BlewMinds: Leveraging Influencer Communication Strategies

In 2016, BlewMinds Consulting LLP was launched as a storytelling consulting start-up with the vision of touching and transforming five billion lives by 2030. One of the two co-founders was already well-known on the LinkedIn social network platform, with more than 600,000 followers. He was also recognized as one of the 25 Top Voices in India by LinkedIn for 2019. The company transformed 725,000 lives directly and 200 million readers indirectly through social media stories, one-on-one training, group coaching sessions, webinars, and speaking engagements, driven mainly by the co-founder’s extensive LinkedIn follower base. However, to realize the company’s vision, several questions remained: How could the co-founders 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 by effectively leveraging the co-founder’s strategic influencer communication on social media? Should the company continue its bootstrapped business model or should investors be sought?

This case is suitable for graduate- and postgraduate-level courses on business communication, social media marketing, and business strategy. The case is also highly relevant for elective courses and training programs on the topic of storytelling skills. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to<ul><li>describe the important components of effective storytelling for organizational purposes;</li><li>clarify how storytellers can be trained to establish trust while communicating with an audience;</li><li>understand how social media influencers can effectively leverage strategic communication for an associated organization; and</li><li>recognize how an organization can remain bootstrapped and still expand organically.</li></ul>

• storytelling
• social media influencer
• influencer communication
• bootstrapped
• social media
• trust building
• communication