Online Marketing Class During the Pandemic

Let me tell you my experience in the first fully online marketing class.

First Meeting

I remember the first meeting was very awkward because you have to talk to new people without seeing them in person. There was a lot of tension and dead air going on. With online meetings, it is challenging to encourage members to unmute microphones and talk to each other, especially when we did not know each other well yet.

Due to the lack of ice-breaking activities in this circumstance, dead air moments occurred so much in meetings at the beginning of the semester. However, after a while, we get more comfortable with each other and can work together more effectively.

Working together Online

With class lectures, even though the content is interesting, it is tiring to focus on the screen for a long time. In the beginning, this was not a problem. However, when it continues for months, it takes more effort to be focused and active throughout the whole 3 hours. Other than this, I still enjoy the lecture's content and think that it is useful.

For working with the team, online communication was the most challenging thing. Sometimes the meeting becomes extremely long (2 hours+) just because it was hard for us to understand each other virtually. It was also hard to know how each member feels about the work as we do not see each other physically.

However, it is good that members still try to work effectively. We always divide work so that it is clear what each person is responsible for. Most of the time, I would be generating ideas during discussions, conducting interviews, presenting, and helping others when needed.

Collaboration with BANPU

Getting a chance to work with BANPU is a great opportunity to get hands-on real-life projects. At some point, it was pretty confusing what we have to do and what the expectations are. With the team effort, now the project has a clear scope and we are trying to work towards the final deliverables.

Honestly, in the beginning, I was not that into the project because it feels just like doing research. It is even worst when all this research has to be conducted online and you cannot even conduct face-to-face interviews. There was no sense of excitement when it is all online. However, after working on it, it becomes more interesting. Now, I am excited for our team to combine all the results and be creative on the marketing strategies that we will suggest to BANPU!

Expectations towards the end

At the end of the semester, I am excited to see the outcome of our team's final presentation. I hope that we will be able to present the analyzed data from research and interviews and be able to suggest marketing strategies that will be helpful for BANPU. I also hope that all my inputs and effort will help our team to achieve our goals.