Sam Storey: My Summer Internship at Pure

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.