12 Weeks – What Its Really Like to Intern for a Digital Agency

June 12, 2014 By BJ Cook,

It’s that time of year again and we have to say “see you later” to one of our interns…..Or DO we?! Andrew was the Strategy & Planning intern for DO over the last 12 weeks and we are so glad we had the opportunity to work with him as an intern. We asked Andrew to answer a few questions about his experience and this is what he had to say: 1. How would you define Digital Marketing? and how was your role crucial to the success of the Agency? In my own words, digital marketing is engaging with the target market online and differs from traditional marketing in that almost everything is measurable or and can be backed by research/data. Some of the things my role consisted of was: engaging in competitive analyses of our clients, making recommendations on brand positioning, and providing a better view of market landscapes and target demographics -- all with market research. 2. Who were your mentors at DO and How did you like working with them? Eric and Steven, the head honchos of the Strategy department, were my primary mentors. It's great working with Eric as he doesn’t hold back when he's teaching me aspects of the digital marketing realm, whether it be conversion rate optimization or brand positioning. He's always showing me how my work fits holistically and how it'll translate to value for the client. Steven has really helped my transition in as an intern and works hard to ensure I'm milking as much possible from my time here. He's always including me in meetings, whether it's pertinent to Strategy or not, just so I can always have a big-picture view of our projects, and he's great to talk to when I want any insight on marketing. My bosses are pretty boss. Also, shout outs to Shannon for being so accommodating and Dan Greco for helping me out in learning Google Analytics! 3. What did you learn from your internship? Lots. Effective market research, how to report to clients, brand positioning, competitive analyses, furious Google Doc-ing, and the various components in a Digital Marketing agency! 4. You're finished......How do you feel about completing your internship? Surreal. I feel like I'm still supposed to come in next week, crank out strategy-related work, play with the DO dogs, and eat with the interns. I'm definitely feeling fulfilled and excited to apply the knowledge I've gathered! 5. Do you still want to go down the same career path after you graduate? Why/Why not? I'm still exploring various aspects of digital marketing, but I most definitely still want to be involved in Strategy. There's something really fulfilling about being able to craft the back-bone of a campaign and it's something I look forward to doing in the future. It would also be awesome to apply what I've learned in the Asian American entertainment sector or to build up small businesses in the bay-area. 6. What was your favorite part about working with DO? The amount of growth potential and resources. It's pretty nuts. If I want to learn about analytics, I can walk 30 feet to Dan and ask him, or if I had any strategy-related questions, I can simply pick the brain of Steven or Eric. The feeling of learning something totally new. 7. Would you recommend the internship program to your classmates? Most definitely! The best way to learn about how Digital Marketing works is by immersing yourself into the culture and surrounding yourself with industry professionals. The new Strategy intern will definitely be learning a lot about delivering value to the client and thinking analytically. 8. What were a few of your favorite memories while interning for DO? Getting to sit in on client-meetings, eating pizza and burritos with Margo and James, and taking my school marketing teammates to DO for a tour to name a few! I'll also definitely miss skating through Old Town and raiding DO's well-stocked kitchen. We're definitely going to miss Andrew, or Kang as we liked to call him. Good Luck Kang in all you DO and don't forget about us. Feel free to skate on through Old Town so you can drop by and say hi!