Consumer Market Knowledge Internships Customer Business Development/Sales Internships Engineering Internships External Relations Internships Finance & Accounting Internships Human Resources Internships Information & Decision Solutions Internships Manufacturing Internships

Marketing Internships

Marketing Intern BlogsResearch & Development Internships Strategic Purchasing Internships Supply Network Operations Internships  

Marketing Intern Blogs

[30.7.2010]
One final hello from Schwalbach!

Now it is over – my 11 weeks with P&G have come to an end. I held my final presentation, had a very nice goodbye dinner with my team and a sweet surprise to say goodbye to my colleagues today. It's incredible how fast time can pass by.

It was a great experience, especially the last weeks were at the same time very tough and very rewarding: I finished my two projects while closely working together with the external agencies and my colleague who is taking them over. As the projects came closer and closer to their execution phase, it got very exciting to see how the visuals develop, the briefings for different shootings are done and the multibrand commercial innovations really get their shape. I'm already very excited to see the executions live in store next year! Watch out what you see from P&G in summer 2011 ;)

A final note before I leave into vacation: I can only recommend to try and join P&G for an internship. It is really challenging, but extremely interesting because you get your own projects with full responsibility and you probably see them executed in store some time later! You are really challenged every single day, but you also get great rewards – very nice colleagues, friends even, personal development, and maybe, maybe even an offer to join the company afterwards. Try it, then try if P&G is the right employer for you, whether you like the atmosphere and work here and then engage and be successful!

It was a lot of fun to share my experience with you – I hope you got some insights in how marketing internships with P&G are!

All the best!

[9.7.2010]
Hi from sunny Schwalbach!

8 weeks down, 3 more to go – incredible how fast time passes by! My final presentation is getting closer and closer, presentations need to be finished, briefings want to be written and the last lunch dates are organized. Oh, and the World Cup is already over – Germany with a really good 3rd place, but so sad that we missed the final :-(

The last two weeks I've been mainly working on finalizing my two projects, i.e. setting up all the documents, one pagers, presentations and briefings that are needed to wrap up my internship. Now when you start wrapping up things you discover a lot of things that are still missing – so my to do lists grew and grew over the last two weeks…But I'm positive, it's still a lot of fun, especially because now my projects really get their “shape” so I can already imagine how it's all going to look like in the stores next year :-) This is really great fun when you see your ideas visualized for the first time and then start talking to people and they actually like what you have done!

I'm also doing a lot of agency briefings lately as one of my projects has gone from the conceptualization into the execution phase – and now we need not only creative people that come up with nice topics and ideas, but also mock ups for packaging and displays, storyboards for the TV copy and so on and so forth. It's great fun doing this because I get to work with a lot of different people – sometimes challenging, sometimes refreshing – and to hear external perspectives on what we've done so far. But as I already said – a lot of things are still on the to do list, so I better get to work now!

Hope you enjoy the nice weather!

[25.6.2010]
Hello again!

Wow, this has been a busy two weeks – this is also the reason why I couldn't keep you updated last week, it's so much work to do right now that I just didn't find the time to write. It's crazy, half of my internship is already over – I had my midterm assessment this week and can't believe that it's only 5 more weeks to go!

I've been mainly working on my two big projects these last two weeks – reiterating concepts, working together with several agencies on conceptualization and implementation and calculations, calculations, calculations. Calculating the potential of campaigns, calculating the impact of campaigns, calculating the cost of campaigns – you see, you also have to (at least a bit) like numbers when working for P&G. But this part is also interesting because it's something more "substantial" than concept development. You work a lot with estimates, and with the data evaluated from past campaigns, which also gives you a nice insight in what happened here in the last years.

Nice insights we also got when we attended the Brand & Business Building Awards WE – the Marketing "Oscars" of P&G. The winners of the Western European contest participate in the finals in Cincinnati. It was a really nice offsite event last Monday – of course under the topic "Soccer" – with huge success for the DACH region. And it was especially interesting for me because we got to see a lot of campaigns and initiatives of the last year which was very inspiring for my projects :-)

Then we also had our fiscal year end all employee meeting on Thursday here in Schwalbach where the estimated results of the last fiscal year are presented and the mission plan for the next fiscal year. It was very interesting and also motivating – and rewarding as there was a huge summer party afterwards ;) Sunny weather, nice people, very good food and drinks and just a relaxed atmosphere – nice end of two very very busy weeks.

I better get back to work now – there's still a lot to do before I can take off into the weekend and enjoy the sun :-)

Bye!

[18.6.2010]
Hello from sunny Germany!

After the intense last week, this week was not only filled with a lot of sunshine here in Frankfurt, but also with a bit more time to focus on the long-term projects I've been working on. So this week by work has been very conceptual – thinking about the final presentation, what I want to say and show, structuring the workload and writing To-Do-lists. Although I'm still overwhelmed by the responsibility I'm given I finally feel more or less in control of the projects and processes which is a really good feeling :-)

However, I was really nervous as we tested the concepts of one of my projects on Wednesday for the very first time in direct contact with the consumer! Apart from quantitative market research tools such as online surveys, we also have our "Meet Your Consumer" qualitative research tool which I told you about last week. Now on Wednesday was the big day – and I was the one asking the questions! Luckily I got a quick wrap-up-session of the "Dos and Don'ts" of MYC on Monday, but it was still very exciting. We met up with three very nice women and after introducing ourselves, I explained the project and the concepts to them – and I was very happy when they immediately started discussing the topics. It was a really interesting experience because you see the ideas you've been working on for weeks for the very first time in "real life testing"! Now I'm consolidating the results and waiting for our quantitative research to be finished in order to finalize the ideas.

As a last thing, I want to mention the cross-country cooperation David already talked about in his blog – you're welcome, David! You also really helped me with your insights about the project :-)

Talk to you soon!

[4.6.2010]
Hi again!

Now this week has passed quickly – another bank holiday in Germany and Friday out of office, so only three working days for me which made this week really challenging!

The last three days I mainly worked on surveys regarding the concepts we developed for our next campaigns. We have several tools to work with, one mainly quantitative – an online survey – and one qualitative survey where we meet up with consumers and have the chance to talk and directly get their feedback. I really have my hopes set high for the results, especially of the last survey, as it gives us the opportunity to understand the likes and dislikes of the different concepts and consequently improve them. As the concepts are the key part of the projects I'm working for I'm very much looking forward to the results!

The second exciting event this week was that we got a new team member! Until now it's only been my boss and me in our team, but as of June 1st we're three :-) Our new Assistant Brand Manager Eva will be taking over some huge MBCIs and after my internship also my projects. It's really nice to have someone new on board and I'm looking forward to working with her.

As this week was so short I don't really have much more to talk about – and besides, I better get back to work now, a lot of organizational stuff piling up on my desk and I have to prepare for some meetings this week.

Enjoy the sunny weather! :-)

[28.5.2010]
Hello again!

Time passes by so fast – now my second week with P&G already comes to an end! Which also means that there are only 9 weeks left to get my projects done – wow… Looking forward to that challenge :-)

This week was really nice – it's still very exciting and I get to know new things and new people every single day, but I also feel more comfortable because I already know some people, have more lunch dates arranged and was able to deliver some first analyses and results. Lunch dates – one word about that! Lunch dates are very important at P&G – okay, you know that from every other company as well, if you don't have anyone to go to lunch with, it doesn't make the best impression. And here at P&G it's not only an opportunity to meet your friends or colleague and eat, but it's used really proactively for networking. You're expected to arrange lunch dates with as many people as possible, and especially with your bosses to get to know them and keep them on track regarding your progress and your projects. At first I was not really enthusiastic about this, but I quickly grew to like this approach: You really connect better with the people – not only during the lunch dates which are really interesting, but already when you try to arrange them during your onboardings or meetings. Now my lunch calendar for the next two weeks is almost fully booked – and I'm really looking forward to build my network here at P&G!

Regarding my projects, I tried to push them this week and get my concepts done – someone told me this week to always keep the end in mind, so I'm trying to develop visions for my final presentations and then work towards them. I also got another smaller project with a very close deadline for which I have to talk to a lot of people who are working with customers, i.e. retailers. This is really interesting as it gives first-hand insights into the retail world – and it can also be very funny when you go shopping and suddenly realize all the promotions and differences between the retailers you just heard about in your meetings.

One of the last things I did this week was to attend today's training – as you've probably heard, P&G says that they invest heavily into the capabilities of their people, and today I got a very good proof that they really do that. We followed the pink Duracell-rabbit into Digital Wonderland – and seriously, I felt a bit like Alice ;) It was a whole day filled with speeches and workshops about Digital, very interesting, informative and fun. Starting with an introduction into the topic by Pirjo Väliaho which was very impressive, we got an impression of Digital today at P&G and the aspirations. After the lunch break, we were split up into workshop groups. I was lucky and got my first choice, Mobile Marketing: In 1.5 hours, a mobile marketing agency introduced us to the different possibilities of mobile marketing – be it iPhone or iPad apps, crossmedia interaction or mobile advertising. The training was a very nice insight into the Digital World and the Wonderland with endless opportunities, also for P&G, and a great end to a very good week!

[21.5.2010]
Hi everyone,

Another new face on the P&G internship blog! My name is Hanna Lisa and I'm brand-new in the P&G world - I just started my internship this week. I'm working in Schwalbach as a Marketing intern and I'm super-excited for the coming 10 weeks – to experience P&G, to learn a whole lot of new things and to share these moments with you. I'll be leaving this blog at the end of July when my internship ends – hopefully with great memories!

First some words about me: I am about to finish my Master's degree from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, a small private university located in Vallendar near the river Rhine. After my internship with P&G I will spend the last semester of the degree in Stockholm at the SSE (Stockholm School of Economics) before finally graduating in January 2011. I'm doing classical Business Administration with specializations on Marketing and Economics – and I really enjoyed studying, but now I feel it is time to finally start working. Therefore, I'm really looking forward to the next 2.5 months and the insights into P&G!

But now to the really exciting news: My start at P&G! As I started in the middle of the month, I had no formal Onboarding, but a shorter version of the introduction to P&G, its structure and processes. This was great as it gave a good insight into this really big company, but it was also a tiny little bit scary as I got a first idea of how interrelated and interdependent all the different functions and projects are. Then I got to know my "team" – and "team" because we're just two at the moment! It is only the MBCI leader and me, but we probably get an ABM – Assistant Brand Manager – on June 1st. Actually, I really like this very small team size :-) It makes this experience even more special.

The small team size is also great as I had to dive headfirst into my internship projects! I still can't believe that I was so lucky to get these two – the topics are great, the ideas are great, the brands are great, the responsibility is great! The first project is the development of a multi-brand commercial innovation for the Women's Soccer Worldcup 2011 which will be held in Germany. Maybe you've seen this year's campaign "Football Fun" in the stores? You can collect points and redeem them for premiums – and this will essentially be the idea of next year's MBCI as well. However, as it is for female soccer, we will try to develop a new concept – it's going to be really interesting, I promise! The second project is the assessment and development of a loyalty program for P&G – P&G has a very successful loyalty program in China and wants to explore whether there are opportunities for a European or German loyalty system. Also a very complex and interesting topic!

This week was mainly filled with Onboarding Meetings where I got to know my colleagues and the functions they are working for. I also started with the development of the concept for female soccer – for this, and for the loyalty program, we are closely working together with agencies. So a lot of my work will be coordination, agency briefing and development.
There are so many more topics and projects to write about that I have to force myself to stop – but I hope you got a first impression of how interesting, challenging and fascinating a first week at P&G can be! I really really enjoyed my first days here and I'm positive that this will be a great experience!

Enjoy your weekend – and your holiday on Monday!