Week 2 at Purpol Marketing Elizabeth Davenport

I can’t believe another week has flown by already! I’m hoping the rest of my internship doesn’t fly by too quickly, not least because I am thoroughly enjoying my time here at Purpol Marketing but also because I kind of (definitely) don’t want to return to university! I could definitely get used to having a 9-5!
This week was the week I completed my first whitepaper on the subject of strategic marketing, and why it is an integral part of any business plan. To say I am proud is a slight understatement. I started this topic not even knowing what a whitepaper was, let alone strategic marketing! But I am now comfortable with it all, the processes and the benefits, and it feels great to have learnt something new. Considering I don’t have a background in business, I’ll admit I did find it a struggle. But my finished piece has now been approved and published, and I am really proud of my accomplishment.
Aside from teaching myself all about strategic marketing, what else I discovered during this task surprised me. I realised that, despite having studied both English and Media for many years and having completed (far too many!) essays on various topics, I am still unfamiliar with many forms of written communication, such as the whitepaper.
For example, I have never been asked to, or taught how to, write a press release during my academic career. Fortunately, prior work experience at a newspaper meant that I was able to produce something vaguely resembling one last week when Denise asked. As for whitepapers though, completely new to me! It just goes to show that education doesn’t always prepare you for the real world- sometimes only getting out into the real world can do that. But for now at least, I am more excited than fearful to crack on with more whitepapers.
Another highlight of my second week with Purpol was attending the #NatwestBoost event at Ashton Gate stadium on Tuesday. I was nervous to begin with, not least because Denise and my fellow intern Bronwyn got stuck in traffic on the M4 leaving me all alone, surrounded by professional, scary grown ups! But I rallied, remembering the networking skills I gained from the Bath Spa Award and chatted to various attendees. Although the event had quite a regimented schedule it was still a great introduction to these kinds of professional events and it was great to see Denise’s amazing networking skills in action- definitely an example to follow. It was also really lovely to see Bronwyn again as we chatted about our internships and those pesky whitepapers- she had some great advice for me!
If the last two weeks are anything to go by, my time at Purpol is set to be full of action and opportunities to learn and try new things. Really happy to be finding my feet as part of the Purpol team.