Brand Management | Swarnima Singh | Internship Experience

Swarnima Singh (21) is a BBA graduate in Marketing from NMIMS, Mumbai. She has worked with a startup as the Marketing Executive for 6 months and is now preparing for competitive exams. Today, she's here to share with us her internship experience in the Marketing role.

• Internship Field: Brand Management

• Company: ACC Cements

• Location: Mumbai HQ

• Duration: 2 months

How did you find out about the internship?

Through personal contact (my father knew the Marketing Head of ACC).

What were your responsibilities as a Brand Management intern?

As a part of my internship, I conducted Market Research, understood customer feedback, assisted in the creation of a new packaging for ACC bags. For the same, I conducted a comprehensive competitor analysis by analyzing their advertisements and positioning. The ACC cement bags' packaging was being redesigned. I was involved in the process of choosing the various elements for the bag. Once we were through with that, I got the opportunity to interact with the main stakeholders in the cities Mumbai and Nagpur - contractors, dealers, customers - to gain their feedback about the new packaging. These reactions were then incorporated in the new design.

How much time did you contribute on a daily basis?

My timings were 9 to 6.

What were the top 3 skills you acquired?

• Carrying out market research

• Branding's best practices

• Advertising, which can enhance the appeal of an otherwise dull product such as cement

How did your internship help you going forward in your career?

I was always sure that I wanted to make a career in Marketing but as we all know, it's a broad term - sales, brand management, PR etc. This experience helped me understand that my true interest lies in brand management and that is what I would like to go ahead with.

If someone wants to apply for the same role, what would be your advice to them?

Brand management is a very demanding and challenging field where it is imperative to have an eye for detail. However, it is very interesting and is an extremely enriching experience. To prepare for the internship, I would say you should start reading up about campaigns and be up to date with what's happening in the advertising world specifically for the product category you'll be interning in.

Anything else you'd like to say to the non-engineers who'll be reading your post?

I think internships are essential through the duration of your course as it helps you to bridge the gap between the knowledge you possess and the practicality of the corporate world. It prepares you for the real world scenario and helps you learn how to sail through disappointments and appreciation. Personally, I have interned at 4 organizations through my course and each of them have been a unique experience and have helped me understand my courses better because I have real life scenarios to relate them to. It will also assist you to take a better decision with respect to what you want to do with your career.

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Swarnima's internship experience would give you a great clarity on what brand management entails. Being a marketing enthusiast myself, I can vouch that what she has learned from her internship will help her immensely in any FMCG firm, where these marketing practices are very frequently used.

Thanks Swarnima for reaching out and sharing your experience with us. I'm certain it'd help many aspirants who wish to enter the marketing field.

Any non-engineer, who wishes to share his/her experience is most welcome. You can also do it anonymously here - bit.ly/NE_Internship

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• How to get an internship at the undergraduate level?

• Tips to improve profile in first year of graduation

• More about Internships & Jobs