Purpol Marketing supports 8 digital interns during Covid-19 crisis
Press Release – July 2020
Purpol Marketing Limited have enjoyed seven years of success with interns from local universities and this year is no different, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Denise has been joined by students from Bath Spa University and the University of the West of England, and is additionally supporting the University of Nottingham. The digital internships were a new development for some of the establishments, but Purpol had been providing these for years so was able to extend the support so more students could benefit. Charleen Dunn, Georgina Newham, Jade Lucas, Diane de Guzman, Ray Vandyck, Jack Marchant, Katie Sugrue and Megan Bower are all experiencing internships of different types during the summer, across marketing and bid writing disciplines. Denise is also a remote mentor for a team from the University of Nottingham carrying out a research project into the effect of Covid-19 on SME’s.
Georgina Newham explained the whole experience:
“I’m sure all of us graduating right now imagined an entirely different year with many of us having to change our plans to align with what is now normal. A part of that is companies cancelling many of their internship programmes due to their offices simply not being open. That is when I found a wealth of remote internships that allowed graduates like myself to work with a company through the magic of zoom calls. I was (thankfully) chosen to work with Purpol Marketing through one of these opportunities and wanted to express why I believe this form of internship is a valuable thing for graduates and students.
Working at your own pace – From the time I’ve spent in an office or workspace trying to complete a project I know it can feel like a pressure cooker. As an intern you can feel like you are constantly being inspected to check you are fulfilling your role. With the remote format, I could ask for support if needed but was left to my devices in terms of my working hours and working habits. This flexibility is so important when working with students and was a valuable asset to me.
Opportunities regardless of location – With students scattered to winds when lockdown came into effect many were worried about gaining experience or getting a job in their hometown. For myself, I stayed in Bath as there are very few jobs that appeal to me in my little Welsh farming town. And there are so many more people that deal with this issue. By having an opportunity open to more that people in the area of the company, you not only benefit those who live in hard to reach places but as an employer you get a wide variety of people from different backgrounds that can have different and valuable input from your business.
And obviously, experience – At the end of the day, doing a degree is great but the only way to get experience is to get experience. When companies are willing to offer opportunities to work with them it can make a world of difference to future employability and can be the difference between getting and not getting a job. Internships are necessary for graduates entering job marketing and we all appreciate any company that wants to work with us.
It feels rare that a company seems to genuinely want to help students who need experience and I feel lucky to have been given this chance by Denise. I learned so much about the world of marketing from both an expert in the field and my fellow interns who all took the project in different directions. Sharing our take on the marketing strategy was so important as a learning opportunity and I am excited to learn even more as I continue down this career path.”
Charleen Dunn commented:
“I had the great opportunity to intern for Denise O’Leary at Purpol Marketing. I gained a wealth of experience and knowledge about digital marketing and the company, as a marketing intern.
I began the internship by completing two online courses, produced by Denise O’Leary. The first, titled ‘Magnificent Marketing’, was hugely engaging and insightful. It included quizzes, B2C and B2B examples and workbooks at the end of each section. These activities allowed me to reflect on the content and consolidate my learning. The course covers all aspects of marketing, from Lead Generation to Brand Identity, resulting in masses of useful content, ideas and concepts. I found this course of be hugely beneficial for my understanding of marketing strategies and marketing in a real-world context.
The second course ‘Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery’, helps the participant recognise the importance of digital marketing in today’s society, especially during unprecedented events such as Covid-19. The course is presented with a clear and concise structure. I learnt a lot about the importance of communication and offering value to your customers/clients. I gained a great insight into the various digital marketing channels which were largely discussed.
I also partook in a zoom workshop, where I had the pleasure of meeting Denise and the other interns. This workshop taught me about Purpol, several marketing channels, content and marketing campaigns, which would aid us in the set projects.
We were to complete and present two projects. The first was a marketing campaign for the course I completed at the beginning of the internship, ‘Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery’. The second project was a marketing campaign for the book titled: ‘WINNER- How to Win Business Awards, by Denise O’Leary. Producing these marketing campaigns allowed me to use my creativity and develop marketing skills. I produced exciting content and designed various marketing channels, including a landing website, leaflet, an infographic and social media posts. I learnt to use image and design tools and developed technological and communication skills.
From the beginning of this internship, I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone to develop my skills and learn more. This internship has allowed me to do so and I have l gathered an abundance of knowledge surrounding digital marketing and marketing campaigns. I am grateful to Denise and Purpol Marketing for the experience.”
Jade Lucas explained what it meant to her:
“Over the past 10 day I have participated in Purpol’s Marketing 2020 internship scheme. This has truly been an excellent experience; I have gained skill sets and knowledge that I will carry with me through the rest of my degree and professional career.
With initially taking Purpol’s Marketing 2 online courses: Magnificent Marketing and Digitally Marketing your way to recovery this was a great way to start the programme! Both courses gave me a great initial understanding as to how to strategically create a marketing plan as well as delving into different marketing concepts. After completing both course’s Denise O’Leary, all Interns and I had a wonderful first zoom call where we were able to share our thoughts, initial ideas and delve into more detail about the courses in safe, welcoming environment. It was a great opportunity to hear from my fellow interns and the different stages and course’s we are at, in our Degrees.
We were all then set the task to create a Marketing campaign for ‘Digitally Marketing your way to recovery’. This initially seemed to be a daunting task, however, with further research and support from Denise I very quickly gained an excitement and engagement with the project. Having this experience was extremely beneficial to highlight my areas of strengths and weakness within the Marketing industry. Throughout the process I found my passion to lie within the creativity of the projects and prospered upon exploring new creative platforms such as Canva.
In the completion of this task it was then onto the next! This was where I really got to experiment with new ideas. The second task set was to Develop promotional materials for the book WINNER – How to Win Business Awards. Upon reading the book it was an insightful read to a topic that I had never considered or learnt about before. Definitely something that I will remember and take note of in the future. Again, I got to experiment with concepts that I had not come across before such as creating YouTube content and thinking about the buying cycle. Although the content I created was new to me and something I had little knowledge on I felt comfortable to share with the group due to the atmosphere previously created.
With the 10 days filled with explorations, experiments and creating it was now time for the final zoom call! Although I feel saddened that the internship had come to an end and I was no longer able to take my ideas further, I was excited to share and equally hear what the other interns had created.
The other interns had some really great ideas. It was brilliant to see everyone’s ideas brought to life. It really gave some great ideas of in the future how to further my campaign. Everyone showcased exceptional knowledge and creativity in the work they shared. As well as this, I was introduced to some topics and areas of marketing that I had never focused on before. So, with inspiration from them it will definitely be something I consider in future projects.
The experience has been a great introduction into the Marketing Working world. With the current circumstance of COVID-19 I believe that the internship scheme was designed flawlessly – still able to learn a great deal and engage with others.
Denise O’Leary has been a fantastic instructor throughout the entirety of the internship. Right Through the online course clips, email presence and ‘in person’ on zoom calls she always had a friendly and welcoming manner.”
Ray Vandyck provided his view:
“As a student recently completing first year of a Business Management course, during the summer of 2020 I was looking to get some experience in the realm of digital marketing and business operations. Unfortunately, I narrowly missed out on the Purpol Marketing internship, however the brand’s founder Denise generously offered myself and some others a shorter unpaid placement scheme to develop our skills in marketing and promoting an online brand.
I found the initial stage of the course, in which we completed the online courses “Magnificent Marketing” and “Digital Marketing for Recovery”, a useful and refreshing process. The former course is aimed at business owners of all levels and uses a 4-step plan to build a holistic business marketing strategy, which encompasses elements from assessment of existing strategy and resource distribution, to considering the customer base with a view to market segmentation, to implementing direct marketing, landing pages and social media outreach. I had studied a few modules on marketing during my first year which contained some similar content however it was an interesting look at how these techniques were taught to real business owners. The second course is more recent and targets SME owners affected by the recent Covid-19 disruption to trade. This had a keener focus on online tools, which are my particular interest, and I enjoyed the portrayal of each avenue a brand could pursue to improve their network and customer intake with a limited budget. The course will only increase in relevance in coming years as the average consumer becomes more fluent in purchasing not only tangible products but services and tools online.
After completing these courses, we participated in a 3-hour video conference, where Denise talked through the key ideology of the courses and their features, before discussing our own perspectives on each topic. We were then set a task to develop elements of a marketing strategy for both the Digital Marketing for Recovery online course, and Denise’s new book, How to Win Business Awards. I chose to take the opportunity to learn more about a specific part of online promotion, a direct email campaign with an A/B test. I explored how two different tones could be used in an initial email posting showing the online course, and how the current pandemic could be used as inspiration for the urgency of businesses to review their online marketing strategy. The process also involved getting to know my way around Mailchimp and Google Analytics to generate both the emails themselves and feedback statistics, with reference to Purpol guidelines for advertisement included.
The following week we presented our ideas for both projects in another video conference, and it was an exciting opportunity to discuss strategy with a group of like-minded individuals that a university course does not always offer. I enjoyed explaining my own take on how a feedback testing method could produce a strong email campaign, and received feedback and thoughts from the other interns on their own ideas, and Denise spoke about her own experiences with such an approach, which was insightful and engaging to my own work.
Overall the process was an intriguing and fun one which broadened my understanding of what marketing means in a modern context. It was an invaluable experience speaking with Denise due to her extensive knowledge of the field, and a great gesture to be offered the placement for no charge as a student.”
Diane de Guzman said about her placement:
“Purpol Marketing has given me a great opportunity to take part in during this summer, giving me a chance to broaden my experience and gain valuable skills simultaneously. I feel that the projects given to us were designed to let us learn, apply and create ideas, and really let us approach the tasks with our own different and personal directions. I am taking up a BA Geography degree at university and had no experience in the field of marketing or business at all. However, Denise had provided all her interns this summer with great marketing training content, and was very efficient in responding to any questions or uncertainties I had, allowing me to approach the projects with confidence.
‘Magnificent Marketing’ is an excellent course that simplifies and guides any person interested in marketing or looking to gain a wider understanding of the subject. It really goes into great detail and is a highly valuable course for any kind of user: beginner, student, business-owner or entrepreneur. Similarly, ‘Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery’ is another course which really puts into perspective very important factors to consider to adapt any business against a crisis. Both have really opened my eyes to topics I would have never considered in a BA Geography Degree and have taught me things my degree would have never covered.
The first task, which was to formulate a marketing plan for ‘Digitally Marketing your way to Recovery’, allowed me to utilise my new-found skills that I gained through the ‘Magnificent Marketing’ course and allowed me to creatively take the project in the direction I wanted. The second task of the internship was to create ideas for a campaign for Denise’s book ‘Winner: How to Win Business Awards’. Not only did Denise generously provide us with great resources to again, better understand the task, but we were also allowed the flexibility to focus on areas we were comfortable in, or attempt things we haven’t before if we choose to do so.
Overall, this opportunity has let me learn and do new things which I would have never thought of attempting and has also given me a chance to see how the other interns have approached the tasks and exposing me to great ideas. I am thankful for Denise and Purpol Marketing for this experience.”
Denise O’Leary, Managing Director and Founder of Purpol Marketing Limited, has always championed the importance of having a strong millennial voice within both the company and the industry. “I’m thrilled that Purpol are again providing internships to invite new perspectives into our business. They will be learning about both the Marketing and Bid Writing expertise that Purpol provides to our clients and by using our online courses and zoom online briefings they will gain real life practical experience that will be a great addition to their studies, equipping them for the world of future employment.”
To find out more about Purpol Marketing including the online courses Magnificent Marketing and Better Way to Bid visit www.purpolmarketing.co.uk
ENDS
Photos available with this release
Denise O’Leary
Managing Director
Purpol Marketing Limited
Tel 07966 333657 / 01249 481411
Web purpolmarketing.co.uk