During my summer break,
before starting my final year at university, I was lucky enough to have been
given the opportunity to complete an internship at Pure Media. Studying Digital
Media, part of the course requirement is to take the “theoretical and
conceptual material examined in Years 1 and 2” and apply it to an industry work
placement.
The main idea is to help
students gain a stronger perspective of the media industry and the roles it’s
made up off. This was something that was particularly important to me, as prior
to starting my placement, I felt very unsure of what area of the industry would
be best suited to me.
During my time at Pure, I
helped with a variety of tasks that make up the daily runnings of a media
planning and buying agency. I spent a lot of time using Google Analytics to
write up a range of reports that analysed data for marketing campaigns. I found
this interesting and very rewarding, I had zero experience using Google
Analytics before my placement and by the end of it I began to feel very confident
using it and felt that I had begun to gain a good understanding of its fundamental
aspects.
I also used tools like
Nielsen and Mediatel, not to the same extent but enough for me to see their
value and pique my interest in further exploring them. Other tasks included
inputting a range of different data into Microsoft Excel, which gave me a
stronger insight into the different functions of media planning and buying.
I took an active role in
the social media aspects of the company, scheduling a number of tweets for the
“Pure Quote of the Day” and the weekly “Throwback Thursday” in order to help
maintain Pure’s social presence. I also contributed a number of blog posts,
including the “Pure Slogan of the Week”.
I was also given the
opportunity to spend time with Pure’s sister company, Teamspirit. I worked in
the media communications, creative and PR departments. I completed a number of
tasks and spoke to staff members from all different professional backgrounds to
help give me a broader idea of the industry and the type of roles that would be
suitable for me as a graduate, such as an account management internship.
Outside of the day-to-day
workload, I got involved in helping with Pure’s annual Summer Rooftop party
which was a really enjoyable experience and also gave me the opportunity to
speak to a number of media owners about the type of work they do. This was
extremely beneficial, as it further increased my understanding of the media
industry’s different components.
I volunteered to speak at
the monthly staff meeting about my time at Pure, as a way of increasing my
confidence in public speaking. I was also exposed to agency life, attending a
number of meetings and presentations. All of this has really sparked my
interest in the media / marketing industry, particularly the comm’s and media
planning and buying aspects of it.
I will shortly be
returning to university, I can honestly say that I feel a lot more confident
about my future and the potential prospects out there thanks to my time at
Pure. I've gained a lot more insight about the industry, as my previous
understanding was very limited. I am now a lot more focused and have set myself
goals in order to achieve the things that I want.
I have thoroughly enjoyed
my time at Pure Media and it has been an incredible learning experience in a
number of different ways. I am extremely appreciative and grateful for this
fantastic opportunity. I would like to thank everyone at Pure and Teamspirit
for all of their support and advice over the past seven weeks.
