now, think of another approach you could try to achieve the same, if not a better outcome. Many people would think that the end result is always important. While the end result is important, I always believe that the process is as well. Sometimes, I find myself consistently asking how I can do something better. While it does not always work, the thought process is also a good learning opportunity.

II. Get yourself more exposure to multiple fields

This may seem counter-intuitive to many who are interested in building their career in a one-track path, but from my experience, this was one way where I had the exposure to more innovation. I was fortunate to be able to do three MNC internships, where I had the exposure to the human resource, market research, product marketing and digital marketing functions, in the automotive, information technology and medical device industries. If you require some assistance in securing more MNC internships, do read this post!

I also had the chance to try out the consumer goods, retail and e-commerce industry at the same time by running my own startup, EcoTumble, where we offered Food Storage and Drinkware Solutions. While I was in charge of the marketing function, it was also important to learn how everything came together. Therefore, I also had the chance to take part in logistics, procurement, sales and strategy aspects of the business. I did this as part of the Minor in Entrepreneurship Programme in NTU, which I felt was a transformative experience and definitely recommend!

III. Always keep a continuous learning mindset

Adding a new point after having had a week of e-learning as a work incentive. As the saying goes, change is the only constant. In order to keep abreast of what our customer needs, we need to not only constantly change the environment, but also ourselves. In order to expose to more open innovation, learning is an integral part of it all. I had the chance to look through some of my general paper notes in junior college and realised the opportunity to read widely allowed me to learn so much more about how various parts of the economy are intertwined together in order to deliver value to consumers. Ultimately, innovation brings a solution to a unique problem that is faced based on changes in the economy.

3. Social Media Marketing

For people who grew up as digital natives, social media should be nothing foreign to us. For those who did not have the privilege of being exposed to social media since young, it is not too late to begin!

I have used social media since 2009, for my personal use, for my startup and also during my internship at KaVo Kerr.

Regardless of whether you have used social media before, there are some steps which can be followed. Here are some which crosses my mind:

I. Knowing your own personal brand

The first step to social media is knowing your own personal brand, what you stand for. For instance, I am personally interested in Analytics, Innovation and Marketing, and I want to help more people understand these fields!

II. Determine your Social Media Mix

The second step is to determine which social media to use. For instance, I would like more people to understand these fields which I am interested in, very academic fields. Therefore, I decided to turn to writing to get the knowledge across. The social channels which I have decided to use, which differs for what kinds of audience I want, is through LinkedIn (for Adult Learners) and Instagram (for the Student Population. I do occasionally use Twitter and Facebook to try to build Search Engine Traffic, still in the experimental stage, perhaps I might elaborate some day!

III. Decide on a posting schedule

The third step is to plan when to post. In order for social media to work, you will need to ensure that your readers/viewers are consistently engaged. This will keep them as returning users as your content is something which interests them. For instance, I have decided that on Mondays, I would post an Analytics or work-related post for my viewers to look forward to. I also wanted Friday as a leisure post day but it might prove to be tough as I am holding a full-time job as well and these posts do take up considerable time. Hence, it is important to also see not just what you want, but what is also theoretically possible from your schedule and nature of work!

That said I have not really prepared other posts on social media yet! Do let me know in the comments section on what kinds of social media posts you are interested in, or if you would like any elaboration on each of the paragraphs!

Sounds really daunting? It takes that first step to start learning and growing!

P.S. The links in this post are not sponsored.

If you liked this page, do bookmark this site, or follow us on our LinkedIn page.

Want to build analytics into your management decisions? This post may be for you.

Want to build other core and relevant skills? Do look at this post!

Want to track your website traffic using Google Analytics? This post shows you how.

Image Credits: Photo by NASA on Unsplash
Original Post: 3 Aug 2020, Updated 27 Jun 2021

Categories
Management

University Internship Search Guide (Tips from 3 MNC Experiences)

Slide Covers university internships

Hello everyone! It’s me again. I understood from a few of my NTU NBS juniors that first year students are now required to do a compulsory internship as part of their curriculum. I am sure many of the other universities will start to have this requirement in place, and even if there is none, I definitely encourage you to think of how you can make full use of your time.

I did not have a year 1 Summer Internship unlike many of my peers so if you are reading this and did not manage to secure an internship in your first year, you are not alone! Here are some steps which you can take to find your internship.

1. Have a Good Resume or Portfolio with Unique Value Proposition

The first thing you need is your job hunt apparatus — your resume. I heard of many formats in the resume which may or may not work, but personally when I was looking for internships and my graduate job, I used the one page resume format. Some key parts to include is Education, Skills (Especially when you have no work experience), Work Experience, Projects, Co-curricular Leadership and Achievements.

However, the key focus is not on the format, but how your resume tells a story. Personally, I took a Business Analytics and Entrepreneurship Undergraduate Degree with an intention to apply these skills in management. Having the technical skills on my resume without work experience helped me in getting my resume spotted by the hiring manager for a Regional Talent Management role at my first internship company, Schaeffler, a German MNC operating in the Automotive industry. As for my other internships, I believe that most of my interviewers also looked at my co-curricular leadership as well as achievements in making the holistic decision to shortlist my resume for interview. One way to do it is to focus on what is transferrable to the job. With a business analytics degree, I am well-positioned to join almost any business function of any sector since it is a very broad and general degree with the technical power to do wonders in many functions and sectors.

If you need some reference, I recently ported most of my resume to my own portfolio site. If you need help refining your resume, do drop me a note in the comments section below or reach me through my LinkedIn! Do let me know you reached me through this blogpost!

2. Prepare a Good Cover Letter Format

In all honesty, when I found my first internship, I did not use a cover letter. However, I found out that after hunting for my subsequent internships and full time job, I had a higher rate of success whenever I included a cover letter in my applications. So please prepare a cover letter.

Each cover letter should be in a specific format which the recruiter wants to see. It is not merely sharing about your value proposition, but about how your value proposition aligns with the job description provided by the employer.

The general rule of thumb I have when writing a cover letter is to write it accordingly to the job description. This will do your recruiters a great favour when they comb through the many job applications for the particular role.

Same as before if you need assistance, do drop me a note in the comments or LinkedIn!

3. Utilise the resources you have in the Job Hunt

For starters, here are some resources which you can use during your job hunt:

A. Career Services Office(s) in your University

In Singapore, most local universities have a dedicated career office. Some like NBS has an extra one in the school for dual job search prospects! These career offices have dedicated career coaches and advisors who can help you with your career planning as well as internship search. Do reach out to them early!

The career services offices in my alma-mater also have exclusive job portals, CareerAxis and CareerFit for NTU and NBS respectively to help students with their internship and full-time positions.

B. Job Portals

To gain more possible avenues for internships and jobs, especially from the hiring freezes due to COVID-19, you could try job search portals too!

I have previously consolidated a list of useful job portals which could be used over on my LinkedIn post!

C. Professional and Personal Network

Another way to find an internship is through professional and personal networks. You could create a LinkedIn profile to reach many professionals who would love to connect with students and might even offer a role!

Some students have managed to secure internships through their professors, family members or friends.

If you love this post so far and want to connect with me, here’s my LinkedIn Profile!

4. Rehearse for Your Interviews

Forget those memorised long model answers for all the possible questions. From my internship and job hunt experience, the key questions a recruiter wants to know are these:

A. Is the candidate interested enough?

This is through your research about the company, their key achievements, how you want to grow while taking up the internship roles. Do prepare some questions which show your interest in the industry as well as proper research about the company.

B. Is the candidate able to do the job?

This part looks at your past experiences, how these experiences could help you with the role you are applying for. You might want to try learning the STAR and CAR approaches to tackling these types of questions when they are posed.

C. Does the candidate fit in?

For this, just be yourself. Do not try to be someone you aren’t. Many recruiters and hiring managers can tell if you are faking it. Even if you made it through, personality and cultural mismatch may be a potential cause for a less than ideal experience. Therefore, be as genuine as you can! Basically, most questions which don’t fit the first two belong here! (E.g. What’s a superpower you want to have, what is your favourite hobby, etc.)

5. Do Start Early

There is a saying that the early bird catches the worm. This is also true when you search for an internship. Some companies love to confirm their head-counts earlier as internship hiring may be just a small part of what they need to do. Therefore, do start early!

Hope that this helps with your internship hunt! Do let me know down in the comments below if you have other ways to hunt for an internship as well as you want to learn next!

Hope you liked our story today. Do bookmark this site, leave a comment in the section below, and follow us on our LinkedIn page as we look forward to curating new content for you!

Got your internship and want to make it a memorable experience? Here are some rules that I follow!

Tracking your web traffic? This post on Google Analytics may give you some business insights.

Working from home during this period? Here are some key takeaways from my in-office turned work-from-home internship.

If you are looking at acquiring some technical skills to stand out, try reading these selection guides for Business Analytics Modules or for General electives!

Image Credits: Photo by Peter Nguyen on Unsplash
Original Post Date: 27 Jul 2020

Categories
Management Marketing

Review: Nanyang Business School Mini Masters in Marketing Management

Mini Masters in Marketing Management

It’s been a while since I last written about course reviews. If you had been following the story, for various reasons, I had decided to enrol back into Nanyang Business School to pursue a Mini Masters in Marketing Management. 5 months of hard work since November last year has finally come to a close! Here’s my course review of each of the modules:

CET016 Marketing Principles & Strategies

This module provides the basics to Marketing Strategy, and also adds a deeper level of understanding. For the students who did Business at Nanyang Technological University, this is the equivalent of AB1501 Marketing, with some elements of BE2502 Innovation Marketing. Content-wise, it is considered rather heavy, however those with basic marketing knowledge should be able to keep up, and also get excited by new concepts introduced.

In general, I enjoyed the classes taught by Dr Lim Boon Chong and Prof Hooi Den Huan. The professors were really helpful in answering queries as well as facilitating the class.

In terms of course load, this is a 4au course. For those unfamiliar with the academic unit system at NTU, 1au is the equivalent of 13 classroom hours, which means 52 classroom hours is used. There was a mix of self-paced learning (22h) and in-class learning (30h), some of which was done through zoom due to the safe distancing measures in Singapore. However, I felt that the actual time and effort put into the course is heavier than expected.

The method of assessment is a 30% MCQ Quiz, a 30% Marketing Written Report, and a 40% Final Written Test.

CET017 Marketing Research

This module provides knowledge for conducting quantitative and qualitative research, I believe there was also some elements on consumer behaviour involved as well. For the students who did Marketing at Nanyang Business School, I believe it corresponds to BM2502 Market Research, with some knowledge from BM2501 Market Behaviour. The content was straightforward to understand, and a marketing manager from Irvin’s salted egg was invited to the session to share about his experience with marketing for Irvin’s.

The profs were very knowledgeable in their lines of teaching. Prof Julien Cayla is an ethnographer by training and he is really good at teaching semiotics, one of the way to carry out qualitative research. Prof Thomas allard was very knowledgeable on the quantitative research aspect, and also invited a speaker to share about quantitative research techniques.

In terms of course load, this is also a 4au course. There was a mix of self-paced learning (22h) and in-class learning (30h), all of which some learning was done through zoom due to the safe distancing measures in Singapore. I felt that it was the right workload for a 4au module.

The method of assessment is 10% Participation, 25% Reflection on Qualitative Research, 25% Reflection on Quantitative Research, 40% Group Brand Audit.

Besides this, I also managed to apply my knowledge in real life, do check my post on quantitative survey fielding here!

CET018 Branding

This module provides knowledge on branding done by a company, topics of which include brand identity, brand transgressions. The course also looks into different types of context of branding, for instance, luxury branding and international branding. I believe that this would correspond to the undergraduate course of BM3506 Strategic Brand Management.

Prof Caleb Tse and Prof Sharon Ng were very knowledgeable and understanding. Knowing that many of us are studying part-time while having full time work, they condensed the workload to a lot of the assessments being done in class, which really helped as I was very busy with a Branding project at work that month. Also, managed to get some brand strategy tips from Prof Caleb, who was really willing to help when I reached out to him via email.

In terms of course load, this is also a 4au course. There was a mix of self-paced learning (22h) and in-class learning (30h), all of which some learning was done through zoom due to the safe distancing measures in Singapore. I felt that the workload itself was more of a 3au course, but the complexities of the course certainly required a deeper understanding of marketing in order to fully appreciate.

The method of assessment was 40% through 4 online quizzes, 30% through two in-class group cases and 30% for a final short essay exam.

CET019 Digital Marketing

This module introduces us to the concept of digitisation, and how the marketing environment has changed in the world of digitisation. We were given the opportunity to also take on some certifications as part of the course assessment, and were taught of the various digital tools available for a digital marketer to work with. I believe that this would correspond to BM2506 Digital Marketing, with a lessened assessment load.

Dr Boey Yew Tung and Dr Wong King Yin managed to share a lot and let us understand more about digital marketing through various cases, where we can assess metrics like conversion rate, as well as measuring marketing effectiveness. I managed to also get some tips about how to improve my blog content and SEO techniques, which I hope to see results coming in and looking forward to doing a new sharing if it works out! (Yes! I changed the colour scheme of my blog because of something I found out during class.)

In terms of course load, this is a 3au course. There was a mix of self-paced learning (9h) and in-class learning (30h), some of which was done through zoom due to the safe distancing measures in Singapore. I felt that the workload matches that of a 3au course, however, the content does get a bit technical at times and it might be tough for people from a non-technical background to follow with the class.

The method of assessment is 15% Google Analytics Certification, 15% Hubspot Inbound Marketing Certification, 30% Reflection Report and 40% Final MCQ Quiz.

Final Words

Overall, I am thankful that I have embarked on this opportunity to further understand marketing, and believe that the knowledge will be useful for me in my career in the long run! I hope that this article is useful to you just like it has been a great reflective journey for me.

Thank you to NTU for the free Alumni Credits for 2020 graduates. I hope to put the knowledge attained to good use in future!

If you liked this page, do bookmark this site, or follow us on our LinkedIn page.

If you are interested in finding out more on my reflections on working and studying at the same time, do read this post!

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student deciding between marketing and analytics, do read my comparison of these two specialisations.

Photo Credits: Original Artwork by Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Marketing

Marketing Research Quantitative Survey Fielding Reflections

Marketing Research: Qualitative Fielding Survey Reflections

Marketing post this time! It’s the 4th post of the year and if you followed the narrative it’s time for a marketing post! Recently, I had the chance to carry out end to end planning and execution of a marketing research for my work on Branding and Pricing Strategy.

I learned marketing research in school, and ran researches while at NTU Students’ Union. Planning, fielding and analysing. Back then, I didn’t realise how hard fielding was. It was just a mass EDM (Email Direct Mailer not Electronic Dance Music) to the whole school, and gifts were provided to participants.

Marketing Research: Problem

Initially, I thought that fielding this survey would be a walk in the park. How hard can it possibly be? I could not have been any more wrong than that.

Marketing Research: Photo of Cold Storage Tampines 1
I was standing right here at the entrance.

After 4 hours at night, standing outside the supermarket with aching arms and legs, there was only 15 respondents, half of what I planned to get in half the time. Reflecting on the experience, I faced 3 main problems:

Firstly, I was abruptly cut off and rejected on introductions.

Good Evening, I’m a Market Researcher from Company X……

I believe that the lag time before running away would likely be glancing for free gifts or maybe something else.

Secondly, I held my tablet with one arm, and definitely that was not the best thing to do. Furthermore, I was travelling with a laptop slung on me inside my bag. As a result, my body was aching all over at the end of the day.

Thirdly, many people were rushing for time and could not take 5 minutes off their schedule to complete the survey.

Either way, my study received minimal participation.

Marketing Research: Solution

After an unsuccessful night, I needed to find a simpler way to get participants to take part in the survey. With careful thought, I thought of 3 solutions:

Solution #1: Refine the Pitch, Starting with Pain Points

I figured out that the first few words spoken influences if customers will continue to listen, and to tie it to their interests. For instance, I did this pitch:

We’re looking at improving our product offering in Company X. Can we take 5 minutes of your time for a short survey?

I started with the customers’ pain point, basically what they came to the supermarket for — to meet their needs.

Naturally, more customers became open to conversation, especially when their needs are met.

Solution #2: Travel Light and Position Strategically

When I turned up for the second day of the survey, I left my laptop at home, only armed with my tablet and QR Code (More on the QR Code Later). Besides that, I also found a place to station at. This meant that I did not need to carry the heavy tablet for the whole day, and could focus on delivering the pitch and executing the survey! The location which I picked also has some foot traffic, which allows more chances to deliver the pitch!

I stationed myself at an ice box where I could leave my items and also reach customers.

Solution #3: Explore Alternative Methods for Participation

If the customers are rushing for time and just have no time, you can bring the survey to them! I printed a QR Code to allow customers to scan and carry out the survey on the go, which solves the rush hour problem. In addition, when I went to the store on a weekend, I noticed the long queues forming. Instantly, I jumped onto the opportunity to survey the customers in the queue! When customers are already there and do not spend additional time, they are more open to being surveyed!

Did up a QR Code! Intentionally Truncated the QR so that it can’t be used!

Marketing Research: What more can be done?

While I did finish my survey after 3 days? What could I have done better? If I had more time to plan, I would have set up an actual booth, and prepare gift vouchers from the company as incentive for taking part in the survey.

Marketing research on a weekend!
Fielding my research on a weekend well spent!

Closing Words

Finally, I hope that this reflection provided a new perspective on improving your quantitative marketing research. I wish you aspiring market researchers the best of luck in your next research!

If you liked this post, do check out our course review on the Mini Masters in Marketing Management at NBS, where I have also reviewed about the marketing research course.

In addition, if you liked reading about this post, do follow us on our LinkedIn Page. Also, you might want to read about learning analytics versus marketing!

Image Credits: Original Photography from Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Management Marketing

Why I decided to return to University while Working Full Time

This may look like a random carpark but for students at NTU, this is an iconic stretch we find ourselves walking down at least once a week.

I found myself back on campus again, not as a full-time student, but an adult learner. Just last month, I made the decision to enrol in the MiniMasters in Marketing Management at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. For those who may be contemplating whether you should return to campus for lessons while working, here is 3 of my reasons.

Awareness of Knowledge Gap

First of my reasons for returning to school was that I felt that I did not have enough knowledge in my current industry and interest in management. While in the retail and FMCG industry, the conversations tended to be along the lines of consumer behaviour, marketing strategies and trends. While I had taken some marketing modules before, as well as did two marketing internships, I did not have a deep enough understanding of the full picture of marketing. I decided to sign up to improve my understanding of marketing strategy, marketing research, branding and digital marketing.

Networking Opportunities

Going back to campus also gives me the chance to interact with people from various backgrounds and settled into different professions. This provides even more opportunity for an early career professional like me to understand the perspectives of both early career and experienced professionals and in my field and other fields. Honestly, in retrospect, I also found out after the first lesson there is so many different cultures which students from different schools in my university had both in class and outside of class! This meant even more room for intellectual growth and understanding of the whole business environment!

Application of Theory into Practice

One benefit which I realised as a working professional back in school is also the application of theory into practice. Having the context to think of (despite being just four months at work) is a really good chance to really look at my experience at work through a theoretical lens and understanding why certain decisions are being made at work.

Contrary to popular belief, I believe that both my MiniMasters experience so far and undergraduate experience is highly applicable to the working environment!

I’m sure that it would be a pleasant experience for me to immerse in the marketing space.

Let’s all continue prospecting forward in our journey of lifelong learning!

Looking forward to sharing more about my MiniMasters in Marketing Management journey! Here are some takeaways from my experience!

If you are interested in taking the Mini Masters in Marketing Management too, do read our course reviews here.

While I have this opportunity to do both business analytics and marketing, if you are faced with a choice between either, do read this post!

Which Major to Pick? Business Analytics vs Marketing (Ex-NBS Student)

Don’t think you can commit to part time courses in university? Self-paced learning might be for you:

Reflections from 3 Months of Distance Learning on Coursera

Image Credits: Photo by Wengang Zhai on Unsplash