Internship experience

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Internship Experience at MEC Global
MEC is a media company focus is in advertising. Among its main clients include Marriott, GE, Xerox, Paramount Pictures, Vodafone, chevron, Michelin, Colgate-Palmolive, Tiffany, and Netflix. All its branches across the world get directives from the headquarters located in London. MEC Global is one of the founders of Group M, and most of its revenue comes from buying and planning of the media. To adjust to the complexity of a dynamic media industry, MEC Global has had to include Social Media, Search Media, Mobile Media, Programmatic Media, Insight, Sponsorship, Analytics as well as Content media to meet specific needs of clients.
Performance at the Account Manager’s Office
Most of the duties involving the internship took place at the office of The Account Manager, and I was the Assistant Account Manager. Courtesy of this office, I was exposed to a variety of media advertising tools like Metis media booking, NilsenAddynamix, Print Tracking, Google Double Lick Tracks, Clicks and Impression.
The decision on the choice of a tool of an advertisement depends on various factors including the target audience, type of advertisement, budget of the client, as well as the duration of the advert. One also has to put in mind the type of audience the advert wants to target. For example, an advertisement which targets the young people could be put on social media because many people below the age of twenty-five are on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The rate of frequency on social media is also higher in young people than the elderly.
At the Account Manager’s Office, there was immense opportunity to go through the minor details of every tool, its strengths, weakness and appropriateness.
Key Lessons of Internship
During the internship process, I was exposed to various methods of digital media advertisement. These methods included;
(a)Programmatic Media Advertising
Programmatic media advertising is the latest trend in digital media marketing. While the traditional process of media buying involved negotiations, RFPs or mechanically inserting orders, programmatic digital advertisement involves creating software to help in buying advertisement orders. Programmatic media advertising involves the use of electronic machines to purchase marketing orders. It is an effective way of buying and selling advertisements because it is easy, less costly, effective, and saves time.
Programmatic media advertising fills the gap created by humans. By getting rid of humans in the media buying and selling chain, makes the process reliable, affordable and effective.
Another added advantage of programmatic media advertisement lies in its ability to choose the kind of audience the advertisement is targeting. The method compares the audience of the advertisement by taking in mind the audience’s demographics including, and not limited to their age, social class, geographic location as well as their gender. The advertiser is also allowed the choice of the publisher of their advertisements. The buyer and seller contract by a buyer are agreeing to a specified quantity of advertisements with an agreed publisher.
The advertising software helps in bidding, maximizing on inventory, purchasing and then places the advert on specific advertising tool. All these takes place at the same time without any need of manual human involvement. Programmatic media advertising has become a common method of advertisement because the brand owner customizes a relevant message and relates it to that proper person, timing without any bias to the setting. Programmatic media advertisement avoids the haphazard way of marketing by promoting precision, originality, and tool which leads to efficiency. Programmatic media advertising is not used alone. Their combinations with other marketing tools help in choosing a media audience suitable for the advertisement. Search engines have evolved as marketing tools because many people visit the internet to find information on various products they are seeking. In fact, the internet is the first tool of choice that comes to many people’s mind whenever they are doing research about a product, good or service. Search engines help to establish the direction traffic on the internet is taking and therefore, put advertisement strategically based on the information from search engines (Eskilson 345). Search engines also help in comparing information on the performance of other tools. Most updated information is usually available on the internet because many brands post it on their websites or their blogs.
Besides, brand owners may prefer a strategy which involves a combination of various tools in their endeavor to reach a wider audience. In such a case, search engines help in selecting the best tool to reach a cross-media advertisement. Information on search engines help advertisers to create a media plan, make an analysis of various available channels including newspapers, magazines, journals and blogs and then make a decision based on suitability of the media to take the advertisement. Which cross-media advertisement reaches a wider audience compared to a single media approach, it is hard to compare the specific performance of various tools and how they directly impact on the sales. A single media marketing approach is easier to compare, and the effectiveness of sales can be compared easily (Matt 322).
(b)Mobile Advertising
Mobile adverting was also covered in the period of internship. Although mobile advertising is closely related to the internet marketing, it is faster and mainly involves the use of the mobile phone. Mobile marketing has also become a modern trend and it is likely to grow in the coming years. Besides, Mobile Marketing also comprises the use of short message services (SMSs)to send information about a product or a service to the consumer. Brand owners have a preference for mobile advertising because it is easier to reach the specific target or even individuals within a group. For example, a company selling sportswear can send SMSs to a specific club or team indicating the variety of products available and whether there are any discounts. Mobile marketing has also been strengthened by the presence of WiFi and smart phones.
(c)Wave maker for content marketing
Wave maker is a modern tool of advertising and is in the form of software. The software supports brand owned programs by presenting customized development of applications. Besides, wave maker determines and leverages applications to match the kind of diversity which exists in various infrastructure (Eskilson 342).
The commonly available wave maker platform is the RAD which is registered and helps companies to operate smooth running advertising programs. It a preferred method of advertisement because it helps medium enterprises to create applications that can enlarge or customize depending on the latest features of the product.
(d)Snap chart
Snap charts are also an aspect of digital media marketing and it involves creating avenues on the internet where company representatives can respond to questions of potential customers instantly. They are strategically placed on the company’s websites or blogs. Companies can use snap charts to give feedback, inform on new products and discounts as well as direct to various sites and shops where specific details and quality of the products can be found.
Achievement of Expectations
The internship at MEC Global helped me achieve an in-depth learning that exceeded my expectations. I learned about the modern trends in advertisement and marketing. In today’s industry, customers have various options and substitutes for products and even alternatives to fulfilling their needs. For example, a person wishing to travel to Washington DC has various alternatives to reach their destinations. Therefore, companies have to persuade potential clients that they are a preference in the market and also why they are a company of choice. Besides, various companies are offering similar products, and winning companies have to be able to offer a different experience to their clients. In an industry providing similar product or services, the winning company is one that gives a unique experience to their customers. Since MEC Global is a media agency responsible for finding the most appropriate channel and outlets to put their client’s advertisement it helps their customers enrich their advertisements. This helps their advertisements not only to be seen by potential clients but also makes them develop an interest in their overall products. This experience was more complex than what I received from the course work at school. This is the crucial section of advertising in today’s industry. The level of creativity, professionalism and dedication at MEC Global was amazing. In class a simple decision like where to put a company’s advertisement would have been easy, however, in reality, it is a totally complex affair and involves many stages before the consumer receives it. Going through all these stages of planning, audience analysis, context analysis, stakeholder input, budgeting, timing, refining, and then transmission was an enriching experience.
Experience Fitting Into Overall Plan
The internship was my main source of experience in advertising. Before joining MEC Global, I had not participated in any real advertising ventures. In class, I had done some research on products as well as carried out creative pieces which could be used to pitch a product. The internship presented an opportunity to share a common stage with real professionals who on a daily basis carry out massive creativity, research on people and products and media purchase. The key lesson is that the entire advertising process is not a single agency initiative, but rather it involves the cooperation of many agencies in government and private sector before a successful advertisement can be available for consumption. The internship helped me not only in getting an in-depth understanding of the industry but also to get role models in my area of specialization.
Working Experience in Britain Vs Hong Kong
The Britain and Hong Kong culture are unique in their ways. During my previous internship at a commercial bank in Hong Kong, I learned that people in Hong Kong are more conservative than London. The conservativeness arises from the fact that the people share a common background. It is hard to come across people with many cultural differences. In the office, people were extremely official, and the people with a higher position had to be greeted by junior staff and not the other way round. Conversely, the Britain culture is more liberal and more welcoming. The British Empire was the largest kingdom to have existed in history. Usually, they would try to enforce their culture on the territories they conquered the world and sometimes, they succeeded. The British culture is easy to adopt, and perhaps it is because of the variety of people the British Empire exposed its citizen and led to the kind of hospitality we experience. The arrangement in the office is informal and lacks the kind of bureaucracy that is associated with conservative societies, and this is contrary to Hong Kong where seats were reserved according to seniority and total compliance to protocol was expected.
Compared to the situation at home, the British people tend to show negative feelings more often than American people. The British are highly contextual, and they tend to emphasize their speeches with gestures and other symbolic communication methods. The American people prefer deeply connected relationships. It is common to find a group of Americans who have formed stronger social bond than in British. Furthermore, Americans value team playing a lot. The American people are straight forward in their communications, and they do not leave their audience guessing what they could have meant. The difference in communication between the British and Americans lies in the past forms of administration. The British having been ruled for a long time with a monarch tend to be resentful. Conversely, the Americans having rejected an authoritative system of administration are more open and confident.
Relevance of internship to the marketing and advertisement theory in class
The internship helped emphasize class work. For example, it was stated in class that advertising seeks to convince a potential customer to use a product or it aims at building product loyalty. The internship emphasized this by continuously attaching some good feeling to raise expectations for customers who chose to buy the product. Advertising continuously tries to understand what makes some advertisements effect and other not (Mirzoeff 265).
Today’s advertising industry is dynamic, and companies cannot rely on marketing alone to have a competitive advantage. Advertising has to be enhanced by integrated marking communication especially with public relations. Public relations machinery is done through traditional advertisement channels. Conventionally, public relation is also done on social media and the internet. The aim is to increase the visibility of the company. Once the advertisements reach consumers on the internet, they can still share the information with each other including, through social media.
Marketing and advertising strategies, operations and practices were evident during the internship. The lessons in class helped facilitate the internship because they provided the background for the internship. For example, companies carry out research to understand the lifestyle of the target audience. The information collected with such studies help in putting advertisements strategically where the target group will find it. If it is the young people who love sports, advertisements are put in between popular sports to enhance visibility by the target group. If several brand owners are competing for the same position, the cost of putting the advertisement might go higher, or the channel would select a brand that they resonate with.
The business of advertising is an expensive one and companies have to invest in marketing and advertisement to increase visibility and persuade customers that an experience with their products is real. The main reason for aggressive marketing is that customers have an alternative to almost all the products a company can provide. With the quality of the remaining product standard, organizations aim to improve on visibility and experience. It is the only way to increase sales. The experience at MEC Global was real and an enhancement of class lessons.
Works Cited
Mirzoeff, Nicholas.The visual culture reader.Routledge, 2002.
Eskilson, Stephen. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven. Yale University Press, 2007.
Matt, Haig. Brand failures: the truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time. Kogan
Page Publishers, 2005.