Day 5: Imagination Work Experience, London

14th August 2009

Friday was the big day of my presentation for Holcim's social media strategy so naturally there were a few butterflies in my stomach in the morning. The presentation was at 4pm so the morning and early afternoon consisted of touch ups to the PowerPoint document also with final preparations made for how I was going to articulate my ideas to Katie and Tom.

4pm came round and we went to the meeting room. Other than a few technological glitches from some YouTube videos I had posted the presentation went well and Katie and Tom's feedback was very positive. They did make a few recommendations to back up my ideas, showing evidence of where I found my statistics and whether the sources were credible. So I have the weekend to add these final details to the presentation and it is done.
Considering this was my first time presenting on my own I was proud that they were impressed and that they offered positive, constructive feedback that I will take on board.

The first week is now over and I have learnt a great deal. If next week is half as good as this week has been I will be throughly satisfied.

Day 3: Imagination Work Experience, London

Wednesday 12th August

Day 3 has been a very busy and tiring day but I feel like I am learning something new everyday. Today I began structuring my ideas for the Holcim social media project onto PowerPoint and making them presentable for the deadline this Friday.

At different times during the day Katie assigned a few more tasks for me to work on

• Finding key bloggers to target for their new Ford campaign
• Coming up with innovative interactive ideas for a new BBC project 'BBC Canvas'

I think this extra work is certainly helping me build upon my time management skills getting all the projects done on time.

'BBC Canvas' is an exciting new project that will bring together content from some of the UK's biggest channels, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five. Viewers will be able to watch on-demand content through their television via a special set top box, expected to cost between £100-£200. The BBC's director general Mark Thompson called it "potentially the holy grail of future public service broadcasting provision in the UK".

Sitting within the small 'brainstorming' session it was really exciting to learn about how experienced professionals think, and how well they can think 'outside the box'. Ideas were floating around about how the audience can use the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) and create interactive content becoming more involved within televised programmes and improving the overall experience.

Day 2: Imagination Work Experience, London

Tuesday 11th August 2009

Day 2 at Imagination has just finished and has been another good day. The morning consisted of research and note taking around the Holcim social media recruitment project.
I looked at:

• Competitor Analysis
• Content
• How recruitment agencies & other large businesses are using social media to attract applicants
• Successful case studies
  
• Target Audiences/Demographics
• Aspects of social media that have proven effective in raising interest in brands/businesses
  

In the afternoon, because Holcim isn't a household name I thought about ways Holcim can raise public awareness whilst informing the public about what they do, who they are etc, etc.

I then began coming up with ideas about how Holcim can effectively engage with prospective recruits once they have gained their interest, which social media platforms would be most suitable and how I could make Holcim different, memorable and appealing to potential graduate and professional recruits whilst still staying true to the brands identity.


This is certainly a challenging task but I'm feeling confident about my ideas so far. I'd say I need another few ideas so a later day in the office is on the cards. I have a deadline on Friday that I am on course to see but I have to make sure my work is looking professional and presentable.

Day 1: Imagination Work Experience, London

Monday 10th August 2009

Today was the day I would finally begin my 2 week internship with Imagination (http://www.imagination.com/), an integrated communications agency based in Camden, London. I was lucky enough to gain this opportunity after a brief yet interesting coffee meeting with Katie Streten (Head of Insight and Content within the Digital department) where I expressed my passion for digital marketing and my desire to work within an established agency one day like Imagination.

Day 1, like at most companies was an introductory day where I got tour of the building, the digital team and was given my brief for the projects I would be immersed in for the next 2 weeks.

Project 1 (Week 1) : A Social Media recruitment and activation project for global brand Holcim who supply cement, aggregate (gravel and sand), concrete and construction led services to 70 countries on all continents.
Basically I have to deliver a report and recommendations for Holcim on the best ways to use social media for
- Recruitment of graduates
- Recruitment of professionals
- Promotion of the company in an HR context

I am really excited about this challenge because it is the first piece of work that has required me to use my knowledge of marketing using social media since my dissertation dedicated to the topic.
It would of course be a lot easier if it wasn't about encouraging conversations about a brand that wasn't based around cement and concrete, but that's the challenge!


Project 2 (Week 2) : I haven't been given my official brief on project 2 but the information I have received suggests it will be based around the Imperial War Museum in London and the different content and marketing projects Imagination could do for them. It looks at how the IWM could potentially attract different audiences through these campaigns.




Later on in the day Tom, a member of the digital team, took me through a campaign that Imagination carried out with the NMOLP (National Museums Online Project) called 'Creative Spaces' (http://vna.nmolp.org/creativespaces/).

Creative Spaces is a community that allows the public to view artifacts, statues and other objects situated within the 9 UK museums and galleries. The community allows members to create groups, comment on collections and upload their own content - a place many artistic people might go to seek and share inspiration.
Tom also showed me how they incorporated Twitter into the campaign with daily updates of inspiration that increased traffic and interest to the website. I found this particularly interesting because I always wondered how Twitter could be used effectively within a campaign.


Day 1 has gone very well, the people I have met have been very welcoming, helpful and really down to earth. The building itself is very interesting also, made up of two separate buildings linked with metal staircases and bridges, it looks very cool!
I feel I have settled in quickly and can focus all my efforts on doing the best possible work for Imagination on both projects.