My name is Lindsay Beaulieu and I am a rising senior anticipating a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications at Johnson & Wales University. Prior to attending college, I obtained a cooperative education job with an internet services company where I expanded my skills in serving local business clients. I acquired skills in building business’s social media presence, creating and implementing email campaigns, updating and modifying websites and business listings, designing flyers for promotions and upcoming events, writing and publishing blog content, keyword research and search engine optimization, operating QuickBooks applications, and conducting payroll procedures. Throughout my duration of college, I have learned significant information about marketing research and the strategic planning direction of advertising. With plentiful amounts of hands on experience in market research projects including observational research, focus groups, survey development, and utilization of databases such as MRI+, SRDS, Simmons, and Nielsen, I have a strong basis of conducting extensive research. I have knowledge in media strategy including the ability to plan and buy media, which I have further elevated at my internship when analyzing media buys for clients on radio and television stations. Majoring in advertising has expanded my options and provided me with the knowledge and background necessary for the field.
As a student at Johnson and Wales University, I have had the privilege to obtain an internship position at DDL Advertising. The courses that I have taken at Johnson and Wales as well as the cooperative education job have prepared me immensely for this position. Comparable to my current internship, I worked on various projects for local clients in the Norfolk and Worcester County, Massachusetts including Masters Touch, Mr. Fence, Grand View, Bobby V Pizzeria, and others. This cooperative education position acted as a strong basis and allowed me to learn how to engage and exceed clients’ expectations. As an intern at DDL Advertising, I have expanded my skillset worked to create campaigns for clients as well as build their social media presence. A challenging but rewarding project that I have collaborated on pertains to rebranding and repositioning a company. As a continuation of my prior cooperative education job, I have further developed blog writing skills by creating blog content for our website. One of my strong skills includes research and strategy, which I have utilized through the duration of interning at this company. Aside from interning, I am also an active member of the advertising team at Johnson and Wales University.
Being an active member on the Advertising Team has given me the extensive opportunity to explore all areas of the advertising field and understand how daily operations are conducted in the real world. This experience has opened my eyes to the true meaning of advertising and its purpose. And what is that you ask? To build an awareness level among consumers and in turn, convince them that the brand attributes are well worth their investment.
Hosted by the American Advertising Federation, the National Student Advertising Competition allows students to develop an integrated marketing campaign for a real client. Over 2000 colleges over the U.S. participate in research that is relevant to the development of a successful campaign that highlights the key elements that influence consumers to invest in the brand. Once they have devised their efforts to a full advertising campaign, students pitch their ideas to judges, who are highly qualified professionals in the industry.
I have had the privilege to work with highly experienced and knowledgeable professors who have given vast amounts of their time to guide us to success. Their expertise has provided me with the opportunity to truly understand how to develop a full advertising campaign. I have collaborated ideas with students on the team who have provoked and inspired me to learn more.
With a challenging client, I was able to grasp an understanding of rebranding and repositioning brands. In a world that is constantly ever changing, it is highly beneficial to understand the importance of positioning a brand in the best light that accurately attributes to their brand promise.
One of the top challenges that our team was faced with was working with a brand that had low awareness levels. With this challenging task at hand, we had to research and develop ways to create awareness in the market and convert customers into users of the brand. With a target audience of 18-25 year old millennials, our team was able to relate since we are in the same age range. Aside from building awareness, we had to convert customers to trial and influence them to buy the product. With a strategic plan that implemented in store conversion mechanisms, we were able to develop various tactics that influenced millennials to buy.
One key takeaway that I gained throughout my experience is the necessity of extensive research. Without research, advertising campaigns would not be complete or sensible to the client’s needs. Research is the fundamental basis of any campaign and asserts an understanding of the target audience and their behaviors in the market. This experience has expanded my horizons greatly and provided me with knowledge that I will utilize in the advertising world.
With the strong foundation and valuable skills that the advertising team has supplied me, I have put them to practice at my internship with DDL Advertising. An understanding of how to produce an advertising campaign and developing content that is relevant to the target audience is crucial in our projects. The knowledge of how to use research databases has come in handy, and I have the ability to find credible and detailed articles relevant to projects we work on. With an emphasis on providing clients with digital and traditional services in media buying, graphic design, branding, and social media management, I have an understanding of the importance of working collaboratively to exceed the needs of our local business clients. Having the opportunity to intern at an advertising agency is highly beneficial to my future successes.