Summer Internship with United Spirits Ltd. — Nachiket from NMIMS
Daily Winner for: – 1st August 2012
Name of the intern: – Nachiket
Institute: – NMIMS
Organization interned with: – United Spirits Ltd.
United Spirits Limited (USL) is a branch of United Breweries. Owned by Mr. Vijay Mallaya, it is the largest spirits company in the world by volume.
My experience at UB Group: To start off with, I had never ever planned to go into a liquor company for an internship (being a non drinker :D). My area of interest was the industrial market. However, when UB Group came to our college, I asked my dad whether I should put forth my name for it. He told me to put it as a backup option.
Little did I know that I was later going to get selected. My grades were decent enough but there were so many toppers who had applied here. Getting preferred over them was a great feeling but still I was in a dilemma: what should I do now with no knowledge of the liquor industry whatsoever?
I was getting used to the fact that I will have to go there now; but then came a new twist in the tale. I was placed at Hyderabad. A city where I had never been even once in my lifetime. Somehow I managed to get hostel accommodation.
Finally it was my first day at office; I was handed the project to understand the market for their Scotch and wine brands with respect to competitors and suggest solutions for market share gain. This required me to roam around everyday in retail outlets, 5 star hotels, pubs, clubs etc. A thing that I started enjoying at a later stage (except for the retail outlets). One thing good about me is that I remember roads very well. That helped me here because I had to go to the market (that’s what they call it) all by myself. I got used to the local public transport service. And people speaking in Hindi helped a lot because I still cannot understand a single word of Telugu.
It helped me a lot because I got a taste of how the consumer market works and most importantly I got to roam around the entire city. Now I know every place in Hyderabad and all the hotels and pubs; more than I must have ever known in Mumbai (me being a Mumbaikar :P). And I got to know how drunk people are. One more thing I learnt; we people are cheap! Don’t get me wrong. What I mean to say here is that we need something for free if we want to buy a product. I remember we had an offer on some brand where we were offering complimentary umbrellas!
Overall it has been a great learning experience. And I wouldn’t mind having a career in liquor industry since that is the only sector which remains unaffected. People celebrate with liquor and they drink more when they are sad. And what with the rumours of another recession approaching…
FYI! You can view the latest Internships in Mumbai here.
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