provide a brief overview of the situation and, using the key concepts from BlewMinds leveraging influencer case study, the steps that can be taken to remedy the issues. The goal of the presentation is to convince your audience that your communications will best address the problem you identified in the case study. Introduce the problem your communications are going to address and use the following sections of your final project to persuade your peers: ? Goals ? Justification ? Types of internal and external communications ? Mediums for both communications ? Target audiences and cultural considerations ? Potential sources of conflict ? Alignment with mission, vision, and goals

Measurement?internal and external

Reference is included

IVEY | Publishing MDI GURGAON Management Development Institute W25336 BLEWMINDS: LEVERAGING INFLUENCER COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES Puja Agarwal and Neera Jain wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G ON1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveypublishing.ca. Our goal is to publish materials of the highest quality; submit any errata to publishcases@ivey.ca. Copyright2022, Management Development Institute Gurgaon and Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2022-02-28 On a Sunday evening in March 2021, Sandeep Kochhar sat in the living room of his condominium in Gurgaon, India, scrolling through his profile page on LinkedIn Corporation (LinkedIn), the world's largest professional network. According to LinkedIn, he had 602,219 followers, which was a considerable increase over the 2,500 followers he'd had in 2016. It seemed like only yesterday he had started writing and sharing his life stories on LinkedIn. He was proud of the exponential growth he had achieved in terms of a loyal audience for his writing. But could he achieve the same level of growth in terms of a loyal client base for his start-up BlewMinds Consulting LLP (Blew Minds)? Blew Minds was a storytelling consulting firm founded by Sandeep and his wife Vishwapriya in 2016. The couple aimed "to touch and transform 5B [five billion] lives by year 2030," based on their company's vision statement. By 2021, BlewMinds had already managed to reach 725,000 people directly and 200 million readers indirectly through social media stories. The company offered one-on-one training, group coaching sessions, webinars, and speaking engagements. Most of this success was driven by Sandeep's extensive follower base on the LinkedIn social media platform. To realize its vision, however, BlewMinds had to rapidly expand its customer base, which raised several questions for the co-founders to resolve: How would they create a community of storytellers within the organization who could effectively establish trust through communication and contribute collectively to the company's growth? How could they engage a wider audience for BlewMinds by effectively leveraging Sandeep's strategic influencer communication on social media? Should the owners continue personally funding (i.e., bootstrapping) their business, or should they consider attracting investors? THE BEGINNING In 2007, Sandeep completed his postgraduate degree in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, one of the premier business schools in India. For about four years, he worked as associate vice-president at the British Council in India, a leading British organization that specialized in international cultural and educational opportunities. During this time, Sandeep implemented vital service 1 "Sandeep's Activity," LinkedIn, accessed March 8, 2021, www.linkedin.com/in/sandeepkochhar/detail/recent-activity. 2 "Our Story," BlewMinds, accessed March 8, 2021, https://www.blewminds.com/our-story/who-are-we. 3 "Our Culture," BlewMinds, accessed March 8, 2021, https://www.blewminds.com/our-culture.