Reflective Journal 1

This report meets the requirements and conditions of the academic honesty statement
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Reflective Journal
Eva Cheng
MKRT 4201
Instructors’ name
Reflective Journal 2

Table of Contents
IMC Project: Phase 1.................................................................................................................3
Strategic insights....................................................................................................................3
IMC Project: Phase 2.................................................................................................................3
Design: Branding...................................................................................................................3
IMC Project: Phase 3.................................................................................................................4
Campaign...............................................................................................................................4
IMC Project: Phase 4.................................................................................................................5
The final presentation to the client site..................................................................................5
Individual Assignment: Content Calendar.................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
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IMC Project: Phase 1

Strategic insights.
For the first phase of this project, I worked alongside my teammates in crafting strategic
insights for the project. Various issues arose during my time working on the first phase.
Although my teammates and I struggled to get back on track following these issues, the
comeback allowed us to become even better at research at taking up group activities. The first
issue was a lack of teamwork. Meeting for the first time, we could not settle on the various
roles assigned to each team member. This was because there was uneven distribution in the
task size. In essence, some tasks were too big while others were too small, yet they all needed
to e assigned to a team member. Eventually, we decided that two team members could share
the big tasks while smaller tasks would be for individual team members. This is where the
second issue arose again. The paired members could still not work together towards the
common objective. At this stage, we needed to redesign the task structure to ensure that all
team members get equal shares of tasks within the projects. In this first phase, as part of my
contribution to the group, I became vast in value proposition and strategy analysis exploring
various consumer segments, customer groups, and barriers that may reduce performance. In
addition, I practiced active listening and problem solving while handling the issues within the
group to complete the project.
Working on this project also allowed me to read, research, and understand the white rock
museum and how it came about. I received vast chunks of information from various sources,
including my teammates, effectively widening my White Rock Museum view.
The most admirable part of phase 1 is the reintegration of work and effort from team
members to complete the project effectively. My teammates decided to work together after
long feuds that did not seem to end. This move is what enabled us to progress to the next
phase successfully. However, one of the biggest challenges of Phase 1 is the workload and
the constricted time frame to complete the project. Factor in that my teammates and I had
wasted some good time arguing, restricting, and strategizing to progress; now, the time frame
would be even more limited than before. This caused pressure to build up within the
teammates, and the air became tense. Due to the rushing in this stage, we had limited time for
problem identification and solution building. This meant that the implementation stage was
certainly delayed. Another problem identified in the project, although minor, was the gaps
missing from our presentation. One of my teammates tasked with proofreading and finalizing
our project document did not do the best job. As such, our presentation was missing page
numbers, in-text citations in certain areas that require a citation, and the general grammar of
the report. By the time we had assembled all the parts, the report was difficult to read and
follow. Different team members did different pasts, which did not seem to flow throughout
the report. To effectively work as a team, I realized that all teammates should be a part of
what is discussed within the project. This ensures there is an exemplary flow in the final
presentation. Also, it helps build rapport and boost interaction between teammates, making it
easier for them to work together.

IMC Project: Phase 2

Design: Branding
In the second phase, we encountered a few of the issues we discussed in phase 1. these issues
included limited time following wastage of time in assigning tasks, disintegrated constant on
the final report presented, and complete lack of teamwork among the team members. While it
was clear after the first presentation that we needed to work more on our teamwork skills, the
limited time frame could not allow anyone to focus on other issues but the group project
available. This meant that members only struggled to do their part of the project as fast as
Reflective Journal 4

possible to get the job done. Most of my team said the pressure was too much, and they could
not afford to wait for another person before finalizing their part. This issue resulted in a
disoriented report just like the first time. While in a hurry, the group had again missed the
opportunity to bond and work together on one project. It, therefore, became apparent that the
group members were occupied with other issues in their lives. Adding the mounting pressures
r to the load and baggage they already had in their spare time made them rush through the
project without minding the outcomes.
However, as time progressed through the project, a few team members became friends, and
they started working together on their parts. This aspect seems to incentivize others who were
still behind. I have therefore started noticing some changes in the behavior of the group. They
seem to be more united and focused on progress. Therefore, from the second phase, I learned
and understood the fundamentals of effective communication among team amates and how it
drives performance. Although the final submission was just like the first one, I was motivated
by the feedback provided by the tutor. Although he maintained that we still needed to address
some typo issues and minor formatting issues, he was adamant that we were well on the right
track with our branding. On pour slide presentation, he said we had articulated the words well
and given out the best version of the brand. He also insisted that we make sure the slide is
visible short, and exciting for the reader.
As mentioned earlier, one of our major problems was the presence of a disorganized group.
However, as time progressed, the team members started making friends with each other,
effectively helping to reduce this issue. We learned the importance of time management and
effective communication. We also learn the importance of labeling displays for branding
proposes to ensure they are visible to the consumer. These are the critical parts in this phase
to ensure the message gets back to the consumer. Communication continued to be an issue all
through. Some team members missed meetings without reason or prior communication. We
had to manually look for them in order o pass the message they had missed. The push became
too much, and it started to breed feelings of indifference among the members, with others
saying they felt trapped in the group. Although this was a negative experience, I used it as an
opportunity to develop and maintain my social skill to stay on task effectively.

IMC Project: Phase 3

Campaign.
During Phase 3, only a few issues from the previous two phases arose. They include our
team's inability to present a flawless presentation. The fact that was still merging the pieces
assigned to each group member still presented a challenge. This issue also affected the order
and organization of ideas in our presentation. my teammates and I worked hard to be
convincing and layout innovative ideas for our campaign, including online and media
companies. In one of our discussions, the group decided that social media campaigns and
community-level campaigns were the best approaches to the camping aspect of this project.
However, when it came to presentation, these ideas were not laid out precisely as we had
discussed them in the group. The second issue we had was communication. This issue also
reemerged from the previous phases. Although at a minimum level, lack of communication or
the breakdown in communication channels greatly affected the final presentation as most
points were all over the presentation. This resulted in a somewhat negative comment from the
instructor. He emphasized on being precise and convincing on a campaign project. He
insisted that if the points were not clear enough to the average person, how would they
convince the ordinary consumer. This point made sense, and I quickly saw the need for
revising the presentation for phase 3.
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Another comment from the tutor indicated a lack of sufficient research to cover the project.
He insisted that research is critical to getting our points in order and factual. As part of our
revision, we work to align our points for better delivery of the content and the common typos
and grammar errors observed through the previous phases. Upon resubmission, the tutor
further corrected our digital marketing strategy, saying we need to be specific ad provide a
rationale as to why we are using a digital marketing strategy to enrich our campaigns. He
noted that while this was a good idea, especially with the era of Covid and people wanting to
stay indoors, we need to be more specific to what we chose out of the many digital marketing
platforms.
Lack of proper communication was another major issue that arose in this phase. Like in the
previous phases, one of the group members went silent during the revision phase. Again, we
had to look for him manually as he was not responding to text messages and our calls. Upon
finding him, time and already elapsed, and we were now working under a tight schedule.
Similarly, like in phases one and two, the members were now struggling to complete the
project rather than ensure that the points, facts, and research materials were correct. We also
added a few references to the document as part of our revision. On forwarding the revised
presentation to the tutor, we received feedback that provided the psych and morale to
continue the next phase.
Essentially the group was solely focused on the individual parts assigned to them and did not
care what the next part required or how to fuse one part with another without exposing the
gap. The total disengagement of members forms the project, the limited time frame for
revision, and the lack of proper and adequate communication are issues that were driving
down our performance. The lack of adequate research materials also introduced a valid
concern about how in-depth our analysis and report are. Finally, the tutor commented on the
designs for the campaign and the need to use attractive bright colors to capture the
consumer's attention. This would be an effective way of attracting attention to the brand and
driving traffic to the brand's websites to increase brand recognition.

IMC Project: Phase 4

The final presentation to the client site
This stage brought about unexpected development to the project. Following the tutor's
remarks in the previous phases, my group member decides to give it one last try. Since phase
one, we have pulled our efforts together to address the tutors' recurrent companies. The
biggest challenge we addressed was the lack of proper communication, the presentation of
disorganized work, and the increasing typos and grammar mistakes. Also, we addressed the
issue of disorganized points in the presentation. At this stage, I was supposed when all the
members decided to give it their all.
We organized meetings to discuss these points in-depth, researched them, and decided on
what points to put where and how they should be explained. Furthermore, we created an
earlier deadline for the presentation to meet again to review the presentation and make our
corrections before forwarding it to the tutor. I was surprised when my teammates decided to
work together to deliver just that. We looked at previous presentations and advised the
member who was assigned. We discussed how to create and design the presentation to align
the points with what the tutor had instructed. In the end, I was surprised by the comment
given by the tutor. He commented on the tremendous improvement and the vast difference in
our general performance. I could see the happiness and satisfaction in my teammate's faces
following the reward for their hard work for the first time.
In the end, and completely disregarding the previous comments in the previous phases, our
team did an excellent job presenting the final presentation to the client. This was, in all
Reflective Journal 6

fairness, the final chance we had to make a difference before it was given to the client. In
addition, I gathered that this project could have been easier and less stressful if we had
managed our time better and put more attention to growth. Also, it was not good that we kept
repeating the same mistakes from phase 1 to phase 3. Finally, we could have reduced stress
and anxiety within the group by effectively discussing points together and agreeing on each
point to be included in the final presentation. The group effectively tackled all the hard
points, making it easier for other members to join in and efficiently do their parts.

Individual Assignment: Content Calendar

This individual assignment was somewhat challenging for me. I had a hard time generating
the content for each media marketing since most were a repetition of what had already been
done. However, I applied the same principles we used as a group in the first to fourth phases
to complete this assuagement effectively. From our discussions, I remembered the tutors'
comments on digital marketing and the need to be precise and to the point. This aspect
informed the information I put on my content calendar. The feedback I received was
moderate and somewhat shocking. I have completed all the calendar elements well according
to the satisfactory checkbox on the rubric. However, I was surprised to be given a score of
minimal to marginal in some of the parts. In the end, I learned a lot about marketing and the
prerequisite of an effective content calendar. I have also learned the importance of having a
content calendar to effectively plan, put time and be strategic on the insights that drive a
person to various campaign and branding activities.

Conclusion.
In retrospect, the completion of this project as enabled me to learn more about myself and
develop both management and organizational skill. As part of leading my team, I was
responsible for the constant setback provided. After doing some research on team
management and teamwork, I decided to apply the same logic to my teammates on the last
assignment for the client, and it worked with tremendous results. In doing so, I have found
myself being optimistic in life, goal-oriented, and performance-oriented, and I reduced my
issues with procrastination. I have also learned that hesitation and indecisiveness are killers of
a good team project, and I am actively working to reduce this.
Further, the project demonstrated that while I may have learned a lot during this period, I still
have more to learn to be proficient in my team interaction and drive performance. If there
was one thing, I could tell the others who are joining this course, it is to make better use of
the time provided by the instruction. I would recommend that they plan their activities and set
timelines to ensure they meet their objectives. Also, I would urge them to observe
communication as it is the biggest killer of ideas and the reason for most failures. Finally, I
would recommend them to be focused and stay focused, always accept revision as a form of
correction and not a guarantee for a low score.
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