Brand Activation Intern Review

Working with both VM for lightbox management for in store visibility. Working with suppliers on POS designs amends. Presentations to marketing team. Raising PO's. Ordering GWP stock for display and new counter launches. Visiting sites for new launches. Working on trade to organise GWP's, including raising codes and organising subcontractor briefs. Managing national eventing plans for our counters by creating content and presentations. Analysing sales this year vs last year.

Developed my communication and built upon my presentation skills to match the industry. Learning how large scale design elements are rolled out over the country. Understanding how we work alongside suppliers for design elements and about working with a given budget. Worked alongside retail design team to design planograms based on international guidelines. Learnt how to use excel much more confidently and how to time manage more efficiently.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility- This included project management for a Boots display unit which included working with my own budget and with international teams for design approval. I manage the wrapping / eventing GWP allocations which go out to our retailers and am responsible for ensuring the doors don't run low on stock. Organising all products and planograms to ensure our new counters can be merchandised ahead of launches.

I received a huge amount of support during my placement from my managers throughout the year. My initial handover was not very thorough so I found my first month or two to be a slight struggle whilst I tried to catch-up/ self teach. I would've appreciated there being more support readily available for this time so I didn't need to reach out so regularly. When new systems were introduced most people were keen to help, however sometimes struggled when new team members came in who were unfamiliar with the processes. I would've found it more useful if we had more guidance on future career opportunities early on within the role, instead of at the end, so I could have streamlined my projects to align with this and to be more sure of the decision I was going to make going forward.

Company culture generally very hands on and friendly. Sociable atmosphere in the office however found that brands didn't generally mix very much between each other unless previous colleagues. 3pm Friday finishes in summer were great (would have loved this to have continued in winter) Post covid- more events/ leaving do's etc were organised within the team which was nice to socialise in a more relaxed environment. Drinks trolleys and brand events in the office were a great way to speak to more people. Citizens charity day gets us out of the office. Have noticed a lot of people working extra hours due to how busy their schedules are.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year. I've worked alongside a great team in office, with contact with even more field teams. I've sometimes found I've been completing jobs which weren't on my job description however I've tried to use this to my advantage in terms of experience to use in the future. As my role was split between 2 I was given an oversight into 2 roles, and managed to pick up marketing experience which I didn't expect to gain! With everybody back in the office it's been a great company culture however I would've liked to bridge the gap with senior management slightly more!

Yes

I would say to research into the brands company ethos, brands and activations (especially its approach to sustainability.) I'd use any skills you have to your advantage, the interns which join have very minimal experience so use anything you can to help you to stand out! Show you are really keen to learn- there's a big focus on learning here with different courses available and the opportunity to shadow different members of the team.