Internship at Edelman Digital – Rounak from SOC, Manipal University
About the Author: Rounak Bose, a student from School of Communication, Manipal University, narrates the exciting life of a digital marketing intern at Edelman Digital.
Internships are usually meant to be a learning experience but my immensely successful tenure at Edelman Digital, Bangalore was way more than that. I would call it nothing short of a life experience, which didn’t just provide me a resounding experience of PR as an industry, but also smoothed my transition from a college going kid to a professional ready to venture into the media field. I was a bit apprehensive about this internship, predominantly because I was interning with the world’s largest PR firm. I had been placed in the Digital department of Edelman, which dealt with the social media footprint of various clients. I joined Edelman with the expectation of working with global conglomerates, finding autonomy while working in real-time projects, and not being side-casted as just “another intern.” I also wanted to focus on content creation, apart from learning the tricks of the trade in terms of minimalist writing, which is something Advertising and PR campaigns cash upon.
The first four days of my internship were spent learning about the nitty-gritty details of how a PR firm works and familiarizing myself with the work ethics that Edelman follows. During my seven week internship, I was primarily working on three accounts – General Electric (GE), Tata Coffee Grand, and Microsoft Developers. I was assigned to make the content calendar for GE’s social media handles. A content calendar usually comprises of 20 Tweets, 9 Facebook posts, and 5 LinkedIn posts. All of these were to be made on a weekly basis on the basis of reports and blog posts from GE’s web portal. I was told that my first content calendar was going to be made on an experimental basis. Based on my performance, I made all the content calendars for GE for the next six weeks.
The second major account that I worked for was Tata Coffee Grand, wherein my involvement was to a much greater extent. I was assigned partial control of the social media outlets of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I was to record the analytics of these outlets and make the ‘Social Media Analysis Report’ which was to be sent to Tata Beverages. I was part of the team that started Tata Coffee Grand’s Instagram page, Instagrand. I was also responsible for making a summary report for their first Instagram campaign.
Another important project that I was a part of was “Future Beyond”, a three-city event by Microsoft, wherein the best of the minds from around the globe gathered to discuss innovation and cloud computing. I conceptualized a subscription contest wherein a coding related question was left on the social media platforms; the first ten to crack it were awarded subscriptions to Microsoft services and were given passes to the “Future Beyond” event. Another idea was that of creating a snappy video of clippings from the previous editions of the “Future Beyond” event in countries like Denmark, Belgium, Italy and finally announcing the event in India, making the video go viral on social media.
My final and the most prestigious assignment happened when the Vice Chairman of GE Global, John Rice, had come down to India for a guest lecture at the Indian School of Business, Mohali. I was assigned the task of editing his speech and making tweets, which would be posted from his twitter handle during his live session. It was certainly an enriching experience to work for someone who had reached such majestic heights.
Overall, the work experience was absolutely marvelous and gave me a clearer picture of the role that Digital Marketing is playing in the Advertising and PR Sector. The internship imbibed in me a sense of professionalism that could only be garnered by working for a corporate firm. I realized the importance of timeliness in daily project deadlines. The enriching experience is something that I would carry forward in my professional life.
Editor’s Note – You can also find yourself similar digital marketing internships and internships in Bangalore, on Internshala.
