The Mind Behind the Marketing
I'm Akhlesh, an aspiring digital marketer. I'm drawn to the question underneath most marketing: why do people choose one brand over another? I'm building my skills by researching real brands, planning content, and checking my thinking against evidence.
My journey
How I got here
I became interested in digital marketing through a simple curiosity: how brands connect with real people, and how an insight about a customer can become a useful piece of communication. Instead of only reading about marketing, I decided to learn it by doing projects end to end.
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Starting point
Curiosity about customers and brands
Wanting to understand why customers trust some brands and hesitate with others.
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October 2026 · Project 01
Researching Minimalist
My first full project: market trends, audience segments, customer reviews, competitors and a strategy, presented in a 12-slide deck. Read it.
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Project 02
Turning strategy into a content plan
I took the Project 01 recommendations and built a 30-day content calendar to see whether they would work as a real schedule. Read it.
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Now
Looking for my first role in marketing
Seeking an internship or entry-level role where I can learn from experienced marketers and work on real campaigns.
My learning philosophy
Understand the problem before choosing the marketing channel.
It's tempting to start with “we need more Reels” or “let's run ads”. I try to start one step earlier: what is actually stopping the customer, and what would help?
Example from Project 01When I read Minimalist's customer reviews, many complaints were about delivery, stock and damaged packaging rather than the products. More social content wouldn't fix that, so my recommendations included clearer order tracking and post-purchase communication alongside content.
Currently learning
What I'm studying right now
Market research
Using reports, brand sources and reviews to understand a category and its trends.
Practised in Project 01
Customer journeys
Following people from discovery to repeat purchase, and the questions they have at each stage.
Practised in Project 01 and Project 02
Segmentation
Grouping customers by need and concern, and keeping those groups as hypotheses until tested.
Practised in Project 01
Positioning
Comparing how brands describe themselves and where there is room to stand apart.
Practised in Project 01
Content strategy
Pillars, formats, hooks, calls to action and posting cadence that serve a clear objective.
Practised in Project 02
Business economics
How pricing, costs and customer value affect marketing decisions. This is the area I'm newest to.
First step: price-range comparison in Project 01
What I bring, and where you can see it
Each strength is paired with an example from my own work.
Structured research
EvidenceProject 01 draws on five kinds of source: an industry report, an India market research page, the brand's own website, product reviews and Instagram comments.
Careful with claims
EvidenceAudience segments are labelled as hypotheses, global market data is marked as not representing the brand, and every educational post in Project 02 carries a fact-checking note.
Turning analysis into a plan
EvidenceProject 02 takes the content pillars recommended in Project 01 and works them into 30 days of posts, each with an objective and a KPI.
Customer-first thinking
EvidenceDays 18–22 of the calendar plan messages for delayed orders, abandoned carts and complaints, based on pain points found in customer reviews.
How each step looked in my projects
| Step | What I did |
|---|---|
| 01Research | Collected market data, brand information and customer reviews for Minimalist. |
| 02Analysis | Grouped review comments into themes, compared five competitors and drafted audience segments. |
| 03Planning | Wrote strategic objectives, channel roles, content pillars and a KPI framework. |
| 04Execution | Built a 30-day content calendar with hooks, CTAs and notes on what to verify before publishing. |
| 05Improvement | Listed what I'd do better: record the review sample size, validate segments with a survey, and date-stamp prices. |
What I'm working toward
A digital marketing internship or entry-level role
Ideally in social media, content or marketing research, on a team where I can learn from experienced marketers.
Run a plan and measure it
Move from proposed KPIs to real ones by running content and reading the results.
Get hands-on with analytics
Learn tools such as Google Analytics and Meta Business Suite, which my projects propose for tracking.
Tools I've used
Listed only where my work shows it.
- Google Sheets 30-day content calendar
Connect with me
Happy to talk marketing
If you're hiring for an internship or entry-level role, or you'd simply like to share advice, I'd be glad to hear from you.